City Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you.

Good evening and welcome. City Council is now in session. Be advised that Council Member Johnson and Council Member Williams will both be absent this evening and have been excused. At this time, please stand for the invocation by Council Member Bonavaro, which will be followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag.

Let us pray. This week, as we celebrate Independence Day and our nation's 250th birthday, we are thankful and hopeful for the democracy that is alive in our country and for the freedoms we enjoy. We pray that both elected government officials and all persons in positions of power and authority will remember their responsibility to govern wisely, for the common good of all, and to protect this democracy and our freedoms. Help us all to recognize that humility and respect for democracy are characteristics which for 250 years have made America a beacon for stability and prosperity around the world, characteristics which should be upheld as they were fought for by ancestors who sacrificed so much to ensure the freedoms we too often take for granted today. We ask tonight for blessings on our citizens, on our staff, and on all present gathered here tonight as we conduct the business of this city of Suffolk. Amen.

Amen. 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 July 1, 2026, pursuant to Virginia Code Section 2.2-37, amended is presented at this time now therefore be it resolved that the City Council of the City of Suffolk hereby certifies that to the best of each members knowledge only certain 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 the City of Suffolk in the closed meeting Council resolution has been presented for your consideration.

What's your pleasure councilmember rector? So moved. Motion for approval. Council Member Rector, 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. Madam Clerk, please record the vote.

The motion was approved by the vote of six to zero.

We'll now move to Approval of the minutes for consideration from the April 1st, 2026 work session and regular meeting. And a motion would be in order. Council members, Council Member Butler-Barlow.

Move to approve.

Motion for approval. Council Member Butler-Barlow, Council Member Rector. Second. Second from Council Member Rector. Any discussion of the motion? Hearing none, Council Members prepare to vote. Please cast your vote. Madam Clerk, please record the vote.

The motion is approved by vote of six to zero.

We do have one special presentation this evening, which will be a proclamation and recognition of park and recreation month. Mr. Manager, please provide an overview.

Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of council, July recognizes the month of parks and recreation. It celebrates the month of July. Accepting the proclamation will be Mark Furlow, our director of Parks and Recreation. He's joined by members of the Parks and Recreation Department as well as the Parks and Rec Advisory Board.

Madam Clerk, will you please read the proclamation?

Whereas parks and recreation services are fundamental to the well-being of communities throughout this country, including the city of Suffolk, and whereas parks and recreation programs encourage physical activity by providing space, for popular sports, hiking trails, swimming pools, and many other activities designed to promote a healthy lifestyle, including positive impacts on physical and mental health, as well as cognitive performance. And whereas parks and recreation professionals are leading providers of healthy meals and nutrition services and offer after school programming, youth sports, and environmental education, all of which are important to childhood development, And whereas our parks and natural recreation areas protect the ecological beauty of our community and provide a place for children and adults to connect with nature and enjoy the outdoors. And whereas the United States House of Representatives has designated July as Parks and Recreation Month. And whereas it is appropriate that our locality participates in this worthwhile observance and celebrate the ways in which parks and recreation programs bring us together. STRENGTHEN OUR HEALTH AND WELL-BEING, AND BUILD MORE RESILIENT, CONNECTED COMMUNITIES. NOW, THEREFORE, I, MICHAEL D. DOOMAN, MAYOR OF THE CITY OF SUFFOLK, VIRGINIA, DO HEREBY PROCLAIM 2026 AS PARKS AND RECREATION MONTH, AND CALL TO THE ATTENTION OF OUR CITIZENS THE BENEFITS DERIVED FROM PARKS AND RECREATION RESOURCES, IN WITNESS WHERE I HAVE HEREON TO SET MY HAND AND CAUSE THE SEAL OF THE CITY OF SUFFOLK TO BE AFFIXED THIS FIRST DAY OF JULY IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD, 2026.

Thank you, Mayor. This July Parks and Recreation Month will be highlighting the power of Parks and Recreation and the people who make it all possible. Parks and Recreation brings us together, strengthens our health and well-being, and builds more resilient, connected communities. Throughout the month, we'll be celebrating many ways. We're planning on having a parks and recreation party at our July 10th TGIF. I've set a magnet down at the desk, so you all should have one with our calendar. You can pick these up at any of our recreation centers. So we'll have staff out there from various departments talking about the different programs and facilities that we offer. So be sure to come out to July 10th TGIF and have a and have a Parks and Recreation party with us. I've got some staff here, just ask that they be recognized as well, and members of our advisory commission. Thank you very much.

Okay, we have no consent agenda items this evening, so we don't have to worry about removing any. Therefore, a motion would be in order to adopt the entire agenda as presented. Council? Council Member Butler-Barlow?

So moved.

A motion for approval from Council Member Butler-Barlow. Council Member Bennett? Second. Second from Council Member Bennett. Any discussion in the motion? Hearing none, council members prepare to vote. Please cast your vote. Madam Clerk, kindly record the vote.

The motion is approved by a vote of five to zero.

Madam Clerk, do we have any agenda speakers this evening? No, Mayor Duman. We had nothing on the consent agenda. We got no public hearings. We had no ordinances. So I guess we need to vote on the agenda that we don't have. Yes. Mr. City Attorney. Yeah. Okay, we're done. I'm still recuperating. Okay. Moving right along. Never been one we didn't know. No public hearings. No ordinances. Now we'll go to resolutions. We do have a resolution to endorse project applications under the smart scale funding program. Mr. Manager, please provide an overview.

Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of Council, Greg Benton, Director of Public Works, will provide an overview on the requested support for projects for smart scale funding.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Council, Mr. Manager. Before I begin, I wanted to applaud the refuse staff and all the city staff that supported them as we implemented processes and efficiencies to begin collecting the blue and green cans which started today. We successfully collected all blue and green cans earlier this afternoon. Now onto my brief regarding smart scale projects requesting council endorsement of this resolution for three projects submissions for smart scale funding. This chart here shows the two year smart scale cycle and we are in the beginning stages of that process. The first project is Pruden Boulevard widening. We're requesting $20 million from SmartScale. The $15 to $20 million range request gives us the highest chance of obtaining funding. This project widens Pruden Boulevard from four to six lanes with a raised median from the 58 interchange to the Providence Road and Lake Prince Drive intersection. which is approximately two miles. Curb gutter, new exclusive turn lanes, and extension of existing turn lanes are all part of the scope of this project. Our CIP budgets for the remaining funding requirement in FY29 and FY30, with construction slated for FY30. Next project. For the Bridge Road College Drive left turn lane, We're requesting $20 million. The project provides an additional southbound left turn lane onto College Drive from Bridge Road, additional northbound right turn lane on Bridge Road, and traffic signal modifications. Our CIP budgets funding beginning in FY 29. Third and last project, 58 widening from Pruden Boulevard to Godwin Boulevard. This project, we're requesting $14 million from SmartScale. The project provides widening of Highway 58 to three lanes by connecting the on-ramp of Pruden Boulevard eastbound to the off-ramp of Godwin Boulevard. This connection is approximately one mile. This project is not currently in our CIP. Pending any questions, that concludes my brief for smart scale applications.

Council, any questions or comments? On hearing them, I just got one comment, and I guess it's a funding comment in regards to the Pruden Boulevard Route 460 widening. I mean, this number has gone up exponentially from where we were a couple years ago. I think it was $80-some million. And now we're looking at $120 million. Is that basically just due to increasing costs? I mean, obviously increasing costs, but I wouldn't imagine it went up another 50%, kind of.

Right, so the original scope that occurred in the rezoning process worked on estimates. Since then, we've been able to put engineers under work, and there are still some estimates based in there. Again, right-of-way acquisition is one that's a budget. You never know until you get into some of the negotiations, but that's the best number we have at this time.

Okay, and hopefully I'll know Originally, there's been an effort to amend the smart scale guidelines, percentages, if you will. And I am not sure if we've actually, I don't know, maybe you can help me. Has the smart scale been amended at all, or are those numbers still kind of the same, the percentages?

I don't think they've been amended to provide any additional considerations outside of congestion. So the number that you see here on the 460 really has a strategy behind it. We'd obviously like to request more funding, but it does not rank well from a traffic backup scenario. And so we're trying to push into some of the other categories to try to increase that potential number when they rate these things.

Okay. And I try to explain that to citizens lots of time when we, We're going to ask why we can't get ahead of traffic issues if we know we're going to have some congestion or more congestion based on kind of what we know what is coming, and that is that the smart scale funding formula, 45% of it, of the five factors, one that weighs 45% is congestion. So what happens is when... we're competing for funds across the state and they're applying smart scale funding to it, then those areas that already have considerably more congestion than us or congestion where we may not have that much right now, but we know it's coming, we'll put those in the weighing scale, we'll put them in the forefront. So it's very, very hard to keep up with. And I know that from the regional level, like I said, we're attempting to change their formula. So things like economic impact would take, you know, would it be a higher percentage safety issue as far as evacuation routes, which is one thing that we push all the time with 58 and 460 projects is that those two roadways are evacuation routes for everyone to get out of Hampton Roads. So if that was weighted a little bit higher, then congestion it would help the safety side of it the economic development side of it also if that was weighted a little bit more heavily but I think all these projects and the way you have them laid out and what you've asked for is very reasonable so hopefully we'll favor well as far as the Route 460 project is concerned and we do already have 30.1 million dollars that we're going to receive from the transportation partnership opportunity fund from year before last So once again, thank you for your presentation and we'll see what happens So resolution like at this point has been presented so we need to vote on that if there's no further discussion councilmember Butler Barlow Okay, we get a motion for approval from Council Member Butler-Barlow. Do we have a second? Council Member Rector? Second. Second from Council Member Rector. Is there any discussion of the motion? Hearing none, Council Members prepare to vote. Please cast your vote. Madam Clerk, please record the vote.

The motion is approved by a vote of six to zero.

We'll now move to staff reports. We do have one staff report this evening regarding mosquito control. Mr. Manager.

Mayor, Vice Mayor, Members of Council, Mr. Charles Abadam, Mosquito Control Superintendent, is with us this evening and will provide an update on the activity at Mosquito Control. Thank you, Charles.

Great. Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, Members of Council, and City Manager. I'll be giving you an overview of Suffolk's Mosquito Control Program. We are a division of the Public Works Department that's funded from the stormwater utility fee. We're responsible for mosquito control throughout Suffolk, including monitoring the Great Dismal Swamp. We're an integrated mosquito management program, which means we operate mosquito control from an ecological approach. By focusing on these particular aspects, we combine chemical and nonchemical methods of abatement to reduce mosquito populations to an acceptable level that's practical, cost-effective, and safe for the environment and human health. Here are some interesting facts of note that we can also relate back to Suffolk. Worldwide, there are approximately 3,000 species of mosquitoes. 176 of those mosquitoes inhabit the United States. And in Suffolk, we deal with about 48 species. Mosquitoes are the world's deadliest animal. They kill about 725,000 humans each year. And I'm happy to report that under my watch for the last 21 years, Suffolk has never had a mosquito-human related death. All of this disease transmission is caused only by the female gender of mosquitoes because only female mosquitoes feed on blood. Not all mosquitoes transmit disease. In Suffolk, there are only two diseases we deal with, West Nile Virus and Triple E, which are detected in mosquitoes annually. Our focus is on the primary vectors of these two diseases, Culex pipiens and Culex resturants for West Nile virus, and Culex melanera for triple E. Our division is a team of 10, and as you can see, many of them have several years of experience with the program. Being responsible for the largest mass, largest land mass city in Virginia is no easy task. That's why we focus on managing the most important species of public health interest and our most abundant nuisance species. which is also our most competent vector of any new invasive or exotic diseases that would come into the United States. We do this by focusing our operations into two branches. Our first branch is our biological operations. Here biologists manage weekly mosquito surveillance using adult mosquito traps. Traps are brought back to the lab. Mosquitoes are identified to species. and placed into vials to be tested for West Nile virus and triple E. They are also rearing mosquitoes from egg to adult and testing adults for signs of insecticide resistance. It's important to monitor the effectiveness of our pesticides against our most important mosquitoes. This type of testing shows us the intensity of the resistance our mosquitoes have against our pesticides, which helps us adjust the timing of our pesticide usage and directs any pesticide rotation that may need to occur. Our second branch is our abatement operations. Technicians focus on mosquito population reduction through chemical and nonchemical means. Their field surveillance combined with biologists' adult surveillance directs abatement for operations. For example, high mosquito counts from traps can direct us to intensify surveillance and service in this area. or the detection of a West Nile virus positive mosquito pool creates the need for a truck spray. All of our abatement operations are justified in one of several ways. Thresholds are in place for mosquito population numbers, landing rate counts, visual confirmations, mosquito pool positives, and number of citizen service requests in an area. I wanted to focus on some of the operations that citizens are most familiar with. How do we manage service requests from citizens? A citizen can either call us, go through the website, email, or we can receive them in the field in person. Citizens can request a spray, but requests do not start off this way. We need to justify whether or not a spray or any applications are necessary, so we start with a property inspection. Techs will do a thorough investigation of the property, tip anything holding water, treat stagnant water that cannot be removed, and determine whether the property needs to be sprayed by doing a visual confirmation or a landing rate count. If the tech reports back the need for a neighborhood spray, one will be scheduled, but usually one request from a neighborhood does not create the need. Multiple requests that show mosquito presence will tend to support the need for a spray when requested. Adult truck sprays is what most people are familiar with when they think of mosquito control. but it's only one way we combat mosquitoes, and usually it's our last line of defense. It's more effective to treat for larval mosquitoes because you can treat a large quantity of water-bound larvae in a small space. When we spray, we are relying on very small droplets to hit a very small flying insect in the expanse of the surrounding air or sky. Again, these sprays are justified using various points of data. Lastly, a part of our public education and outreach is our mosquito dunk giveaway program. Citizens can get one pack of dunks per month from the areas listed. They need to have proof they live in Suffolk and be 18 years of age. Are there any questions?

Council, any other questions? Any questions or comments? Council Member Bennett.

Thank you. How often are you choosing the areas? Are you periodically going to areas and set traps to find out what's needed?

So historically, we've been trapping since I've been here, but we set traps on a weekly schedule. And every trap site in Suffolk is set weekly. So we try to cover all of Suffolk. We are focusing more on the areas that are populated because that's where problems would occur. It is more difficult to get into the rural areas, but we are paying attention to the rural areas as well. So weekly, we have information coming to us every day. So on Monday, there is a surveillance schedule for two areas. It's a route. So we're setting about 50 traps every week. And then we have additional traps that we set when we see that there's a need or there's a problem.

Okay, on the swamp side, out at National Parkway, I know it's very swampy out at Dismal Swamp area. That area, are you monitoring that area pretty closely?

We monitor the Great Dismal Swamp as well as much as we can. It's really hard to get in that area. There's nothing that we can do when we do find that there's a problem because it's a national wildlife refuge and there are rules and regulations in place to apply pesticides within the swamp and close to the swamp. We just try to make sure that what we're monitoring in the swamp, we can test. So if anything is emanating from the swamp, we can let those people in the swamp know. A lot of the times, and of course now, there's not a lot of people in the swamp. What I know is that there's about two rangers that are taking care of the full swamp. And it's hard to get in touch with them because they're doing so many things.

Okay. Actually, I should ask a question. What I'm talking about is the area that houses back up to... The swamp. Not going into the swamp. I'm talking about the areas that...

Residents sure a lot of the areas that are closest to the like the downtown I would say Southeastern portion maybe Lake Kennedy East Suffolk Gardens area We're monitoring Suffolk East Suffolk Gardens in Lake Kennedy every week It's our it's probably one of the higher priority the downtown area is a pretty high priority for us so we have our most important like I would say the traps that we regularly would see yearly have the most mosquitoes and We trap earlier in the week so that we have time to get the data in and plan our operations from that. So if we need to put off sprays because either there's rain, which there's not much of, or there is other operations that we need to do that have been backlogged, we can get to that later in the week. So we try to operate, we try to make sure that our highest priority items are in the front of the week. All right. Thank you, sir. Yep.

Council Member Richter.

Thank you very much for that presentation. Having been to the Public Works Academy and seen your operation over there in the labs and everything else, it's amazing the resources that it takes to combat that tiny little bug. Just two things. Number one, I didn't realize that the truck spraying was I guess potentially that ineffective, you know, as you're trying to hit a, as you said, hit a tiny little bug with a tiny little drop and hoping for the best, I guess.

Yeah.

But my question is the dunking rings that you've got, they won't bother birds if you put them in bird baths, correct?

No. So the dunk is made up of a bacteria and that bacteria is harmless to any animals that, that either drink the water or actually eat it. So it's not that big of a deal.

Okay. So citizens shouldn't be concerned about putting it in their bird beds at all?

Not at all. Any place, what we call artificial containers, you can throw them in. Okay. Thank you. Council, any other questions and comments? I want to comment on that, the spraying. It's a very unique science to truck spraying. Droplet science is important for truck sprays. You have to cast the spray out at a particular size and a particular droplet for it to lift through the air. If you are spraying during the day, the heat from the ground will raise those droplets up and not be effective to mosquitoes that are actually on the ground. So you have to be spraying at a particular time in the day so that it's called an inversion for the weather so that the droplets will not lift too far up, but they also won't drop down too quickly. And that's why there is a limit to the distance at which the droplets actually go from the truck. Usually it's from about 150 feet to 300 feet. Now, if there's a wind, it will cast further, but it's just, there's a pretty unique science to that.

Yeah. That brings up another question. I know from time to time they do aerial spraying. Do we still do that, or does that come from a different agency? We have done.

The one that I was involved with after a hurricane, it was actually because the Virginia Department of Emergency Management said that they would release funds for us to do a spray. But we were... on task. It was immediate. They needed maps. They wanted to know where our populations were that were of importance. We gave that to them immediately and we were able to use those funds to do an aerial spray in Suffolk. So that's the last time we actually did an aerial spray, but it's a costly endeavor. I'm sure. Thank you.

Council, any other questions or comments? If not, thank you very much for your presentation. I think another service that does not go recognized that is not recognized by the majority of our citizens, but you guys are working behind the scene, probably lots of times when they're already home and don't see what you're doing, but thank you very much. I don't know about anywhere else, but I don't see a whole lot of mosquitoes in heaven for a couple years, so I'm sure you got something to do with that. Appreciate that. All right, thank you very much.

Thank you. I invite all of you to the Mosquito Control Office at any time to see all the cool equipment you use to do all the work.

Thank you. We'll now move to motions. We have one motion this evening, which is to cancel the August 5th, 2026 City Council meeting. And a motion would be in order. Council Member Wright.

Move to approve.

And a motion for approval from Council Member White and Vice Mayor Ward. Second. Second from Vice Mayor Ward. Do we have 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 six to zero.

We're now moved to non-agenda speakers. Madam Clerk, do we have any non-agenda speakers this evening? And if so, please explain the guidelines.

Yes, we do have non-agenda speakers this evening. Each person participating under the item of business entitled non-agenda 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 matters. 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 were declared out of order by the presiding officer and will immediately yield the floor and be seated. Our first speaker is Aljean McAllister, 512 Osceola Avenue, representing self regarding shrubbery on East Washington Street.

Thank you, ma'am. Yes, my name is Algie McAllister, and I stay in Osceola. I've been on my job for, this year will be 37 years. And matter of fact, I should have been there tonight. But my concern is on East Washington Street, where the railroad truss, where Norfolk Southern trains go across that. Now... That area is an eyesore because the vegetation in that area have grown up in all those years on both sides. I've made some phone calls to try to come out there and cut that area. Guys cut maybe five hedges and that was it. I wish I can get my money back for the job that they did. But the area is so overgrown with vegetation, it's a shame. It's a shame. If anything was to happen in that area, you can't see nothing. You can't see a thing. The lights are outdated in that area, in the tunnel. You have two streetlights over there, and the vegetation has grown over the streetlights in that area. On the other side, somebody planted some hedges over there, which I wish I could get my money back on that, too, also, because... WHERE THE HEDGES ARE PLANTED, THE WOODED AREA IS SIX FEET AWAY. IT DIDN'T MAKE NO SENSE TO PLANT THOSE NEW SHRUBS ALONG THAT SIDE. ALL THE WAY DOWN TO WHERE THEY BUILDING THE PUMPING STATION DOWN THERE ON THE SIDE. YOU GOT KIDS WALKING THROUGH THAT AREA. THAT AREA NEEDS TO BE TRIMMED ALL THE WAY BACK SO THAT IF ANYTHING HAPPENS, HOW AM I GOING TO GET INVOLVED? I can't see nothing. Somebody could duck in the wooded area just that fast. That's how bad it is. Now, I know that the tax money that I contribute over all those years could have got that job done over there. I know that for a fact. Much money I put in taxes. I really don't like coming down here because that takes away from my job. And then the public officials that I elect to do the job to do that while I'm at work. It's a shame because you see all those cars coming through that area and the security for that area is low. Now, when I go in upscale neighborhoods and I see how the city land has been trimmed back, I'm like, wow, in those neighborhoods that you could see But when it comes to that area, I mean, the tax money is still the same. So all I'm asking is somebody to get involved in that area of trimming those bushes all the way back. And I know my time winding down, but on my job this year will be 37 years. When people don't do their job, I have to babysit them. I have to babysit them. It's a shame that we have to babysit people to do their job. Now, I'm not going to watch the progress in that area, but again, y'all ride through that area. Have an open mind. Ride through that area and look at that vegetation in that area. Look how bad it is. You got to have an open mind when you're out there driving. So... THAT IS MY CONCERN. I'M NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO STAY AROUND FOR THE COMMENTS AND ALL OF THAT BECAUSE I GOT TO GO CALL IN. AND THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME.

OUR FINAL SPEAKER THIS EVENING IS J. H. JACKSON 303 PEACHWOOD COURT REPRESENTING SELF REGARDING SIDEWALK INFRASTRUCTURE.

Mr. Mayor, Vice Mayor, City Council, Mr. Manager, good evening. Boy, I feel funny standing here tonight. I come to you here on three concerns. I have my wife here, Commanding Chief Gale. I have experienced three things on Suburban Drive coming out of the Suburban Woods and Greystone area. I watched an employee go down to Food Line. It was a female. And on her way to work, there was five cars coming down the road. Needless to say that out of the five cars, four of them were on their cell phone. She had to immediately move from the roadway. She fell into the ditch. She almost got herself cut by the broken glass in the ditch. I stopped and made sure she was OK and got to work safe. The second event that I witnessed is that I had another female, well, really two, behind the food line, and they were walking through the wooded area. So I stopped them. I guess the law enforcement is still in me. However, I asked them, I said, please do not walk behind the food line in the wooded area because it's an area of concern. You can get assaulted and other things can happen. Two said that I'm scared to walk on Suburban Drive because I don't I'm scared of getting struck by a vehicle. What I'm asking council to do is place a sidewalk from Woods Parkway, the same side where the Seaboard Coast Line Trail, which is a nice trail. My wife and I, we walk the trail ourselves. It's needed. It's a process that I think infrastructure need to be instituted fast. When we are walking down Suburban Drive, I have to put her on the inside The highways keep her from being struck with the vehicle. It's a nice trail so what I'm asking council to do is to look at this and maybe move this into a High stake to make sure that we get something done for our employees at food line our community I like for my wife to be safe if I'm not there walking with her down the Suburban Drive is a very nice area. I think we have the businesses there to support it. We have a Greystone development. We have suburban woods there to support the sidewalk. And it would be great from Woods Parkway and connect all the way down to Portsmouth Boulevard. If we could do that, I would greatly appreciate it. And by being a law enforcement officer retiring, I don't want to see young people afraid to go to work and afraid to walk down suburban drive. And it's a sad thing to see if they have to move out of the way. People that's driving on the highway today, they are careless. I can't explain to you what is on a cell phone that they have to look at when operating a motor vehicle. We do have a state motor vehicle code that you're supposed to have hands free. Undivided attention is supposed to be focused on the highway. With that being said, I think I have served the city well over 50 years of service. I'm asking city council to look out for our community and give us a safe haven. I thank you for your time and happy 4th of July. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of city council. Good evening.

That concludes the speakers, Mayor.

Thank you, Madam Clerk. Do we have any new business this evening?

We have one item under new business, a nomination for the local board of building code appeals. The representative would be filling the position for the registered design professional, licensed architect or engineer. And the effective date of the term would be July 1st, 2026, Gregory Rizzotti.

Council, motion being presented for your consideration. At your pleasure. Council Member Rector. So moved. And a motion for approval from Council Member Rector, Council Member Butler-Barlow.

Second.

Second from Council Member Butler-Barlow. Any discussion of the motion? Hearing none, council members, prepare to vote. Please cast your vote. Madam Clerk, kindly record the vote.

Motion's been approved by a vote of six to zero.

Do we have any new business that any council members would like to bring forward for consideration? Hearing none, we'll move to announcements and comments. At this time, I'll ask if the Communications Department has any announcements.

Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, members of Council, Mr. City Manager. I'll begin tonight's announcement with a reminder that the City of Suffolk will observe the Independence Day holiday this Friday, July 3rd, and city offices will be closed for the day and will reopen on Monday, July 6th at 8.30 a.m. Refuse Collection will operate on its normal schedule. Suffolk Transit will operate as scheduled on July 3rd, but will not operate on July 4th. And as we look ahead to this holiday weekend, the Suffolk Parks and Rec invites everyone to the city's annual Stars and Stripes Spectacular this Saturday, July 4th at Constance Wharf Park and Marina. This year's celebration holds a special significance as Suffolk joins communities across the nation commemorating America's 250th anniversary. The free event will feature live music from Fuzz Band beginning at 6 p.m. followed by fireworks display over the Nansman River beginning at 9 p.m. In addition to the concert and fireworks, attendees can enjoy food vendors, bounce houses, face painting, yard games, and a commemorative 250th anniversary water bottle giveaway while supplies last. And please remember that there will be no on-site parking and free shuttle services will be available from First Baptist Church and the Godwin Courthouse building. And before we wrap up with Parks and Rec, mark your calendars for the next TGIF concert series on Friday, July 10th, featuring the B.J. Griffin Band at Downtown Festival Park. The free concert begins at 6 p.m. and will be the final TGIF performance held downtown before the series moves to the Bennett's Creek Park. Attendees are encouraged to bring a lawn chair, a blanket, or anything to sit on to enjoy another great evening of live music. For more information on either of these events, visit SuffolkParksandRec.com. Exciting news from the Suffolk Police Department. On June 17th, SPD celebrated the graduation of 17 new police officers and six emergency communications operators from the Hampton Roads Criminal Justice Training Academy. These men and women have answered the call to service and will help strengthen public safety while supporting the need of our growing community. Congratulations to the newest members of the Suffolk Police Department and thank you for your commitment to serving our city. And Charlie Toucan has officially taken flight with changes to Suffolk's curbside recycling program. Today marks the launch of the city's new Sips a Sort program, making household waste disposal easier than ever. Residents no longer need to separate recyclables from household trash. Simply place all household waste into a trash bag, then place it in either your blue recycling can, your green trash can, or both. Sips a Sort will handle the sorting after collection. Your collection day remains the same, and there are no changes to your refuse bill. Residents may have up to three collection cans total, regardless of color. Residents who prefer to separate recyclables may continue to use a recycling convenience center at the regional landfill. For answers to frequently asked questions, visit suffolkva.us slash Sips to Sort. The City of Suffolk Public Works Department advises motorists that the Speight Spillway Bridge Replacement Project along Turlington Road will require a full road closure and detour as early as next Friday, July 10, 2026. The project will involve a superstructure replacement for the bridge over the spillway from Lake Speight into Lake Kilby. Work will include removing the existing bridge deck, making necessary substructure repairs, and installing a new bridge deck and guardrail system. The original roadway alignment and width will be maintained. The project is scheduled to be complete and the roadway reopened in spring 2027. The City of Suffolk appreciates the public's patience and cooperation while this important infrastructure project is completed. For additional information about this project and all of Public Works projects, visit suffolkva.us slash zip. And a major milestone was reached this past week as CIPSA, VDOT, and the City of Suffolk celebrated the opening of the new Route 58 flyover ramp. The new interchange, which opened on June 29th, provides Route 58 eastbound traffic with direct access to the SIPSA regional landfill on Bob Fowler Drive while eliminating the former median crossing, significantly improving safety for motorists. While the new flyover is now open, construction will continue throughout fall 2026. Motorists should expect occasional shoulder and lane closures and are reminded that a reduced speed limit of 50 miles per hour remains in effect throughout the work zone. For more information on this project, visit suffolkva.us slash CIP. And the flyover isn't the only ribbon cutting we're celebrating in the city. The Economic Development Department has been busy, so busy, that they've had to buy a new pair of giant scissors. On June 20th, the City of Suffolk celebrated the reopening of the historic Seaboard Station Railroad Museum. After a burst pipe caused significant flood damage in 2023, the circa 1885 building has been beautifully restored and is once again welcoming visitors. On June 25th, the Suffolk Economic Development Department celebrated the grand opening of Top Sale Chiropractic in the Harborview area. The new practice expands healthcare options for residents while continuing the growth of Suffolk's business community. And on June 27th, residents, community leaders, and special guests gathered to celebrate a milestone more than 25 years in the making, the grand opening of the new downtown Suffolk Library. This beautiful 37,000 square foot facility features modern spaces for all ages, expanded technology, maker spaces, and flexible community gathering areas that will serve the Suffolk community for generations to come. The response has been nothing short of incredible. More than 2,200 people attended Saturday's grand opening celebration, and in just the first four days, the new library has welcomed more than 5,000 visitors. To put that into perspective, the new library has already served more visitors in the last four days than Morgan Memorial did during the entire month of May. It's safe to say that our community has embraced this new chapter And this beautiful building has already become a vibrant gathering place in downtown Suffolk. So let's take a look to recap the historic day. Three, two, one.

What blows my mind is all these people here. I knew a lot of folks were going to show up, but it is above and beyond anything that I had hoped for.

We are at the grand opening of the new downtown Suffolk library. We are able to fit almost everything that you could want in a library and beyond that you couldn't think of in 37,000 square feet.

1999 is when I first started talking about this project, and it's come to fruition today. And I hadn't even imagined it being this great.

A lot of those ideas that we had working with the community on pulling all of this together, it was just great to finally get to see this in 3D and be able to walk around and experience it. A lot of hard work from a lot of people.

The people, the energy, creating that space where people can feel welcome.

There's so much to do here and so many cool spaces to hang out in.

I like how there's different sections, different areas for the kids, the teens, the adults. There's a lot more to do. There's a space where you can go and do, like, really big events.

It's really beautiful. I was not expecting all the different things to do in there, besides just books.

I used to be a northern soccer boy. I came down here. It's beautiful. It's nice. I'm going to take him here a lot, because he loves it.

It's fantastic. We like how much more options there are for the kids to play with.

Everything, everything impresses me, and it's absolutely wonderful.

And as we move to our next chapter, I challenge all of you to imagine the possibilities for your library.

This is going to be a big traffic generator on this part of downtown, a big driver of a lot of things happening.

Hopefully this will be a great asset for our city for decades to come.

Libraries are for everyone, and my staff are here to help you wherever you are in your life because we find that libraries are often needed when their life changes, and there's a change that you need help, and that's what we're here for.

And to quote Clint Rudy, the director of libraries, this is not your quiet library. Congratulations to Clint and the entire library staff. And lastly, on your screen are the various ways residents can stay connected to the city of Suffolk. Thank you, and have a great night.

Thank you, Ms. Moore. We'll now move on to announcements from council, and we're going to start with council member Butler Barlow. Let me, here we go.

Thank you, Mayor. So it's been an exciting end of June for the city of Suffolk. And the libraries, I don't have any words. It's so amazing. And I announced it to some friends the other day, and they already have been to see it. And I don't know anybody that's not just over the moon. And I know everyone will have a comment. And we went from that to the flyover out on 58, so practical, safe things that we're finishing up to. So it's an exciting way to end the month. and look forward to all the other wonderful things that we have. I don't know how we top the library but that's such a great milestone and I know everyone looks forward to it. If you haven't been yet, please go. 5,000 is just the tip of the iceberg, right? Yeah. We've had a couple hard things too. There was an accident between an agriculture piece of equipment and a truck and trailer. I talk all the time about road safety and paying attention and the fact that we're on the road with big equipment and It's the worst day ever when something happens to you know in a situation like that once you know farmers just trying to do their job and That's devastating for everybody involved and I so just to reiterate it doesn't happen very often, but please pay attention and Give them some space. I say all the time, we're not going very far. I know we're slow, but we're usually not going very far. We're going to get out of your way in a minute. There was a fire in Chukotuck tonight. I just saw the pictures. It's terrible, but no one was hurt and thankful to the fire department for their quick response. It looks like a total loss near Oakland Elementary School. So my... Thoughts go out to the folks that have been displaced and looks like they're getting help from the Red Cross So we have we have good things in life. We have bad things that we deal with as well and to add on to that I'm sorry. I missed the last meeting. I appreciate everyone's thoughts and heard from everybody and We had a beautiful celebration for my mother and and her 97 years and 100 days. I appreciate the time away, and I appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers, and it's good to be back for a regular meeting, and we'll see you again in two weeks. Last thing, everybody have a safe Fourth of July. Be careful of the heat, drink plenty of water, and don't mess with fireworks. So have fun, and happy Fourth of July to everybody. Thanks.

Council Member Bennett.

Yeah, I'll be very brief, too. First, I'd like to say thanks to all the presenters this afternoon, and Paul, I didn't get a chance to say it after we finished, but I thank you very much for moving ahead with the Cedar Lake Water Project. It's been a long time getting started, and I know the people are going to be very happy. You spent a lot of time and money over there patching up just about every month or week or just about sometimes over there So I think it's great to be able to get that started. And I just want to say thank you to you and your staff for moving ahead with that. Also, I'd like to say that it was great to participate in the new flyover 58 to the new landfill. I know we all, when we try to get out there, take our own life in our hands trying to cross 58 going into the landfill. So I'm sure that's going to save many lives. with that being done, and that looks good, and I was very pleased to see that and be a part of that. Also, National Parkway Bridge, I stopped by there a couple days ago, and it looked good, and I just can't wait for it to get open. I think everybody in the neighborhood, I think that when we go through there, I'll be glad, too, that that will be finally opening up, and that will be before school opened back up. Also, I got some calls thanking Kevin Staff or whoever was able to get the trees cut back on Bob White, the one that was about ready to fall in the row. They called me and wanted to pass on it. Really thank you for getting that done. On the new library. It was so amazing. And I would say that it was very inspiring to me to see it happen in my time because it started 22 years ago. And Gary and I were talking about it for a long time. And it was a process that we went through. I'm going to share a little bit of this. I'm going to take some time and do this. We started out, we was going to build two libraries at one time, one in the northern Suffolk, one in the southern part of the city. And the funding was getting where we were saying it was going to be a little bit more than we want to tackle at one time. And the council agreed at that time to take all the funding that was already in the budget for the downtown library, because the northern Suffolk did not have one, to take that money and put it in the northern Suffolk library. And we will continue to fund DOWNTOWN LIBRARY, BUT THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN. SO FINALLY, WE GOT FUNDS STARTED BACK IN THE BUDGET AGAIN TO SEE THIS LIBRARY TAKE PLACE. AND IT TOOK SO LONG, GARRETT REPRESENTATIVE, I CAN'T REMEMBER, BUT THERE'S SO MANY PEOPLE THAT WAS ON THAT LIBRARY BOARD TRYING TO FIND A LOCATION TO PUT IT, MOST OF THOSE PEOPLE ARE NO LONGER WITH US. A LOT OF THOSE PEOPLE HAVE PASSED ON. THEY WASN'T ABLE TO SEE THAT. because they really took a lot of time planning that. Now the pictures are there, the ivory is there, and it's something that I think everyone feels very proud of. And I hope that people realize this for their use and take care of it and keep it as nice as it has been. It's a lot of money that has been put into it. So I'm hoping that people will really go in there and enjoy that and take the young people Because there's a lot there at Tournette for them to stem in that. I mean, everything that young people need to get involved with is in that library. So I'm hoping that we will really encourage our young people to take advantage of that and go in there and do that. Also, the children are out of school now. And there's a lot of stuff that's going on. So let's keep our children in prayer. and try to make sure that we try to keep them driving. A lot of accidents are happening. So please talk to them about being careful out there and not on the cell phones when they are driving and doing. And the 4th of July is here. So I hope everyone have a safe, prosperous 4th of July with the families and enjoy the family while you can because we don't know what tomorrow might bring. And with that, I would say good evening.

Council Member Wright.

Good evening. I just wanted to thank the staff for a well put together public input meeting to discuss with constituents their input and ideas for the former driver elementary site. It was a well put together event and we received a lot of good feedback from that. I also want to thank the staff. We have, well, Sleepy Hole Borough has received an uptick in requests here lately for constituent concerns, and the staff has been knocking it out rather quickly. So I just wanted to say that does not go unnoticed. I thank you, and I appreciate you, and the constituents of Sleepy Hole Borough do as well. And finally, I just want to wish everyone a happy 4th of July. Stay safe. Stay hydrated. I believe we are under some type of heat advisory for the next couple of days. And with that, I'll say good night.

Council Member Richter.

Excuse me. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'm sorry, Officer Jackson. And despite the fact that he's retired, I still refer to him as Officer Jackson. left because we did talk about that sidewalk project when Greg was giving his updates on the different things going on in the city. We know that that is a much needed project to get that sidewalk extended from the Food Lion all the way up to those neighborhoods before you get to where Willowary Road and Suburban Road intersect. So I thank him very much for coming out and driving that home for us. Greg, I can personally attest that today being July 1, both my cans were picked up. I put a blue can and a green can out, and when I came home this afternoon, both of them were empty. I've got to get home and put them back before I'm in violation of my own ordinance. But anyhow, the ribbon-cutting on the flyover was a much-anticipated event, and golly day, I was so excited about it. The next day, I got in my car, and just for grins, went and rode down 58, took the flyover, and came back into downtown, and it's... You know, it's an engineering marvel, you know, the way that thing works. And I know that it is going to do exactly what it is supposed to do, and that is to save lives from having to cross three lanes of traffic to get into the CIPSA facility. Talk about the library. Obviously, I attended the opening. It was in my borough. It was a great day for the city of Suffolk. Clint, congratulations, Gary. As I said during my little talk beforehand, it was a great testimony to perseverance. And being sort of the optimist that I am, one of the benefits of having waited the 20-some years that we did to finally get this project done is not only do i think that we improve the location where the library is uh... were able to build a bigger facility and also the technology that has come along in the last twenty years has really made what is in that building now truly remarkable and i think will stand the test of time and and i encourage everybody if you have not been to that library you need to go see it because to quote a phrase, it is indeed not your grandfather's library. I mean, there's very little in there. He wouldn't, he wouldn't, he'd say, where am I? I mean, he, this ain't no library, but anyhow, um, thank you, Clint. Thank you, Gary. Thank you. The city of Suffolk, um, for that, uh, chief, I want to congratulate, um, senior officer, Matthew Grace and officer Shane Jernigan, who were recognized, uh, at the police valor awards, um, You know, once again, you go to those things, and it's just remarkable what our men and women in uniform confront almost on a daily basis to keep us safe. I think these two resuscitated and brought back to life an infant by doing the CPR and everything on it. So congratulations to them, and it's just another testimony to the quality and the training of our first responders. So congratulations, Chief. It was a great day. It's been a good couple of weeks for the downtown borough because the week before we opened the library, we reopened the train station.

Gary, I'm going to miss our weekly calls where I call you up and say, when is that train station opening?

But if you've not been to the train station, I would encourage you to do that. Kevin and his group, they did a remarkable job of putting the displays back up, the train runs. It's sort of organized now. You come in one door and you sort of float through the museum and then go out another door. And it's a nice little connector between, if you're staying at the hotel, you can now stay at the hotel, walk across the street, go through the back of the tourism, or you can go take a little walk through Cedar Hill Cemetery, come out at the train station, stop at the train station, and keep going all the way into the downtown area. And that's one of the things that we're trying to do is promote a walkable downtown, and I think having the train station back up and running is a great connectivity to that. And like everybody else has said, the 4th of July is coming up. It's going to be hot the next couple of days. Please take care. Please look in on your neighbors. Look after your pets. And enjoy the fireworks. Leave those to the professionals. And with that, I will say goodnight. Vice Mayor Ward.

Yes. I attend the retirement of Superintendent Smith from the Western Tidewater Regional Jail. I think he served. 16 years in their position, so there was a. Knowing the jail board, I'm on the jail board with. Mayor Duman and where he ran the jail and information that you learn so much about. That jail you just brag about it because we have one of the best ran jail in this region. So I really enjoy his time and he will give you a lot of information. But one thing about it, if you had any questions, he will deliver that on a timely basis. Mr. Rudy, thank you so much for Just listen to me. I didn't know it had that big effect on it, but I knew you had a gift, and I knew you was the man for the job. I just seen how you came to the library we once had and made it look even a little better at the time, how it looked. So I had a whole lot of faith in you with that, and we talked a lot about that library. What hit me was one of your board members said something and it was over and I was leaving, going to the car. And he walked with me and he congratulated me, but something he said, he said, I'm glad you, Mr. Rudy, didn't leave. And I thought about that. I mean, you had all the opportunity to leave Suffolk, but you stayed the course. And I really appreciate that. And because you did a great job. And by you working, I know Gary had his hand in it, because you can tell. But thank you so much, Gary. That is awesome. what you have put together in this city of Suffolk. And I'm really proud, the whole city is proud of you. You got something else we can brag about. Thank you so much, man. I really appreciate it. What you have done, your vision. Thank you again so much, man. I really appreciate that. Thank you. With that, I'll say God bless.

All right, I'll go ahead and wrap it up here. I think I'll just refer back to what Councilmember Butler-Barlow said earlier. There's been a lot going on in our city the last 10 days. A lot of kind of big things came to fruition. We talked about the Seaboard Station Railroad Museum, and it was just not the rebuilding of what's there, but the content within the museum. I mean, there's It doesn't look like a large facility from the outside, but there is a lot of information and great displays. Every square inch of that building is being used, so I encourage our citizens to stop by and visit. Stop by the Juneteenth celebration at Downtown Festival Park, sponsored by the Saratoga Dreamers, and that was very well accepted. A little toasty out there, but a good crowd, and I thank them for doing that again. I regret that I missed the Valor Awards this year. I had a few things come up. The first one I've missed in about a dozen years or so, and I want to congratulate our officers who were recognized and also recognize the fact that with the 17 officers that we've got on board, we are as close to being fully staffed in our police department than we probably have in the last decade or so. So my hat's off to the chief and everyone who has made that possible, and I think the main reason for that is because of the work environment we've established for ourselves, and I would also... say that we have achieved that staffing without lowering any of our standards either. So the folks that we're, if you, you know, every one of these badge paintings, I kind of pay attention to the group to the extent that I can. And we're really hiring some outstanding people. And the chief is frequently and usually does That is only 3% of the applications that we have end up being on the police department, and then they've still got to get through their, I guess, their little trial period, and we may lose a couple in there. But just keep up the good work. We keep our fingers crossed for the rest of the year. We keep the trend going. The library grand opening, I'm not going to belabor that, as they say, was just, it was off the chain. It's really not a library. I mean, it truly is a community center with a library component is what I call it. Because when you look at the square footage and you see, you know, how much of the square footage actually has books in it, you know, it's a relatively small percentage. I mean, it's a big building, but 30%, 35% has books and all the rest of it provides a venue for our citizens to use, to include our residents. civic leagues, the educational component to computers. I mean, it is really outstanding. And I spoke to somebody the other day, and they say there's not anything in Hampton Roads, even, you know, they talk about what Sadler does, Slover Library in Virginia Beach, and they said, man, that's nothing compared to what you got. So it's something to be very proud of, and I'm proud of everyone who had something to do with that along the line. I went to the 160th anniversary of Neighborhood Church right around the street from me. Little Bethel on Everett's Road celebrated their 160th anniversary, and that was very well attended. Congresswoman Kiggins was there and some state representatives and local representatives as well. The flyover. something that will also help move traffic on 58. I know everybody likes to talk about 58. And every little thing we do is going to help that situation, you know, from a safety standpoint in particular, but also just moving traffic. And one thing we lose sight of also is the amount of time that our refuse workers have to sit in a truck where they had to sit in a truck waiting to cross the road safely That saves a lot of time, productive time that they can use. It saves fuel. So we're going to benefit from it immensely. Chris missed retirement today as the superintendent of the Western Tirewater Regional Jail. I mean, he has done an outstanding job. He's been here 16 years. I've been on that board almost 15 of them. And we have just an excellent jail, just wouldn't you, When you look at where it's situated, it's unbelievable. I mean, how it ever got there, I don't know. It wasn't part of the process. But we literally have a jail surrounded by residents, you know, within spitting distance. But yet it hasn't been knock on wood. And it hasn't been an issue because the jail was safe. It's run efficiently. They work well with our law enforcement folks and staff. I want to thank him, you know, publicly for his service, and I think we've got some, his replacement I think is going to be, I won't say replacement, but fill in that position. I think she was an excellent choice, and we're going to continue to move forward doing good things as well. I want to take a second and thank the city manager. I should have done this earlier. You know, I thank him sometimes, not all the time, every now and then. But He started putting out a weekly report. I guess it had been about six months ago, maybe. I don't know. Time flies. About a year. Okay, I was close. 50%, you know. Mickey Mantle didn't bet 50%. So, Ted Williams, none of them. So, he puts out a report every week. It's just a brief overview of... Things that have gone on in the city, anything from personnel hirings to completions to public works to activities. And I should know better, but when you look at it, I mean, it really blows your mind how much goes on in the course of a week. This last week was, I don't know, there must have been 30, 40 different things we talked about. And I also posted them on my mayoral website because I want my citizens to look at it. You know, they only see what they see. in the short time that they get to see it, but they have no idea what goes on every single day in the city of Suffolk, especially the things that don't affect them directly. So thank you for that. Keep that coming. It's very well done, clear, concise. And before I get to my quote of the night, which my quote of the night is kind of, oh, before I get a quote of the night, I got a very nice email. Let me just take a minute to read that since I don't want anybody to go home too early. this was from a Mr. Ray Delora, L-O-R-A, and it was actually addressed to me with city manager being copied on it. And the subject says, another reason why Suffolk is my forever home. And it said, please forward this message to Chief James Bowie, Suffolk PD. And I'll go through it pretty quick, but This morning, approximately 11 a.m., I was traveling on a seaboard bike path on my bicycle from driver to the gym on Shoulders Hill Road when I had to make a sudden stop. Last night, a large tree was knocked down by the storm and blocking the path. I tried to move it. It was too heavy. I didn't have a chainsaw with me. I didn't think too many people walked around with a chainsaw, except on that movie. What was that? Anyhow, most of the time, I understand the guy, whoever it was, didn't have a chainsaw. Since today is the Juneteenth holiday, the only office I knew would be working was Suffolk PD. So he dialed 911 and the dispatcher was very polite and professional and thanked me for calling. I told her this downed tree was blocking the entire bike path and someone running or riding an e-bike could get seriously hurt. I continued my journey to the outdoor gym. By the time I finished my workout, the tree had been removed. Granted, this is not a big deal in the daily affairs of the city. However, to me, It shows how caring and professional the city of Suffolk staff is in responding to the well-being and quality of life of the citizens of this great city. I was impressed and I want to express appreciation to the dispatcher who took my call and whoever was involved in removing this tree. Another job well done since there is a lower driver. Once again, this is what we were just talking about. Folks don't know what's going on in our city all the time. And little things like that mean a lot. Sometimes you don't get recognized, but they do. And I want to talk about a fellow by the name of James Armstead Lafayette. And I think some folks know him. I was embarrassed because I'd never, I don't know. But I went to school. We taught a lot of history, but I don't remember hearing about this guy, James Armstead Lafayette. And we're getting ready to go through our 250th anniversary And who was he? He was an enslaved African-American who served the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War under the Marquis de Lafayette and later received a legislative emancipation. He actually worked as a double agent, a spy for, well, really worked for the good guys, but he spied. Anyhow, he presented himself as a double agent again. He reported the activities of Benedict Arnold after he had defected to the British and of Lord Charles Cornwallis during the run-up to the siege of Yorktown. He fed the British false information while disclosing very accurate and detailed accounts to the Americans. When the conflict began in 1775, Virginia's royal governor, Lord Dunmore, promised freedom to slaves who joined his forces. Instead, James volunteered for the Continental Army under General Lafayette, served as a double agent against the British under the validly anti-slavery Lafayette, and probably instrumental in why we won this thing. I mean, it was very instrumental as far as the siege of Yorktown, which was the turning point. And anyhow, they say you learn something new every day, and I should have known that earlier, but Quite an individual and had quite an effect maybe on how things turned out 250 years ago. And it just so happens that I found a quote by Marquis de Lafayette. So we'll tie right into that. And that quote is, the happiness of America is intimately connected with the happiness of all mankind. She is destined to become the safe and venerable asylum of virtue, of honesty, of tolerance, and quality and of peaceful liberty. I mean, that's a lot to say, but you look back 20, 50 years, I mean, hopefully we got there, and hopefully we'll stay there. And with that, I will ask for a motion to adjourn. Everybody have a good July 4th. Council Member Butler-Barlow?

So moved.

Motion for adjournment from Council Member Butler-Barlow. Can I have a second? We got a second from John Rector. Second. Second from Councilman Rector in discussing 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 six to zero.

This meeting stands adjourned.