City Council - Regular Meeting

Okay, I want to welcome everyone to the uh meeting of the Wilmington City Council. Want to call this meeting to order and I would like to introduce Chaplain Joshua Lee from the Wilmington Police Department. And followed by that, we will do the pledge of allegiance. So, everyone, please stand.

Let's pray. Dear Father, I thank you for this evening and a wonderful day, Lord, to be able to just have life. And God, tonight as our city council and and all of those who have gathered here this evening to do business for this city, uh, Father, I just pray that you would instill wisdom upon them and patience and Lord, a sense of unity, Lord, so that all the things that need to be discussed tonight can be done so in such a peaceful manner, Lord, but in a way that is able to have things accomplished. Lord, I thank you for this beautiful day that you have blessed us with. And God, I ask that as the day is not yet over, Lord, that your grace and mercies would continue to terry. And so, Father, we thank you, we love you, and we give you praise in Jesus name. Amen.

Amen.

To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. All righty. And as you all may know, I am not Mayor Sappo. I am the mayor pro Tim Kevin Spears. [laughter] And we have one presentation. Well, not really a presentation. We have a proclamation recognizing the city of Wilmington, New Hover County Commission for Women. Um, so could you all meet me up front and I will have my fellow council members come down with me so I can read this proclamation. Can we go down just a little too so we can be centered in there?

Don't give me too much control tonight.

That's kind of scary, right? Proclamation. Whereas the women of w the women of Wilmington, North Carolina, of every race, class, and ethnic background have enriched our city with historic historic contributions that have strengthened our community in both celebrated and unsung ways. And whereas the women of Wilmington have played and continue to play a critical economic, cultural, and social role in every facet of city life by forming a significant part of our workforce, both in the home and in the public sphere. And whereas the women of Wilmington, diverse in heritage, experiences, and perspectives, have been trailblazing leaders in progressive moments for social change that continue to inspire a more inclusive and equitable community. And whereas the women of Wilmington have not only championed their own rights to suffrage and equal opportunity, but have also led efforts in movements aimed at creating a fair and just society for every citizen. Now, therefore, it is resolved by the city council of Wilmington, North Carolina, that March be designated as Women's History Month for the city of Wilmington, calling upon the residents of Wilmington to observe the month of March with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities that honor and celebrate the enduring legacy and continued contributions of the women who shape our community.

[music] [applause] You want to say anything? [applause] Well, I do want to say when one stand, we all stand. And I thank God for the commission. This is my first year as chair. And I thank God for the commission. On behalf of the absent of um the mayor and the city council, we honorly accept this proclamation. Thank you. Guess we're all looking at Dylan.

You want to move over a little bit? [laughter]

Very nice.

Thank you. [applause] All right. So for consent, now we'll address the consent agent consent agenda. Sorry. Uh any council members have any questions or want to pull any items from the consent agenda? C one through C. Well, C1 and C2. Do I need to do it? Oh, do I have yours?

No. Oh, here. Just take this one. Righty. This is called on the job training.

Okay. I was signed in on that one, so I just switched it. Okay. So, what are the wishes of council? We have a motion to approve by council member Andrew, seconded by council member Santaita. Take a vote. I I I I I don't see much.

Well, I So, we have a unanimous vote to accept the consent agenda. And now we have we have reached our public information section. It is 30 minutes and limited to three speakers. The first speaker is Mr. Gerald Smith, city resident on complimenting the city council. Mr. Smith, [clears throat]

good evening. The first thing you want to sell is speak. Uh, how's everybody? Wonderful. How are you?

Great. Great. Great. Um, you know, when you walk as a coach for 55 years, when somebody call you Mr. Smith, you seem like they're talking to somebody else because I really don't answer to that anymore. I answer the coach. 55 years I've done that. And, uh, I'll just like to say to Mr. Spears, uh, I applaud you, sir, because I used to coach him in his teen years and look at him now. So, I applaud you and I also applaud another Wington police officer that I also coach uh not in his teen years but in his adult years. So, I applaud you. And then I applaud the new folks that's here that have taken on a role that when you were campaigning, you may not really knew exactly what you were doing, but you took it. Not only did you take it, but you won. So in winning now you have a plate full to try to eat. I'm here to support you in any kind of way I've can. I've been around for quite a while. Moved here in 81 from Newark, New Jersey. Hated Wington with a passion. My mom died here in Wilmington when I was 12. My dad got killed here in Wington. I'm take that back. When I was six, my mom died. When I was 12, my dad got killed here in Wington. First year in college, I realized that my mom died of breast cancer. So that wasn't Wilmington. Found out that my dad was killed by two people in Wilmington, but that still

wasn't Wilmington. I moved here in ' 81. Been here ever since. taught at South Brunswick High School and taught back then they call it LD students which is learning disabilities. They didn't graduate because of grades, they graduated because they was too old to stay. And the spirit of the Lord told me to tell them two things. If they don't remember anything else that Mr. Smith taught them, one, if you can't say something good about somebody, don't say nothing at all. Two, if you can't help somebody down in Brunswick County, they don't say sure. They say show don't hurt them. And then the Lord say throw this one in free. Never say what you'll never do cuz I said I would never come to Wilton and I've been here since 81. So I'm going to challenge you. Whatever you purposely ran for this office, do it to the best of your abilities. You're not going to win them all, but if you work hard, you win more than you lose. Keep doing what you're doing. I appreciate Miss L for just being who she is. Never had the opportunity to act to speak to her face to face, but I went to some of her campaigns and it just something about the heart. So, I applaud you. I'm gonna get out your way. I've held you up enough. Keep doing what you're doing. All of you. Because all of you have a role to play. City of Wington can't do it without each person sitting here. I don't expect for all of us to agree with everything, but I do expect for us at the end of the day to work together. Thank you. Appreciate you.

Thank Thank you, coach. your your minutes were over. I almost wanted to return the favor to you when you used to yell at me. So, [laughter] and our next speaker is Dr. John V. Martell, MD, city resident, speaking on hospital quality in Wilmington. Dr. Martell.

Thank you, Mayor Prom Spears and uh city council members. Uh my name is John Martell. I'm a retired physician and founder of the Capefar five-star project. I am here to speak about hospital quality in Wilmington. I have addressed this body before and I have spoken to some of you personally, but I am here to speak to the new council members. Congratulations on your election. The concept I want you to hear tonight is the idea that highquality hospital care is a critical infrastructure concern for the city of Wilmington. A city like ours does not thrive without high quality hospital care any more than it would thrive without clean water, sewer systems, sanitation, police force, and fire department. So, how are we doing on that? Five years ago, when Novant purchased New Handover Regional Medical Center, they promised us a hospital in the top 10% of hospitals nationwide. Currently, the hospital is rated two out of five stars by Medicare and has a C rating on the Leaprog dashboard of patient safety. That's a national watchdog group. Novant states that quality is improving and for some measures such as certain hospital inquired infections, this is true and they need credit for that. However, if you look at the three-year trend on some critical issues of patient safety, things like foreign objects left

in patients after surgery, things like surgical sight infections, things like deaths after complicated treatable surgical conditions, the hospital ranks in the lowest 20% nationwide. This is not abstract measures. A twostar rating is not like a Yelp rating. It doesn't have to do with bad coffee and poor service. The measure of a twostar hospital is pain, suffering, disability, and preventable death. You do not govern this hospital. You have no direct control over them. But Novant is a big corporate presence in Wilmington and in your official capacity and in your general life, you will interact with administrators from Novon. And when you do, you need to ask them, "What are you doing to deliver on your promise? How are you going to get us to a five-star hospital?" We all deserve a high quality hospital. Thank you very much.

Thank you, sir. [applause] So, now we will introduce item PH1, which is an ordinance amending the official zoning maps of the city of Wilmington to reszone property containing 38 acres located at 5324 Rightsville Avenue from R15 moderate density single dwelling district to R5 CD medium density mixed residential conditional district for residential development. This time I recognize city manager Becky Hall. Thank you, Mayor Proto, members of council. This item will be presented by planner Zach Smith.

Good evening, Mayor Prom and members of council. This is public hearing number one. The site is located along both Ritzwell Avenue and Park Avenue containing approximately 0.38 acres. The subject site is currently developed with a single family dwelling and attached accessory drawing unit. This map shows the general vicinity surrounding the request as well as the existing conditions of the subject property. These are photos of the existing conditions surrounding the subject property. These are photos of the adjacent properties and lane uses. Commercial uses are located to the south of the site. Residential areas are located to the north, east, and west of the site. In front of you is the existing frontage along the Riceville Avenue corridor. Here's another exhibit illustrating the existing conditions along the Riful Avenue frontage. This exhibit shows the existing setbacks along the Riful Avenue frontage as well as the setbacks for the proposed development. The proposed new structure is inconsistent with the predominant setback along this block face. The site is currently zoned R15 and is boarded by OI to the north, CB and OI to the south, R15 to the east, and R5 to the west. The applicant proposes to reszone the subject property to R5 for a residential development. The applicant is is proposing two conforming R5 lots which includes subdividing an existing lot and constructing a new single family dwelling with an attached accessory dwelling unit in front of an existing single dwelling home on Riceville Avenue. Staff has highlighted the potential impact of the critical root zones of the trees on site as well as the existing dwellings orientation towards Riceville Avenue. The subject property is located in a neighborhood scale infield development designated area of opportunity on the growth strategies map.

The proposal includes placing a new single dwelling home with an attached accessory dwelling unit in what is currently the front yard of an existing single dwelling home on Riceville Avenue. Previous resonings in this area created new residential lots in the rear of existing structures, preserving the existing development pattern along Riceville Avenue. The location of the new structure would be also inconsistent with the predominant setback along this block face. Staff believes the proposed zoning amendment is inconsistent with the create Wilmington comprehensive plan and recommends the Nile. Uh I do want to mention that this item was unanimously approved at the February planning commission meeting. Uh this concludes staff's presentation. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have and the applicant is here as well.

Do we have any questions for staff? Thank you. Now, I'd like to recognize the applicant, Miss Cindy Wolf. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Cindy Wolf, and uh I haven't been before the new members yet, but I look forward to working with you in the future. I tend to be here quite a bit. [laughter] Um, as Zach pointed out, this house is the subject property. It was built in 1954, similar to most of the adjacent homes between Hawthorne Drive and French Road. You can see along this stretch that the homes are staggered in their setbacks from Writesville Avenue. However, this particular home just happened to be positioned further back towards the rear of the lot so that the detached garage could be accessed directly from Park Avenue. in 2013 is when the garage was improved for an accessory dwelling above the Ritsville Avenue frontage. Um AC across the street of course is the commercial district that he described. Similar R10 or R15 to R5 resonings have taken place um along this southern border of Ritsville Avenue over the past several years. The owner contacted me to split his lot similarly to these other lots and build another single family home with an accessory dwelling. The initial thought would be single family home, this is a no-brainer. Let's just move forward. However, based on the position of that existing home and the general development pattern of single family homes along Ritsville Avenue, I knew that a conventional reszoning would probably garner too many cons because the resulting lot could have supported a

duplex. The conditional district gives us the opportunity to say this is what we're doing. We're saving trees. We're this is the type of design we're creating. And so I know better than to come with something that will to honor too many questions and we submitted for a conditional district for that transparency. The single family home we committed to saving those bigger trees that could be taken out today as the lot is a residential lot under an acre and with a residence on it. And we located the home close to the front setback with parking along the side which is something that has been promoted along the Waco the Rightsville Avenue corridor overlay for years. We were originally even closer than the current plan that is before you and the initial staff review responded that they'd prefer more setback. So we revised the plan not only to attach what was a detached ADU initially and shift the entire structure to the limit of the rear setback but as you can see that limit of the rear setback is requisite based upon the existing dwelling. So the furthest we can put it is the 33 feet. However, I'd like to point out that the front setback from Ritsville Avenue used to be 30 feet. The LDC that was adopted in 2022 reduced front setbacks because we'd prefer to have the homes addressing the streets in many cases. So, right now, the 33 foot setback we have is in excess of the 30 it used to be. certainly in excess of the 20 foot that is required of R15 today. The proposed house has a nice street appeal. Um, this one is along Park Avenue is typical of the newer two-story homes throughout the surrounding

neighborhoods as they're transitioning. These are pictures of properties across Writesville Avenue and east and west of the lot. There's certainly a variety of styles and setbacks. I feel like we've become tethered to conditional districts sometimes and the logical and sensible decisions like splitting these lots that have double frontage on Writesville Avenue and Park Avenue just seems logical. But in this day and age with deficit of housing, with issues with affordability of the housing we do have available, you would think that zoning this entire strip to R5 and letting the owners opt to whether they're going to split them or not and where they're putting their single family houses would be logical. Regardless, I understand the points outlined in the staff recommendation if we were doing something other than a single family home or combining lots, proposing a string of town homes, something like that. But just splitting this lot in two for another single family home. We don't believe that this plan will have an adverse effect on the impact and character of that existing corridor. It is certainly variable already. Should this owner be penalized just because his original home was oriented back towards Park Avenue? I don't think anyone would suggest, you know, building another one-story brick ranch and then letting parking be in front of it, similar to the houses that are there. My guess is that this plan is what most folks would like to see as some of those older homes transition along in the future. We appreciated the planning commission's insight. Uh, as Zach pointed out, the staff is recommending denial, but the planning commission recommended approval um unanimously. So, I'd appreciate your consideration of

these facts and I'm certainly welcome to answer any questions you might have. Thank you. Does anybody have any questions for Miss Wolf? I do. Council member Andrews. Um, Cindy, tell me about the uh the two-story house with the attached ADU. Is it 1,600 square feet on the main floor and then the it's an upstairs ADU? You talking about the one that's existing? No, no, no. The new the new one. Okay. Yes. The new one will all be attached. So, the total is I mean it has it can only be the ADU 50% of the new,

right? So, is it is it a single story downstairs of I'm not sure how the architect will do it. Okay. They may do just the single story and then put things upstairs. They could split it. The way this worked out is the main building could be like 33 feet deep and then the next one would be 15 but two stories. So, it would totally be up to the architect, but it is to the rear. Okay. Any other questions? I have a question now for Zach. That's okay. Council member Sandu.

Um, so I see in staff's recommendation that the main concern is that this isn't consistent with the predominant setback um in the surrounding lots. What is the predominant setback for some of those other dwelling units? Um, could you pull up my presentation again, please?

I'm sorry if I missed that. It flew by really fast. Um so in this exhibit, the area that's highlighted in red is the um subject property. Um, a majority of the homes along Riceville Avenue are offset uh or predominantly offset from that frontage. Um, they're set back versus Park Avenue where you see um a mix of residential units that are closer towards that frontage along Park Avenue. Even with my reading glasses, I can't read these numbers.

It's like a 27 27 47. Okay. And the rear is 24.

Any more questions? No, that's my question. Thanks. Thank you. You'll ask the public if they want to speak for in favor or in opposition to this public hearing item PH1. Okay, Madame Clerk, do you have any comments? Have we received any comments? No, sir. We have not.

Okay. At this time, I would like to ask council if they have any more questions. No more questions. I would at this time close the public hearing and ask, what are the wishes of the Wilmington City Council? We have a motion to approve by council member Andrews, seconded by council member Joiner. What do we all say? Mr. Mr. Spears, we'll need the consistency.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I forgot the uh the who makes the motion needs to read the consistency statement. Thank you, Meredith. I move to approve the proposed amendment to reszone property located at 5320 and 5322 Writesville Avenue from R15 moderate density single dwelling district to R5 CD medium density mixed residential conditional district for a residential infield development and find it to be consistent with the relevant policies in the comprehensive plan based on application materials and the information provided at the public hearing and in the staff report and to find approval of the resoning request is reasonable and in the public interest for the following reasons. The proposed resoning is consistent with the surrounding neighborhood and increases housing options in the area.

Okay, now let's continue voting. I I passes unanimously. And now we Is there a motion to wave second reading, sir? Oh, I see that. Is there a motion to wave second reading? There's a motion to wave second reading by council member Clinton Quintana, seconded by Council Member Andrews. Take a vote.

I motion to wave second reading passes uh unanimously. And now we will move on to our ordinances. And this ordinance is these ordin ordinances 01 A and 01B are continued from the council's February 17th meeting. Item 01A is the ordinance making supplemental appropriation in the amount of $140,300 to allow for reallocation of funding within American Rescue Plan Act projects. U item 01B is a resolution adding $140,300 and American Rescue Act plan funds to the Salvation Army roadway reimbursement contract. I recognize city manager Becky Hawk.

Thank you, Mayor, Protown, members of council. Uh, in a followup to council's conversation at your last meeting, we're going to start with finance director Martha Wayne, who will have a presentation to answer some of the questions that were posed previously, and then senior project manager Kim Gordon will follow up with the action item after that Okay. Good evening, Mayor Prom and Council. Tonight, I wanted to circle back regarding the American Rescue Plan Act or ARPA act as most people know it. And I'm I am specifically going to be uh focusing on the performance update for the community vitality and resilience specifically the digital divide project as most people know. Um when I was preparing for this presentation, I was able to get in contact with the three active partners that the city has. One partner um provided an email. The other I spoke to earlier today and we have one partner that is actually in the um audience today. Today we have with Step Up Emily Mitchell who is the director of development. Um we spoke about what I was going to talk about today, but she is more than happy to answer any questions that you may have. What I'm going to do is I'm going to provide just a general overview of ARPA just to kind of remind people of the large impact it did have on the community. In total, the city of Wilmington received approximately $25.9 million. As I mentioned earlier, I'm specifically going to be talking about the community

fertility and resilience portion which had about 4.7 million of that allocated to it or about 18%. And within that portion, I'm going to focus on the digital debad project. Uh whenever it came to ARPA, just to remind everyone, it started way back in 2021. So this is um kind of nearing the end. And essentially the way ARPA funds work, there were a lot of restrictions that were put in place by the federal government. One of those restrictions was that all of the expenditures had to be obligated by December 31st, 2024. Once that date came into place, we weren't really able to make any changes as far this as far as the scope of projects we were doing. So, we are very limited with the flexibility that we currently have with the funding that remains. And just as a general reminder, all of the funds must be spent by this December, which is December 31st, 2026. The slide before you now shows all of the open projects as well as potential reallocation options. We have the Salvation Army Road. This project is one that the ordinance specifically relates to. The project has completed. However, there were overages associated with the project that are eligible for reimbursement. The ordinance tonight is requesting $140,300 be um reallocated to that portion. Another open project that we have is a storm order project. It is specifically related to Tenth and Grace. Um that project once again even though it's

still considered open because it's shown as open in the portal the project had not which essentially means the project had not been completed as of December 31st which was our last quarterly report. Right now we have an overage of that about approximately 19,000. So there are some funds that we would be able to allocate that as an option. Um, another op uh open project is the Wilmington Centric Tourism Assistance. They received approximately $650,000. To date, they've spent around 307,000, but based on conversations with them, they are planning to spend all remaining funds by the deadline. Then the last option as far as open that we would have some potential opportunity to reallocate funds to would be police salaries. And these are police salaries that are associated with the homeless initiative that was part of ARPA. And the only portion that would be eligible for reimbursement would be the obligated positions. So we had four positions that were obligated. um the employees in those positions don't necessarily have to be the same employees that were in place at December 31st. It's really based on the actual position itself and just ensuring that the position is still doing the work that was in place. So now I'm going to go a little bit into the digital divide project itself. So essentially the what this project was set up to do was to create digital upscaling and reskilling facility in Wilmington by working with local employers and workforce development professionals. I provided a project timeline so you can

see how things went. In August of 2022, the project was initially awarded to a company. The company started doing the work. Um, they ran into some challenges. And so, in April of 2023, uh, there was a mutual parting of ways and I'll discuss some of those challenges on the next slide. So in May of 2023, a new RFP was issued for people that would be willing to partner with the city of Wilmington for the digital divide project and funds were reallocated in October of 2023. The slide before you kind of shows the reallocation of funds. You can see Stig Stler EdTE received approximately 1.5 million. Stepup Wilmington received 500,000. Capefir Collective received 300,000 and Wireless Research Center received a little over $167,000. What I want to do is now kind of go into a little bit of what the various partners were set up to do. Steve eggte um their goal was to essentially produce minimum graduates. Uh they were expecting to have around 42 graduates and they were looking for giving these employees the skills that they needed into in the IT world. So they wanted to deliver digital skills training and job pairing to cohorts and program persist uh participants. They had a 24-week digital workforce development program that ran from May through December of 2024. Um the program covered things from full

stack web development with elective tracks as well as professional development. Um they also placed uh they provided job placement support through January of 25. Step up was awarded 500,000. They initially focused on highlevel IT certifications. However, they did a strategic pivot whenever they saw what was happening to the market. after identifying the need for f foundational digital literacy to combat AIdriven automation in entrylevel positions. Um they focused on foundational skills, provided basic computer skills, software certifications for example with the m uh Microsoft Outlook products as well as some other products. They also provided typing skills that were needed for the participants. Capefir Collective was a data collection organization. They did performance tracking. They looked at the talent pipeline management, coordinated local employer participation in job training and hiring. Now, let's look to see what all we accomplished with this money. Stagler edtech, they had approximately 800 people apply. 34 were selected for the program. Out of those 34, 28 graduated and secured employment. Um, whenever I spoke with them earlier today, they mentioned that with the 28 who secured employment, the first half were able to get employment fairly quickly. However, they did have to extend the amount of job placement support as they were having a difficult time placing the remaining half. So there were about 12 that took a little

bit longer to get employed for them. So they ended up extending their time. Um their support included providing the participants with a stipen kind of similar to if they were doing a um some type of apprenticeship. So, uh, participants would receive an hourly wage for 40 hours a week, kind of similar to if they were had actually received an apprenticeship with a firm. And with the remaining 12, um, they were able to place them with a mix of both virtual jobs as well as there were a few placements that were outside of the area just because of, you know, what was available for step up. Step up had um they achieved a 95.8% completion rate with 70 out of 73 participants completing a designated track. The placement rate of 43.8% of the 32 participants who secured employment. Of those 32 um participants that secured employment, 20 positions were full-time employment with their remaining positions part-time. At the end of the period, they had 41 participants who remained in the active talent pipeline and continue to receive ongoing employment support and navigation support. The retention rate for the people who were employed or participated in the program is typically exceeds 70% after one year. Um whenever I spoke with step up they were excited to announce that you know this is something that has actually become part of their ongoing program. They realized the need was there and so they continue to work with that. Um they

have broadened their reach. They did require strategic um change just because of what the environment was doing at the time, but they made those changes and they have a recent partnership with Capefir Community College and that has allowed them to increase the number of people who actually attend their jobs week. Um, I think last fiscal year they told me that they had had a little over 600 participants in the jobs week and I believe last week they said that they had already exceeded 700. And just if you're wondering what jobs week is for step up, it's a 32hour week-long employment training workshop where they discuss uh job search strategies and time management and how to dress for interviews, different things like that. Um [sighs and gasps] all of the organizations had very similar challenges that they reported during this time period. Um they had challenges regarding firm hiring commitments. There was a market shift that took place. Part of the market shift was due to economic conditions. Part of it was the result of AI coming into the world and people trying to determine okay how is AI going to fit into our workplace. So there were some impacts that reduced some of the junior level talent that was required. Um some per uh partners also uh mentioned increased competition for some of the IT roles that were in place and that some of the regional partners actually kind of had a reduction in hiring. One of the things that I want to point out is all of the partners were grateful for the partnership that they had with the city of Wilmington. They all felt like this was a very beneficial program. They learned a lot from the program.

They experienced firsthand how quickly the technology environment can change with the landscape. Um, many were they were happy with how they successfully assisted so many individuals. They learned a lot. There was a lot of job training that was provided. Um, so they they do feel like, you know, this this was a very beneficial partnership and they're excited that the city was willing to partner with them and all of them were willing and looking forward to additional partnerships in the future. I think one of the challenges that you know everyone said was okay the environment changed a lot and as I indicated earlier one of the challenges with reallocating this funding is we are kind of stuck with the actual scopes of the engagements as they were developed prior to December 31 2024. So, those are just kind of the highlights that I have and I don't know if you have any questions or if there's anything um I can help. And like I said, there is a representative from StepUp Wilmington tonight.

Do we have any questions for staff? Yeah, I do. [clears throat] Council member Laauo,

sorry, I'm trying not to speak of a little throat thing. Um can you go back to the slide that shows the breakdown of the um the uh scopes and um money I guess like the first slide that showed the different organizations. [snorts] That's it. I think maybe the next one. What I'm trying to get at is I was wondering what the difference is in some of these programs. Are they all doing kind of the same thing? uh the digital divide project or the ARPAR programs in general.

The uh the three groups that we were talking about Stigler Step up and Capefir collective that you went over their um their uh um outcomes. Yeah.

Yeah. So there were slight differences. they did all kind of have a similar goal and that they were really focused on the IT environment and try to trying to help people be able to get stronger jobs in the IT market. So all of them were focused on developing curriculum and you know trying to help people get into the job market. They did have um slightly different um scopes as far as the work they were doing. For example, Capefare Collective was one that was focused more on the measurements they were looking at and gathering the data from what the other organizations were seeing. I know um Stagler EdTE was one of the ones that had a large cohort and so um you know they did a lot of graduates. Um so there there were small differences between the programs but overall they were really trying to focus on providing providing digital skills training and helping people gain those skills so they would be able to get the IT jobs in the area. Thank you,

Council Member Joiner. I was just curious if the folks who um showed up wanted to address us and make any commentary. If if they do, I'd like to hear from them. If not, that's fine, too. whenever I spoke with them earlier um they indicated that they would like for me to address and I I'm looking at the individual right now and I think they are happy with um what I shared from our conversation with them. So, but they wanted to just make sure that everyone was very aware of how appreciative they were of the support that the city provided and that they really are looking forward to additional partnerships in the future.

Council member Santigua,

thank you. Uh, thanks for this very detailed presentation. Um, I think it really um helps us better understand uh the request for for why this funding is is appropriate um for the other project. Can you go to the next slide because I want to make sure that I'm um understanding all of this correctly. So, we had hoped to have 42 folks go through the Stagler edtech program. We got 28 through. Um all of them were placed, but it was difficult to place some of them because of changing market needs. It looks like stepup um did a great job of bringing digital skills to dozens and dozens of people. And am I understanding correctly that you've all have incorporated that into your operations outside of this grant? Okay, so that's covered. Um, and then Capefar Collective measured as expected. So, you know, maybe we didn't get everybody through the program that we had initially hoped for, but overall a successful program looking to wrap it up. We have some funds left over that we're looking to allocate elsewhere. Is that a good summary?

Yeah, that is correct. I mean, everyone was very happy. They they all felt like they learned a lot. They learned a lot about how quickly the technology environment changes. They also learned um there were some challenges that individuals face personally which I think we are all probably aware of whether it's like child care or people needing immediate wage increases. And so those are challenges that you know did face some of the participants as well as far as completing the program. But um based on my conversations with all of the partners, they feel like they learned a lot. We were able to help get some of the participants full-time jobs. Um some received part-time jobs. All of them had the opportunity to receive additional certifications that would help their employment chances in the future. So I think everyone was happy. It didn't go exactly as planned, but you never know what the market's going to do. And you know there were pivots that were made. Um we had the initial firm where we pivoted once from there and then I know step up did a pivot and so we were were trying to address the needs but once again with this funding whenever it's federal funding there are a lot of restrictions that are in place and we can't pivot after a specific time. Yeah. Thanks

council member Clinton Quintano. Clinton Quintano. Sorry. Thank you. May Mayor Pro Tim, so my question is um being that step up Wilmington actually did the things right and they have incorporated I guess this program into their current programming. Is there a way that we still can return the funds back to them?

Not with the restrict not this particular funding with the requirements that are on it. they pivoted slightly from the scope that was initially obligated prior to December 31, 2024. And so the federal government doesn't give us a lot of leeway. There's little flexibility there. And so the only way um addition additional funds could be provided was with it if it aligned specifically with the scope of the contract that was in place prior to December 31, 2024, which was our obligation deadline. Understood. Thank you.

Um let's see what what do I want to say? So, can we go to the next slide? The next slide. Uh maybe the the slide that has the dollar amounts for or does the specific digital provider or all of our projects? Yeah. For the this this one? Okay.

Yeah. So, of the do we know how much of these funds for Stigler egg edtech were allotted for that that they use for the stipens? I do not have that information tonight. I can work on getting that for you. I know um a large portion of it was kind of getting the program set up. Um they did whenever I spoke with them today, they were talking about how they did have to expense extend some of the financial support since they weren't able to immediately place some of the participants. But I can get that information for you.

Right. because I I mean I agree based on the information that you've provided and the questions that have been asked. Um it doesn't seem like a waste of money. Um but you know I don't know I I think this is a theme for me this year saying topheavy. We we spend a lot of money on administrative fees. And so if that money was used more for you know the stipens and and actually uh creating criteria or you know and I think step up did a great job of job placement but just searching for available resources then you know I would be fine with that and and I can't agree that the the market has changed. Um, but there was also a goal where um, and I sent some information last week where, you know, we were looking to employ um, people from this community that were of a low socioeconomic status. And so there there has to be, not saying that people of low socioeconomic statuses don't have uh, what's needed to work in tech, but you know, we're trying to give a leg up. And so I think that somewhere in between or while this Stigler was creating curriculum or whatever it became high level for the participants and so um and and I think there was still a good success rate at that but I believe some of it it wasn't you know it wasn't like working the help desk or or something like that where you could because you can't really learn tech in six months. Let's be honest you you you're in it. it. Uh, yeah, you can Google some stuff or YouTube some stuff, but it's not going to make you really effective in in that space. Not super effective as if you had a longer um

exposure to um educational experiences. So, uh, I just wanted to to ask how much of that was being used of the $1.5 million or 1.4. So, Yeah, I can get this specific information and provide it to you. I I just don't have like I have the total expense to date. I have overall kind of what they spent the funds on, right? But I I don't know that off the top of my head, so I can circle back with you. No worries. Uh I'll ask now what are the wishes of council?

Mayor Proim, I just made a motion to approve ordinance. Okay. So, we have a motion to approve by council member Santaita, a second by council member Clinton Quintana, and let's take a vote. I I The vote is unanimous. And is there a motion to wave the second reading? So, we have a motion from Council Member Laauo, second by Council Member Joiner. Let's take another vote. I I I vote is unanimous. [clears throat] Thank you.

And now we Oh, we're going to vote on 01B. Or did was that just for 01A? That was 01. Yep. Okay. Yes. So, let's vote on 01B so we can stay on the right side of the law. I have a motion to approve by council member Santaita, a second by council member Clinton Quintana. Let's take a vote.

Hi. Hi. Hi. It's unanimous. And is there a motion to wave the second reading? No second. Oh, sorry. No second. Just kidding. Just wanted to see if you all were paying attention. And now we have uh resolutions. And item R1 is a resolution authorizing the city manager to enter into an agreement with Landmark Asset Services Incorporated for loan forgiveness to preserve affordable housing. At this time, I recognize city manager Becky Hawk.

Thank you, Mayor Proa, members of council. This item will be presented by housing and neighborhood services director Rachel Schuler. Good evening. Thank you, Mayor Prom and Council. This is a resolution to consider a request by Landmark Asset Services for 258,000 in debt forgiveness to help support the cost of installing a fire sprinkler system as part of the rehabilitation of James Walker Apartments. Just as a little bit of a history, James Walker Apartments was built back in the 1920s as part of James Walker Hospital. the specific apartments was part of the nurse's quarters. Um, and so over time it has had quite a history. Most recently in 1990 it was converted to the apartments that we know today. In May of 2024, Landmark Assets came to council requesting debt forgiveness as well as partial repayment as part of this rehabilitation. After they were awarded tax credits by North Carolina Housing Finance Agency, they went and did their formal bid process and found that the cost to install sprinklers was upwards of $400,000. And so as part of this request, it is to have full loan forgiveness, which would be that additional $258,000 to help cover those costs. They would also be be bringing the rest of the cost to the table from their expenses. Uh this is 37 units of senior affordable housing and a muchneeded renovation that is going to be done. I'm happy to answer any questions as well as the applicant is here. Staff is recommending approval of this item. Thank you.

Thank you. Uh any questions from council? Uh council member Laauo. Hi Mer. Um, I know that the um re the rehab grant loan will require certain rental rates. Are the rates going to go up from what they are now? I looked on the website now and they're they're pretty low. Um, you can you can pass that off to the applicant if you'd like, but if you'd had that conversation yet about the rental rates and also um other are the um residents going to have to uh leave and come back and how what is the plan for that? I will defer to the applicant to talk through that process. Thank you. Great. Thanks.

Last time I met with you all, it was at the old city hall. It's taken us that long to get this all put together. Um, but I appreciate you having me. My name is Sam Sarai. I'm vice president of Landmark Asset Services. U, to answer your first question, yes, the rental rates are going up slightly. Uh it's ranging from a $65 to $80 increase on a one-bedroom unit and an $80 to $105 on a two-bedroom unit, which while expensive, we actually haven't increased our rent since 2023. So, we've kind of done a we we I think I met with you all in May of 24, maybe it was a little earlier. We agreed to hold the rent constant until after the renovation. I'm sorry, I couldn't remember your other question. about the residents moving out if they were if they were going to have to move out during the renovations and what was the plan for that?

Yes, ma'am. We have a relocation plan. The residents will temporarily have to move out at our expense um into a kind of an extended stay hotel. We expect our unit turns to take no more than 30 days. So, and we give them um we pay for the relocation. We move all their things for them. We pay for their hotel. We give them meals certificates. Um, so the ex the intent is for it not to cost the residents anything, but because the building is historic, it has lead based paint, it has some asbestous, so it's really safest to have them out of the unit. Thank you. Any other questions?

I I do have one question. Uh, what feedback have you got from the residents as far as the uh rent increase?

Well, we met with them. I want to say it was last September. Um, so we made them all wear in plenty of time. You know, we expect to start and close in the next 30 days. Um, and I think at first, you know, like anyone, no one likes the rent increase. Um, but I think they recognize, you know, we're spending over $85,000 a unit. So, the intent of this rehab is to make the units nicer and to make it self-sufficient, right? So, we avoid getting back to where we are now in the long term. So, our rents in low-income housing tax credit properties, generally speaking, they don't cash flow very much. So, it's generally just designed to maintain the building. So, so do we need to ask you to hold rates again after this increase?

No, I would I don't understand the question. Sorry. So, you said a couple years ago we asked you to to hold off on raising the raising rent. So, I I'm asking now for the for after this rent increase that you hold off for another period. Is that fine?

We will. We only do rent increases a maximum once a year and a typical rent increase in a tax credit property is $15. So we do very minimal increases. We just held them understanding and because of your support to be mindful of the fact that the building needed repairs and the tenants were living there. So that's why we did that. Okay. Any other qu any other questions from from council? All right. I will ask what are the wishes of council. So we have a motion to approve by council member Sanduita and a second by council member Lao. Okay, let's take a vote.

I I vote is unanimous. I thank you. And that is it of the regular scheduled meeting. Uh I will ask Madame Manager, are there any items to be brought forth to the city council? No, sir. Madame attorney. Yes, sir. We do have a close session motion for you at the appropriate time. Okay. Madame Clerk. No, sir.

Council member Joiner. Thank you. I wanted to um share some news about a death in our community and share my condolences with the family of Jeffrey Mills. U many folks will know that uh Jeff was um suffering from pancreatic cancer and and died um just a few weeks ago. There's going to be a memorial coming up on March 21st. Um, and so I would encourage folks who uh knew him and Ed to participate in that. But I wanted to read this line from his obituary. Jeff's life was defined by activism, compassion, and unwavering conviction. He devoted himself to ending the stigma surrounding HIV and AIDS and was a fierce advocate for the rights, dignity, and recognition of the LGBTQ community. He was an active member of ACTUP, where his act advocacy was recognized in a photograph published by Time magazine. Jeff also dedicated his time and voice to Capefare Equality, the Frank Carr Foundation, Sage Wilmington, the North Carolina AIDS Action Network, and served as an AARP LGBTQ liaison. And there's a lot more about Jeff's life and uh the many moves that he made all over the country, uh his husband Ed, and the family that he survived by. And of course, you know, read read the full obituary online. Um but I wanted to to let Ed know that we're thinking about him um in in this season of grief. So, thank you for letting me share that.

Council member Laauo. No, sir. Council member Quinton Quintana. Quintana, I keep getting the C's and Q's mixed up. I know you though. [laughter] Um, just a simple um for those of you who went out and voted today, thank you. And happy um women's month. Thank you, Council Member Santaita.

Yes. Um happy Women's History Month. Thanks to the folks from the um Commission for Women who were here today um to help us celebrate. I know that I am very proud to serve on this historic council um with so many great women and the men who work very well with us. Thank you so much. Um for those of you who got your tickets to the women's commission lunchon on Friday, I will see you there. If you didn't get your ticket, sorry it's sold out. We'll see you next year. Thank you,

Council Member Andrews. I just wanted to wish a belated uh 287th birthday to the city of Wilmington. Um we were incorporated on uh February 20th of 1739. So um looking forward to very soon our 300th anniversary.

Thank you. And I would um man, I hate to come with such troubling news sometimes, but over over the weekend over the weekend, there was there was an incident that took place in Mayfair uh where some some young African-American teenagers were um in Mayfair, I don't know, enjoying themselves or whatever. And there was a a a young man in a pickup truck who rolled by um yelling out some obscinities and racial slurs and um making intimidating efforts towards these teenagers. And um I mean I I I think the community has to get mad about that. Uh, we're in 2026, but it seems at times that we're in a time machine going back. I think I've said that here before. And um you know we really have to question you know and and I'll I'll go out on a limb as usual and say I don't it's not necessarily the responsibility of African-American people or uh people of Hispanic origin or Asian origin is it's not our responsibility to correct the behavior of other individuals who do such negative uh things in society because we should be well beyond activities and gestures and and things

of that nature. Um, so I I I would dare to say uh people, friends, family members, and loved ones of said people have a a a a real heartto-heart with people who do things like this because it really reflects negatively on the whole of society and and what do we expect in return from from from things like that? So, I just wanted to put that out there and uh hopefully someone has shamed this young man and um had a real heart-to-heart talk with him because um we we know the history of Wilmington and New Hover County, but that's that's not a a a thing or history or something that we want to relive again. So, thank you so much. And uh at this time we will go into we'll take a motion for close session or I'll read the statement for a motion for close session. And I want to thank you all for for being here in person and those who are watching on TV. Um, so is there a motion to enter into a close session pursuant to the provisions of North Carolina Gen General general statute section 143-318.11 A1 A3 and A9 in order for city council to one prevent the disclosure of information that is privileged or confidential or not considered public record within the meaning of chapter 132 of the general statutes. Two, consult the city attorney regarding potential litigation. Three, discuss and take action regarding plans to protect public safety and to receive briefings from staff concerning actions taken or to be taken to respond to threats to public safety.

The closed session will be held in the Charlie Ryvenbart room behind council chambers. At the end of the closed session, council will reopen its public session and adjourn at that time. So, I'll entertain a motion to go into close session. Oh, we have a motion by Council Member Joiner, seconded by Council Member Andrews. Let's take a vote. I I And it's a unanimous vote. We will go into close session. Do I need to bang the gabble for that?