City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening and welcome. City Council is now in session. Please be advised that Council Member Recctor will not be in attendance this evening and has been excused. Please stand for the invocation by council member Butler Barllo which will be f followed by the pledge of allegiance.

Let us pray. The calendar today calls us to action to March 4th at a time when the news makes us want to just stay home. We pray for courage to stand up and face challenges as best we can. We pray where hearts are fearful and constricted. There will be courage and hope. Where anxiety is infectious and widening, there will be peace and reassurance. Where impossibilities close every door and window, there will be imagination and resistance. Where distrust twists our thinking, there will be healing and illumination. Guide our steps as we march forth. Focus our decision making. Grant us wisdom and peace. Amen. Amen.

To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

The Freedom of Information Act certification is required at this time. Madam clerk, please present the resolution for consideration. A resolution certifying the closed meeting of March I 4th 2026 pursuant to Virginia code section 2.2-37112 is presented for council's consideration at this time. Now therefore, be it resolved that the city council of the city of Suffach hereby certifies that to the best of each member's knowledge, only public business matters lawfully exempted from the open meeting requirements of Virginia law and only such public business matters as were identified in the motion convening the closed meeting were heard, discussed, or considered by the city council of the city of Suffach in the closed meeting.

Council, a motion would be in order. Council member Williams. So move. Got a motion for approval from council member Williams, council member Bennett. Second, second from council member Bennett. Any discussion of the motion? Hearing none, council members, prepare to vote. Please cast your vote. Madame clerk, please record the vote.

The motion is approved by a vote of seven to zero. We're now move to approval of the minutes from the November 19th, 2025 work session. And a motion would be in order. Council member Williams. Move for approval. Got a motion for approval from council member Williams. Council member Butler Barlo. Second. Second from Council Member Butler Barlo. Any discussion of the motion? Hearing none. Council members prepare to vote. Please cast your vote. Madame clerk, please record the vote. The motion is approved by a vote of seven to zero.

Okay, we do have two special presentations this evening. Our first is a great suffk cleanup 2026 which will be followed by a state of agriculture 2026 update and proclamation in recognition of national agriculture month. Mr. Manager, please provide an overview. Mayor, vice mayor, members of council, uh this evening, Mr. Daniel McDonald, the community outreach coordinator in public works, is going to provide you with an overview on the March 27th and 28th Great Suffuk cleanup. Daniel,

thank you, Mr. Mayor, Mr. Vice Mayor, City Council, City Manager. I appreciate you having me here tonight. Uh the SUFFK Clean Community Commission and Keep Suffach Beautiful are very excited to announce the 2026 Great Suffach Cleanup set to take place on March 27th and March 28th. This citywide initiative is one of the largest cleanup efforts in the state with over a thousand volunteers participating annually at more than 100 different cleanup locations. Uh since 2023 when the sorry since 2023 when the uh city manager authorized staff participation more than 500 city employees representing all departments have joined the efforts annually. And here is a short video showing you just how easy it is to get involved. Hi, I'm Ally Hobgood, chair of the Suffach Clean Community Commission, and I want to invite you to join one of Suffach's most impactful community events, [music] the Great Suffach Cleanup. Every year, this citywide effort brings neighbors together to care for our streets, parks, and public spaces. Last year, over 2,000 volunteers collected more than 72,000 pounds of litter and tires. a powerful reminder of what we can accomplish when we work together. Getting involved is super simple. Just gather your friends, your family, or your colleagues, pick a spot that matters to you, and register online at sufficva. us/cleanup. [music] The Great Suffach Cleanup is officially March 27th and 28th, but I know we're all very busy, and if those dates don't work for you, feel free to choose a day that fits your schedule. Once you're registered, Suffach Public Works will provide everything you need. Grabbers, gloves, safety vests, and bags. And they'll even take care of trash pickup when you're done. Whether you're a resident, a business, church, or a civic group, your participation makes a real

difference. Join us. Be part of the solution. Let's keep Suffic together.

Thank you very much for your time and attention. Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of council, your second special presentation will celebrate uh this March the National Agricultural Month. Uh joining us this evening to accept the proclamation is the SUFFK Agricultural Advisory Committee. Following the proclamation, Julia Hilligas will provide uh some overview as it relates to the agricultural program uh in the city of Suffuk. Madam clerk, please present the proclamation. Whereas March ushers in a national celebration of agriculture in the United States and whereas Suffach is home to over 300 farms producing some of the world's best food and fiber with over 40,000 acres in agriculture, timber, horiculture, and livestock operations and contributing more than $60 million to the Suffach economy each year. And whereas Suffach has 25 registered century farms which have been under cultivation by multiple generations spanning more than 100 consecutive years. And whereas agriculture promotes suffix quality of life by providing access to fresh locally sourced food preserving open space protecting water quality and enhancing communities through farmers markets. agurism and other connected activities. And whereas we celebrate the contributions of all of

the farmers, farm workers, fishers, foresters, and other agriculture related industries who do so much to make our nation strong, fuel our economy, and steward our lands. Now, therefore, I, Michael D. Duman, mayor of the city of Suffach, do hereby proclaim March 2026 as National Agriculture Month in Suffach and call upon all residents to recognize and appreciate the bounty and vitality provided by the farming industry in the Commonwealth and the city of Suffach. In witness whereof, I've here to set my hand and cause the seal of the city of Suffach to be affixed this fourth day of March in the year of our Lord, 2026.

[applause]

Good evening, Mr. Mayor and members of city council. Thank you for the opportunity to present the thou 2026 state of agriculture to the city of Suffach. Agriculture remains one of Suffach's most foundational industries. It shapes our landscape, defines our rural character, supports local families, and generates measurable economic value. This presentation will walk through current data, trends, economic impact, community engagement efforts, and strategic priorities that position agriculture as both a heritage asset and a forward-looking economic driver. To begin with, let's look at the numbers. We have 412 total agricultural prod producers operating 345 farms and related operations. The average age of our producers in Suffach is just over 60 years old. These numbers demonstrate both depth and experience within our farming community. However, the average age also signals the importance of succession planning, land transition strategies, and supporting the next generation of producers. Maintaining agricultural continuity requires intentional policy, business support, and farmland protection efforts. Our producer demographics provide additional insight. We have 140 female producers, which I was not aware of. U 272 male producers, only 162 individuals list their primary occupation as farming. So, they're also have a another day job, so to speak. 57 of producers are self-reported as current or former members of the military. This highlights agriculture as an inclusive industry and an important economic pathway for veterans and small business owners. Suffach continues to rank in the top 10 statewide for multiple crop categories. This is significant in a state with diverse agricultural regions. Suffach remains a major production leader. This ranking affirms that agriculture is not simply present here. It is productive and competitive. Looking at actual production numbers,

this diversity provides economic resilience. When one commodity phases market volatility, others may be able to offset that risk. It also positions Suffach as a strong contributor to Virginia's overall agricultural supply. These production volumes translate into more than 35 million indirect cash sales. Corn and soybeans represent the largest computer contributors by dollar value, followed by peanuts and other commodities. It's important to note however that this figure reflects farm gate value only. It does not account for multiplier effects including processing, transportation, equipment sales, agurism or value added enterprises. The broader agricultural ecosystem generates significantly larger economic footprints. Statewide, Virginia agriculture generates more than 4.8 billion in cash receipts annually. However, the number of farms nationally continues to decline with operation consolidating or a change in land use. Likewise, Virginia has also seen reductions in total farm counts over the past 20 years. Most importantly in Suffach or loss over the past two decades, Suffach has experienced a 19 and a half% reduction in active farmland or nearly 10,000 acres. that acreage represents not only land but long-term production capacity, economic opportunity, and environmental stewardship. Balancing growth with farmland preservation is not simply a planning issue. It is an economic development issue. Education plays a key role in agricultural sustainability. One way to reach our residents and children is through our volunteer master gardeners coordinated by Virginia Cooperative Extension. In 2025, master gardeners contributed 295 volunteer hours reaching over 1600 children. These efforts build agricultural literacy and induce introduce youth to career pathways in

farming, forestry, environmental science and aggra business. Investing in education today supports workforce development tomorrow. [snorts] In 2025, our focus centered on visibility, engagement, and strategic partnerships. We celebrated National Agriculture Month with citywide outreach and formal recognition just as we are here to do today. The agriculture advisory committee hosted a round table with secretary of agriculture and forestry Matt Lure strengthening a state level collaboration. We also delivered a farming forestry and finance seminar with the secretary's office to provide producers with practical tools for navigating economic pressures. Our successful agurism event drew over 500 participants connecting residents directly to working farms and expanding tourism and small business exposure. Unfortunately, we just found out that we were not selected um as an award winner for the um grant application from the vid horse industry board. So, we will make do on a string sho string budget this year. guidance. This past fall, we conducted a farm safe safety and harvest campaign, distribute a agricultural inserts through more than a thousand lanny's east mailers, and completed numerous business retention and expansion visits, ensuring producers have a direct line to local support. We created a logo that we are launching this month, and you have some some gifts there at your place to help raise the awareness of ag importance of agriculture in Suffach. We are actively assisting um the Booker T K through5 STEM program making agriculture a focus of their curriculum and we provide professional development opportunities for teachers with AGMA classroom workshops and materials. Each of these efforts strengthens both economic resilience and community connections.

Looking forward, our priorities include establishing a farmland preservation framework recommendation for your consideration, expanding neighborhood farmers market access, launching an excellence in agriculture awards program, increasing presence at community and area events, expanding agurism programming. The focus is clear. Create value added products to improve profitability and elevate suffix agricultural economy. Agriculture remains one of Suffach's largest land uses and a multi-million dollar economic engine. It preserves open space, supports local families, contributes to food security, and strengthens our tax base. With intentional strategy, partnership, and planning tools, Suffach can continue to grow while ensuring agriculture remains productive, profitable, and sustainable for future generations to come. Any questions? I appreciate your time. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you very much. Council member Butt Labaro.

Thank you, Mayor. I just I want to [clears throat] I I am los I'm at a loss for words. I just want to express my appreciation for the fact that Suffach is recognizing National Agriculture Month. Um, I see one stepping out, but I was going to get the members of the A advisory committee that are here to just raise your hand if you can. Good representation. I want to publicly thank all of you for your service. Um, we've made we've made good strides and we have more to do and um I look forward to continuing to work with you all and special thanks to Julia and her presentation and um I appreciate the figures and I'm going to I'm going to ask if I may do this um in my aotted time here. Would it be okay if I got the vice president of the ad committee to come up and read an editorial from the Suffach News Herald? about three minutes. Everybody okay with that?

Would you? Sounds okay. Okay, Brian.

Oh, man. All right, Miss Ball, thank you very much. Council members, uh I appreciate the opportunity to to speak before you tonight. My name is Brian Harris. I'm the vice chair of the ad committee. Also, uh own Liberty Lane Farm uh right down the way here. I'm one of those uh veteran farmers. Uh this is an article uh that appeared in today's uh Suffach Herald. I think it was it came out didn't have the actual author, but I believe it was it was a collaboration between Ed and Lindsay and the editorial staff. Um agriculture is the backbone we can't afford to lose. Hold [clears throat] on just a second. I'm getting old. All right. March is National Agriculture Month, a time when it is easy to celebrate farming with platitudes about heritage and tradition. But in a region like Tidewater, farmland, waterways, and development pressures collide daily. This month should serve as something more urgent, a reminder that agriculture is not just part of our past. It's a critical piece of our economic future. Agriculture is the largest private industry in Virginia, as we just heard, generating more than 82 billion dollars annually and supporting more than 380,000 jobs across the across the state. When you include forestry in that, that number jumps to 105 billion and and just over half a half a million people in that workforce. That's not a niche sector. That's a cornerstone. Tidewater agriculture is built on staples like peanuts, cotton, tobacco, soybeans, and corn.

[clears throat]

The area also supports livestock and forestry. That diversity, it matters. It spreads economic risk, supports supply chains, and connects rural land directly to urban markets across Hampton Roads. It also quietly fuels other industries. Every farm supports a network, equipment dealers, processing facilities, trucking, exports, restaurants, and local retailers. State data shows that every job in agriculture supports roughly 1.7 jobs in the local economy. And that multiplier, it's often overlooked in public debate, especially when farmland is viewed primarily as a future as future [clears throat] housing or commercial development. And that reality is pressing really hard on our region. Rapid population growth and development along key corridors, including areas like SuffK and Isisle of White County, continue to convert agriculture land into subdivisions and commercial sites. While growth is necessary, it comes with trade-offs that are not always fully measured. Without intentional planning, we risk trading long-term economic stability for short-term expansion, a decision that cannot be easily reversed once that land is gone. Agriculture provides more than direct economic output. It contributes to to flood mitigation, water quality, and land conservation. All issues that are particularly relevant in the coastal region increasingly vulnerable to flooding and environmental stress. Losing farmland doesn't just impact farmers. It affects regional resilience. There's also food security, a component that has come into sharper focus in recent years. Tidewaters farms produce grains, vegetables, and meat, and they all play a role in ensuring that food doesn't have to travel thousands of miles to make it to local tables. Despite its economic weight, agriculture often finds itself competing for attention and funding against more visible industries like technology, tourism, and even development. That's a

mistake. If anything, agriculture is the one of few industries that actually touches all the others. It feeds peoples, supports jobs, anchors rural communities, and stabilizes land land use in ways that unchecked development cannot. Supporting agriculture doesn't mean resisting growth. It simply means planning wisely. It means preserving productive farmland, investing in aggra business and value added processing, ensuring that local farmers have the infrastructure and policy support needed to maintain that competitive edge. It also means reorganizing agriculture as part of the local economy, not just land waiting to be developed. National Agriculture Month should not be a symbol or symbolic nod. It should be call it should be a call to action because once those fields are gone, they're not coming back and neither is the economic engine those fields quietly power every single day. And I appreciate it, Miss Barlo. Thanks for the opportunity and and sir, councel, thank you for having us before you today and time as well. Right. At this time, we will consider the removal of items from the consent agenda and adoption of the entire agenda as presented. Removal of any item from the consent agenda would only be necessary if any member of city council wishes to vote on a specific item separately and a motion would be required and a motion would be in order at this time. What is the pleasure of council? Council member Johnson.

Move to accept the consent agenda as presented. A motion for approval from Councilman Johnson. Council member Butler Barllo second. Second from council member Butler Barllo. Is there any discussion of the motion? Hearing none. Council members, prepare to vote. Please cast your vote. Madame clerk, please record the vote.

The motion is approved by vote of 7 to zero.

I know we do not have any agenda speakers. So, we will move to presentation of the consent agenda. Madame clerk, do please present items for consideration. Item number seven, an ordinance to accept and appropriate additional funds from the Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Aviation for the master plan update project the Suffach Executive Airport. Item number eight, an ordinance to accept and appropriate funds from the Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Aviation for the Suffach Executive Airport. Item number nine, an ordinance to accept and appropriate funds from the Virginia Office of Emergency Medical Services Rescue Squad Assistance Fund for the Suffach Department of Fire and Rescue. Item number 10, an ordinance to accept and appropriate funds from the Suffach Foundation for the initial design phase of Longacre of the Long Acre Park project. Item number 11, an ordinance to accept and appropriate program income resulting from the repayment of certain loans associated with the city of Suffach Home Rehabilitation Program. Item number 12, an ordinance to amend section 2-463 of the code of the city of Suffach to add additional members to the education standing committee. And item number 13, a resolution authorizing the city manager to execute a regional partnership memorandum of understanding between the city of Suffuk is of White County and Southampton County for the Western Tidewater Recovery Court Program and the Behavioral Health Docket.

Madam Cler, Madam Cler, Mr. Manager, will you please provide an overview? Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of council. Consent item number seven. The city has received $1,600 in additional funding from the Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Aviation in support of the Suffach Executive Airport Master Plan Update. Adoption of the ordinance will increase the planned revenues and expenditures of the capital fund balance budget by $1,600 and does not require any additional local funds. Consent item number eight. The city has received $22,500 in funding from the Commonwealth of Virginia Department of Aviation in support of the SUFFK Executive Airport for fiscal year 2526. Uh this will be used to update the storm water prevent pollution prevention spill prevention control and counter measure plan. Adoption of the ordinance will increase the plan revenues and expenditures the aviation facilities fund by $22,500. uh requires a $2,500 local match which is available in the 2526 aviation facilities fund budget. Consent item number nine. The city's received $149,645.35 from the Virginia Office of Emergency Medical Services Rescue Squad Assistance Fund in support of the SUFFK Department of Fire and Rescue to purchase five Striker Life Pack 35 cardiac monitor defribills. Adoption of the ordinance will increase the planned revenues and expenditures of the consolidated fund by 149,645.35 which requires a local cash match of $149,645.35 which is provided in the 2526 consolidated grant funds budget. Consent

item number 10. The city has received $100,000 in funding from the Suffach Foundation for the initial design phase of Longacre Park. The project is planned for a new 65 acre park on the Glasscock property in Chuckatuk located on Kings Highway. Adoption of the ordinance will increase the planned revenues and expenditures of the capital funds budget by $100,000 and requires a local match of $100,000 which is available for transfer from the parks and recck capital maintenance account. Consent item number 11 for council's consideration is an ordinance to accept and appropriate $3,100 in Suffach Home Investment Partnership Program funds repaid to the city by the city of Franklin. Adoption of the ordinance will increase the planned revenues and expenditures of the consolidated grant funds budget by 1,00 $3,100 and does not require a local fund match. Uh consent item number 12 is an amendment to the education standing committee adding one additional member to the school board as well as one additional member for city council for the uh education standing committee. Consent item number 13 for council's consideration is an ordinance authorizing the city manager to execute a regional partnership memorandum of understanding between the city of Suffukk is of White County, Southampton County for participation in a western tidewater recovery court program and a behavioral health docket. The city will serve as the fiscal agent for the project and receive and manage funding from these localities as well as outside sources.

Thank you, Mr. Manager. If there are no questions about the items, a motion would be in order to approve the consent agenda as presented. What is your pleasure? Council member Butler Barlo. So moved. A motion for approval from council member Butler Barlo. Council member Johnson. Second. Second from council member Johnson. Is there any discussion of the motion? Hearing none. Council members prepare to vote. Please cast your vote. Madam clerk, please record the vote. Motion is approved by a vote of seven to zero.

We have no public hearings, ordinances, or resolutions. We do have a staff report from the Suffach Police Department referencing their 2025 year in review. Mr. Manager, please provide an overview. Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of council, Police Chief Buouie is going to walk you through the 2025 year in review from the Suffach Police Department. Good evening, Chief.

Thank you, sir. Mr. Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of council, city manager, city staff, city department heads, it's my honor to stand here today as the chief of police for the Suffach Police Department to prevent to present you with a 2025 overview of uh what took place throughout the year. Before Before I do that, I want to I like to say one thing is I'm going to go over uh crime statistics. And there's people out there in our city that were victims of crime throughout the year. And I can stand up here all day long and say how good how crime rates are down and they're going really well, but if you're a victim of a crime, you don't see it that way. So, I I just want them to know that we're working very hard if they're victims of a crime to find their offenders and bring them to justice. And I want them to know that we're going to work really hard for them to see that that is done. Saying that, I'll get started. Overall, for 2025, a 17% decrease in part one crimes in 2025. Homicide decreased 55% from 11 homicides in 2024 to five in 2025 with a 83% solve rate to date. Means 83% of those homicides that were committed we solved and the one that for this year that is not solved is almost there. Larseny and vehicle theft show significant decreases of 20% each and property crime is the most common crime in Suffuk with lararseny making up nearly 71% of our part one crimes. Violent crimes make up 18% of our part one crimes and property crimes altogether make up 80 82% of our part one crimes.

Homicides down 55% from 2024. Rate down 7%. Robbery was up 5%. Aggravated assault up 2%. Burglary was down 10%. Larseny 21% down. vehicle theft down 21% and arson down 55% for a total decrease in crimes for 2025 from 2024 at um 17%. And I say that and just I've said it before is that we we work in a growing city. Our city is growing very rapidly and for the men and women of our police department to bring to have a reduction in crime at 17% in a growing city is something worth saying. It it's just a heck of a job for them all the way around um with our police department and men and women working extremely hard in the community working with us to report crimes and report things that they see. That's the That's why we can keep this down. In the past three years, our crime rate has reduced 26%. We'll go over operations command. That's our precinct one, precinct 2, and our special operations unit. That's total and that's including supervisors. That's that consists of 104 officers. They answered 141,868 calls for service, issued 6,400 citations, made over 3,400 arrest, which resulted in over 6,000 charges. The zones that uh we received the most calls for services that is what you would expect in both precinct one and precinct 2 is the most populated areas you where the most people are. that's

where we're going to answer the most calls for service because there's just more people in that in that general area. So, there's not one thing that jumps out at us and says it's this way or that way. It's just just the fact that we're putting a lot of people in a smaller place and things happen when you do that. Continuing with our operations command, they're training. They did active threat training and mass casualty training, multi-jurisdictional training for mobile field force. I don't know if we've been out if y'all been by that way lately, but the digital sign board out of sector 2 where we can put messages out there. The message can be anything from an emergency message or it can be as simple as wishing the chief a happy birthday. I like that one the best. of the community policing events that they attend. I played basketball with with teens and I would love to stand up here and say that we we put it to those teens, but I would be lying that um them teams put a hurting on us. We play back and probably what they didn't realize that they hurt us that day but hurt us for many days to come. Coffee with a cop, one of my favorites. Um the toys for tots event that we do every year. the police department and I know the fire department and sheriff's department uh collect thousands and thousands of toys for Toys for Tots every year. And they do that on their time. You know, they're not paid to go out there. They go show up on their time on a Saturday and um we stand in front of the Walmarts and we harass every person that walks in that store and that walks out to try so they can bring a toy out and that is hugely successful. math and music event. We did something not too long. Are you smarter than a fifth grader? Y'all seen that? We're not smarter than a fifth grader. We started out saying, "Hey, give them a

break. We'll take it easy on the kids." And about three questions in, we're like, "All right, come on. We got to tighten up." You know, and we learned that we are not smarter than a fifth grader. For sure. Neighborhood watch implementation for the Sleepy Lake community and much, much more. Mental health call responses. The Suffach Police Department officers responded to over 1,400 mental health related calls in 2025. On average, officers are responding to 121 mental health related calls each month, which equates to about four a day. The mental health calls that officers respond to are the main thing that drains the the personnel in the police department. It can be they can be with a person for as much as 72 hours at a time and it just it just go they can be doing be there can be three or four there at one time taking three four sometimes five officers to to um to sit with that individual. So I say that say as we work hard to try to reduce police presence in a mental health situation is still one of those things that we that we do a lot of. It's getting better through the Marcus Alert and um other things that we're doing, but um it still is it's something that um police officers deal with on a daily basis. Our investigations command, that's that's our criminal investigation, special investigations, crime scene investigations. Total including personnel with supervisors is 40 officers and 10 professional staff. The criminal investigations division um executed nearly 200 s search warrants in 2025. Extensive investigations completed successfully, including uh the we had uh an individual going around damaging our

flock cameras, going through and just vandalizing our flock cameras. And um out of all we were able to to locate that individual and bring that um to some conclusion. And of all things that help catch you when you're damaging the plot cameras is a camera. Uh they've worked um homicide case, a multi-jurisdictional homicide case which are still working so we can't say much about it, but it's a multi- multi-jurisdictional case and our detectives have worked very hard on it and they're going to bring that to a positive resolution as far as bringing these offenders to justice. We had a a shooting case in the Cedar Hill Cemetery where landscaping personnel were shot at and um we were able to make arrest in that particular case and bring it to some resolution. I said earlier five of the six five of six homicide cases are solved with the final case being the most recent case that we're still actively working. our special investigations division, which is our um for lack of a better term, our narcotics division, execute uh made over 200 controlled purchases, 485 charges secured or pending, 150 individual persons charged, 55 firearm seized, one and a half kilos of cocaine seized, 5 ounces of heroin/fentinol, and we all read about that every day, how dangerous that is. seized and 32 pounds of marijuana seized by those units. Our crime scene investigations, they're kind of the unsung heroes and a lot of things that goes on. They're the ones that we see on TV that come in and find the follicle of hair and the piece of clothing and they solve the crime in an hour. It takes our guys a little longer than that, but that they do pretty well.

235 um scenes processed, 2,800 pieces of evidence collected, 120 items processed, 50 Nibbons hits, which Nibbons is a the fingerprint. When you when you find your fingerprint, you run it through a database, and we've had um 50 hits there, 20 DNA hits, and we do in-house testing of all firearms of all firearms collected. We used to have to send them off to get it done, but because of the um grants and the generosity of our council that we no longer have to do that anymore. We're currently pursuing more grants to increase our DNA capabilities in our professional services unit, our intel units, uh, 150 bulletins put out, uh, ABC's most wanted, posters created, 30 ABC bulletins, 574 interviews transcribed. I don't know if you or we have two ladies that sit into a room and wear headsets and listen to interviews that were done audibly and they transcribe them on paper. They do one heck of I I couldn't even come close to doing what they do. They're another one of the unsung heroes that do a lot of the work and get very little credit for what they do. 887 case files processed. This is investigations again. Pluto. I don't know if some of y'all have met our K9 Pluto. He's completed his therapy certification and his comfort dog. Uh he's done all that training. We got him from a a family that was leaving town that couldn't take him with them. So he was a donation to us in the police department and we made him a certified therapy dog and we utilize him when we

have to do highly sensitive interviews with children or um you know other victims of crime. Sometimes we we bring the dog in to sit, you know, with the investigator and with the person. And as I as I know, the mayor knows that um dogs are incredible animals and they just bring that peace with them. And this um Pluto does just that. He don't I don't want to say he don't bite because he's got teeth. But um he's not that kind of dog. He is a comfort dog. That's what he does for us. And uh we not only for what I mentioned, but if a police officer is having a bad day, you bring the dog in and spend some time with the dog and you always feel better. K9 Sky. Um he's our he's our completed he's completed his narcotics detection training. Uh that's what he does. He smells narcotics. He don't he's not a patrol dog. He's not a comfort dog per se. He he smells narcotics and our SIU or special investigating um unit uses him on a daily basis to do narcotic sweeps when they're doing them. And Sky was also a rescue. He we rescued him from um animal control and um through his training he I mean he's one of the top-notch narcotics dogs in the area. training and equipment. Um, we've, uh, completed our Taser 10 training, our transition. Uh, we've received our new firearms and our new optics. And as of today's date, it doesn't say it there, but as of today's date, um, everybody has been transitioned in the police department and has their new firearms and their new optics. Recruitment and growth. We hosted two recruiting events and hiring events in 2025.

in March and August. We graduated 10 officers in June. Uh we have 13 officers in field training right now and we have 20 officers in the police academy that will graduate in June. Really, and I kind of want to highlight this. This is um through the hard work of a lot of people. You know, when this when we wrote this, we were at 6.1% vacancies, which I can tell you every other Hampton Road jurisdiction is very jealous of that, but as of today's date, we're under 5% vacancies. We're working really, really hard towards zero. We're working really hard toward towards zero. We want our only vacancies to be come July one, new positions that we received through the budget. That's the only vac that's all we want our vacancies to be. Um, y'all know Joan, y'all know Joan, Joan Turner. Joan is our community outreach coordinator and in 2025 she coordinated over 230 events. Her goal was to do a hundred when she got there and she did over twice that. And I speak of Joan a lot when I talk and I do that because she's just incredible. She does uh she does a heck of a job. She does a heck of a job. When I say she's one of the best hires that the police department ever made, she's one of the best hires that we've ever made. You know, she's just she's just incredible. Makes I mean gets us out there with the community all the time. And um I I don't know how many events we were doing before, Joan, but I can guarantee you that it wasn't 230. our administrative command that that that's um animal care, animal control, and our communications, our dispatchers. Once again, the unsung heroes. Um it's uh 12 animal control

people and 27 communications operators. Animal animal care completed internal renovation of the shelter. They passed the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services inspection with zero compliance issues. zero compliance issues. That's unheard of. Conducted adoption events throughout the year and they completed the largest ecoin and neglect investigation in our city's history. And I I can tell you because that's still kind that's ongoing also. But many thanks to what they did. If anybody knows anything about horses and how difficult it can be to deal with one horse, they dealt with over 60 over 60. And it was um thanks to our rescue groups throughout Hampton Roads that chipped in and helped and a lot a lot of volunteers and our animal control. That was a that was something that was um incredible to watch cuz I have a horse and I know how hard one horse is and for them to deal with 60 is just un unheard of. I I couldn't have done it. our commun emergency communications operators. Truly our first responders. They answer the phone first. They deal with the public first. They make sure that we get to where we're supposed to be. Um they hosted a web-based assessment for Kalia reacredititation. They installed new radio hardware hardware in the backup emergency communications center. and they could we continue to build out our new CAD RMS which is a multi-million dollar project that's due to go online this year. And those that did not know a um our secondary communication backup center if you know we had that or not but if something fails downtown and our communication center goes down, we have a completely operational backup center in the northern end of our city um up at

sector 2 that can take over the responsibilities. so the general public still gets the service that they that they need. And that's um I know I might have took up a lot of your time, but I wanted to take this time to to brag a little bit about what um all these men and women are doing. I want to thank uh our community because without them, we can't do this job. They give us that power to police. They cooperate with us. They're honest honest with us. They tell us when we're doing good. They tell us when we're doing bad and without that partnership, we would not be nearly successful as we are. And to each and every one of you on the DIS, we can't do it without y'all. Y'all are highly supportive of our police department. I don't say that because I'm here and you're there. I say it because it's the truth. Y'all y'all really do look out for the police department and you provide us with the things that we need. And for that, I'll close and say thank you.

Okay. Thank you, Chief. Uh before I turn it on for open it up for questions or comments, I know you said you took up too much time. If you want to take some more time and keep spitting out some more good news, I've got, you know, we're going to have a short meeting. So, go ahead and knock yourself out. I am always willing [laughter] to share good news with you because I know eventually I'll have to share bad news with you. So, I I'll take them both. Okay. With that being said, council, have you got any questions or comments? Council member Wright. Yes. Chief Buoie, I just wanted to thank you for the presentation and to thank you for all that you do. Thank you.

I feel extremely safe in the city. You your uh department does an exceptional job with community policing and community engagement. I just wanted to say thank you for your service and all that you do. Thank you. Appreciate it. Council, any other questions or comments? Council member Bennett. Yeah. I would also just like to thank all the men and women in uh the department for all that they do and the crimes that they are solving. And there are a lot of them out there that I know they're working and u it's not easy but uh we do thank them for all the time and service they put in to keep our city safe. Thanks again. Thank you sir. Council member Johnson

and we can't say it enough. Chief Buie, you know what these folks just said. I say the same. Our city is so fortunate whenever something comes up when there's a problem going forward we never even think about it because We've got [clears throat] you guys out there. Thank you, sir. You well appreciate it. Thank you, Vice Mayor Ward. Yes, Chief. We uh it's not bragging when you do a good job. You do a good job. You should be rewarded for doing the job that you do. So, that's not bragging. And another thing that uh you know, I'm I'm impressed with you when you call. You got 114,400,

you know, mental health calls. I can imagine how it were and how it went. You got to be trained for that. Just not like any other call. And today I want to just uh I thought about you today because Western Tidewater is going to have a crisis receiving center. We it going to be built. We you did the ground today. So it will help that they don't have to go over to Williamsburg or something like that. So I thought about you today when that happened. I know it's much needed when you have somebody and you got to have be in the hospital and wait and all that type of stuff. So, you're doing a great job and I'm very impressed with, like I said, the mental illness part. Thank you. Now, I appreciate it,

council. Any other questions or comments? Uh, Chief, I can just, I guess, reiterate what some of my fellow council members said that the numbers don't lie. The numbers speak for themselves, but that's only half of the formula. I mean, the crime stats that you that you've been able your results that you've been able to get through this year have been nothing short of phenomenal. And it doesn't happen by itself. Like I said, it comes through hard work, through training, through supervision, comes through the assistance and help of our citizens. Just like you said, our citizens make a huge difference. And I because I believe that our vacancies are down and are down significantly because of the work environment. I think we have individuals that I mean, if you want to go into law enforcement, it ain't hard to find a job. Just pick a city and decide who you want to go to work for. But one thing that we can continue to offer and that you do offer, and that's not money. Money's part of it. Like I always say, money is always something, but it's never everything. So what we're offering and what I believe you're offering, what I believe your department is offering is a work environment that individuals can't get somewhere else. So keep up the good work. The numbers speak for themselves, but it's also the intangible things, the community events and the other initiatives that you're doing to engage our community. So once again, congratulations and uh look forward to more good news.

Can I say one more thing? Yes, sir. And I'll leave it. Um, you got all the time you want. March 14th, we're having another hiring event. [laughter] So, anybody watching out there, y'all know anybody who ever wanted to be a police officer, we're we're quickly running out of vacancies, but we're having a hiring event March 14th from 8 to 2. And you can knock out 75% of the hiring process in one day. And um, like I said, we're going to be at zero. We're going to be at zero here soon. So, if you're interested, March 14th is your day. Come on out. Thank you, Chief. Thank you, sir.

Okay, we have no motions this evening. [applause] We now move to non-aggenda speakers. Madam clerk, do we have any non-aggenda speakers? And if so, please explain the guidelines.

Yes, Mayor Doom, we do have non-aggenda speakers this evening. Each person participating under the item of business entitled non-aggenda speakers shall limit their remarks to the services, policies, and affairs of city government and shall be permitted five minutes for the purpose of presenting their matter. Speakers appearing before city council will not be permitted to participate in the following activities. To campaign for public office, engage in personal attacks, promote private business ventures, or use profanity. Speakers who violate these rules will be declared out of order by the presiding officer and will immediately yield the floor and be seated. Our first non-aggenda speaker this evening is Roy Johnson, 1877 White Marsh Road. Mr. Roy Johnson, our next non-aggenda speaker is William Webb, 810 Dunville Avenue, representing self regarding affordable housing. Good evening, mayor, vice mayor, council, and staff. Back in October, I stood before you to make a case for the city to focus more on affordable housing. Today, I return with the same urgency, but with more specific concerns. Too often, what is labeled as affordable simply does not align with what our residents, particularly those in the central core area of our city, can actually afford. Let's be honest, developers can sometimes bring profers to the table, claiming that their projects include affordable housing. Yet, when we dig deeper, we find that these claims often fall short of meeting the true needs of our community. What is deemed affordable by a developer may be far from affordable for someone making the average wage in downtown. To highlight a quick example, let's talk about the Holland Glenn proposal. That developer came before the planning commission last year claiming that their resoning request was designed to address affordable housing. However, after the application had already made it through staff review and our planning commission, it was revealed that it

failed to meet the very standards outlined by HUD as well as state guidelines. Unfortunately, this was not caught by staff in their report, which took the developer claims at face value. It wasn't until I reached out directly to the planning director identifying these discrepancies that they became aware of the issue and ultimately the applicant withdrew their request. I want to be clear I don't fault the developer. He is known for building a very high quality product. Uh similar similarly I don't fault his council with whom we are all very familiar. He was bringing forward a new approach that we don't often see. I also do not fault our planning staff. They are working under the guidelines they have and I know that they're committed to serving the city and to uh to the best of their ability. However, the city must ensure we are setting the right precedent when it comes to approving or recommending projects that include affordable housing components. We must ensure that any project claiming to offer affordability truly meets the mark, not just in appearance, but in real tangible benefit for our residents. And that brings me to the UDO. Our affordable housing ordinance hasn't been updated in over a decade and the world has changed considerably in that time. We need to ask ourselves, is our current ordinance doing enough to ensure that affordable housing projects actually meet the needs of Suffach residents? Right now, the UDO allows council to define income guidelines and other incentives for developers. However, it's my understanding that these measures have never been fully implemented or updated to reflect current realities. The lack of clear standards for what constitutes affordable housing has left us vulnerable to developers pushing projects that do not serve the local population as they claim. The first step is for the city to take a more proactive approach to updating the UDO, especially when it comes to defining affordability. The city needs to set clear enforcable standards for what qualifies as affordable based on local income data and specific geographic context. For example, the affordability of housing in Northern

Suffach is vastly different from downtown. According to the 2024 census data, the median household income in Northern SuffK zip codes 23433, 23435, and 23436 is 151,57. That is 89.7% higher than the median income of zip code 23434, which covers most of central and downtown Suffach and comes in at only $79,877. What is affordable for residents in one part of the city is not necessarily affordable in another, and our zoning and development policy should reflect that. We need to be thoughtful about the different needs across our community and ensure that our UDO matches the realities on the ground. I've had conversations with many of our local builders as I'm not opposed to all development, but we must ensure that any development makes sense for the community it is impacting. And it might be surprising for some of you to hear me say um we need the city to be a better partner with our developers. But we need to be better partners when they choose to focus on affordability. We need to expand our incentive programs beyond just density bonuses to tackle other cost drivers such as the sky-high connection fees for water and sewer. But it's not enough to simply offer incentives. We must also have the right checks and balances in place to ensure that what is being built genuinely serves the people of Suffk. Development when done responsibly can be beneficial to our community. But it must takes make sense for the project area in which it is being being uh constructed. We cannot sacrifice the quality of of life of our current residents in favor of attracting new residents. I'm asking tonight that the city take a closer look at the UDO and the standards for affordable housing. It's time to modernize our approach to introduce stricter controls and update our policies so that we aren't just relying on the words of developers, but holding them accountable to real standards that serve all our residents. In the meantime, I urge you

to approach every affordable housing proposal with a critical eye. Developers will continue to come forward with claims of offering affordable housing, but we need to ensure that what they're offering actually meets the needs of our city. We cannot afford to make decisions in haste only to realize too late that we failed to protect our most vulnerable communities. Let's act now, be proactive, and ensure that suffix growth is both sustainable and equitable. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Our final speaker this evening is Dr. Andy Perod, 2655 River Watch Drive, representing Self regarding the methodology for gathering data as it relates to development. Good evening. I've been before you before and I feel like just saying hi. I'm back. I'm back. I'm Andy. Um, thank you for my being here. I'm Andy Par, uh 2365 Riverwatch Drive, Suffach, Virginia. Uh I know it sounds like a stuffy topic, but I couldn't have come at a better time. This was a great meeting between the chief and then the discussion on affordable housing. It fit kind of into what I was wanting to talk about, and that's how we establish what exists. Because all decisions that are made by this body have to start with what exists now and what are we either bringing to the table or what are we taking away or what is being developed from what we have currently when I used to teach research it was one of these things where you say well that's pretty obvious and I said but it isn't inherently obvious because the way we look at something anything comes from different eyes different backgrounds different perspectives I want to applaud our chief of police, you hit all the notes because what we tend to do in business and in municipalities is that we tend to focus so much on the money. And I'm not saying it's not important. Um, and I like money, but it isn't the most important thing many times. and having a perspective and then a defining operational definition of what is what are we currently dealing with truly

doesn't exist in many parts. I looked to the comp plan. I've looked at other documents to see if I could get a real flavor of what suffices and it's it's not totally clear. I've come here before and mentioned about how when we present to different boards, it's very hard to get a semblance of understanding, real understanding to help the members of different committees make knowledgeable decisions based on what we see only in here. We don't see, for example, what the property looks like now. We don't see what it had been, what it was doing. And then we really don't see the impact that this will be projected to make or does make or what will happen with current growth. And we never talk about what's already been accepted, what has already been signed off on and how that's going to then impact the existing properties changing the definition of what currently is for any cir certain project. So talking along the lines, I'm going to use you as an example because this was really great. Some people might come into and again I don't know a lot of these people. So it's not about any person, but a person might come into a new job and look at an organization and saying what are my numbers? What's my vacancy? What's this? What's our revenue? As opposed to saying what are the people doing? How are the people functioning? Do they have the tools to know how to do their job? You never put people into a job they don't have either the resources to do or the knowledge to do. And that is almost heresy in a lot of places. And so when you've done and met some of that criteria and not admitted their feelings because that is extremely important.

When I used to be head of an ICU unit at Vanderbilt University, we had a I had a 42 bed ICU. We had uh therapy dogs that were huge Rottweilers and they said therapy, they're giving my kids comfort and my family. They were the most mild animal, but there was an essence that they changed. They put him in krenolin tutus to bring them in to kind of change the exterior. Well, that's one example, but what about changing our ex exterior? Here's another one. We have a um low-income housing project that's being built in my neighborhood right now. I came from Jersey. I lived and did college in downtown New York, uh, the Bronx. Um, we had police escorts to go to school. You know, it was a different neighborhood, a different world. But I came by that building and I went, I don't know how I'd feel as home there versus warehouse. I was so disappointed. We need lowincome housing, but we needed to have a focus and a definition and a purpose. And I don't see that and it's frustrating. One of the things again what do we have now? what is it the people that we are I don't I hate to use the word targeting it sounds dangerous but you know focusing our efforts to do and then what it is we can expect them to bring to the table but what do we bring to the table and what I saw was a building that did not reflect what some of the new standards are for example if you have low-income housing it's sometimes a good thing to have on-site places where they have their own gardening So they can supplement their income and grow their own fruits or or vegetables or those kinds of things, but it's also the psychological benefits of what those activities bring and what they can feel like they're doing to encourage their own self-development. So

what we're saying is number one, know what you're dealing with. So you have to have a definition that is also validated so that people have identifiable standards that they're meeting because I can say I thought it was crap. Somebody else can say oh no this is wonderful see all the brick and and we're looking at two different worlds. So after you've got your identification of what is the developer or the the research project or what tell me what my request is going to do. Is it meeting a particular need? In other words, if we are going to be successful, do we know success when we see it? We're in a world right now where I don't know what success is in my own world if I saw it because it hasn't been defined for me. So when you have a job or a building, you have to say what is it that's means success not just to me or a builder but to the people inhabiting it.

I'm sorry ma'am working in it. Ma'am that concludes your time. You want to take a couple seconds to wrap it up?

Okay. Well, I'm wrapping. So following all the way through each of the steps is meaningless unless there is one last step that we don't have and that's the validation but also verification. there needs to be oversight that when we identify what our goal is, the only way to get to it is make sure we're we're moving in that direction. And sometimes we don't have that oversight guidance to say this is what is needed. It's not being done or it's not being funded. And that's how you can kind of refresh the process, refresh the work and get closer to what all could identify, including those end users, that they now have succeeded. That's enough for today. Thank you.

Thank you. That concludes the speakers, mayor. Okay. We'll now move to new business. Madame Clerk, do we have any additions to tonight's agenda? Uh the first addition to this evening's agenda is a motion to nominate and appoint Doretta Gilliam to the parks and recreation advisory committee. Council member Williams. Move for approval. A motion for approval from council member Williams. Do we have a second? Council member Bennett. Second.

We have a second from council member Bennett. Is there any discussion of the motion? Hearing none. Council members prepare to vote. Please cast your vote. Madame clerk, please record the vote. Motion is approved by a vote of seven to zero. Our second uh item this evening would be a motion to approve a resolution appointing Kevin Muse as the city manager of the city of Suffach. Council Council Member Williams move for approval. A motion for approval from council member Williams. Council Vice Mayor Ward. Second.

A second from Vice Mayor Ward. Is there any discussion of the motion? Hearing none. Council members prepare to vote. Please cast your vote. Madame clerk, please record the vote. The motion is approved by vote of 7 to zero.

Did you want to speak? I'm sorry, I missed it. get you there in a sec. There we go. Council member Williams.

We're good. Um, I just wanted to know is it would it be inappropriate just for a hand clap for um making how city manager the new city manager is that appropriate just to give them [applause] I don't know if it's appropriate or not but we just did it. So, okay. We'll now move to announcements and comments. Uh, do we have any announcements from our communications department? How about that?

Good evening, mayor, vice mayor, members of council, and city manager Kevin Hughes. Let me be the first to congratulate you. We're going to kick off tonight's announcements with exciting news from the economic development department having hosted two ribbon cutings this p since our last meeting. First, the yoga room cut the ribbon on February 22nd at 1238 Holland Road. They rolled out the welcome mat this with a weekend of open houses, free yoga classes, and hands-on tours of their new space. Their mission, an inclusive haven for every person and everybody. Check schedules, grab memberships, or connect at the yoga room757.com or at the yoga room757 on social. And the real estate group expanded into Hampton Roads with their ribbon cutting on February 23rd. Their new SUFFK office puts expert agents and top tier services right in our backyard for residents and businesses alike. In exciting news from the Western Tidewater Community Service Board, Executive Director Brandon Rogers hosted a ceremonial groundbreaking for their modernization and expansion of the Haven Treatment Campus located on Godwin Boulevard. Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services, Miss Tony Blue, was also present for remarks. The renovation and expansion will allow the community service board to continue provisions of 24 hours per day walk-in urgent behavioral health care at the location and add 16 residential community crisis stabilization beds where individuals in our local community can get compassionate comprehensive care for up to 14 days at a time in a non-hosp setting. Additionally, treatment spaces will be expanded by over 4,000 square feet to support music and art therapy as well as health and wellness activities. The CSB recognized the contributions and support from the city of Suffach and the

Commonwealth as invaluable to ensuring that these services are available to all of the cit citizens in the western Tidewater area. They hope to continue to move forward together with the communities that they serve. And big cheers to Suffach Public Libraryies own Kirsten Winslow and Emma Dore. They've been selected for the exclusive 2026 cohort of the Virginia Library Leadership Academy, landing two of the just 22 spots from over 85 applicants. Their leadership journey starts with a 3-day in-person workshop followed by a year-long adventure in development, mentorship, and learning. All to sharpen their skills as a topshelf library in with topshelf library innovators and storytellers. For more information, visit vla.org/avalawa. Spring into fun with SUFFK parks and recre extravaganza on Saturday, March 21st from 11:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Bennett Creek Park. Families will love the petting zoo, hands-on crafts, upbeat music, and a grand visit from the one and only Peter Cottontail. Kids get four chances to hunt for treat filled eggs at 11:45, 12:15, 12:45, and 1:15. So bring your baskets and hop on over. For more information, visit suffk parkssonreck.com. And Suffach Tourism has a killer lineup for the 12th annual Suffach Virginia Authors Festival, starting none other than Joe Kenda, the legendary detective who solved over 300 homicides and now unmasks true crime on TV. Catch him headlining on Saturday, March 14th from 1 to 5:00 pm at the Hilton Garden and Suffach Riverfront. This free public event remains a can'tmiss for book lovers and writers packed with author readings, panel discussions, signings, and meet and greets. Over 75 bestselling authors

spanned mystery, suspense, thrillers, romance, and beyond. Perfect for anyone who loves a good plot plot twist. Kinda kicks off things with an in-depth interview by broadcast journalist Carrie Fury where he'll share his secrets to solving the unsolvable, followed by book sales and signings. Get all the details and the full author list at suffvaauthorsfestival.com or follow at sufficva aauthors festival on Facebook. Keep Suffach beautiful is looking for volunteers to lend a hand to help keep our marsh grass green. Join us at the St. Patrick's Day river cleanup on Saturday, March 14th from 9:00 a.m. to noon. And discover that the true treasure at the end of the rainbow isn't gold, it's a cleaner, greener suffic. Volunteers of all ages and abilities are welcome. The cleanup begins at Constants Park and Marina, while supplies with supplies and registration available on site. And if you've got a canoe or kayak, you're in luck. Bring it along for some fun on the water. To learn more, visit suffba. us. And lastly on your screen are the various ways that residents can stay connected to the city of Suffach. Thank you and have a good night.

Thank you, Miss Moore. We'll now move on to announcements from city council. Council member Wright. Hold on. Let me get you. Here we go.

Good evening. Um, the first thing I wanted to share is that in Sleepy Hole Burrow, I am hosting a seniors chat and design event on April 11th. Registration is open. Um, for that event, it is for seniors ages 55 and older in the Sleepy Hole Burrow. It's an opportunity to sit, chat with me, and do some floral design. I also want to thank our speakers who came out today. I think that affordable housing is a very good topic that we do need to take a better look at and also the topic of how we establish what exists. Um data is very important. I want to congratulate our city manager, Mr. Kevin Hughes on his appointment as our city manager. And March is women's history month. And so I want to take an opportunity to acknowledge uh women's history month and national agricultural month. So Suffach has a strong agricultural heritage and is important to recognize the people whose hard work ensures food makes it from the field to our tables. So I greatly appreciate the presentation earlier and the acknowledgement that it is um National Agricultural Month. And during Women's History Month, it is also a good time to recognize some of the women who have helped shape leadership in our city. So, women like former mayor Linda Johnson, which is a sleepy hole burrow person, uh former council member Marian B. Rogers, which is also Sleepy Ho Burrow, and my colleague Shelley Butler Barlo was actually the first woman to serve in Chuckatuk and who also contributes to our agricultural community. So these women have helped pave the way for women in leadership here in the city of Suffuk and their service and dedication to our community deserve to be recognized. So happy

women's leadership month. And my last thing I want to say is a quote. In a world where you can be anything, choose to be kind. Good night, Council Member Williams.

Thank you, Mayor. Um, first I would like again to congratulate uh new city manager Deb. Welcome, welcome, welcome. Um, also want to take this opportunity to thank Deputy City Manager Aziz Felder, interim deputy city manager Gary Jones and staff um for providing the citizens of the Wellville Bio Borrow with an overview of each department that was in attendance um at the town hall meeting. staff did an awesome job and the um town hall meeting was very informative. Special thanks to the citizens of the north end of the Wellville borrow who came out um to the town hall meeting on Thursday, February the 26th in spite of the inclement weather. We had a great turnout. the citizens showed up and were able to hear about the ongoing projects as well as the completed ones. The community the community engagement during the question and answer period was great and welcoming. I'd like also to thank the constitutional officers that was in attendance. the Commonwealth Attorney Narendra Pledge, our Sheriff David Miles, and our treasurer Andrew Owens for attending the event. And our vice mayor was in attendance also. My prayers are with the family of Mr. Roshan Holland and his family for their loss and the loss of his sisters. Um, also my condolences to the family of Stephen Perry, known as Lil Steve. He was a great person and will truly be missed.

My word for the month of March is reciprocity and it's the practice of exchanging things with others for mutual benefit, especially privileges granted by one country or organization to another. And with that, oh, one other small thing, Mr. Mayor, I would like to take this opportunity to remind um the citizens in the Wellville Burrow that live out in the rural area um that we will I will be having a town hall meeting on March the 19th, 2026 uh at 6:00 pm. It's going to be from 6 pm to 7:30 p.m. and it's going to be at the Curtis Al Meill Senior Rec Center, 132 Robinson Street in Wellville. Please come out if you're available. Um, if you missed the one um the town hall meeting last week, please try to attend the town hall meeting on again March the 19th and that's going to be at the Curtis Art Senior Rec Center. and I thank you and good night,

Council Member Butler Barlo.

Thank you, Mayor. Um, I have one small piece of business that I was going to try to get on new business and I didn't, but at our last meeting, we had a citizen come and speak to us about concerns over the use of uh vacant warehouse facilities in the city of Suffuk for uh use as detention centers um by the federal government and ICE. And um we've had several conversations about that and I know there's uh there are limits to what we can and can't do. But what I would like to request is for the city manager with the help of the city attorney to look at what what um options we may have to at least as a council express um our feelings about this use of of uh properties in the city of Suffuk and to present something to us at our next um meeting on the 18th. if if um and again I want all all council members to weigh in and uh I just feel like um I've had a lot of responses from folks in the community. I have my own my own opinions of this and I know um there's restraints on what we can and can't do, but um I would I would like as a council for us to make some sort of a formal statement and I'd like to find out how we can do that. So that's my my new business under comments. Um, moving on to easier things. Um, congratulations, Kevin. Glad that we're to this point [laughter] after all the slogging along. So, um, glad to have you on board and look forward to working with you. Um, thank you for the shout out from across the dis over there. I appreciate it. Um, um, National Agriculture Month is, um, really important to me. Um this is also the uh the year the international year of the woman farmer um which is getting some publicity. It's the whole year. It's not just a month. Um but um wanted

want to uh thank everyone for their attention tonight for the agriculture presentation and uh someone said it during one of the presentations that um this is something that is important every day. I mean, if you're if you're eating and wearing clothes and you're not thirsty, um you have you have agriculture to thank for that. So, um I know I'm always talking about it. Uh but it's important for all of us. So, thanks again for the attention. Thank you for everyone that we were that we had the good presentation that we had uh during our meeting tonight. um uh way back in work session. I think the commercial stable change in the ordinances is a good thing and we're going to get a public hearing about that next time. But that kind of ties in with agriculture. Um and I'll save and talk about Women's History Month um on the 18th. So we'll leave that off until then. Um with that um we'll say everybody go forth and march forth and do good things. Good night. Council member Bennett.

Uh first I would like to say u thanks for all the speakers tonight and a lot of good information and u I do appreciate everyone coming out participating and the farmers. I think that presentation that u give us a good idea of what farming is all about and all the good stuff that they really produce to help our lives every day. So, uh, again, I want to thank them very much for that. Also, I would like to say that I attended, uh, a nonprofit, uh, Feed My People in Wheelerville this past Saturday and, uh, Dr. Lawrence. Uh, believe it or not, it was an outstanding affair and it was in the gym at the military center, rec center, and it was just like a store where you could go in and shop. And I'm tell you, people were in there shopping just like they was at the supermarket. And um it was very very productive. And um she is out going where she's located and she's looking if anyone know of a building that she could get to help u uh put her supplies in to help feed the people. she would really appreciate uh reaching out to her or let her know that she really needs some help with trying to find a larger place that uh she can u store stuff and for feeding her people, feeding our people. So, I want to thank her very much for that and what she's doing in the community to help people. And really it's a lot of people are suffering right now and it's not easy and um a lot of people need help. So I think that people now that uh are reaching out trying to help the less fortunate. It's just great that they are taking their time and energy to try to do that. So again I want to thank her

very much for what she's doing in that area. Also uh I want to say that Kevin I didn't know Anyway, congratulation to you as well as after we've started the congratulations. I guess matter was continued on. Congratulation to you and uh we're looking forward to working together and moving the city forward. We got a lot of challenges ahead and I'm sure you ready to step in and do whatever you can to try to get our city continue to move forward. Uh also, Mr. manager uh got a call from the churches there on National Parkway and some of the residents there the ditches in Driver area from National River High School down to Driver they're just about flooding in the the yards some down there just about so they ask me about trying to get the ditches clean that area try to help them with the drainage so that's from National River High School down to the driver on national parkway Uh, also we have uh this coming Saturday, don't forget to turn your clocks ahead because time is changing and uh so you won't be late getting to church Sunday morning. So please uh move your clocks ahead uh Saturday night and you lose that hour that you gain a few months ago. So uh again we're looking forward to uh the change in the spring is looked like is the day was a beautiful spring day I think. I mean it was really nice and it's enjoyable. So I know the people the farmers and the grass cutters and all that is happy. So we are looking forward to all that coming to be a part of us as well. And with that I would say good night. I thought we could be out by

about 7:30. Councilman Johnson,

congratulations, Kevin. We are happy to have you on board and looking forward to all the great things we're going to do. Um, I'm going to keep it brief. The um, A month, of course, I I totally support our a community. Everyone knows that. And I'm just happy that we have an a committee here that's helping us, keep us sending us in the direction we want to go in. Julia, thank you for heading up our team here. We're so happy to have you. Um, and I look forward to the future. I think SUFFK is truly an agricultural gem. Um, and sorry, go ahead. All right. Um, Mr. Webb and others that are speaking about affordable housing, thank you. This is something we talk about all the time, but we don't really talk about it all the time. let's keep on talking about it because we need affordable housing and we need real affordable housing. So, we really appreciate the public and the people of the city bringing it to our attention and keep reminding us something we're all going to be working toward as we move forward further along. Um, one more thing and I'm going to quit. What I really wanted to say tonight basically was be a good neighbor. If there was ever a time that we needed to be good neighbors, this is the time. Our city has changed and there's a lot of different and new people here and a lot of those people now are military and the military is really needs us right now. Think about the families that are out on the boats, the the people in the military that are out, people that are having hard times. Our military community needs our support and they need to be our friends. So just remember your neighbors. Don't forget there's so many people around that just need a kind word. So make that your motto. Thank you. Council member Bennett.

Yeah, there's one thing I forgot to mention u was very important to me. Uh we just had um arts on the Phoenix Bank uh presentation uh this past this week and it's loan to the art group. It's not a permanent mirror that's on the Phoenix bank. So people know, I think some of them pro some people probably thought it was a permanent uh mirror, but it's not. It's just a temporary mir mirror that's there now. And um but I'm sure Mr. Gary Jones is working on getting some permanent put up there, but it's letting the people know what it's going to look like close to what it's going to look like in the future. And I'm sorry that's that's what I want to be, but that was very important to me.

Vice Mayor W. Yes. I want to just really mention about uh the Western Tidewater event today. Uh very enlightening and I really enjoyed it. Wasn't supposed to be but it happened that I was there. But I just want to give a shout out to Miss Mary Johnson. She was a keynote speaker and what she dealt with over the years how we she was so concerned with the mental illness that she was uh she needed help, but she got the help she needed and her story is amazing. Just to hear her talk about things she had to go through with the mental illness. Uh Councilman Leotus Williams, uh you always have a good town hall meeting. Like I say, well attended and I really enjoyed it and I listen to the concerns of the community. And one of the true things that when I get beat up is that mostly every person that spoke for the department head, one of the things they was concerned about sidewalks. So I laugh not that far. People said they tired.

That's all they talked about. So how I was there, it was very interesting to see people the way they feel about that and I really enjoyed your town hall meetings with with the the attendance and also what the people talk about and I listen to them. looking forward to the next one and uh like I said uh I'll probably be at the one well center. So So with that I'll say God bless. All right, I'll go ahead and wrap it up. Um I attended a YMCA event over in Norfolk. It was kind of a regional event, Hampton Roads event. just going over basically what they've accomplished over the last year. And for I guess any of our citizens that that live in Suffach, you know, the YMCA does have a fairly significant um presence in our city, and I want to thank them for everything that they've done to improve the lives of a lot of our citizens and and provide amenities they may not be able to get someplace else. Uh Billy Corey, Corey Real Estate, uh sold his firm to Real Estate Group. We had a little photo shot there, but uh Billy's going to stay there and he's he's really an icon of our community and a past Suffach first citizen. So, I want to congratulate him on his uh sale in semi-retirement. Uh Suffach Sister Cities had an event at the center uh for cultural arts on the 24th. It was their 37th annual Young Artist, authors and musicians award u awards and showcase and they have a ceremony there. Great venue. I see Tom back here in the back. Um once again we uh Mr. Yanuzi asked the audience how many how many of you raise your hand if this is the first

time you've been here and these were Suffach students and Suffach residents and I figured we might see a couple of hands. Well, there was a lot of hands that went up. So, it's amazing how many of our citizens really don't know what we have to offer at the center. So, the more events we have like that, the more things that we can host there, the better off it's going to be. Um, all the way around, we had about I'm going to say about 60 students uh from all Suffach high schools and a couple middle school students and they participated. They competed in different categories, but it was very well attended. All the parents were there. I want to thank the volunteers, the teachers, SUFFK Sister Cities, and anyone who had anything to do with that event. It's about I mean, I've had the good fortune of being able to uh do the announcing of the award recipients since I became mayor for so I've been doing that for five years, but also tended those for about 10. So, I've kind of I have seen the event grow and it's uh once again I want to thank uh Mr. Yanuzi and Culture Arts Center for um hosting that event. Uh Temple Bethl had a black history gala honoring uh armed service veterans and our own Ebony Wright was there uh being honored and I can't remember who else I think Councilman Bennett was there. No, excuse me. Oh, Vice Mayor Ward. Yeah.

Yeah. Came late. Came late. Yeah. I was dead.

Okay. Still counts. He was there. [laughter] Thank you for that. And there [snorts] were a lot of folks there also. We had some constitutional officers. Uh council member Bennett alluded to Phoenix Bank and and Vice Mayor was there along with council member um Williams for the Phoenix Bank. the the not only the murals on the side, but everything that's going on on that quarter, you know, the landscape, the lights, the arts district, the Phoenix Bank. I mean, that is one of the gateways into our city. We're going to have a little park right there. I'm excited for this to move forward and and I'm sure Gary's going to get us there, but delivered at speed, under budget. Here we go. Thumbs up. uh Western Tidewater Community Services Board, the groundbreaking that was something that we approved about five years ago uh which would allow them I think for about 17 beds and that's going to be a 247 deal. It's going to help immensely uh with our law enforcement, first responders having a place for individuals to go and and that's another thing that a lot of our citizens don't know is available. It's basically an emergency room for behavioral health. It's a it's a crisis receiving center. And a lot of folks don't know it's there, but they have expanded so much. They're up to uh 800 employees, soon to be 900. So that's how expansive the community service board is. I want to thank them for everything they're doing. Uh we had a presentation this evening by Chief Buoie in regards to our um Suffach Police Department their annual report. We got a bunch of statistics and what have you. I won't go over there, but it's all good news reading. If you didn't see the presentation, please go

online and take a look at it. It's the 2025 Suffach Police Department annual report. Thank you for everything that you do, everything your your personnel do, and we are the city. we are to a large extent due to that. Um I think folks I think our citizens feel safe in our c in our city and I think a lot of folks realize that in addition to the other benefits and the other attractions we have uh having a reputation for being a safe city uh is certainly one of the major ones. I want to congratulate uh Mr. Hughes for his official appointment as city manager. Was a unanimous vote. Uh Kevin brings over 20 years of experience to the job and an immeasurable amount of institutional knowledge and in SUFFK that's huge. 430 miles of diversity, geographical diversity, um demographic diversity, financial diversity. It's not an easy place to learn. We are It's not like going from one city to another city. that Kevin's got uh that institutional knowledge. In addition to that, he has served admirably as our interim for six to seven months. And it's not just about me. He's got eight bosses to deal with. So, God bless him. I think city manager job is one of the toughest jobs. Everybody out there has actually had ever had a job, especially folks in the military. You get a little chain of command where it's hard to have eight commanders to answer to all at the same time. you know, you take care of one, then another one's ask you the door, why'd you do that? Well, I had and you get through that one and somebody else wanted to tell you what to do or to make a suggestion. So it it is indeed a tough job that in addition to you know dealing with the public and dealing with our regional partners and we have a lot of regional partners and Kevin is very well respected uh

throughout the Hampton Roads region having you know gone to regional meetings and what have you for the and interacting with mayors of all the Southampton Road cities over the last five years plus. Um, I can tell you we will be very, the city of Suffach will be very well represented wherever Kevin is. Um, I think I met Kevin about 17 years ago, something like that. He was like 12 years old. I don't know, but se 17 years ago when I was first when Mr. Barlo picked up the phone and called me one day and asked me if I wanted to be on the economic development authority. So, your father-in-law is responsible for this. Um, he's the one that got me started. Yep. But he's a great guy. Anyhow, don't hold any hands. He's he's one of the best. Um, Kevin was the director of economic development at the time. And in short order, as everybody probably knows, you know, I've been in sales for over half a century. And one thing I know about sales, I mean a good salesman can kind of sell anything to anybody. But the best salesman are the ones that believe in their product. If you can believe in your product, then it's not just selling a product. You've got your heart in it. And that's one thing I noticed about Kevin right off. I'm not trying to blow you up as truth. And anybody knows me. I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it. But he loved his product. His product was the city of Suffach and that attitude really contributes so much to your ability to succeed and in this case I think it's going to serve us well moving forward. Uh moving forward I am more than confident that Kevin along with his two trusted amigos over there, Mr. Gary

Jones and Mr. Felder, we have a senior manage management team that I don't think anybody would be able to surpass in any city. I mean, I wouldn't trade any one of those three guys for anybody else that I've run into. Uh they they have one thing in common to serve citizens. They work together to serve the citizens. We have a staff below them. We have a senior staff below them that is just as committed. And we have employees that are committed. So I am elated that for the next two years, nine months and five days that we'll be working with you to do whatever we can whenever we can uh to benefit this great city and to serve our citizens. So with that being said, congratulations again and um we will move forward to do what we need to do. And with that, I'll move to my quote of the night. And I was kind of struggling for a quote for tonight to be honest with you. And right after I thought I had a pretty good one picked out. Somebody sent me a suggestion maybe to do another one. Uh since it was women's history month. So I said, "Yeah, send it and I'll take a look at it." I actually didn't say send it and take a look at it. She's like radar on mass. She'd already said it. Uh told me to take a look at it. And as soon as I looked at it, I said, "Man, this is awesome. This is perfect." But this also goes along with observance of Women's History Month. And that's a quote from the late United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, which I'm sure doesn't need any introduction. And that s quote is fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you. And with that, I will ask for a motion to adjourn. Council member Williams.

So move a motion for German. Council member Williams. Council member Wright. Second. Second. Council member Wright. Is there any further discussion in the motion? Hear none. Council members prepare to vote. Please cast your vote. Madam clerk, please record the vote. Think we're missing somebody. The motion is approved by a vote of six to zero. This meeting stands adjourned. Miss should be seven. Did we miss