City Council - Regular Meeting

to call the August 10th, 2026 meeting to order and ask everyone to rise for the invocation and pledge of allegiance. And the clerk will give us the invocation.

Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this day and thank you for the many blessings you've brought to our community. I pray that our mayor and council make wise decisions that affect the citizens of our community. In your name we pray, amen.

Would you join me in the Pledge of Allegiance?

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you very much. All right. During the pre-agenda meeting, item K was added to the consent agenda and item F was moved to the regular agenda under item 11. Are there any other changes to the consent agenda? Hearing none, is there a motion to approve the consent agenda?

So moved.

Second.

We have a motion and second. Any discussion? All in favor, say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously. We have the 2026 Code of Ethics and the Front and Center Strategic Plan. Obviously, the Council strives to follow those two documents. For presentations and recognitions tonight, we have two presentations. First, I would like to invite my friends from the Statesville Football Club to join me up at the podium. I don't know if any of y'all got to go to any of the Statesville FC soccer team, but They changed our community this summer and we're so proud of them. So in honor of that, we're awarding the Statesville FC team the Community Spirit Certificate proudly presented to Statesville Football Club for making history in its inaugural season by earning a National Premier Soccer League Southeast Conference Playoffs while inspiring community pride and bringing thousands of fans together in support of local soccer. Mayor J. Douglas Hendrick, City of Statesville. Thank you, gentlemen.

Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Council. Being born and raised here in Statesville as a 48-year-old man and now bringing something like this special to The community and the youth was a goal of mine and Craig as well. So just very happy to bring this to community. And we're going to be a part of the community from here on out. We're here to stay. So thank you guys so much for honoring us. And we hope to do the same thing next summer and next summer after that. If you haven't been in a game, please come out and join us.

just two seconds for me again thank you so very much for this recognition means that absolute well to us um again with my funny accent not being from around these parts um i've actually my family and i've been able to call this place home and this place is a wonderful wonderful community with lovely history lovely pride um and we're just so thankful that we get to share that and put it on the national stage of soccer and present Statesville in a way that hopefully you guys can be proud of. So once again, thank you so much for your time and thanks for the recognition. Thank you very much, Statesville. Thank you.

How many different nationalities did we have represented on your team?

A lot. I think it was somewhere between like nine or ten. We had France, Germany, Argentina, Switzerland, Ukraine, Colombia, the UK, Argentina.

It was amazing. And most all those young men were put up by our own citizens right here in town.

That's right. So thank you guys.

Thank you very much. Now, if our friends from Contegra Health would step up, please. This is from City of Statesville, North Carolina, Office of the Mayor Proclamation for National Health Center Week. That's August 2 through 8, 2026. Whereas community health centers have provided high-quality, affordable, comprehensive primary and preventative health for more than 60 years, and whereas community health centers serve more than 52 million people in over 17,000 communities nationwide, making them the largest primary care network, And whereas community health centers improve the health of their communities by providing integrated services including primary care, behavioral health, dental care, vision services, pharmacy, and preventive screenings that help reduce chronic disease and improve health outcomes. And whereas community health centers play a critical role in serving rural, suburban, and urban communities, often providing the only source of primary care while responding to public health emergencies, supporting veterans, addressing substance abuse disorders, and expanding access through school-based health centers and mobile medical units. And whereas community health centers are locally governed by patient majority boards reflecting the unique needs of the communities they serve while strengthening local economies by creating jobs and generating significant economic activity. And whereas National Health Center Week recognizes the dedicated physicians, nurses, dentists, behavioral health professionals, support staff, and community partners whose commitment ensures that quality healthcare remains accessible to all. Whereas the City of Statesville recognizes the contributions of Contegra Health in promoting a healthier Statesville and improving the quality of life for residents throughout our region. Now, therefore, I, J. Douglas Hendricks, Mayor of the City of Statesville, do hereby proclaim August 2 through 8, 2026 as National Health Center Week. The City of Statesville, in the City of Statesville, I encourage all residents to recognize the important role community health centers play in strengthening the health of our community. Congratulations. Thank you.

Would you like to say something?

THANK YOU FOR THE PROGRAMMATION RECOGNIZING NATIONAL CENTER WEEK. WE ARE TRULY GRATEFUL FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND PARTNERSHIP IN HELPING US TO CELEBRATE THE IMPORTANCE AND ROLE OF HEALTH CENTERS PLAY, IMPROVING QUALITY AFFORDABLE CARE FOR OUR COMMUNITIES. WE HAVE OUR STAFFING PROVIDERS AND COMMUNITY PARTNERS WHO WORK EVERY DAY TO ENSURE INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES RECEIVE THE CARE THEY NEED We appreciate your commitment to supporting community health and helping raise awareness of valuable service health centers that we provide. Thank you again for the leadership and honoring National Health Center Week. We look forward to continue our work together to build healthy relationships and healthy communities for all. Thank you.

Okay, we are going to move into our public comment section. And for public comment period, each person who signed up will have three minutes to speak on any topic. When you come to the podium, please state your name and address. First on the list, sorry, wrong list, is Fred Foster.

Good evening, Mayor, members of the City Council, City Manager, and members of the community. My name is Frederick Foster. I reside at 466 Charles Street in Ward 6. And I am here tonight as a resident, taxpayer, and someone who cares deeply about South Statesville. For a long time, our community has lived without a convenient access to a full access grocery store. This is about more than groceries. It's about access to fresh food, healthier choices, jobs, economic development, and the quality of life every neighborhood in Statesville deserves. During my tenure as Ward 6 City Council Representative, we made several attempts to bring a grocery store back to South Statesville. Councilwoman Doris Allison, Councilman David Jones, and I met with a developer interested in the old food line located on Shelton Avenue. Unfortunately, these, unfortunately, these negotiations did not move forward after a homicide occurred near the area. During that process, it was a setback, but we did not stop fighting for our community. We were told that grocery store might not succeed because of the population concern. I disagreed then and I disagree. Now the families are here. The senior citizens are here. The people working are here. The need is here. Tonight, I'm not asking for another term on city council. I'm asking the city council to make South Statesville a priority. I respectfully ask the mayor and every council member and the city manager to work together aggressively, pursue a grocery companies, developers, property owners, nonprofits, and other partners who can bring a full grocery store, grocery option to our community. Do not allow another year to pass without conversation or reason why it cannot be done. This is a community, give the community a clear plan. Identify obstacles, available properties, and possible incentives. Meet with potential grocers and developers. Keep residents informed and show us measurement of progress. South Statesville is not asking for state special treatment We are asking for equal attention, equal opportunity, and a fair share of investment of our tax dollars to help support, that we help support. I ask you tonight not to give up on South Statesville. Pick up the fight, bring everyone to the table, and turn conversation into action. Our community has waited long enough. The people of South Statesville deserve access, they deserve investment, and they deserve results. Thank you for your time and your service. God bless South Statesville and the entire city of Statesville. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Foster. The second on the list is Lena Grady.

My name is Lena Grady, and thank you, Mayor and Councilman, for listening. I live at 233 Harriet Lane. I'm concerned that the Dollar General and the Family Dollar Store are about to close in September in Southside. So that just leaves them a convenience store and a lot of people walk there. So I hope you'll have something planned for them in the future quickly. That's all I have.

Thank you. Next on the list is David Mays.

Good afternoon, Mayor and City Council. My name is David Mays. I live at 119 Stockton Street, apartment 108. Before that, I lived in Charlotte for three years. I'm here to speak on this, consider voting in favor of the I-77 toll lanes. I'd like to recommend to City Council that either table this or do not vote in favor. Do not get in this dogfight that Charlotte and Monroe and Arizona, we do not need to be involved in the toll decisions of charlotte region because we have a great inter interstate structure in this area and we don't need it we can stay in the charlotte region transportation organization but we don't need to get in that toll fight that is a big mess also I've experienced it for three years. If it heads this way or we get involved, they say incentives. The incentives are not bigger than the risk that we will take by being involved in the toll decisions. When we vote to get in favor of the toll or y'all vote to get in or out of it, it's just like Monroe and Aries is going to try to crawl in on Charlotte. Charlotte's already said they do not want it. I would rather them pay the 60 million versus us having more toll roads. When people are out there spending $600 a year or more and can't get their license plate tagged and you're living on a fixed income, I think half of these residents and these people in here would agree, don't get in this dog fight. And like the old saying is, if you can't run with the big dogs, stay on the porch. We need to stay on the porch on this issue because toll lanes have caused a lot of heartache. And you know that a lot of the tolls is privatized. One time they told me in the early days of the toll, it takes $68 million to get out of this and let the state run it. If you vote in favor with the Charlotte region, say can the cities have the say in how these tolls work it's too privatized city council has other things to worry about than getting totaling three years of nothing but turmoil it's not helped huntersville it's not helped uh i-485 and they just went up everybody went up so We need to stay and worry about our own interstates and worry about our own area We can we can get in Charlotte region for other reasons But vote no our table this do you really see what the turmoil is that's going Charlotte Monroe in there People threatening and doing all this mess is crazy. Please don't get in this dogfight Do not vote for the to be part of this toll you don't need to because it don't start till Morrisville and So why be part of it? Don't look at the incentive side, millions of dollars. They say if Charlotte approves $300 million, when is that ever going to come around? But please be smart. We got great interstates. They're beautiful. Don't get in this dogfight. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. May. Okay, next on the list is Miranda Bell.

My name is Miranda Bell, and I live at 2154 Deer... Okay. I live at 2454 Deerview Circle in Statesville, North Carolina. So I am going to... Well. OK, yeah, OK. So I'm going to be addressing issues of concern regarding South Statesville. So I like to say good evening and thank you for having me. Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to speak on behalf of the residents of South Iredell County, particularly those living along Shelton Avenue and within the Hidden Lakes community. Today, I want to bring attention to several urgent concerns that directly impact the health, safety and quality of life of our residents. The most immediate concern is the scheduled closure of the Dollar General store on September the 17th. For many families, seniors and individuals with limited transportation, this store serves as the primary source for groceries, household items and daily necessities. Its closure will create a significant hardship for those who already struggle to access affordable food and basic services. This issue highlights a larger problem that many residents have been discussing for years, the existence of a food desert in our community. Local officials and community organizations have reported that nearly 20,000 residents across the Idaho County experience food insecurity, demonstrating that access to food remains a serious challenge. Beyond food access, residents are concerned about public safety and infrastructure. Many areas lack adequate sidewalks, forcing children, seniors, and working families to walk along the busy roadways, improve pedestrian infrastructure, better street lighting, traffic calming measures, safer intersections are essential investments that would perfect residents and improve connectivity through the community. Transportation is another critical issue. Many residents do not have easy access to reliable transportation and depend on nearby services for food, health care, employment, and other necessities. As the area continues to develop, transportation solutions must be a part of the revitalization effort. Our community is also calling for beautification initiatives. Residents want cleaner streets, attractive landscaping, improved public spaces, and investment that fosters pride in the neighborhood we call home. As the area continues to develop, transportation solutions must be a part of our revitalization effort. Beautification is not just about the appearance. It is about creating an environment that encourages economic growth, attracts business, and improves quality of life.

Thank you, Ms. Pailton.

You're welcome.

Appreciate you. All righty, we will move on to the consent agenda. All items below are considered to be routine by city council and will be enacted by one motion. There will be no separate discussion on these items unless a council member requests. In which event, the item will be removed from consent agenda and considered with the other items listed in the regular agenda. The items on the consent agenda this evening are item A, consider approving the July 9, 2026 pre-agenda meeting minutes and the July 13th, 2026 regular meeting minutes. Item B is consider approving the 2026 Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization's 2026 Memorandum of Understanding. Item C is consider approving the first reading of an ordinance to amend Article 5, automatic alarm system regulations. Item D has been removed from the agenda. Item E is consider approving the sole source vendors for the City of Statesville for apparatus, supplies and materials or other equipment in accordance with NCGS 143-129E6. Item F is consider approving the installation of a nine foot tall contemporary sculpture titled Fantasia at the northernmost corner of the median between Debo Street, Light Street, and West Water Street. Item G is consider approving the first reading of an ordinance establishing the Third Creek Sewer Line project fund. Item H is consider approving budget amendment 2027-01 to accept the NCDOT Aviation Economic Development Grant in the amount of $1,960,000 for construction of a hangar for Victory Air. Item I is consider approving the low bid from Granaco Inc. for the construction of a hangar for Victory Air in the amount of $7,143,200. Item J is consider approving an agreement with United Way of Iredell County to participate in the Iredell Housing Fund. And item K is consider approving the budget amendment 2027-02 to move interest revenue into an expense account to be used for purchasing property located at 346 Bethlehem Road, Statesville NC for the purpose of future growth of the airport. Are there any items on the consent agenda that need to be moved to the regular agenda? Hearing none, is there a motion to approve the consent agenda?

So moved.

Second.

We have a motion and a second. Any more discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Thank you. We will now move into the regular agenda. ITEM NINE IS CONSIDER VOTING IN FAVOR OF I-77 SOUTH EXPRESS TOLL LANES AT THE SEPTEMBER 16, 2026 CRTPO BOARD MEETING. AND MS. TAMARA WEEKS HAS A PRESENTATION. NEW SPEAKERS. NEW SPEAKERS.

THANK YOU, MAYOR, AND GOOD EVENING, COUNCIL. I'M HERE TO TALK ABOUT THE I-77 SOUTH EXPRESS TOLL LANES. SO BEFORE I START, I WAS JUST GOING TO COVER TWO ACRONYMS THAT I WAS GOING TO BE USING THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE PRESENTATION. The first is the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization, which is our federal federally recognized organization for transportation planning. This includes Iredell, Mecklenburg and Union. And this organization does help with competitive transportation funding. Second, we have the State Transportation Improvement Program. This is the long range transportation plan that helps identify competitive construction funds for transportation. AND FOR THE RECORD, CRTPO IS THE ONLY PERSON THAT CAN INSERT TOLL LANE PROJECTS INTO THE STIP. SO THIS PROJECT STARTS IN 2014 WHEN CRTPO FIRST SUBMITTED THE I-77 SOUTH EXPRESS TOLL LANES INTO THE STIP FOR FUNDING. AT THIS TIME THERE WAS NO FUNDING ATTACHED TO THE STIP. AS YOU CAN SEE IT IS ABOUT 11 MILES GOING FROM UPTOWN CHARLOTTE DOWN TO THE SOUTH CAROLINA BORDER. THIS PROJECT WAS GOING TO BE AROUND $6 MILLION. NO, I'M SORRY, $3.2 BILLION WITH $6 MILLION COMING FROM THE STATE. AND THAT IS IT FOR THAT ONE. SO THEN WE MOVE ON TO OCTOBER 2024. THIS IS WHEN CRTPO AND NCDOT CAME TOGETHER TO MOVE FORWARD WITH A PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP OR A P3 FUNDING DELIVERY MECHANISM. THEY DID SAY THAT THIS WAS THE ONLY WAY TO GET THIS PROJECT MOVING FORWARD. P3 funding delivery process was going to be the fastest timeline with also the least amount of public taxes covering for this. This photo is an elevated toll lane design. This was selected because they said it had the least amount of interference with neighborhoods. In 2024, this is also when the public started pushing back on the potential designs because where it was going to be designed and constructed, it did impact historically black neighborhoods. So then in May of this year, the city of Charlotte and the CRTPO board at two separate events voted to rescind their support of the I-77 South Express toll lane due to increased pushback due to the designs. With that, in June 2026, the state budget pushed a new amendment that requires all municipalities that vote in opposition to the I-77 South Express toll lanes to reimburse NCDOT for the work completed thus far. NCDOT has completed about $60 million in work thus far. If we were to vote no, we would have to be responsible for about $1.6 million. In addition to that, we would get no money for repaving any roads, no more state funding, And until that money is paid back, we also would not be able to submit any new projects into the STIP. After this amendment, multiple municipalities individually decided to rescind their rescindion or vote in favor of the I-77 South Express toll lanes. So then during the July 2026 CRTPO board meeting, members called for a revote for the toll lane project during the September board meeting. STAFF DOES RECOMMEND THAT COUNCIL ADOPT THE OFFICIAL POSITION TO VOTE IN FAVOR OF THE I-77 SOUTH EXPRESS TOW LAINS DURING THE SEPTEMBER CRTPO BOARD MEETING AND THAT WOULD SPECIFICALLY BE COUNCIL MEMBER DAVID JONES BECAUSE HE IS OUR CRTPO BOARD MEMBER. THANK YOU. ANY QUESTIONS?

THANK YOU, MS. FINKES. DO WE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR MS. WEEKS?

JUST WANT TO MAKE A COUPLE COMMENTS.

PLEASE, DAVID.

Ms. Weeks, welcome to the city of Statesville. You've been on the job how long so far?

About two and a half months.

Yeah. Stepping into the fire. I love it. Just want to make a couple of comments about the process. The planning started way beyond 2024. The planning for most of these transportation projects can be up to 10 years. So this is a project that's been on the books and been studied for years. And it was determined that a private public partnership was really gonna be the only option to meet the emerging traffic needs in Charlotte. And basically what they're talking about is it's 11 mile run from the center of Charlotte to the South Carolina border. Now it's extremely complicated because you've got all the bridges to deal with as well. So it is a very complicated project. I have sat on Carpo for about six years and that is all we've heard is the complexity of this project and carpo is a multiple it is a Planning organization of the three counties as presented to include all the municipalities within those counties and each one of them have a weighted vote so obviously if you look at the number of votes, there's 74 total votes and Charlotte carries 31 votes and So Charlotte carries the weight in the vote, as they should, because a lot of that's based off population. But that's how CARPO is structured. That's how the Metropolitan Planning Organization works. Now, CARPO, as designed, all they do is make recommendations and requests, and that is correct. A totaling project has to be approved by a Metropolitan Planning Board. And then once that's been approved, then the North Carolina DOT takes the project and runs with it. So the North Carolina DOT does the design. CARPO has no input in what the design is. And what happened is when the design got brought to the public, then the citizens of Charlotte were up in arms. And then that's when they went to their city council and they went to the county commissioners of Mecklenburg County to rescind their support. And that's what took place back in May. It came on the agenda, not as a scheduled vote, but it was an unscheduled agenda item. And that's where we are today. And what happened was the chairman of the DOT was in the room and all the senior North Carolina DOT officials were in the room and no one could identify the impact of voting against and withdrawing the support for the P3 project. And that's why we have this vote here today. So I will stop with that.

I appreciate that. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Anyone have questions for Ms. Weeks? Okay. Is there a motion of how we want to proceed on the toll lanes?

Mayor, I'd like to make a motion. This motion is not, saying that the City of Statesville is in favor or against a public-private partnership. This motion is in support of what has been in planning process for years, years. The state has already spent $60 million. And based off of the state's DOT staff, senior staff, recommending to continue on with the project, I make a motion that the City of Statesville continues the support of what the project was designed all along And the net effect of this for the citizens of Statesville, if we vote against it, we will possibly increase our general fund tax rate by at least 3%. That negatively affects the citizens of Statesville. So that is my motion, is to continue the project as it's been planned for for the last 10 years.

Thank you, Mr. Jones. Do we have a second for Mr. Jones' motion?

When I say this, I understand the dynamics of change. But in the process, we're going to save, you're saying we're going to save a million dollars in this process?

We're not. If the million dollars that would be charged back to the states is an intangible asset that the citizens will have never touched or seen, we will get nothing in return for it but increased taxes.

Increased taxes. And people who are traveling back and forth with these tolls, family members who may have to go back and forth to the hospital. I had experience on the toll. It depends on the distance of traveling, you know, how much activity is done. It went from $3, and then it go to the next step and went to $6. Then it dropped back down to $4. Then it dropped up to $5.50, $5.60, kept changing. And I'm up here saying just one way would cost somebody almost $50 or $60 to get to a destination. And if you have to travel down that road, you have a child that's sick, you have a child or family member that needs you, you know, and you there. THIS IS HARD FOR ME, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE THEN WE SAY, WHAT IS THE CITY WILL BE LOSING AND GIVING BACK? WELL, WHAT WOULD THE RESIDENTS, THE PEOPLE IN STATES, FOR THE PEOPLE THAT'S THERE, WHAT ARE THEY LOSING? SO I'M, IT'S LIKE, IF YOU DO IT, YOU'RE WRONG. IF YOU DON'T DO IT, YOU'RE WRONG. BUT THAT'S MY REASON WHY I CANNOT AFFORD TO BE ABLE TO SAY, BECAUSE I'M LOOKING AT WHAT'S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW AND THE WAY THE ECONOMY IS and all the pain and suffering that you go through. And it's a choice. I'm saying that sometimes it's not a choice. It depends on the situation that you're in. So I cannot be in favor of this vote.

Mr. Mayor, I second the motion. OK, we have a motion and a second. Is there any further discussion?

Yeah, I'd like to clarify, just to make sure everybody's on the same page, is, and this is for everybody here as well, this is not really an argument about whether you like toll lanes or don't like toll lanes. This is really just a vote to clarify that Statesville doesn't want to get fined by the DOT, because CRTPO spent, or DOT spent $60 million on this study. The state statute is that if the Regional Transportation Authority THE CITY OF STATESVILLE VOTES AGAINST IT THAT WE WOULD BE AGAINST IT THAT WE WOULD BE AGAINST IT THAT WE WOULD BE FORCED TO REIMBURSE THE STATE FORCED TO REIMBURSE THE STATE FORCED TO REIMBURSE THE STATE ON THAT. ON THAT. ON THAT. SO ALL THIS VOTE IS, IS DO WE SO ALL THIS VOTE IS, IS DO WE SO ALL THIS VOTE IS, IS DO WE WANT TO PAY A FINE OR NOT? WANT TO PAY A FINE OR NOT? WANT TO PAY A FINE OR NOT? AND SO WHETHER OR NOT WE LIKE AND SO WHETHER OR NOT WE LIKE AND SO WHETHER OR NOT WE LIKE THE TOLL LANES IS ALMOST BESIDE THE TOLL LANES IS ALMOST BESIDE THE TOLL LANES IS ALMOST BESIDE THE POINT. THE POINT. THE PO

This is not a public comment. You're disrupting the meeting, ma'am, please. We have a motion and a second. One thing I would like is for either Mr. Jones or Ms. Weeks to explain the ongoing consequences. Not only is there 1.6 million or whatever that the city of Statesville would have to pay to the DOT, there's some ongoing issues related to our PAL funding, I understand, and maybe... You want to manage our...

can address the Powell funding, and then I'll talk the other piece.

Ms. Weeks, correct me if I'm wrong. So the city of Statesville gets about a million dollars a year in what's called Powell bill funding. This is money that comes from the state, and we predominantly use that to repave the streets in Statesville. For those of you that live in Statesville, you would probably say, well, we need to do a better job of the paving in Statesville, and I would agree with that. SO LOSING ANY MONEY ON THE POWELL BILL FUNDING WOULD BE A TERRIBLE BLOW TO THE CITY BECAUSE WE WOULD HAVE TO AUGMENT THAT IN OTHER WAYS. WE'RE ALREADY PUTTING $500,000 THIS YEAR IN ADDITION. THAT'S CITY MONEY THAT GOES ON TOP OF THE POWELL BILL FUNDING. SO ANY HOLE WE DIG OURSELVES INTO IS JUST GOING TO MAKE IT HARDER AND HARDER. to get the streets repaved in the city of Statesville. So that 1.6 million, which is actually what it is, that we would be penalized through the CRTPO decision, add about a million to that, and that's really what the penalty would end up being.

You're not on City Council.

Mayor, I'm going to address a couple of questions here and answers. Back in May, when this vote came up in the CARPO, I said to the chairman of the North Carolina DOT, I said, I'm gonna say a positive thing and a negative thing. The positive thing, North Carolina DOT did an amazing job on I-40 after Helene. It was a $1 billion project, and they put I-40 back in operation. Very, very difficult. VERY CUMBERSOME PROJECT AND I I TIPPED MY HAT TO NORTH CAROLINA DOT AND ALL THE OTHER PARTNERS THAT GOT THAT UP AND RUNNING AGAIN AND THAT WAS THROUGH THE MOST TREACHEROUS TERRAIN IN THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA NOW THE NEGATIVE THING IS I'M NOT FOR TOLL ROADS AT ALL I-77 IS ONE OF THE MAJOR GATEWAYS INTO NORTH CAROLINA And I didn't understand why we didn't have another option to go through Charlotte without having a toll. We can go through Greensboro where you got I-40 and I-85, there's no toll. You can go through Raleigh on I-40. It's been under construction for 15 years or more and there's no toll. You can get through Raleigh and it's nice. And I didn't understand why we never had an option other than a private partnership deal. This motion is not about whether you like tolls or not. This motion is strictly to avoid a penalty. This decision was going to be made irregardless because of Charlotte's weighted vote. Charlotte's going to do what they want to do. Mecklenburg County is going to do what they want to do. That's their community. I will tell you, Statesville is extremely blessed to have I-40 and I-77, and that project is completed. No tolls. And it's amazing. Lane construction did a great job. The North Carolina DOT did a great job. This vote has nothing to do with that. This vote has everything to do with the planning process and not penalizing the citizens of Statesville, $1,600,000. That's what this is all about.

Okay, we have a- Mr. Mayor, can I ask a question of staff? Can we revisit the projects that we have in the STIP? And if we vote no, how does that impact the projects that we currently have in the line?

Currently in the step and the one that's going out right now That would be the airplane hangar extension to 800 feet of 8,000 feet If we vote no we would not be able to submit any projects into the step until the money is paid back and the step I Would say the scores are due Late August, early September. So we would probably miss that deadline.

Thank you. Good question.

Something else to keep in mind. Most likely this vote will go in Charlotte and the other municipalities that vote to rescind their decision. There's going to be a legal battle. That's another consequence that the city of Statesville does not want to participate in is a legal battle over this as well.

Is there another city that has, who are some of the cities that have denied this?

I will tell you, that the city of Statesville, Troutman, and Morrisville all voted alike. Iredell County was not present for the vote. I will tell you that Union County and all the municipalities inside Union County voted to continue just as Statesville did. The people who voted that I think will vote against this, I don't know, but most likely Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, and Huntersville, and possibly Davidson.

Okay, we have a motion and a second on the floor. Any further discussion from council? Okay. All in favor of David's motion to continue our vote in favor of the toll lanes to avoid us having to pay $1.6 million. Say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Okay. Motion carries seven to one. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Weeks. Great job. Item 10 is conduct a public hearing and consider passing the first reading of an ordinance to impose 150-day moratorium on the acceptance, processing, and approval of applications for new telecommunications and data centers within the City of Statesville and its extraterritorial zoning jurisdiction pursuant to NCGS 16D-107, And we'll open the public hearing.

Thank you, Mayor. The Planning Department recently identified that our Unified Development Code does not adequately address the unique characteristics and potential impacts of modern-day data centers. Rather than waiting until applications are submitted under outdated standards, the City Council, working under a united theme of good governance, has directed staff to proactively review and update our regulations through a transparent public process, specifically through enacting a 150-day data center moratorium. North Carolina courts disfavor complete bans on legal uses. Therefore, it is important to understand the moratorium is a temporary ban and not a permanent decision. The city recognizes that data centers are an essential part of today's economy and that data centers do have impacts on our infrastructure and the environment. The moratorium will allow the city to consider concerns raised by the public and craft definitions, rules, and processes for data centers that balance evolving technologies with our broader community vision. If the data center moratorium is approved this evening, it will officially go into effect from the date of the second reading, meaning that any applications received during that timeframe would not be processed until the city's unified development code is updated and the suspension lifted. The Compass Data Center facility previously approved on Stamey Farm Road would not be subject to the moratorium, nor would any new and complete applications received before the moratorium begins in accordance with state law. Currently, the city has no applications submitted for new data centers. However, we have had a handful of inquiries. We appreciate anyone who's come out this evening to share whether or not the city should enact the data center moratorium and or provide valuable input to the city council and staff on how data centers should be regulated within Statesville's jurisdiction. Written comments can be provided by utilizing the QR code, email, or website on the screen. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Ms. Martin. Okay, are there any council questions for Ms. Martin? Hearing none, we will move into the public hearing portion. We have a lot of folks that have signed up. First on our list is Laurie Brown.

I'm Laurie Brown. I live in Beverly Heights. Good evening, Mr. Mayor, council members. Mr. Smith, thank you for the opportunity to participate in this discussion on moratoriums, which I support. Our current UDC requires a modernized framework so the infrastructure requirements and community trade-offs are proportionally aligned and capitalized with the scale and fluidity of this category of modern development. We need updated use specific performance metrics that give both the city and applicants clear, predictable expectations for these specialized facilities and the systems supporting them. When it comes to land use and zoning, speed without structure is a liability, not an asset, so sorry. Under NC law, once a zoning classification or regulation is enacted, subsequent amendments that restrict property rights can trigger downsizing protections and legal complications. If we rush to pass broad legislation, that falls short of community priorities, we cannot simply go back and tighten them up later without directly getting into downzoning constraints. Getting these ordinances right the first time takes a deliberate, rigorous, structured effort. And that precision takes time. Therefore, in addition to supporting a moratorium I RESPECTFULLY REQUEST THE COUNCIL CONSIDER A ONE-YEAR MORATORIUM. WE MUST USE THIS TIME TO DEFINE OUR PATH AND CREATE A STRUCTURE THAT CAN BE SUSTAINED AT SCALE. SPEED IS EASY. INTEGRITY IS DELIBERATE. At the very least, at the very least, if the council must advance a shorter timeframe, I would ask that you at least meet your intention of the 150 day moratorium. A standard 150 calendar day timeline includes weekends, administrative closures and holidays, leaving staff with not even 100 days, 100 working days to conduct technical studies, DRAFT ORDINANCE TEXT, AND COMPLETE THE REQUIRED PUBLIC HEARING CYCLES. ADJUSTING THE MORATORIUM TO 150 TRUE WORKING DAYS FROM SEPTEMBER THE 14TH TO APRIL THE 22ND, ENSURE STAFF HAS THE BARE MINIMUM TIME NEEDED TO DRAFT A DURABLE, LEGALLY SOUND FRAMEWORK THAT SUPPORTS REAL ACTIONABLE ACCOUNTABILITY. INSIGHT ALONE DOES NOT EQUAL INTEGRATION. Taking this time to align our code with modern industrial and technologically advanced realities allows us to guide development on our terms, protecting our worth and our potential. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Ms. Brown. Next on the list is Christian Smith. Thank you, Mr. Smith.

all right thank you guys all right so what i have is a word of caution all right i think this moratorium sounds good on the surface it says in there a temporary pause on the acceptance processing and approval of new data center applications that does sound good but i'm not sure it is so good you know it reminds me of the uh THE FRUIT THAT ADAM AND EVE ATE IN THE GARDEN, RIGHT? IT WAS PLEASANT TO THE EYES. IT WAS DESIRABLE. BUT WHAT HAPPENED? THEY ATE IT AND SIN AND DEATH CAME. AND THANK GOD FOR JESUS. THANK GOD WE HAVE THAT. BUT IT ALSO REMINDS ME OF THE TROJAN HORSE. WHAT WAS THE TROJAN HORSE? THE TROJAN HORSE WAS A TRICK DESIGNED AS A GIFT. I THINK THAT'S WHAT THIS MAY BE. WHY DO I THINK THAT? WELL, DURING THE MORATORIUM, IT SAYS CITY STAFF WILL REVIEW THE UNIFIED DEVELOPMENT CODE AND DEVELOPED RECOMMENDATIONS ON HOW FUTURE DATA CENTERS SHOULD BE REGULATED. WHAT DOES THAT TELL YOU? WHAT DOES THAT MAKE YOU THINK WHEN YOU HEAR THAT, FUTURE DATA CENTERS? IT MAKES ME THINK THAT THE DATA CENTERS ARE COMING. makes me think that they're coming whether we like it or not. Today I was listening to the meeting from last August about the Stamey Farm Road data center. What happened to that? Did a lot of people want that? Did we want that? It doesn't seem like we did, but it came anyways. What happened? Our voice was not heard, right? They weren't heard on Stamey. Why do you think they're gonna be heard now with this 150-day moratorium? I don't know if they will, but our voices, they are many, are they? They matter. I believe they matter and I believe they have meaning. And they matter because they have meaning and they have meaning because we are the people that make up Statesville, right? So I think that this moratorium does not go far enough. I don't think it goes far enough because what happens after the 150 days, whether it's the 150 days you say it is or it's the 150 true days, what happens after that? Now, what I would like to see, I don't know if anybody else would like to see it, but I would like to see a ban. I like that one year ban idea. I would like to see a ban until BECAUSE THE STAMY ROAD ONE IS COMING WHETHER WE LIKE IT OR NOT, AND WE DON'T LIKE IT. BUT IT'S COMING, AND I THINK WE SHOULD HAVE A BANDA WHERE WE CAN SEE THE REAL TIME, REAL WORLD EFFECTS OF THIS DATA CENTER, HOW IT AFFECTS OUR COMMUNITY, LET IT GO WITH SUMMER, SEE HOW IT HANDLES THE HEAT. I think that would be good, and I think it would also be helpful to study the data centers that are also within our area, some that may be comparable to this one. I don't know if there are. This one's huge. It's 500 megawatts, I believe. But we could study that and see those effects. And really what we want is we just want transparency, true transparency, and we want our voices to be heard. Thank you, and God bless you.

Thank you, Mr. Smith. Thank you, Mr. Smith. Next on the list is Samuel Berry. Okay, we'll move on. Caroline Campbell. Thank you, Ms. Campbell.

My name is Caroline Campbell and I live on Woodland Road. I'd like to start by saying I'm not against growth. I'm not against technology, businesses, or economic development. But I do think we need to ask ourselves this, is this the right kind of development for Statesville? And is this the right location for it? Once we start building these subdivisions and buildings and roads, we'll no longer be able to change our minds. We need to slow down and take a very serious look at what we are giving up in exchange for this development. First, let's look at the high paying jobs they're promising. Most of those jobs will be construction related. Some of them will be inside setting up the data center, but soon the computers will take over and they will not need the majority of those jobs. Look at water consumption. This is one of our biggest concerns and I understand that there have been some improvements in this area As far as the old data centers using more water than the new ones, I think I heard that the new one would be a water loop system and that it would not use as much water. However, I've been trying to do some research and in Cheyenne, Wyoming, this same system was used and it was found that it had contaminated their sewer system with a terrible bacteria. Also considering that most of the summer we have all been on water restriction, I feel blessed that we did not have anything else draining our water supply. Our next concern is the electrical costs and the consumption that the data centers will use an enormous amount of electricity and who pays for all this. I also heard a report just a few days ago from Greensboro that there was a data center there using 20 megawatts for their facility. That's about the amount used to power 15,000 homes. Now, let's look at the noise pollution. Data centers have constant noise because they have to run cooling systems, mechanical equipment, fans, backup generators. This noise goes on 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. I just saw a blog yesterday from Erin Brockovich. I know we're all familiar with her. She's been in touch with many people in many of the states around and the impact of the data centers on these places. People have told her that there's been significant changes in wildlife where any of these data centers are. People are telling her the animals are gone. They're telling her that the birds are gone. and the bees are gone, which we have to have for our crops. In my research, I have read that in Texas, there are several areas with data centers that are reporting some very severe complications. One was a cattle farmer that since he said that data center had come into his town, every calf born had been a stillborn. Not one or two, every one of them. Thank you, Ms. Campbell. That concerns me as a woman. I'm thinking how does this affect maybe humans?

Thank you so much for your comments this evening.

Other farmers in Texas say that the constant noise, am I out of town?

Yes. And thank you, thank you so much. Thank you for being willing to yield your time. We have a lot of people that would like to say something. I appreciate you. Erin Most.

My name is Erin Most. I live in Troutman, about seven miles from the Stamey Farm Road site. I don't vote for any of you, but this ordinance reaches beyond the city limits into the ETJ and water, roads, and the county tax base don't stop the city lines. I support this moratorium. I have three requests and one question. First, please consider adopting this moratorium tonight, effective on adoption. Tonight is the first reading. If this doesn't take effect until September 14th, that's a filing window measured in weeks. I'd ask staff to tell you how many data center inquiries are in front of them right now and whether any of them would count as pending and therefore exempt. And if it does come back for a second reading, please take it up as a discussion item and not on the consent agenda. Second, put the city manager's list inside the ordinance. General Statute 160D-107 requires this ordinance to state the actions the city will take and the schedule for them. Mr. Smith's message already names four, defining the data centers, identifying appropriate zoning districts, deciding whether the additional standards are needed, and balancing infrastructure against community impact. But a message isn't binding, the ordinance is. So I'd ask that those four go into the action statement along with three more. Water and cooling standards, noise measured from inside the nearest home, not just the property line, and a standard set of conditions attached to any approval as a numbered exhibit. Third, here's why the last one matters. Mr. Smith wrote that one of the primary reasons for this moratorium is to apply what was learned from the Compass process. Referencing the ZC25-13 ordinance as it appears in the October 6th packet, pages 35 to 41, the permitted use limitation does survive in the title. But the words buffer, trafficked impact analysis, NCDOT, and landscaping don't appear anywhere in it from what I saw. I am not alleging that the Compass project has no conditions. The signed copy in the clerk's file may carry an exhibit that I haven't seen, and that is my question. Does it? I'd ask staff to confirm that tonight or in writing. Either way, conditions belong in the ordinance itself, numbered, attached, and signed by the applicant. That way, what gets promised at a podium is what actually binds. Statesville can set the standard here. Careful ordinances that put residents first and a model that other cities can follow. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Most. Mr. Bryan Sudden.

Mr. Mayor, Council, thank you for the opportunity to speak to you tonight concerning this issue. Relative, I feel like I've been invited too late to a party that Stuff has happened, and the proposal for the ban that you have on the agenda tonight is probably inadequate in totality going forward, but it certainly doesn't address what's already been done. And the harm that's been done to our county is irreparable. The county, for some years, has had a phenomenal communication system. to advise everybody or singly individual areas of county when there's an issue, a rabid animal, a water shortage, or whatever. None of that was used to communicate to the county citizens that there was going to be a hearing or a meeting for the Stamey Farm project. Nothing. We were totally blindsided. What happened is it smells like a backroom deal. I mean, there's no other way to describe it from a citizen's perspective. But the city of Statesville met with the folks of Stamey Farms and decided what was going to happen in the county and impact county residents. That's unconscionable. I have lived in the city for over 20 years. I now have lived in the county. close to Stamey Farm, within 2.63 miles of Stamey Farm for the last 20 years. We moved there to enjoy the tranquil environment of the county rural setting. And this is changing it dramatically. The EMF output, the noise, and so on. So I've got some questions that I'd like to address. And I'll give you the list. First of all foremost has any city official county official? Entered into an NDA agreement over this steamy farm project It should never be allowed in any ongoing project is the developer bearing the cost of infrastructure to access access to required levels of water and electrical consumption or is that going to be burdened on the taxpayer and the utility customer What is the continuous electrical draw and does the local grid need new transmission or generation to serve it? Who will bear the cost of these additional facilities? I read somewhere today that each building's gonna have five, 40 generators. Five buildings, that's 200 generators. That's an awful lot of noise pollution, environmental pollution, so on. I'm glad to be able to hand you these questions. Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Mr. Sutton. Lena, you had also signed up on here. Did you want to speak on this issue also? Okay, it's your turn.

Good evening again. Thank you for your time, Mayor and Council people. My name is Lena Grady. I live at 233 Harriet Lane, Statesville, North Carolina. I hope you don't approve any data center. I'm hating the one that's coming.

That's our Lena, short and sweet. Thank you, Ms. Grady. The next name I cannot read, is it Jeff? Jeff Tucker? Thank you, Jeff.

good afternoon my name is Jeff Tucker and I live at 211 Ashbrook Road I'm about less than a mile from the project center I went to work on Stamey farm when I was five years old or 12 years old I grew up there spent my whole life there I come and spoke at the first meeting we had less than a two-day notice I found out later my seat that represents me had been vacant on this board for two years in your JTA. So I had zero representation against not being a city, not living in the city. So when I come to me and I ask y'all to look at just pause, we didn't even know what data centers was. That's a new phrase. Y'all have been working on it for a couple years, but I ask y'all to take a pause and look at the angles and look at the pluses and the minuses because this was big, big stuff, bigger than anything that ever happened. I didn't speak at the second one because when I looked around the board at the first one, it was just blank stares from everybody. And I see a lot of new faces here, so I'm optimistic. And I've been praying a lot since then. And thank you, Jesus, that y'all are considering 150-day moratorium. God does answer prayers. So with that, I would like this time... I come down here thinking 150 was going to include Stamey Farm and I think I heard that it does not include Stamey Farm. So if that's the case, y'all need to pull a white rabbit out of the hat and it needs to include Stamey Farm because you have so disgraced this county for what you've done to us. So this time, like the other gentleman spoke, he told you not to be the big dogs on the porch. I know a bunch of y'all, and I want y'all to be the big dogs on the porch. Y'all have lived your whole life here too, most of you, I think. So what I want to request this time, is that you give us a full and transparent assessment, good and bad, because in the last six months since this has come down, the whole nation is aware of what data centers are and all of the negatives, and there's good and bad in it, I guess, but I'd like to know the big picture, what all these data centers are needed for, but that's a different story. But what I would like to see, three things. I would like for y'all to address what's been addressed here, the community effects of other data centers. We need to know that. You need to look at all those data centers around and populate. We've got a very populated area. That's what really bothered me. And number two, the water use has been addressed. Some say they told me they didn't even need any water at the first one. Well, we would like to have full disclosure of the power. Since we've had this meeting, Trump touted packaged nuclear units that he was putting on C-30s that was capable of running mining centers, a mining operation, or a data center. Now, think about that. If we get out into the future, we have no clue what it is. So, yeah, you need to look at a whole lot of stuff. Thank you, Mr. Tucker. And I would like you all to set up a committee. And in 120 days, give us some transparency. I'm a county. I live in the county. I pay no city tax. I have no representation. And I can't vote for you. So, I mean, where is our representation? So at least give us accountability and set up a committee and study this thing. And I would be for a ban and pull that white rabbit out of the hat and put Stamey Farm back in it.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Mr. Tucker. Mr. Cam Land.

Members of the council, Mr. Mayor, thank you for letting me speak tonight. I want to start off by saying there is absolutely no reason the Stamy Farm Data Center project should be exempt from this moratorium. You're being at last asked to allow a massive industrial facility into our community, one that could affect our residents, our property values and all of our resources and our quality of life for decades. And yet somehow we are considering giving this project a free pass from the very safeguards that are now being discussed for future data centers. Why should this project get special treatment? If this moratorium is necessary because our community needs time to understand the consequences of data centers, then that need for information does not magically disappear because one particular project has already been proposed. In fact, I would argue that it makes the need for a moratorium even more important. We need stronger safeguards before any data center is built in Statesville. And I believe this moratorium should prohibit all new data center construction for at least the next two years. TWO YEARS IS NOT UNREASONABLE WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT SOMETHING THAT COULD IMPACT OUR COMMUNITY FOR GENERATIONS. TWO YEARS GIVES OUR CITY AND THE COUNTY THE OPPORTUNITY TO STUDY THE ISSUES THAT INVOLVE BUILDING DATA CENTERS AND THE LONG-TERM EFFECT ON QUALITY OF LIFE FOR THE PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY HAVE TO LIVE BESIDE THEM. We should not be making decades long commitment when we still have unanswered questions. We just experienced drought conditions where ordinary citizens were asked to limit their water usage. Will the data center be asked to limit their water usage? And if so, can that facility even operate under those restrictions? These aren't hypothetical questions. These are questions that should have clear answers before construction begins. Then there's the noise. For the people living near this facility, this isn't going to be something simply that they can turn off. They can't close an app. They can't unplug it. They can't go anywhere. Every night they go home to this noise. This is going to be their home. And this proposed data center is less than a mile from a school where our children play outside. So I have to ask, what do we know about the long-term impact of living near a facility like this? I don't know. And I don't think many of you know either. BUT APPARENTLY WE'RE WILLING TO MOVE FORWARD ANYWAY. WE'RE WILLING TO GAMBER WITH OUR CHILDREN'S FUTURE BEFORE WE HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS. THAT IS NOT RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT. AND THEN THERE'S THE ISSUE OF PROPERTY VALUES. MR. SAMEY MAY RECEIVE TOP DOLLAR FOR HIS LAND, BUT WHAT ABOUT THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE IMMEDIATELY AROUND IT? WHAT HAPPENS TO THEIR HOMES? WHAT HAPPENS TO THEIR PROPERTY VALUES? WHAT HAPPENS TO THEIR ABILITY TO ENJOY THE PLACE THEY'VE INVESTED THEIR LIFE SAVINGS INTO? one person should not be able to make a substantial financial gain while the surrounding community absorbs the potential cost and consequences i hope you will consider i hope you will consider the homeowners who could potentially see their property values and quality of life affected by this project because this isn't just about mr staney's property it's about everyone else's property too we keep hearing about the economic benefits we hear about the tax revenue we hear about the improvements to infrastructure but I have yet to hear someone stand before this community and explain to us why this is good for the people that actually live here. Because economic development should never mean that ordinary citizens have to sacrifice their quality of life for someone else's financial gain. And I believe... I believe that if the citizens of the community were given a meaningful opportunity to vote on whether they want a massive data center in their neighborhood or their schools, the answer would be very clear. Please do not exempt Stamy from this moratorium.

Thank you, Mr. Land. Thank you, Mr. Land. Mr. Michael Dean.

Hello, everyone.

I'm Michael Dean. I'm here to speak on behalf of the Catawba Valley DSA. Really, I'm here to speak on behalf of the average person who is fed up with predetermined politics from the representatives who don't listen to the people. We don't want to see our farmland unanimously rezoned for data centers despite public pushback. We don't want to see our electricity bill increased to subsidize them. We don't want our water sent to cool servers while the rest of us face water restrictions. that people are tired of being sold out to corporations by the people in office to serve us. I know that nearly every member on the city council talks about being engaged in the community in your bio on the city's website. I'm asking you to look around at the community and really consider if you're living up to that. There are so many other projects that the people would be excited to see you bring in. I urge you to pass the data center moratorium for the proposed minimum and include provisions to extend to 12 months based on the concerns outlined by the city manager regarding a lack of robust code to zone and regulate energy and water consumption and let the people have a voice in what happens in the community.

Thank you, Mr. Dean. Charity Munro. Did I slaughter your name? Sorry.

Hello everyone, my name is Charity Monroe. Me and my daughter E over here, we reside at 562 Sharon School Road. I don't know that I can add anything or say anything any better than anybody's already said. I'm not sure why all the public, the citizens of Idaho County who are outside, who actually are against data centers. We can't drink data centers. I weren't allowed in here, and this was the first public meeting that I've been to where only the people who were signed up to speak were allowed in this room. No questions have been answered that has been asked, and the fact that it's just slithered in here like a snake really fast without anybody knowing really fast, and now we're talking about more data centers. It just seems like the government isn't concerned with what citizens really want. I could see the rest of my time to this young man or Jeff, one of these two, if they have anything else they want to share.

Thank you, Ms. Monroe. Dylan Murray.

I'll finish my questions. She's aligning her time to me. All right. What schools, hospitals, or sensitive receptors fall inside the modeled zone of impact, and what is the added cancer risk for these locations? How loud are the generators at the property line during monthly load test and how far does the noise travel? What is the noise level from the normal daily operation of the data center and what distance will it travel? What are the safeguards built in to minimize the electromagnetic field and its transmission beyond the site to the radius in the community? What community benefit commitments are being made and how will delivery be tracked publicly after approval? And what are the specific name conditions of the entitlement and what triggers permanent revocation? What has been the community experience with the proposed developer, Compass in this case, operator of this data center where they have built data centers in the other areas of the country? And is there an enforceable provision that the developer, Compass, will bear the expense of decommissioning the facility when it becomes obsolete and no longer viable. This will happen. With all technology, it does happen. And we don't want another Davis Hospital sitting out there as a haven for drug users and so on for years. And the developer must be charged with that cost.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Sutton. I apologize, Mr. Murray. You may come up now.

GOOD EVENING, MR. MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF COUNCIL. MY NAME IS DYLAN MURRAY. I LIVE ON SCOTTS CREEK ROAD AND I'VE LIVED HERE FOR ABOUT 20 YEARS. TONIGHT I'M HERE FOR THE MORATORIUM, AS YOU CAN TELL, BUT I'M VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THE 150 DAY WINDOW. AND I THINK THAT IT'S GOING TO BE A SUPERFICIAL BANDAID. I THINK THAT IT IS DESIGNED TO CLEAR A PATH FOR MORE DATA CENTERS RATHER THAN ACTUALLY PROTECT THE CITIZENS OF STATESVILLE. I URGE THE COUNCIL TO FOCUS HEAVILY ON THREE REALITIES AND THE FIRST OF THOSE IS THAT THE LAWS OF PHYSICS CAN'T BE MONITORED BY REZONING. The approved Compass facility will draw up to 500 megawatts of power. This is just reality, and it is five times the total peak power load of the entire town of Statesville. Basic thermodynamics dictates that nearly 100% of that energy will be converted into heat. This will cause a heat ring around the data center, maybe raising it up 16 degrees Fahrenheit. Secondly, the proposed 150-day rewrite will be mandating physical walls or possibly something else, I'm sure. It will somehow be able to change it so that we are able to have data centers. But this forgets that you can't just have sound trapped in. That's not how that works. Sound travels through. Scientific journals have said that long wave low-frequency hums that come from data centers. They cause sleep deprivation. They cause different health impacts for the people around Stamy Farm. And thirdly, civilians will be the one who pay. Although Compass will be paying its on-site connections, Duke Energy is actively pushing for incredibly large residential rate hikes to fund power plants and regional grids for not only Compass but the surrounding other DATA CENTERS, OTHER DATA CENTERS THAT WE MAY HAVE IN THE FUTURE. THESE HIKES, THESE POWER HIKES THAT WILL GO STRAIGHT TO RESIDENTS WILL BE PAID BY THE RESIDENTS AND NOT BY ANYONE ELSE, ESPECIALLY NOT THE DATA CENTERS. I SUGGEST THAT WE DO NOT USE A BRIEF PAUSE TO JUST UPDATE LEGAL DEFINITIONS SO THAT YOU CAN USE MORE DATA CENTERS AND MEGA CAMPUSES NEXT YEAR OR ANY OTHER TIME. I'D LIKE TO REMIND YOU THAT WE LIVE HERE. WE BREATHE THIS AIR. WE PAY THESE BILLS. We deserve a solution that protects our community and not just the city budget. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Murray. Natalie Nation.

Hi, I'm Natalie Nation. I live at 330 North Mulberry Street. I'm here with my daughter. We walked up here tonight. I didn't really prepare remarks to read. Like everyone else, I'm here because I don't want the data centers like anyone else in Statesville. I'm floored that the Staming Road one was approved in the first place. No one wants it. I don't know if you spend any time in the comments section anywhere on social media these days, but the one thing that unites everyone in Statesville is no one wants the data centers. Nobody. So I'm in favor of moratorium. I'm in favor of a lot more than that and just banning data centers outright. This is a whole case of negative externalities, right? There's no benefit to the people of states. So we don't get anything from it. We get maybe higher energy bills. We get some pollution. We get some wildlife dying off. We get nothing. We get nothing from it. It's like, what, 20 jobs? What's going to happen when the same eight companies that are trading money around contribute to this AI bubble burst? And nobody wants AI. These companies aren't making many money from it. What then? Is it like another Signal Hill Mall? Think they're going to pay to take it down? You think Duke Energy is going to lower the rates? No. No one's going to do that. It's going to be us who have to eat it. And we are squeezed from groceries, from gas prices, from everything else. Nobody wants this. Nobody in your churches, nobody in your neighborhood, nobody you know. So if you represent us, you'll you'll go hard against not having any more data centers here because clearly clearly it's the people's will that's all thank you thank you uh the next on the list is virginia and i can't read watch okay

Thank you. Cinnamon Black.

Hi, I'm Cinnamon Black. Some of you may know me. I used to work with you all. So I know the pleasure of how government works. Some of you don't know me. So let me tell you, I have a master in environmental resource. I've worked in water resource management for over 20 years. Given the state of our water resources, given the drought, given our lack of foresight for the future, to even think about having data centers come here. And the water and the energy that they use is irresponsible to do without a plan. Some of the comebacks were, well, they're not going to use a lot of water. They're going to use these cooling chemicals, essentially. So they're going to use a closed loop system. But when you look into that, what you actually find out, those chemicals, do you know what's in them? PFAS, P-F-A-S. okay you don't have to know what it stands for all you have to know is nobody wants it do you remember gen x in wilmington that's what these things are they literally mess with our reproduction okay our ability to have children that don't have defects like serious stuff And to make it worse, with our current administration, PFAS are no longer going to be regulated and have to be removed out of our water because the EPA has removed the ban. So it's not going to be taken out. IT WILL BE IN OUR STORM WATER, IT WILL BE IN OUR WASTE WATER, AND LET'S FACE IT, OUR WASTE WATER TREATMENT PLANT IS ALREADY SERIOUSLY BAD. WE'RE ALREADY POLLUTING THIRD CREEK AND THE AREA AROUND US ENOUGH. WE DON'T NEED ANY MORE OF THIS. AND THEN ALL THE PEOPLE DOWNSTREAM. IN THIS ROOM, YOU ALL ARE MAKING DECISIONS FOR MORE PEOPLE THAN OUTSIDE OF STATESVILLE. And what does this do? So many people have mentioned jobs. No, not enough to count. Better air, better health, a free pass on I-77 for that toll. No, it doesn't give us any of this. Now, yes, I do live one mile from the Stamey farm, and I didn't receive any notice for it. AND THE PEOPLE THAT ARE DOWNSTREAM AND DOWNWIND THAT I HAVE TALKED TO, NONE OF THEM EVEN KNEW THAT THIS WAS COMING. WE HAVE NOT BEEN CONSIDERED. AND AS MUCH AS IT SUCKS FOR ME, RIGHT, I AM REALLY CONCERNED THOUGH ABOUT A LOT OF OUR OTHER COMMUNITY MEMBERS THAT IT'S GOING TO DIRECTLY IMPACT PEOPLE THAT ARE DOWNWIND AND DOWNSTREAM OF THIS PROPOSED DATA CENTER AND ANY OTHER DATA CENTER THAT WE MAY PUT IN. NOW I'M GOING TO TALK ABOUT SOMETHING THAT'S GOING TO MAKE YOU REALLY UNCOMFORTABLE, ESPECIALLY THE WHITE PEOPLE. But what we know is that areas like these data centers keep going into historically black, predominantly black communities and peoples of color. They're not going into mostly white neighborhoods. It's no difference here. Look in Edgecombe County, look at Mississippi, look at all of these issues and what they are doing to these communities and poor communities as well. It's preying on these communities, knowing that they can't do anything to come and activate

Thank you, Ms. Black.

Thank you.

Thank you. Lana Van Drake.

Good evening.

My name is Lonnie Van Drake and I live on Prospect Road in Statesville, North Carolina. We've all touched on the water and the power grid. What I wanted to say is I do stand in support of the moratoriums. And whether we want to acknowledge it or not, North Carolina is being poached for its resources and rural landscape, including Statesville. Many counties are placing themselves in a moratorium. What they don't know is that after that moratorium finishes, many data center companies are preparing an onslaught of data center proposals for North Carolina. For instance, HB Next, a conglomerate company working in Mooresville, which was acquired in 2022 by Warren Equity Partners and five private entities, including foreign-backed interest, is planning a campaign in 2027 to acquire land for the sole purpose of data center placement. and they are not the only ones. Amazon, Microsoft, and others are preparing for a wave of data center proposals for 2027, like I said before. I am asking for an extended moratorium for our community, if not just for the reasons of water, electricity, but for the integrity of our community. We deserve to know what is happening. We deserve the transparency of everything that goes on with these data centers and how they affect our whole community. Thank you for your time.

Thank you very much. Next on the list is Steven Aragon. Did you say he left? Okay, thank you. And Margo Holland.

Good evening, Mr. Mayor and the Councilman and the people in this room. I just have a few questions. Many of us already have said many of the facts that have been stated, but there are a few issues that need to be asked. First, I'd like to say to those who have said that we are ordinary citizens, we are not ordinary citizens. In the Declaration of Independence, it says, and even back then, we think it's a modern term, that anyone we vote into office We kind of revere what they do, and that's true. They have a huge responsibility, not only to us in this government, but to God. Accountable as they are supposed to represent us, right now we don't feel represented. We are asking you, the citizens, not to do this. Are we able to, I'm sincerely asking you, are we able to ask you a few questions that you can answer us right now? Because I'm not hearing any answers in return.

That's not typically, am I right, Leah? It's not an interaction. But know that these questions, we are keeping all the questions that have been provided to council and they will be answered.

Okay. Well, that would be great. It would be great if they were answered. may be written somehow towards a statement to where the rest of us could read it because we're genuinely asking you many people are upset which probably puts up some walls with you all but we are here to tell you we don't want it there's none of us here who do there are very few who do my understanding is the people who own this land were able to sell it to whoever is going to create this data center, that there was some type of stipulation that makes this viable to this happen. And maybe we need to look at the laws. This is a brand new frontier for everyone here, the constituency and the council and the whole of the US government. The first day Trump went into office, whether you like him or not, he brought in the three or four largest AI data people who mine and create these on his very first couple of hours of office. He didn't ask any of us. And none of us expected it to be in our residential areas. Why is that? Why does it have to be in a residential area? Now, I'm from the West Coast. Maybe you don't want to know that. But I've been here for 22 years. Many solar farms, many other areas, industrialization took place in absolute areas that were not populated. If this needs to be so we can fight and be the first amongst the world in the ability for the data analysis, then let it not be in the residential areas. Also, there's property values that are going to go down. We'll never be able to get that back. And one more statement, and I apologize for the 30 seconds over. We have a beautiful piece of art on that wall. industrialization in agriculture. For a fact, the city council and the one prior are trying to industrialize Statesville. I'm against that. And I have a lot of reasons for that. But that's not going to happen anymore on that wall with data centers to be built here. Thank you for your time.

All righty. There are no other folks on, so I will call us out of public hearing. Any additional questions from council?

Yes, Mr. Mayor, I'd just like to thank all these folks for coming out, and I appreciate all these questions. And following up on your comment, Mr. Manager, can we tell these folks that we can get answers to these questions? How should we do that?

Absolutely. So we have a site or we have a page on our website that we're going to continuously update. We have the questions that were submitted tonight. We can either post those here, send them out. We'll kind of figure out the best way to do that, but we'll get all of these that we can answer. Some we may not. We'll get those answered, and that's going to be an iterative process. So as we go through the next 150 days, if that's what's approved tonight, we're going to continue to try and get that information out to everyone that's interested.

Thank you, Mr. Presley. Any further questions from council? Is there a motion to move with the moratorium?

Mr. Mayor, I'm moved to approve the moratorium as written with one amendment to section two, subsection four. I'd like to extend the 150 days to 180 days based off of discussions with senior staff and public input this evening.

I second.

Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any further discussion? All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously. Thank you. Okay. Thank all of you folks for coming tonight. If you need to leave and save a little bit of your evening, feel free. We appreciate you coming out tonight. Okay. Item 11. Item 11 is consider approving budget amendment 2027-03.

What? Please, don't do that. I don't know.

Okay, thank you. Item 11 is consider approving budget amendment 2027-03, which appropriates fund balance to support the rollover of outstanding purchase orders. Ms. Lawrence has a presentation.

Good evening, Mayor and members of the council. Gina Lawrence, Chief Financial Officer for the City of Statesville.

The council actually- Mayor, can we hold for just one second? We can't hear over here. Okay.

Thank you, Ms. Lawrence.

THE COUNCIL ACTION BEFORE YOU THIS EVENING AUTHORIZES THE FY26 PURCHASE ORDER ROLE FORWARD FOR GOODS AND SERVICES THAT ARE CURRENTLY IN PROGRESS. THESE FUNDS HAVE ALREADY BEEN ENCUMBERED FOR CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS OR ONGOING PROJECTS THAT WERE NOT COMPLETED BY THE END OF THE FISCAL YEAR. THIS ROLE FORWARD IS A STANDARD YEAR-END ADMINISTRATIVE PROCESS PERFORMED AS PART OF THE FISCAL YEAR CLOSEOUT TO ENSURE THE FUNDING PREVIOUSLY COMMITTED FOR AUTHORIZED PURCHASES AND OBLIGATIONS REMAIN AVAILABLE IN FY27. Last week, I shared preliminary estimates for the FY26 roll forward, which following additional review and reconciliation, we determined that several purchase orders included those in those preliminary estimates were associated with established project funds. In accordance with North Carolina State Statutes 59-13.2, Appropriations established through project ordinances are considered multi-year appropriations and remain available for the life of the project. Therefore, these project funded purchase orders do not require additional council action to roll forward because the underlying projects and appropriations were previously approved by council. As a result, these items have been removed from the CAR. Examples of multi-year project funds include THE POLICE EXTENSION AND PARKING DECK PROJECT, WHICH START DATE WAS MAY OF 2025. THE WATER SPLEEN PROJECT WITH THE START DATE WAS MARCH OF 2025. THE AIRPORT APRON EXPANSION PROJECT THAT STARTED OCTOBER OF 2022. THESE VARIOUS PROJECTS ARE FUNDED THROUGH VARIOUS GRANTS. THE PARKING EXPANSION AND PARKING DECK PROJECT IS PARTIALLY FUNDED THROUGH THE STATE CAPITAL AND INFRASTRUCTURE Fund grant, which is also referred to as SCIF. The airport capital projects is funded through various state and federal grants. And the water spraying project is funded through project appropriations with reimbursement through the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality. Removing these project-funded purchase orders from the CAR provides a more accurate representation of the encumbrances that require council action as part of the FY26 year-end closeout. Additionally, updates of these projects are provided regularly in the city manager's report and are also available on the city's website under major projects updates. So accordingly, the car before you this evening request a total roll forward amount of fifteen point eight million, which reflects a reduction of three point one million compared to last year. For the general fund, the amount that we're requesting to roll forward is four million $851,397. These purchase orders fund hazmat equipment under public safety, fire prevention training trailer under public safety, the Brownsville project remaining funds, SAGE access control at Fourth Creek, which would be through our IT department, sidewalk construction for Stockton and Alexander Street, PAL BUILD funding, which is awarded through the state, wayfinding signs, which have already been placed on order and waiting for delivery, furnishings for the police expansion projects, which we are waiting for that project to be completed, Cochran Street renovations and repairs for the new recreation center, and Newtonville and Kimbrough Park improvements and art sculptures. For the electric fund, we're requesting to roll forward $3,450,446. Purchase orders in this fund include engineering for substation number one delivery, grading for MOC phases three and four, circuit conversion efforts, transformer parts, and radio and tower system upgrades. Under the water and sewer fund, we're requesting to roll for $6,953,587. which includes lift station upgrades for the scouting integration, elevated sewer replacements, asset management system, South Yadkin pump station upgrades, and plant generators. Under stormwater, we requested to roll for $258,630, which includes emergency pipe replacement at West Raleigh Road and Caldwell Street and the Calvert replacements. And under the Events Center Fund, we're requesting to roll for $298,681, which includes parking lot overlay, promotional video and marketing, holiday banners, and an HVAC compressor circuit replacement. This concludes my presentation in regards to the roll for process. But if there are any questions regarding direct projects or capital needs, we have the department directors here to answer those questions as well.

Thank you so much, Ms. Lawrence. Any questions?

Mr. Mayor, if I may. First, I'd just like to thank Ms. Lawrence. I asked to remove this item from the consent agenda and put it on the regular agenda just because it's a lot of money. And a lot of my constituents will call me and ask me why we're spending so much money. So I want to thank Ms. Lawrence for that clarification. And I also spoke with our manager before the meeting. I've asked staff a few times, especially when a lot of tax dollars involved, I'd like to see the council just have better understanding and it could be in a simple spreadsheet to identify each project total cost when it was approved by council how much money has been spent how much money is left to spend and if any revenue is generated how much revenue we can anticipate over the next x amount of years and this will help us as we communicate with our constituents to communicate that benefit to the citizens so so thank you miss lawrence and thank you mr mayor

Thank you, James. Any other questions from council? Okay, thank you, Ms. Lawrence. Okay, is there a motion on the budget amendment?

Mr. Mayor, I move to approve the roll forward.

Okay, we have a motion and second. Is there any discussion on the motion? Everyone in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously, thank you very much. Okay, on old business, we are to receive a report on the Brownfields grant and we have Mr. Pierce and individuals from Stantec here to provide an overview of our Brownfields grant.

EVENING, MR. MAYOR, COUNCIL. WE'LL BEGIN TONIGHT BY HAVING MR. BRIAN QUAM, WHO IS OUR QUALIFIED ENVIRONMENTAL PROFESSIONAL WITH STANTEC, WALK US THROUGH THE ROLE OF THE BROWNFIELD ASSESSMENT GRANT AND COMMUNITY REVITALIZATION, PROVIDE SOME CONTEXT FOR THE EXPERIENCE THAT WE'VE HAD HERE, AND THEN I'LL WALK THROUGH WHAT THE GRANT HAS BEEN USED FOR WITHIN THIS COMMUNITY.

GOOD EVENING, EVERYONE. GOOD EVENING, EVERYONE. GOOD EVENING, EVERYONE. HAPPY TO BE BACK WITH YOU AGAIN. HAPPY TO BE BACK WITH YOU AGAIN. HAPPY TO BE BACK WITH YOU AGAIN. IT'S GOOD TO SEE EVERYBODY. IT'S GOOD TO SEE EVERYBODY. IT'S GOOD TO SEE EVERYBODY. MY NAME IS BRIAN QUAM, MY NAME IS BRIAN QUAM, MY NAME IS BRIAN QUAM, AND I WORK WITH, AS MATTHEW SAID, AND I WORK WITH, AS MATTHEW SAID, AND I WORK WITH, AS MATTHEW SAID, I WORK WITH STANTEC, I WORK WITH STANTEC, I WORK WITH STANTEC, AND WE WERE AWARDED THE CONTRACT AND WE WERE AWARDED THE CONTRACT AND WE WERE AWARDED THE CONTRACT BACK IN 2021 BACK IN 2021 BACK IN 2021 FOR THIS BROWNFIEL STANTEC is one of the leading providers of brownfield program and project management services across the country. We have a lot of experience both within South Carolina, North Carolina, Region 4, and across the country. So a little bit about myself. I'm a professional geologist with 30 years of experience in environmental consulting. And I've been working in the Brownfield program for 19 years and have managed more than 20 community-wide assessment grants, which is what you all have here in the city of Statesville. So a little bit of a background on the program as an overview. This is EPA's definition of what a Brownfield is. And it's real property, the expansion, redevelopment, reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of hazardous substance, pollutants, or contaminants. So we think of these as blighted, abandoned, derelict properties, mostly industrial sites, old gas stations, dry cleaners, chemical manufacturing, any manufacturing facility industrial. I know you just had a big... A THING ABOUT DATA CENTERS, ONE DAY'S DATA CENTERS WILL BE OBSOLETE AND THOSE WOULD ALSO BE BROWN FIELDS SOMEDAY AS WELL IN THE FUTURE. BUT WHAT WE TALK ABOUT WITH BROWN FIELDS ARE ANY PLACES THAT HAVE THE POTENTIAL OR THE PERCEIVED POTENTIAL FOR CONTAMINATION. SO USUALLY BLIGHTED PROPERTIES IS WHAT PEOPLE CONSIDER THE MOST and they may or may not have real contamination on those sites. So part of what the assessment grant program does from the EPA is allow communities to do diligence on those properties, determine whether or not real contamination exists, how to best mitigate that moving forward on the potential, whatever the potential site reuse is that a community has identified on those particular properties. So it takes into account and future intended use of what the property is moving forward. So again, like I said, old industrial sites. There's actually a picture of a church here. Interestingly enough, churches are considered commercial property. AND RELATIVELY SPEAKING, OLD CHURCHES HAVE UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANKS THAT HAVE USED FUEL OIL FOR THEIR HEATING SYSTEMS. THEY ALSO HAVE ASBESTOS. THEY ALSO HAVE LEAD-BASED PAINT. SO THESE ARE THE TYPES OF BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES, OLD SCHOOLS THAT YOU DON'T THINK OF AS A POLLUTOR, IF YOU WILL. WALMART STORES, OLD STRIP MALLS, ALL OF THOSE KINDS OF THINGS. YOU DON'T THINK OF THEM AS ACTUAL POLLUTORS, BUT IT HAS CONTAMINANTS MOSTLY IN THE FORM OF LEAD-BASED PAINT, ASBESTOS, UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANKS THAT MAYBE THEY USED FOR HEATING OIL OR FUEL OIL OR THINGS OF THAT NATURE. SO THAT'S WHAT THIS SLIDE REPRESENTS AS WELL, IS THAT THERE ARE LOTS OF DIFFERENT AND DIFFERING, AND EPA HAS A VERY WIDE AND BROAD DEFINITION OF WHAT CAN BE CONSIDERED A BROWNFIELD FROM THAT PERSPECTIVE. OLD AGRICULTURAL PROJECTS, WE'VE WORKED ON OLD FARMLAND, WE'VE WORKED ON OLD MANAGED TIMBER PROPERTY BECAUSE OF THE ACCUMULATION OF PESTICIDES AND HERBICIDES THAT HAVE BEEN USED THROUGH YEARS OF AGRICULTURAL their storage in barns, all of those other kind of things when it comes to that. So very wide, broad definition of what brownfields are, not just strictly old industrial or burned out warehouses, burned out manufacturing sites, things of that nature. So where does revitalization start? It's a circle. So everybody gets involved in this process. The community is involved in the process. public-private partnerships who are involved in this process. The council becomes involved, communities become involved, all of those other kind of things. So it takes a group effort when it comes to it. A good example of this, we have worked with the city of Drexel, the town of Drexel, for a very long time over in western North Carolina. Had a meeting with them last week, a project that has taken us 10 years to do in their downtown on the old Drexel Heritage manufacturing facility. has taken 10 years to come to fruition. So these are long-term projects in some cases. That happened to be 35 acres, former furniture manufacturing. So, you know, a thing like a downtown gas station or something of that nature may not take as long from that perspective. But just to give you an idea, sometimes they're long, wide-ranging projects. So as part of the assessment grant that can pay for ENVIRONMENTAL DUE DILIGENCE, INCLUDING PHASE ONES AND PHASE TWO SITE ASSESSMENTS WHERE WE ACTUALLY COLLECT SAMPLES. PHASE ONES ARE JUST A HISTORIC RESEARCH ON A PARTICULAR PROPERTY. PHASE TWO IS WHERE YOU ACTUALLY GO AND YOU COLLECT SAMPLES OF MATERIALS, HAVE THEM TESTED AT A LAB, AND THEN YOU PRODUCE A REPORT THAT CAN THEN CAN MOVE FORWARD ON DETERMINING WHAT THE BEST MITIGATION FROM THAT PARTICULAR RISK IS, WHETHER THERE IS CONTAMINATION OR NOT CONTAMINATION AT THE SITE. ONE OF THE OTHER THINGS THAT COMMUNITY-WIDE ASSESSMENT GRANTS ALLOWS FOR IS PLANNING ACTIVITIES, WHICH FOR THE CITY OF STATESVILLE TURNED OUT TO BE A VERY BIG PROJECT AND PROGRAM FOR THE CITY OF STATESVILLE. When it came to assessments on properties in the City of Statesville, we had planned and intended to do probably more site assessment and due diligence than we did. As the project progressed along, we found that planning along the West Monroe, I'm sorry, Monroe Street corridor and the West Front Street corridors TOOK A LITTLE BIT MORE PRECEDENCE FOR THE CITY WHEN IT CAME TO IT. SO THE ELIGIBLE PLANNING ACTIVITIES THROUGH THE GRANT THAT EPA ALLOWS ARE WIDE AND RANGING, INCLUDING EQUAL DEVELOPMENT, AREA WIDE PLANNING, WHICH WE'RE FOCUSING ON FOR THE CITY OF STATES BILL, BUT YOU CAN DO LAND USE ASSESSMENT, INFRASTRUCTURE EVALUATIONS. THEY'RE SITE SPECIFIC AND COMMUNITY REGION WIDE WHEN IT COMES TO THAT. AREA-WIDE PLANNING WAS THE FOCUS, AGAIN, AND I'M NOT REGURGITATING EVERYTHING THAT WE'VE ALREADY BEEN THROUGH WITH THE AREA-WIDE PLANS THAT WE PRESENTED TO COUNCIL A NUMBER OF MONTHS AGO ON THE FINAL PLANS, BUT THESE ARE JUST SOME EXAMPLES IN OTHER PLACES WHERE WE'VE WORKED AND WANTED TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA. I DON'T WANT TO READ THE SLIDE. IT'S REAL WORDY FROM THAT PERSPECTIVE. BUT THESE ARE SOME COMMUNITIES THAT STANTEC HAS WORKED IN. where planning had ended up becoming a focus of the grant activities. So we worked similarly in Bluefield, Virginia. We worked similarly in Tarboro, North Carolina, where we did a downtown area-wide plan using their assessment grant funds. And included in Tarboro, there was a river park restoration plan that was put into their planning efforts.

And interestingly enough, I don't know if I can, can everybody see that?

So you wouldn't necessarily think that a park, like we discussed, was a brownfield project. However, this area over here was used for illegal dumping from about the early 1800s through the 1970s. And so that is how this project qualified. Right here is an old funeral home. You can imagine it uses lots of, different chemicals, compounds, all those other kind of things. So those are the reasons that this area, from a Tarboro perspective. College Park, Georgia, very similar. Went through assessment projects, but also a large focus from a planning effort. So the takeaways here, and more regionally too, more regionally, more locally, CONGRUENT TO THE CITY OF STATESVILLE, WE'VE ALSO HAD SIMILAR PROJECTS IN SALSBURY, NORTH CAROLINA, E. SPENCER RIGHT NEXT DOOR HAD SIMILAR ISSUES, GASTONIA, LINCOLNTON, WE DID ANOTHER PROJECT IN LINCOLNTON WHERE WE ENDED UP HAVING A LOT OF PLANNING ACTIVITIES UNDER THAT. SO ONE OF THE KEY TAKEAWAYS THAT BROWNFIELD'S AND THE EPA BROWNFIELD PROGRAM likes to tout about themselves and about the program is the flexibility that the communities have in using the funds when it comes to the needs of the community and that kind of thing. So it is a funding, it is a planning tool that economic development can use to help spur economic development from a planning perspective. and they can be leveraged to advance community revitalization goals and everybody has Brownfield needs. So I'd like to leave with that.

Thank you. Mr. Pierce.

So I'm gonna simplify a couple of pieces real quick, just for the sake of the conversation. So we get the grant 2022, we've applied in 2021. It's a half million dollars towards the safe reuse and redevelopment of brownfields. Easiest way to think about brownfields, they are underutilized sites, unused, not fully used. They're potentially or actually contaminated. The threat of contamination, right, is its own problem. And then typically industrial, commercial or agricultural and their historic use. in the application in our in our work plan and every time I've come to Council previously right we have talked about an initial target area from the beginning it was known that we were going to begin in one area we might spread outside that area right so the Monroe Street corridor which is what I called this was explicitly named repeatedly as the area that we were going to work on first the area south the Norfolk southern tracks north of Garner Bagnell west of 77 east of Shelton Avenue THERE WERE WITHIN THERE THREE PARTICULAR SITES, BURNHART FURNITURE PLAN NUMBER FOUR WHICH WAS DEMOLISHED WHILE WE WERE IN THE APPLICATION PHASE, RNJ WEBBING CORPORATION WHICH IS ONE SITE ON RICKERT THAT I'LL COME BACK TO AND STATESWELL FURNITURE COMPANY ON THE EAST SIDE OF SHELTON AVENUE. SO I'M GOING TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT WHY THIS AREA WAS SPECIFICALLY CHOSEN AS THE INITIAL TARGET AREA. THERE ARE A COUPLE OF KEY CRITERIA. If you are looking for potentially contaminated sites, one of the first things you do is locate the concentration of historic industrial uses. So we began by looking at a series of maps and other directories starting in 1885 to identify the places in Statesville where you had historic manufacturing. And it turns out that if you go into our land use plan, what you get is a purple belt across the southern part of statesville lavender in the northwest part that's the home of our historic industrial corridor the right side of that is the monroe street corridor right part of the initial area where we did industrial development immediately to the west of that is downtown right not just the red blob but the per the area that has been served by downtown for four decades right so that area right near the intersection that purple area And then the small area plan you're going to notice that we did on West Front Street is that lavender area plus a little more. So again, we begin by looking at where the historic industrial uses are in concentration. And it's that purple belt. The second, we're looking for consistency with adopted plants. After we applied, but during the first year of the program, we had the land development plan get approved. One of the things that the land development plan called for, among many, was a focus on corridors within the community, specifically naming, for example, the West Front Street corridor as an area needing a small area plan. So what we did in part, IN CONVERSATION WITH THE EPA DURING OUR MONTHLY AND OR QUARTERLY MEETINGS, OUR QUARTERLY UPDATES WRITTEN TO THEM EXPLICIT WITH EVERY SINGLE THING THAT WE WERE DOING, EVERY UPDATE TO OUR BUDGET, THEY KNEW WE WERE MAKING THESE MOVES, THEY APPROVED THEM IN ADVANCE. OKAY? ALWAYS WE TOOK OUR CUE FROM WHAT COUNCIL HAD DONE, SOMETIMES AS RECENTLY AS THE LAND DEVELOPMENT PLAN. NUMBER THREE IS ECONOMIC NEED. There are a couple of ways we could have gone after economic need. What we use primarily is a HUD designation, the qualified census tract. Qualified census tract is any portion of the community in which you have greater than 50% of the population at 60% or below of AMI or greater than 25% poverty. THIS PURPLE BAND THAT RUNS FROM THE INTERSTATE TO I-77 AND PAST, THOSE THREE ARE THREE CENSUS TRACKS. ALL OF THEM, I BELIEVE, COUNTS IN TWO WARDS HERE IN STATESVILLE. THEY ROUGHLY COVER THAT PURPLE AND LAVENDER BAND THAT YOU SAW EARLIER. THE THIRD IS SERVING HISTORICALLY UNDERSERVED POPULATIONS. PART OF WHAT WAS KNOWN ABOUT THE MONROE STREET CORRIDOR WAS THAT THE POPULATION THERE WAS MAJORITY-MINORITY. THIS PARTICULAR MAP WILL SHOW YOU CONCENTRATIONS OF POPULATIONS. THE DARKER THE HUE, THE MORE CONCENTRATED THE POPULATION, BLUE IS WHITE, GREEN IS AFRICAN-AMERICAN, YELLOW IS HISPANIC. So those were the criteria that we used for choosing the Monroe Street corridor. First couple of months, what we focused on was site-specific outreach. And may I ask, is there a way to show this in presenter mode for me so I can see my notes attached to this? You're pointing at a mirror, friend. Is that OK? All right, I'll work on without it. So what we began to do, what I began to do, because I was the city-side PM on this, was to do individual outreach to each of the properties that were listed here. Again, Burnock Furniture was demolished and put into use there along Monroe Street. R&J Webbing we'll come back into in just a second. Purple Heart Homes is listed here just to show you that it is an area that this is the property where the most significant amount of site-specific work was done and it's in the initial target area, okay? And the last was Stateswell Furniture Company. We do a lot of outreach, and there's very little uptake, next to none. 741 Rickert Street is probably the best example of this. This is a building, a portion of which was built in 1910, has had two or three major manufacturers, if not more in it. Lead screws for those textile narrows, things like that. This property owner engaged us before we got brownfields grant we engaged them during the brownfields grant at no point did they say yes we were ghosted effectively for a year and a half we just got them back to the table a couple of weeks before the last conversation that we had in part because that building that front portion of the building probably is your best adaptive reuse opportunity in that neighborhood that's the kind of building that folks who want kind of interesting chic buildings look for and it's the only one in the area

But this was a key lesson, right?

We began by looking for the site-specific work and there were not property owners interested in taking us up on it. We began to transition to other permitted, appropriate tasks as allowed within ASSESSMENT GRANT. WE TRANSITIONED TO WIDER RECRUITMENT AND LONG-RANGE PLANNING. IF I COULDN'T GET UP TAKE IN ONE NEIGHBORHOOD, WE SHIFTED TO TWO. YOU'LL NOTICE HERE ARE THE TWO AREAS THAT WERE IN THE COMBINED SMALL AREA PLANS, MONROE STREET AND WEST FRONT STREET. SO WE'RE SHIFTING TO LONG-TERM PLANNING. WE'RE AWARE THAT THIS IS A LONG GAME. BUT WE ALSO WANT TO BEGIN RECRUITING TO SEE IF THERE ARE INDIVIDUAL PROPERTY OWNERS INTERESTED IN THE PROGRAM. HOW DID WE GO ABOUT THAT INDIVIDUAL RECRUITMENT TO SEE IF WE COULD GET SITE ACCESS? FIRST, WE SENT 749 MAILERS TO HOMES, BUSINESSES, AND PROPERTY OWNERS DIRECTLY WITHIN THIS AREA, WITHIN BOTH NEIGHBORHOODS, AND THEN ROUGHLY I THINK 200 FEET OR SO AROUND EACH OF THEM. IF YOU LIVED, WORKED, OWNED PROPERTY, HAD A BUSINESS, YOU WERE CONTACTED TWICE, RIGHT? WE ALSO REACHED OUT, WE WORKED WITH BUSINESSES AND INSTITUTIONS TO ENGAGE THE COMMUNITY. WE HAD CONTACTS AT N.B. MILLS, WE HAD FOLKS AT THE BARBER SHOP ON MONROE STREET, FRONT STREET BAPTIST CHURCH HELPED US ENGAGE WITH THE HISPANIC COMMUNITY THERE. ALL OF THAT RESULTED IN TWO PUBLIC INPUT FORUMS WITH OVER 100 PARTICIPANTS. THIS WAS ONE OF THE LARGEST AND MOST SUCCESSFUL PUBLIC OUTREACH CAMPAIGNS THE CITIES HAD IN THE EIGHT YEARS SINCE I'VE MOVED TO THIS COUNTY. and it resulted in exactly one direct, sorry, one property owner who wanted to participate in Brownfield's individual site assessment. 750 resulted in one. So a couple of things, the small area plans were approved just before this current council was seated, so just by way of update, Monroe Street. Some of the things that came out of that that are important for this council to know because they're direct benefits for the community. prior to the in the course of between the development of the land development plan and the development of the small area plan council had begun to approve more and more residential in the eastern side of Monroe that's fantastic from the sense of providing additional reasonably priced housing within the community the challenge is it sits across the street from heavier industrial use and so one of the things that we recommended that's a MEDIUM OR SHORT TO MEDIUM TERM FIX IS TO SOFTEN THAT BREAK BETWEEN RESIDENTIAL AND INDUSTRIAL FOR THOSE RESIDENTS. PURPLE HEART HOMES AND RICKETT STREET INTERSECTION WAS IDENTIFIED AS A POTENTIAL CATALYTIC SITE. PURPLE HEART HOME SITS ON A 13.5 ACRE PROPERTY OR THE FACILITY SITS ON 13.5 ACRES, A SIGNIFICANT PORTION OF WHICH COULD BE CONVERTED TO OTHER USE. AND THEN JUST AS A NOTE, THE PROXIMITY TO THE NORFOLK SOUTHERN RAILROAD LINE IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD In contrast, West Front Street, which is on Alexander, provides additional opportunities for more industrial use, but also potentially for connection to a forthcoming train station. WEST FRONT STREET, MORE SIGNIFICANT OPPORTUNITIES FOR DOWNTOWN 2.0, AND I SAY THAT IN THE SENSE OF THE HIGHEST YIELD FORMS OF DEVELOPMENT THAT YOU CAN GET IN THE COMMUNITY. YOU'VE ALREADY GOT ALL YOUR INFRASTRUCTURE THERE, LOOKING AT MEDIUM TO HIGHER DENSITY MIXED USE ALONG AN EXISTING CORRIDOR THAT NO LONGER HAS TO SERVE PRIMARILY ITS INDUSTRIAL USE. There was a focus on walkability. One of the things that we heard Power Cross say to us was like, we've got kids crossing Front Street. Can you please, in this plan, point us toward how to get folks safely across that? One of the goods for the community is setting a vision for pedestrian safety for our youth. Again, you've got significant post-industrial acreage in that area that can be converted, and long-term work for community development and redevelopment. I've been asked a couple times, what would it take to move this plan forward? My sense is that you need probably a staff member full-time doing the kind of work that you have being done downtown right it's focused redevelopment and economic development in this corridor this is one of the places where i would put folks so we'll talk for a second about THE PROPERTIES WHERE WE ACTUALLY DID SITE SPECIFIC WORK. THIS IS FAIRLY TECHNICAL SO FORGIVE ME IF I READ. SO THE PURPLE HEART HOMES PROPERTY WAS A STRONG BROWNFIELDS CANDIDATE DUE TO ITS HISTORIC INDUSTRIAL USE AND DOCUMENTED ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS. THE PROPERTY RECEIVED EPA SITE ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATION AND QUALIFIED FOR THE BROWNFIELDS PROGRAM FUNDING. Phase two environmental site assessments were completed to address information requested by the North Carolina Department of Firewall Quality in support of a North Carolina brownfields agreement. The city also prepared a brownfields agreement plat and environmental management plan using assessment grant money. The brownfields agreement has since been executed and the final environmental management plan was approved in April of this year, demonstrating continued management of the property through North Carolina brownfields program in support of productive redevelopment. These two properties you'll recognize. One of these is currently a parking deck. One of them is a lay-down yard. This is 128, nearby properties on East Front Street. THE FRONT STREET PROPERTY EXHIBITED MULTIPLE CHARACTERISTICS COMMONLY ASSOCIATED WITH BROWNFIELDS. THE SITE IS LOCATED WITH A HISTORIC INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL CORRIDOR IDENTIFIED THROUGH THE CITY'S GIS INVENTORY AND AREA WIDE PLANNING PROCESS AND WAS DETERMINED ELIGIBLE FOR THE BROWNFIELDS PROGRAM THROUGH EPA SITE ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATION PROCESS. HISTORIC USES AND PREVIOUS ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS WARRANTED ADDITIONAL INVESTIGATION. A PHASE TWO ENVIRONMENTAL SITE ASSESSMENT WAS COMPLETED TO CHARACTERIZE KNOWN SOURCE MATERIAL AND SUPPORT REDEVELOPING PLANNING. FOLLOWING COMPLETION OF THE ASSESSMENT, THE CITY COORDINATED WITH THE NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANK SECTION REGARDING REMOVAL OF THE PROPERTY'S NOTICE OF RESIDUAL PETROLEUM. THE COMPLETED PHASE TWO ASSESSMENT PROVIDED THE INFORMATION NECESSARY TO SUPPORT REDEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES AND REGULATORY COORDINATION. IN SHORT, IT LED TO THE WORK WE DID THERE ENABLED THE OLD COOPER SITE TO BE REUSED AS A PUBLIC SPACE. THAT ALLOWS IN TURN THE REDEVELOPMENT OF THE $26 MILLION PROPERTY IN THE BACK. PART OF THE REASON THAT THIS WAS CHOSEN, IT'S NOT JUST THAT IT'S IN A QUALIFIED CENSUS TRACT, IT'S NOT JUST THAT IT'S 150 FEET FROM RESIDENTIAL, RIGHT, THAT'S OCCUPIED BY UNDERSERVED POPULATIONS.

ALL OF THAT WAS TRUE.

IT'S ALSO TRUE THAT THIS HAS AN ROI OF LIKE 20, I THINK WE SAID THE NUMBER IN THE BACK, LIKE $23,000 FOR A $26 MILLION RETURN. THAT'S HOW YOU SET YOURSELF UP FOR THE NEXT BROWNFIELD ASSESSMENT GRANT. IF YOU THINK ABOUT THIS AS A LONG-TERM INVESTMENT, RIGHT, YOU CAN REPEATEDLY GO BACK FOR THESE GRANTS. YOU HAVE A COUPLE OF PROJECTS THAT SET YOURSELF UP WELL TO WIN THE NEXT ONE. 53 Gaither Road and I apologize to chief I rolled up there this morning It didn't explain to people why I was taking pictures on site So in the midst of this I was not always both managing the brownfields assessment grant for this on the city side But I was also the one overseeing the city's property portfolio outside the airport AND WAS INVOLVED IN THE ACQUISITION OF LAND FOR FIRE STATION FIVE. WE HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO SPEED UP THAT PROCESS BY USING BROWNFIELD'S ASSESSMENT GRANT MONEY ON THIS SITE. IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE, IT'S NOT IN A QUALIFIED CENSUS TRACT. IT'S NOT IN A HISTORICALLY UNDERSERVED AREA. IT WAS AN AREA THAT WE HAD ELDIBLE EXPENSES FOR THE PROGRAMS, ROUGHLY $11,000. IT WAS THE CASE THAT OUR INITIAL INQUIRIES It was basically a sheet of paper that Chief Kurfes filled out and said, is there anything that you know of that's sus on this property? He said no. But knowing that this was going to be a residential fire station and a children's playground, knowing that there was herbicides on this property, knowing there was potentially a tank on this, I was not willing to be the person who had to look him in the face and be like, your guys are sick because I let something be on that property without us knowing. So I invested $11,000. We chose to invest $11,000, displacing that from city taxpayers. SO THE DOWNTOWN MASTER PLAN IS THE LAST ONE THAT'S COMING UP. THIS IS NOT THE MAP THAT WAS SHARED WITH THE EPA THAT THEY APPROVED IN MAY OF 2026. IT CONTAINS THE ENTIRE AREA APPROVED BY THEM IN MAY OF 2026. SO A COUPLE OF THINGS. GIVEN THE CRITERIA THAT WE TALKED ABOUT EARLIER, RIGHT, FIRST REASON WE CHOOSE THIS IT'S IN A HISTORIC INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL CORRIDOR. I APPRECIATE THE FACT THAT MANY PEOPLE THINK OF DOWNTOWN STATESVILLE AS ALL THE STUFF THAT BEGINS NORTH OF SHARP STREET, BUT FOR 40 YEARS IT HAS INCLUDED THE AREA THAT EXTENDS ALL THE WAY TO THE TRACKS, RIGHT? IT INCLUDES THAT BIG PURPLE BLOB THERE AT THE INTERSECTION OF THE TRACKS. SECOND, IT'S CONSISTENT WITH ADOPTED PLANS. ONE OF THE THINGS THAT THE LAND DEVELOPMENT PLAN CALLED FOR WAS FOCUS ON CORRIDORS INTO THE CITY, AND MOST OF THEM TARGET DOWNTOWN, INCLUDE SHELTON AVENUE, ESPECIALLY THE AREA THAT I'VE INDICATED FOR THE LAND DEVELOPMENT PLAN. THIRD, ECONOMIC NEED. THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF THIS PLAN AND OF DOWNTOWN IS WITHIN THE QUALIFIED CENSUS TRACK. NOW, KEEP IN MIND, COUNCIL HAS GENEROUSLY PROVIDED $75,000 FOR THE PLAN. IF IT HELPS, IF FOLKS FEEL ANY BETTER ABOUT THIS, THEN WE CAN THINK THAT THE $70,000 IS THE MONEY THAT'S GOING TO WORKING ON ALLEYS AND TRASH NORTH OF FRONT STREET. THE BROWNFIELD'S MONEY CAN GO INTO THE QUALIFIED CENSUS TRACKS SOUTH OF THERE IN THE INDUSTRIAL AREA THAT'S BEEN THERE FOR OVER 140 YEARS. FOURTH REASON OF COURSE, HISTORICALLY UNDERSERVED POPULATIONS. MOST RECENTLY WE HAD A NATIONAL HISTORIC DISTRICT IDENTIFIED ALONG GARFIELD GREEN STREET HIGHLIGHTING THE LINK BETWEEN THIS HISTORICALLY 140-YEAR-OLD INDUSTRIAL AREA AND THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN COMMUNITY THAT LIVES THERE. So expenditures to date, these are the most recent numbers for the program. So a couple of things. So we've spent just about $1,900 in travel. One of the things that we did early on was to reduce the travel and training stipend. We did the required visits to the National Brownfields Conference. We also did one that was regional. But because I already have to do so much training as a certified planner, right, I decided, This is a me decision, read this aloud, to plow that money back into the community, right? So less travel for me, more money going back into the community. The contractual line is the line you want to pay particular attention to. Project management is what Stantec gets. AS PART OF ITS WORK, SUBMITTING THE QUARTERLY REPORTS, MONTHLY MEETINGS WITH MONTHLY OR SLIGHTLY LESS REGULAR MEETINGS WITH THE EPA TO MANAGE THE GRANT. ESA IS THE SITE ASSESSMENT WORK THAT'S DONE ON PURPLE HEART HOMES, THE ROAD PROPERTY, ET CETERA. YOU'LL NOTICE THAT'S ROUGHLY TO DATE 46.5%. THAT WILL DROP A BIT ONCE WE FACTOR IN THE SMALL AREA PLANS. Then planning at 43.7%, that will jump to just below 50% at the end of the project period. So as a concern, one of the things that I wanted to point out very clearly, a concern about where this money was being spent and was it being spent inappropriately outside of areas of need. 2.7% of this was spent outside Councilwoman, outside of Doris's and Lisa's wards. Okay, 2.7%. Here's the breakdown on that project. What questions do you all have for me?

Any questions for Mr. Pierce? Thank you so much for your information. Both of you, that was some great stuff. Any more questions? Okay, thank you gentlemen.

I don't have a question, I just have a comment, if that's okay. I'm sorry to interrupt you.

I'd like to add one more thing. Through my experience for the better part of 19 years in the program, Statesville has had one of the most progressive and word I'm looking for has escaped my head I apologize I'm having a senior moment has had one of the most successful progressive programs that that we've worked on within EPA so I just wanted to give you all kudos as a community for the amount of effort that you've put into this particularly with the community input sessions that we had on those two small area-wide plans most communities do not take this much and do not put this much effort into their program. So I wanna commend you guys as a city for the amount of effort that you've put in. So thank you. I apologize for interrupting.

Thank you very much, Brian. Mr. Presley.

Mr. Mayor, I'd just like to, first of all, I appreciate this presentation. I appreciate the work that the consultant does, has done for us. And I just want to share the sentiment of so many of my constituents who are just frustrated with how this grant was administered. Here we're spending, grant funds on our police department our fire station and now our downtown in each one of those units has their own budget they have their own ways to generate revenue and they can pay for projects that are important to them but here we're using the grant money to do that i mean our downtown has its own tax district for crying out loud so if if the downtown wants to redo its master plan i support that but let the downtown pay for it so i just i spent a lot of time uh looking at this grant and I just, my heart goes out to our constituents that we've let down with this opportunity. So thank you all for this presentation and information and just hope we can find a way to move forward and do it better next time. Thank you.

Thank you. I think the presentation showed that they worked hard to get the constituents to participate in the program, and they elected not to. So, thank you.

The constituents is the people that own the property. So, let me say this, because Matthew, thank you for that. So, when we started the Brownsville, I think the point that's being missed, it goes past, it goes southern Statesville. That's Ward 6. So, that money is being spent. TO KIND OF UPGRADE THAT AS WELL AS MONROE STREET. NOW, CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG, MATTHEW, BUT WE DID SEND CODE ENFORCEMENT OUT TO THAT ONE PROPERTY, THE ONE THAT DID NOT WANT TO COOPERATE BUT THEN KIND OF JUMPED ON BOARD ON RICKETT STREET. IF YOU'VE EVER BEEN OVER THERE, THAT PROPERTY IS VERY RUN DOWN, DELAPIDATED, AND WE HAD SOME HOMELESS PEOPLE GOING IN THERE. I THINK THE POINT BEING MADE IS IF YOU, AND I TAKE IT YOU DIDN'T GO TO THE PRESENTATIONS THAT WE HAD AT THE CIVIC CENTER. So I think the thing is we're trying to upgrade these neighborhoods. If you've ever been into anything that he's talked about, West Front Street, Monroe Street, and you just ride by, even on Monroe Street now, if you go down Monroe Street, and I'll give Gordons their due diligence because they have actually, because of this, Matthew reaching out, put up trees to kind of block the industrial to make it even more aesthetic for the homes that are being built over there. AND I THINK THAT'S WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO. IF THE CONSTITUENTS HAVE AN ISSUE, AND THIS IS WHAT I TELL PEOPLE ALL THE TIME, IF YOU DON'T KNOW, REACH OUT. ASK THE QUESTIONS, BUT FOR US TO ASSUME THAT WE'RE SPENDING UNNECESSARY MONEY, THAT'S NOT THE FACT. BECAUSE THIS GRANT WAS GIVEN, AND MATTHEW JUST GAVE A GREAT PRESENTATION IN DEPTH ABOUT WHAT THE MONEY IS BEING SPENT ON. SO IT'S NOT LIKE WE'RE JUST OUT HERE THROWING AWAY MONEY. WE ARE ACTUALLY DOING SOMETHING TO UPGRADE THE COMMUNITIES THAT NEED TO BE upgraded mine, Monroe Street being, et cetera, one of the ones that are in need. So like I say, if they have any questions, that's what we have staff for. Let them give me a call.

Thank you very much. Okay, so we have in our packets the minutes from the ABC Board. Who else? ABC Board, DRC, and Planning Board minutes. So you can look at those at your convenience. Do we have a motion to adjourn?

Second.

We have a motion and second. All in favor?

Aye.

Thank you very much.