City Council - Regular Meeting

I'd like to call the meeting to order. The Wington City Council like to welcome all those who are here and also watching us at home. Thank you for taking an interest in your government. This time I introduce Josh Lee of the Wington Police Department to come forward and give our invocation. I ask if everyone will stand remain standing afterwards for the pledge of allegiance. So Lee, welcome.

Thank you. Let's pray. Father, we just thank you God for a wonderful day that you have given us. And Lord, we thank you for all that you do and and God, we just thank you for your presence. And Father, I ask tonight that Lord, as uh our city council has gathered and and members of our community have gathered, Lord, to be able to discuss business. Um Father, I just ask that you'd give us all a a good sense of of peace, uh good discernment, Lord, and and the ability to be able to listen to one another. Father, we thank you. We thank you for everything that you have done and how you have blessed this city. We ask that you continue to do that. And we ask these things in your son, Jesus's 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.

We have one presentation this evening. I'd like to recognize Mr. David Parker, safety officer for the Capefir sale and power squadron. And I named proclamation naming the week of May 15 through the 22nd, 2026 is safe boating week. So meet me up front, Mr. Mayor. Uh I'd like to yield my time to uh Otis White, who is our district commander. Yes, sir. Thank you, David. That's pretty official. Could you move over just a little bit? get in front of the speaker. Thank you, mayor. [snorts] Yeah.

Um, mayor, we've been coming here for many years and having this wonderful proclamation done for safe boating week in May. Safe boating to the Capefir region, which we're part of, has a tremendous meaning to everybody that lives here. number of people that have boats, the number of people that go out on boats, the number of boats that are parked here is absolutely incredible. We've been here for 75 years this year. 75 years. We started in 1951 because there wasn't a Coast Guard auxiliary in town to teach basic boating and navigation courses. Our organization from 1914 up until the beginning of the Second World War actually taught the Navy officers how to navigate their ships. We have a long and deep history in boating safety and boating navigation and we thank you for tonight for this opportunity. Last year there were 142 accidents. Um 2024 the data is always a year late. 2024 142 accidents in the state of North Carolina that were reported. Number of fatal accidents was 13. 13 families lost members that are no longer with them today. We have in the state of North Carolina 346,000 boats and frankly most of them are right here down on the coast. [laughter]

That's where most of them live. The order of magnitude of loss in 2024 was a,731,000 reported by the insurance companies. So, why do these happen? The main cause of a boating accident is human error. The captain at the wheel makes a mistake. The main contributor to deaths was intoxication which created many of the errors. Of the deaths, 80% of them were drowning related. So tonight, as we always do, remember to wear your life jacket when you're on a boat. The reason I say that is every time I get in my car, I put on my seatelt. And aside from the fact that my wife is an RN and she makes me, I don't know when I'm going to have an accident. I don't know when somebody's going to come out of a side street or hit me in the back end. I can't guess that. I can't know that until after it's done. The same thing's true with boating. When you go out in your boat, you're not going to have time to go and get a life jacket. The accident will already be over and you'll already be dealing with whatever it is happened to you. So, thank you, mayor, and thank you for the time. I appreciate it.

And I'm going to read the proclamation here.

I'll come over this way. Good to see you.

Good to see you again, too, sir. Thank you. Thank you. the entire city council here. Appreciate it, guys. Thank you very much. This is always a an important um moment because you folks do a tremendous job working with our Coastg Guard, auxiliary and everybody in asking for people to put on their life jackets and to take this stuff seriously. And we have a lot of people on the waterway and it's incredible how the waterway has become so crowded these days with this many people that have moved to the area and to the region and the amount of boats that are out there and it's sometimes on Saturday and Sundays it can get extremely dangerous. So we appreciate all of your help and all of your efforts in telling the public what they should be doing on the water and be very careful. City of Wilmington, North Carolina proclamation reads, "Whereas North Carolina has 5,000 miles of water shoreline and 361,000 registered boers in the state and whereas boating and fishing are one of the state's most popular year year-round activities. whereas on average 630 people die in the US each year in boating related accidents and approximately 80% of those fatal fatalities are caused by drowning and whereas in approximately 86% of drowning cases the victim was not wearing a life jacket and it is apparent that wearing a life jacket is the single most important factor in reducing boating related deaths and whereas the national safe boating council supported by the US Coast Guard and other national organizations has set May 16th through the 22nd, 2026 is National Safe Boating Week. Now therefore, on behalf of the entire Wilmington City Council, we do hereby support the efforts of the Capefir sale Empower Squadron and the National Safe

Boating Council and proclaim 16th to the 22nd of May, 2026 as safe boating week in the city of Wilmington and the start of the yearround effort to promote safe boating and urge all persons to wear a life jacket at all times while boating. So, thank you so much for continue with the awareness campaign for our community. Appreciate it, guys. Appreciate it. Thank you very much. [applause]

Thank you, Mr. Our next item of business is our consent agenda items 1 through six. What are the wishes of council if anybody wants to pull anything? Mr. Mayor, I'd like to pull item C5.

C5. Okay. Do we have a motion to approve? Let me pull um C C2. C2. Yeah. Okay. So, do we have a motion to approve the consent agenda of items C1 through C6 excluding items C2 and C5? Motion made by Council Member Santa, second by Council Member Andrews. Any further discussion? All in favor of that motion, please indicate by saying I. I.

Any opposed? Item passes unanimously. At this time, like to recognize Miss Andrews. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, so this item is to reschedu the council meeting that was um scheduled for May 5th and reschedule it to Monday um May 4th. And um I would like to uh move that in addition to um rescheduling the Tuesday night meeting to Monday night that we cancel the Monday um agenda review meeting. Okay. We have a motion to approve Mrs. Andrew's motion which of course she motioned. She made the motion second by council member Gwentana. Anybody else? All in favor of that motion please indicate by saying I.

I. Any oppose? Item passes unanimously. At this time like to recognize the mayor proton. Yeah. C2 is the resolution the award of a construction contract in the amount of $1,190,000 to Terry Spell Mechanical Services for the signal preeemption for emergency vehicles phase 2 project. And it's it's not really uh related to this, but it's kind of related to this. I I I see Dennis in the audience and I just want to ask a question. Who who's maintaining that light at Market and Cinema Drive? And it's kind of related. We got a fire station right there. But

yeah, that that signal is maintained by the uh city of Wilmington um on behalf of the Department of Transportation. Do we know how long I know? Do you know how long that light is? I do. [laughter] You get where I'm going here? Can we do something about it? What's what's what's up with it? So signal timing is some will say it's an art. Um we have a lot of traffic in the area. Um it's very important that when vehicles pull up to a traffic signal to make sure that they stop at the white line. Okay. If you don't stop at the white line, the traffic signal may not know you're there anymore. It may may have turned right or

or made it through on green. So um there's we can go down a rabbit hole of whatifs here, but um we'll definitely take a look at the signal timing. Okay. Um, but we're trying to move a lot of cars along Market Street and some of the side streets are just going to have to wait a little bit longer to get them all through. I I can accept that, Dennis. Sometimes I am the problem. So maybe I'm not up far enough or maybe I need to go up and back up or something, but don't move. Just pull up to the white line and stop. Well, I've had a couple experiences here lately and that light takes forever. Okay, we'll definitely take a look at it. Okay, so I I just wanted to do that. So I make a motion to move C2.

Okay. We have a motion by Mayor Pro Tim Spear, second by Council Member Joiner. Further discussion. On favor of that motion, please indicate by saying I.

Any opposed? Item passes unanimously. That brings us to our next item business, which is our public information segment. We have several speakers that have signed up to speak with us tonight. Each speaker will be allotted three minutes. Our first speaker is Charlotte Woods, who is a non- city resident who would talk to us about city progress and growth. Is Miss Woods here? Okay. Don't see Mrs. Woods. So, next person is David Braga, who's a city resident of making Wilmington a fourth amendment workplace. Mr. Brager here. Hello. Over the past few weeks, a group of individuals across Wilmington have attempted to convince this council to pass a resolution making Wilmington a fourth amendment workplace city. Some of you have already met with us or spoken with us in person. Some are scheduled to. Some have not responded at all. We now feel it is in the best interest of the city and the passage of this resolution to make our concerns public. Becoming a Fourth Amendment workplace city is a simple, tangible action that can help Bloomington city employees and residents understand their rights when faced with potential immigration raids. You, the city council, would pass a simple resolution reaffirming your commitment to the Fourth Amendment to prevent warrantless search and seizure. From there, SMRANC, a grassroots organization that has been working for immigrant justice since the first Trump administration, will coordinate with the city to determine the best way to train employees and officials on their Fourth Amendment rights. This training is free. The only cost here is time and your will to do so. This initiative was lost launched in part because of the presence of ICE agents at Durham court hearings and legal proceedings which they attended without warrants to make arrests. While the overlap in Wilmington between city and county property remains Byzantine, having city employees know the difference between different kinds of warrants, what spaces they apply to, and to understand where people can and

cannot go is an invaluable tool should ICE, CPP, or rogue law enforcement activity ever increase in our town. Additionally, the press generated, even in a small town like Wilmington, will help connect the people here to resources that can help them learn their rights in their workplace and better protect themselves against unlawful raids. This is not a fixall. It is certainly not a sanctuary city proclamation. It is not even an act of civil disobedience. If anything, this is an act of civil obedience against an agency that largely acts outside of the law. But it is a concrete step you can take to protect the people living here. It shows you are standing with your people and it helps connect them to resources that could quite literally save their lives. Last year, 50 people died in ICE detention centers. Thus far, in 2026, 16 people have died. That is only numbers for the United States, and it does not count those who have been killed or injured by ICE during the raids themselves. Now is the time to emphasize that the laws ICE routinely breaks, warrantless search and seizure, still matter. When we've spoken to some members of this council, I've heard that this resolution is unnecessary because Wilmington is already a Fourth Amendment city on the basis that ICE hasn't actually violated the Fourth Amendment here yet. But by that logic, Minneapolis were a Fourth Amendment city and then it wasn't. Los Angeles and Chicago were Fourth Amendment cities right up until they weren't. While Wilmington has not faced the sort of crackdown that Durham and Charlotte have, we are all aware that many of our neighbors, friends, and family members are very afraid. You can either hope things don't get worse or you can prepare. This is one way to prepare. I know that some of you have spoken about how much you fear reprisal for passing this resolution. But Durham, Carbor, and Boone have all done so and face no reprisals. City council members from Durham have reached out and expressed that they would be willing to speak to anyone on this council about how the resolution worked in Durham and how it worked here. I hope you take that opportunity because if you can stop even

one person from being detained, that would have been worth it. Please do the right thing here. Thank you. [applause] Next speaker is Josh Lyn Bean, another city resident who also be speaking to us again about the fourth amendment city resolution.

Hello, I um I'm a volunteer with SEMRAN NC and a co-lead for the Fourth Amendment Workplace under the Make North Carolina work initiative. And SMRAN NC is a grassroots nonprofit that started in Greensboro in 2017 and whose mission is to make North Carolina the safest southern state for residents to live and work regardless of their immigration status. Since the end of January 2025, Border Patrol and ICE agents have been entering businesses and homes around the country and the state, detaining people without a judicial warrant, violating our Constitution's Fourth Amendment. People have been living in unnecessary fear regardless of their immigration status and opting to stay home instead of going to work which has been become an economic burden not only for their households but also for their communities. We are calling on the city of Wilmington to uphold the fourth amendment by signing a fourth amendment resolution and to partner with SMBRNC in taking responsibility for training their staff to protect the fourth amendment rights of employers, employees and patrons. By doing so, you can set a powerful example of how local governments can actively defend the rights of local taxpayers, workers, and small businesses. This resolution would send a simple yet powerful message to the residents of Wilmington and the CI city government um that you will discourage federal overreach. We believe in this time that local government has a crucial role to play in protecting people's constitutional rights. This does not mean blocking or defying federal law. This means refusing voluntary cooperation beyond what the law requires, requiring warrants or judicial authorization. We are asking the city of Wilmington to publicly decline the use of local resources to assist in actions viewed as unconstitutional or excessive.

In other words, we are asking to set boundaries on how far federal agencies can go when operating locally. This does not mean we are exempt from federal agencies ever to operate in our neighborhoods, but this sets the tone to how we can respond when and if it happens. The resolution is narrowly focused on constitutional protections, especially warrant requirements. Protection against unreasonable searches and seizures, emphasizing how federal agents may interact with local workplaces, property, or employees. This is a civil issue about the rule of law, not immigration policy. SMRANC is willing to work with the city to have the best implementation plan. Most of the plan will be composed of training at scale. For example, in Durham, the city is in communication with SMRA and discussing the best course of action and they would be very h and the council there would be very happy to speak with you as well. In my work with refugees and immigrants over the last 10 plus years, my experience and something that I am proud to be um a me a citizen or a resident of the city of Wilmington is that this has been a very welcoming city. Um signing the resolution would send an important and powerful message to its residents and the city of Wilmington that the city of Wilmington is a place where everyone can live, work, and play without unnecessary fear. Thank you.

[applause] Next speaker is Miss Emily Calder. Calder, city resident, be speaking to us about proposed HUD rule change.

Hi, thank you, council. Um, I would first of all like to thank council members Santaita and Joiner for um bringing uh this matter swiftly to the agenda uh and drafting resolution. Um, I'd also like to thank Council Member Andrews for drawing attention to this issue on social media. However, I still thought it was important to speak. Uh, so there is a proposed HUD rule change that would take the amount of time a tenant has to vacate a property when they're served an eviction notice from 30 days to 7 days. Uh, this is simply inhumane. No, no reasonable person, no person, and especially a person who's in such a a vulnerable position as facing an eviction would have time to get their life together in 7 days and find a new place to live. That's simply not realistic. um 52% of Wilmington rents, and I know those aren't all uh HUD rentals, but 52% of Wilmington rents, which means that um many of our citizens are, you know, uniquely vulnerable to landlords and the whims of landlords and retaliatory evictions and everything that comes with that. Um, I would like to [sighs] say that Wilmington needs to um make sure that the federal government knows that this is not for us. Um, and I appreciate anything you all can do to notify the federal government. Thank you.

Thank you. [applause]

Have another speaker, Mr. Ty green about social disting. Mayor Safo, Mayor Pro Tim Spears, city council, always good to see you and thank you for allowing me to speak on behalf of my love for the city and my neighbors. My name is Ty Green. I live just up the hill, North Fourth Street, 715 in the epicenter of Brooklyn Arts and I've been a condo owner there for the last 10 years. For those of you I haven't met, my background is 10 years in orthopedic sales to the local orthopedic surgeons here in Wilmington. 15 years in economic development across the state of North Carolina, six years with Homeland Security. I'm 65 years old and retired. Thank goodness. I'm not here to oppose social districtricting. I'm here to point out my observations to assist in the growth and prosperity of Wilmington. Here are my observations. In my 7minute walk down here from the social district, I passed 3,000 empty parking spaces and two parking decks in a surface lot. Also, the Wells Fargo lot directly on Fourth Street has 140 spaces that empty every day at 5:00 pm and on weekends. The entirety of Third Street is free meter parking at night and weekends. The prominade lot of Handover Street has 50 spaces. It too empties at 5:00 p.m. and is empty on weekends. The greater downtown plan for 2000 for 2026 states specifically on page 16 that in some parts of the north side home values

have skyrocketed 190%. It further states a benchmark goal is to increase downtown density from the current average of five per acre to 13 per acre. In my small footprint of condos and row houses between DOT rail, three streets north to Bladen, we satisfy this objective for density and our values have increased the last 10 years over 190% for approximately 110 two-bedroom residences with an approximate tax value of 35 to 40 million. However, we rely on curb parking to retain this value. The city, please needs to decide if it wants to protect Brooklyn Arts residential in line with what has proven itself successful over the last 20 years or if we need to give up the conveniences of living there for a new marketing plan where the businesses are given full priority and the residential demand to be close to those businesses is such that values will continue to increase at that 190% value. As I've mentioned to you before, residential along North forth competes only with the incumbrances placed upon it as it is highly highly desirable to be living in an area close to but not overwhelmed by its surroundings. So, thank you all very much for your time. I know I've spoken to you several times about this and I appreciate your consideration. Like I said, not opposed to social districting. We just need some solutions for our parking. So, thank you very much.

Thank you, sir. Next speaker is Miss Angelica Mer who'll be speaking to us about zoning Godpods.

[sighs]

Hi, how's it going? Good, I hope. Um, as we ask to be a part of the opioid settlement, opioid settlement, uh, I implore you to work proactively on the issues of homelessness, keep in mind that all walks of life can be affected by these intertwining issues. And I'm not only talking about our veterans and our domestic abuse survivors um which do have a place here in our community. Uh but I also want to point out that it's our elderly and nursing homes um that are amongst those affected. Uh patients receiving medical care for an emergency have been discharged in a panic to salvage their jobs and their in their homes. The scope of how opioids have impacted our community is entirely relevant to folks adding to our unhoused populations. So what are our fail safes? Where are the godpods? The godpods were approved I believe in 2024 to go through and they are mini structures to house people on a first come first come first come first serve basis at $10 a night. So, this is not even a uh free-for-all type of program. This is something that possibly we can use to create uh jobs for those that could be considered um uh unhirable in different fashions. Um we had those structures. I'm not quite sure where they are, but they could change lives. When the weekly rate for hotels is around $450 a week, um we this is a very needed uh service. Um, this also helps people that have been maybe u affected by fires, floods. Um, not only is it a case of uh an opiate crisis, but um well, it is also related, but evictions,

bad credits, a a lot of things can get people um from a stable home to being found unhoused. Uh the new handover county's endowment funding it funded a grant uh for the Living Hope Day Shelter um of about $200,000. Uh their primary location unfortunately for this Living Hope Day Shelter uh is having to be worked on. Uh so what was thought as to be a reoccurring grant is now not. So, um, it was hinted that the city of Wilmington should put in financially to share the burden, uh, of servicing our unhoused community. Um, I feel that Wilmington should consider giving and/or funding uh, the creation of a new location for Living Hope um, in collaboration with the endowment committee to ensure the survival of this much needed day shelter. Um, again, this is a lot of things can turn um a person from being housed and stable into uh an uproar where they're struggling. Um, and this is also includes families. Um, I'd see children and grandmothers uh suffering from this. Uh, and I just as we're speaking or as the opiid sentiment was on the agenda, I just wanted to implore you to take proactive uh measures on this issue. Thank you.

Thank you. [applause] Next speaker is Miss Madison Morrison, a city resident about public safety. Is Miss Morrison here? Okay. And last speaker is Max Hammer and B. Lane Lenir who are city residents to talk about North Carolina the back of 21 coalition. Good evening all and thank you Mr. Mayor, Mayor Prom and council members for having us. My name is Max Hammer

and my name is Bel Laneir. You may remember us from last council meeting and we would just like to reiterate that we are both high school students at Capefir Academy and proud members of the North Carolina Tobacco 21 Youth Council. At the last meeting, we shared with you our mission as youth council members of the NC Tobacco 21 coalition and the heartbreaking story of New Hover High School student Solomon Wyn along with some shocking statistics we hope succeeded in getting your attention. Now, we want to share a more personal part of how the youth vaping epidemic has affected us, our schools, and the Wilmington community as a whole. Before we start, I would like to say that we are both very excited to be joined by Sullie's stepmother, Miss Charlene. Similar to most students, I was immersed in an environment where students would vape at an extremely young age. I was in sixth grade when I first learned of and saw a vape. Unfortunately, this seems to be the new norm, and there are countless cases where kids are introduced to vaping in early middle school or even elementary school in some circumstances. The severity of this crisis only progresses as students graduate to higher levels of education. As a sophomore in high school, I'm around vapes daily. In fact, three of my closest friends vape. All three of them have personally told me that they wish they never started. They now want to quit, but feel like they can't because of the extremely addictive nature of nicotine products. If North Carolina had raised the legal purchasing age from 18 to 21 earlier, along with all the 44 states that already had, my good friends likely would not have been introduced to vaping. As a reminder, many high school students have 18-year-old friends that can buy vapes for them. But most high high schoolers are not close with 21 year olds that would purchase a vape for them. The unfortunate fact is that kids in our state are being introduced to vaping at increasingly younger ages. It can and it

can all be easily prevented by the passage of SA's of the Si's law bill. Many teenagers across the country, including ourselves, have noticed our friends and classmates lose their focus and themselves to nicotine addiction. For those of you that are parents, I assume you would never want your children to be introduced to the vast array of harmful nicotine products at any age, let alone 11 years old. As we started, as we stated at the last meeting, the best way to advocate for the protection of North Carolina youth from vape and nicotine products, is to write to and encourage our legislators uh to learn more and vote in in the affirmative on Si's law this upcoming legislative session. Now is the time more than ever to show your support and spread our message, especially because we will be speaking to our elected leaders next Wednesday along with the entire T-21 coalition. On this day, B and I will be personally meeting with the North Carolina Senator Michael Lee and Representative Ted Davis Jr., it is extremely important that all of us help them recognize the severity of this situation and ask them to pass House Bill uh 430 and Senate Bill 318. Solomon Wyn was born in New Hover County, went to school in New Hover County, and died in New Hover County. We would like to ask the Wilmington City Council to sign a resolution in support of Si's law. Thank you all for your time.

Thank you. [applause]

That brings us to our next order of business, which is our public hearings. Item PH1 is an ordinance designating the Mary Eta Williams House at 709 North 8th Street as a local historic landmark. And at this time, I'd like to recognize our city manager, Miss Hawk. Miss Hall. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, uh, Mayor Prom, and members of council. We are asking that this item be uh, deferred until future notice. Um, we just need to work out some additional ownership issues before we can bring the item forward. Okay, Mr. Joiner has a question. Mr. Joiner,

I I have no problem with us continuing this to a future meeting. Um I just wanted to ask, but I did not see it in the packet. Do we have the tax valuation on this property? This is the second. Um I see some nods. It should have been in the cover letter, I believe. Let me see. Okay. I just wanted to make sure because um when we did one of the buildings downtown recently, it was not in there. So, thank you for including that this time. I'll take a look and I have no objection to continuing it. Okay, we have a motion to continue the item. Motion made by council member Clinton Quintana, second by council member Andrews. Any further discussion? All in favor of that motion, please indicate by saying I. I.

Any opposed? Item has been continued. That brings us to our next item business, which is item PH2, which is ordinance amending the official zoning maps of the city of Wilmington to reszone property containing 0.349 acres located at 136 East Westwood Drive from MH Manufactured Housing District to R15 moderate density single dwelling district. Again, I'd like to recognize city manager, Miss Hawk.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, mayor prom, members of council. This item will be presented by long-range planner Haley Hopkins. Good evening, mayor, mayor prom, and members of the city council. For your review this evening, I present a general resoning from MH Thank you. Manufactured housing district to R15 that a little bit that that um that table. Thank you. Thank you. So you Thank you. Thank you.

You're welcome. Um, I present general resoning from MH Manufactured Housing District to R15 moderate density single dwelling district at 136 East Westwood Drive. This application was submitted in midFebruary, has been reviewed by staff, passed the first public hearing at planning commission, and is now seeking the review of city council. The site is zoned MH manufactured housing is currently vacant. The applicable uses in the MH district include manufactured housing with a maximum height of 35 ft. The proposed zoning R15 moderate density single dwelling district. The applicable uses in R15 district include a detached single family dwelling with an accessory dwelling unit. The maximum height would remain at 35 ft. One important distinction to note between the two districts is the ability to build stickued in the R15 district but is not allowed in the MH district. The site is located at the intersection of East Westwood Drive and Lance Drive and consists of approximately 15,192 square ft. The site sits about a tenth of a mile from the military cutoff multi-use path and is in the vicinity of Food Lion, MCS Noble, and the Avenue. [snorts] These are views of the property from East Westwood Drive and Lance Drive. While the aerial shows an existing structure, the site is currently vacant as the manufactured home was removed in 2025. The site is currently zoned MH manufactured housing district. Zoning districts neighboring the site include urban mixed used to the north, manufactured housing to the east, R15 to the southeast, and manufactured housing to the south and west.

The site is currently vacant. Uses of the surrounding properties include a vacant site to the north, manufactured homes to the east, south, and west of the site. The Avenue, a large mixeduse development released for construction in 2024, sits just to the southwest of this property. Staff has reviewed this application's alignment with the relevant adopted plans. The Create Wilmington Comprehensive Plan is the only adopted plan that applies to this site. The create Wilmington comprehensive plans growth strategies map identifies areas of opportunity with corresponding policies to guide the look, feel, and use of new development. This site is in a greenfield sites as multi-use places area of opportunity. However, there are no greenfield sites as multi-use places policies relevant to this application. The create Wilmington comprehensive plan also offers broader policy guidance to shape new development throughout the city. Staff assessed this application with relevant policies and found modest support for the application's alignment with the plan. Key policies that support reszoning the site from MH manufactured housing to R15 highlight the need to encourage neighborhoods with a variety of housing types and price points where new development fits in or enhances desired character while allowing for transitional change. Comments from the committee are accepted leading up to the public hearing. However, staff did not receive any comments in support or opposition of this application. To summarize the application and staff's findings, the site located at 136 East Westwood Drive is currently zoned MH manufactured housing district. This application requests reszoning the site to R15 moderate density single dwelling district. R15 zoning exists across Lance Drive to the southeast. Transitioning

from MH to R15 would create the opportunity for a detached single family home with an accessory dwelling unit. The site is just off a major roadway and is 5-minute walk from the military cutoff multi-use path. Staff find this application to align with the recommendations of the comprehensive plan, particularly policies encouraging neighborhoods with the variety of housing types and price points. The planning commission recommended approval of this item six to zero with no discussion. Staff finds the request to be reasonable in public interest and consistent with the relevant policies in the create Wington comprehensive plan and staff is recommending approval and I'm happy to answer any questions. Thank you.

Okay. There any questions of staff? Okay. Thank you, ma'am. This time I' like to recognize the applicant.

There we go. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Cindy Wolf. I appreciate Steph's um synopsis of this. Just a little bit of history here. Westwood Heights was created in 1969 and you can see basically by the size of the lots. It was created in sort of a format of R15. I don't I think at that time the county didn't have zoning but these were basically 15,000 square foot plus lots. It just so happened though that most of them were then occupied by manufactured or mobile homes back at that point. Um I think most of you are aware that everything on the opposite side of Military Cutoff Road was reszoned several years back and is what we know of as Arboritum West which is a mixeduse community with apartments and commercial that sort of thing. Um, the owner of this property, as she pointed out, there was a house shown on the January 2025 aerial photograph that was removed in 19 in 2025. It was a vinyl and aluminum manufactured structure built in 1963. So, I think it had outlived its life and that's why he took it down and is interested in building a new home. uh as she said it was vacant and it was interesting I believe that when the city annexed in 1995 and assigned zoning to all of these areas um it was obvious that the three homes down there on Lance Drive must have been stickuilt homes because they were zoned R15 whereas the other manufactured or mobile homes that did exist on these lots were zoned for manufactured housing. And this the rub of it is that the city's manufactured housing district does not app allow stickuilt homes.

So we certainly appreciate staff and planning commission's recommendation. We do believe that the R15 resoning is consistent, reasonable, and in the public interest because it will certainly allow a better quality home construction materials that are promoting greater safety and it will enhance the character of that surrounding neighborhood. I'd be happy to answer your questions. There any questions, Miss Wolf? Thank you very much. I now open the public hearing and ask if anybody in the public wishes to speak on item PH2. Madame clerk, have you received any additional comments?

No sir, I have not. Okay. Seeing no public comment, I will now close while I'm going to ask the council if you have any further questions. Yes, Miss Law. Um I served um more than six years on the planning commission, I can't remember anybody asking for um a reasonzoning to R15. Usually it's from R15 to something more dense. Um, and I think it's a very appropriate um, reasoning for this area and it actually doubles the allowed density with the ADU back there. So, um, I think it is a great fit for the site. Thank you, Miss Andrews.

Yeah, and I was I was going to comment something similar that in in the time I've been on council, um, I don't think we've had any resonings to R15. So, um I I think this is a unique opportunity and um I I'm excited about the possibility about putting with with the accessory dwelling unit being allowed on R15 that potentially having more dwelling units than just one. Okay, that I'm going to close the public hearing. We have a motion to approve by Mayor Pro Tim Spears, second by Council Member Andrews. Any further discussion? Oh, by the way, Mrs. uh Mr. Mayor Pro Tim, you need to read a consistency statement for the record, sir.

All right. I move to approve the proposed amendment to reszone property located at 136 East Westwood Drive from MH Manufactured Housing District to R15 moderate density single dwelling district and find it to be consistent with the relevant policies in the comprehensive plan. based on the 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 allows for a compatible residential infield that is consistent with the surrounding neighborhood. Okay. All right. All in favor of that motion, please indicate by saying I. I.

Any oppose? Item passes unanimously on first reading. Is there a motion to wave second reading? Motion made by council member Andrew, second by council member Clinton Quintana. Any further discussion? All in favor of that motion, please begin by saying I. I.

Any oppose? Item passes unanimously on first as well as second reading. That brings us to our next item of business, which is our ordinances. Item 01 is an ordinance appropriating $3,427,210 to the debit service fund to repay to prepay the remaining balance due on the 2023b taxable variable rate loan issue for the acquisition of the Skyline Center. Again to recognize our city manager, Miss Becky Hog, Miss Hall.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, mayor prom, members of council. This item will be presented by chief financial officer Martha Wayne. Great. Good evening, Mayor, Mayor Prom, and council. Today, I'm here with great news. I'm bringing forward an ordinance that would actually allow us to pay off the 2023b taxable variable rate portion of the Skyline debt. Just to give you a little bit of overview, um the 2023b taxable variable rate debt was issued as part of the $68 million skyline acquisition, which also included development track as well as the related parking deck. Um this will essentially allow us to pay off all of the variable tax rate debt. It would allow uh leave us the approximately 40.3 million of that 10.2 million is taxable limited obligation bonds and 30.9 or about 30.1 million is just limited obligation bonds. So that's all that's going to be left. What I wanted to do is I wanted to share how we got to this place. You'll notice that um the majority of the debt has been paid off with prepayments. So, we've done a really great job of actually being able to pay this off. It was originally not scheduled to be paid off until fiscal year 31. The majority of the prepayments, approximately 71% of that came from the real estate sales that we did. So, we did a great job of following through on what we told the community we would do

whenever we initially entered into this debt. So, just to give a recap, the purpose of this ordinance is pay off the current outstanding balance early. This is going to actually be using funds from the debt service fund balance. So, there will be no funds that are being taken from the general fund. So, this is just essentially using the fund balance to allow us to pay off the debt early. So it reduces our risk associated with the variable interest rate. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. Mayor Proche, so how much how much money are we are we saving

you? Well, you never no one ever really knows what the market's going to do. And so by paying this off, it actually allows us to reduce our risk because we're not really open to the volatility of the market if say for instance interest rates were to come up uh increase. So by doing this we're actually using our fund balance paying it off and it's hard to give an exact number because you don't know what the interest rates are going to do in the future,

right? So, but the our next the the payment of $3,400,000 is scheduled for September the 1st, right? Uh a portion of it. Um so we had originally 3.4 million scheduled on September 1st, 2026, and that would leave a remaining principal balance of approximately 27,000 that we wouldn't be required to pay until 27. During that time period, we would be required to make um monthly interest payments. So, we are saving some money.

Yes, we're definitely saving money. Okay. The interest rate is hard to actually give a concrete amount because you don't know what the interest rate is going to do because since it's variable, it's all kind of tied to the current market conditions. I got you. But we are saving monthly interest payments. I was my let me explain my reasoning behind the question is because I was thinking well we could hold on to our money just a little bit longer until September and earn more interest but

I got you the expert I'm just in school for Yeah, that's one of the things we do. We, you know, we do evaluate. We want to make sure that we're doing we're being good stewards of the city's money. And so we're always kind of looking to see, okay, what's the risk base? Where do we how can we protect our principal the most and you know, I got you. In this case, I'm just testing the time value time value of money theory here. That's all. Thank you, Council Member Law.

Hi. I uh just want to confirm something because it's coming out of the debt service fund balance. It's not like that I mean that's that is a bal a fund that's just reserved for debt. So that's not like we could oh we need something else we need to um spend money on right like this is just for debts. This is not that is correct. I wanted to make sure to point out it is the debt service fund. So this money is actually restricted for the use to make debt payments. And so it's not something where we can use it to to do general operating needs. Great. Thank you. And great um money management on the part of the finance team. So thank you for this. I feel like we should have champagne. I know. We're excited.

Okay. Any other questions? Good work. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. We have a motion to approve by council member La. Second by Mayor Pro Tim Spears. Any further discussion? All in favor of that motion, please indicate by saying I. I. Any oppose? Item passes unanimously on first reading. Is there a motion to wave second reading? Motion made by council member Clinton Quintana. Second by council member Lau. Discussion. All in favor of that motion. Please indicate by saying I. I.

Any opposed? Item passes unanimously on first as well as second reading. And that brings us to our next item business, which is an ordinance amending the Brooklyn Arts District Collective Social District to permit weekly operations on Saturdays from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. At this time, I'd like to recognize City Manager, Miss Becky Hawk. Miss Hawk. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Mayor Prom, Members of Council. This item will be presented by Deputy City Manager Tom Motton.

Good evening, Mayor Pro Tim, and members of council. Uh the purpose of this item is to present a request that was submitted by the Brooklyn Arts District Collective to expand the social district from the 1st and third Saturdays from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. to weekly. As you recall, city council approved uh the social district in September 2025 council meeting. The request uh was heard by the social district advisory committee on April 1st. Public comments were received from attendees at that meeting and the comments from the public as well as the staff that were and members of the advisory committee was that there were no known ill effects that would prevent the committee from recommending the extension of the social district from the first and third Saturdays to the weekly Saturdays same time with the same other conditions of approval continuing During the discussion there there's one element that I notice is not recorded but I want to make mention of it. There is no other known request right now for a social district but in the city manager's wisdom she recognized that potentially the growth of social districts may require the city to reassess the viability of continuing with weekly social districts in Brooklyn Arts District. However, we felt it was important not to deny the Brooklyn Arts District Collective this opportunity to have weekly events. Uh what staff recommended and it was unanimously uh supported was to extend a six-month trial. So from April through October with weekly events that would allow the city staff to the committee to assess the impact of the social district its interaction during the peak tourist season season. If there are no known ill effects, then staff would recommend that the the district continue in perpetuity

or to such time as there's a condition that cannot be rectified by the collective that would require council to make adjustments to the social district. At this point in time, I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. I would just point out also that there's no budgetary impact at this time with this decision. We have a we have a a question from Council Member Santino. Thank you, Mayor. Thanks, Tom, for the explanation. My question is about the six-month trial period. When we get to October, will city council then vote again to um keep it going in perpetuity or will it automatically move forward?

It would automatically continue so there would be no required additional action and and that would allow the if it's successful to continue without disruption. I'm just I'm really interested in in looking at um trying it weekly for six months and being able to get feedback on how that went before we just automatically move forward with that forever. Is that something that we can

So the staff plan of action would be there is a quarterly meetings are held by the social district advisory committee. So there will be a meeting in July which will allow us at least to assess for the next two or three months what's occurring. We collect crime data reports about parking. Uh, so there's a plethora of data that we collect. Also, there is a member of the North Carolina, I mean the New Hover County uh, AL representative that's a member of the district who reported no concerns as well. We also had a member of the public at the meeting that represented an apartment complex and indicated that her tenants have found that the social district has had an additional benefit of creating a sense of community in the area. So, we're not anticipating any issues, but we were very thorough in vetting this. And so, just to take all members of council back, when council first approved this in 2025, it was for uh twice a week uh twice a month as a trial and then we went to more permanent. So, I think we're going in a very steady way, but it's the will of council. If you wanted to come back for additional action, we can do that. I don't know logistically how to move forward. I I would like to look at it again in six months.

We can we can we can always ask the staff and to bring it back in six months. I will say this um the folks that have participated, the people that are out there, the business owners as well as the community that have been engaged in this discussion, I think have done an outstanding job. Mhm. I wish we could do that all over the place with some of the other establishments, if you know what I mean, right? Uh and we also have the ability as a city if we wanted to stop it, we can do that immediately, could we not? If we had an unfortunate situation or if it got unruly or got out of hand, is that correct?

That's correct. So, one one option I'm just thinking the microphone kind of mutes your ability to think fast, but I am thinking about this. I'm thinking what if staff were to convene a meeting, a special meeting of the social district advis advisory committee on or around after Labor Day and then come back to city council on a Monday morning meeting and report the results of that meeting. And if there's no ill effects found, then the district can continue as is constructed in the particular ordinance today. That works for me. Thank you, Mr. Joiner.

Yeah, I have the report pulled up. I just I just wanted to highlight a couple of points that I thought were useful from the um pilot program that we've done. So over the 12 days reported on, there were a grand total of 13 parking citations issued. Uh no complaints from the church located within the district and I do remember that we had members of that church come and discuss with us when we took the initial vote some of their concerns. Um, no, no issues notable from the fire marshall about occupancy. No issues related to solid waste services. No complaints about trash being left out. Um, 14 calls for service over a total of 12 days from the police department. Do you have any context on what the nature of those calls were? I see that it's highlighted no crime, no major crimes, but if there's any context, I am curious about what the calls were. A little more than one a day. Um, my recollection, and the chief is in the room, but my recollection it was more of nuisance kind of calls for service. The chief is nodding yes. Okay. All right. Well, those are the those are the points that I wanted to highlight. I think that um coming back in six months for another review is fine by me. I' I'd like to see us move forward with the next step of the uh I guess we'll continue to call it a pilot at this juncture.

Any other questions? Okay, Miss Low, I do have a quick question because there's no budget um impact to the budget. So, um with the added people downtown, there's no extra um law enforcement or trash removal or anything like that that needs to be needs to be would impact the budget.

Yes, that's correct. Because the social the collective is responsible for augmenting the city's basic services. So, the city will continue its basic trash service. Anything beyond that, it's the responsibility of the collective. Uh, you know, the parking uh is not an issue for us to manage, but really it's the trash service, the street cleaning. We've not had any issues with that. Uh, so essentially, there's no real operating cost to the city other than if we were to have one. This is not the case. If there were a social district where there was mayhem, it'd be different. But this is really what we heard from the members of public is largely familyoriented, 12 to 5. I can confirm I took my mom down there um during the pilot [laughter] in February of last year. Thank you for clearing that up.

You're welcome. What are the wishes of council in respect to the ordinance? Have a motion to approve by council member Sandu, second by council member Joiner. Any further discussion? All in favor of that motion, please indicate by saying [snorts] I. I. I. Opposed. Item passes five to two. Okay, that brings us to our next item of business. Oh, sorry. Do we have a motion to wave second reading? Motion made by council member Joiner, second by council member Andrews. Any further discussion? All in favor of that motion, please indicate by saying I. I.

Any oppose? Item passes unanimously. That brings us to our next item, which is our resolutions. Item R1 is a resolution in support of keeping the 30-day notification requirements prior to termination of lease for non-payments of rent in public housing. At this time, I'd like to recognize a city manager again, Miss Hulk. Miss Hulk. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Mayor Pro, and members of council. Um, this item will uh was actually uh presented or introduced by council member Santa. Um, if she would like to speak to it.

Sure. Thank you. Um, and thank you also to council member Joiner for signing on as well. Um, and thanks to uh folks in the community for um reaching out to us and letting us know about uh this rule change and the impact that that you know I think it will have for folks locally. Um I guess just by way of summary um I want to clarify that the proposed rule change is not about the eviction timeline itself. It is just the notification that an eviction will be filed. Um, nonetheless, I think that uh the 30-day notification has um shown itself to be uh beneficial to uh members in our community that um rent uh in with the Wilmington Housing Authority and then with Section 8 housing as well. Um, the rule started off, just for summary for folks, the rule started off in 2021 during the pandemic as a temporary rule and then at the end of 2024 was made final by HUD. Um, the revocation of this rule would decrease these timelines and it would also no longer require important information that exists in termination notices that I think is really important for tenants. Um, some of that information is um what the tenant needs to do to um make good on their rent. Um it it includes information about the alleged amount owed by the tenant. Um how they can cure those lease violations. Um the date by which the payment must be paid to avoid filing an eviction. How tenants can reertify their income. The list goes on and on. The other thing that the new rule requires um is that the notice cannot be provided to tenants earlier than the day after the rent was due. So, as I as I've looked into this, I know that the rule is on pause indefinitely, but it's my understanding that now is the only time

that we may have the opportunity to offer comment as a city. Um so, thank you to staff for helping us move quickly on this. I really do appreciate that. To summarize, I think if this rule is revoked, um, it would have a negative impact on members of our community that are already facing housing instability. Um, and I think knowing that housing is important in our community, we should, um, advocate for more stability on housing. Those are my comments. Thank you, Mr. Joiner.

Yeah. Thank you, um, Council Member Santigua. I just wanted to, uh, I think that Miss Calder said it best in her comments earlier. She did a really nice job of summarizing the importance of this. Um, and so thank you to all the folks who reached out in the community. We were very quickly alerted to the fact that this was happening. we were able to get the city attorney's office to um give us a pretty detailed summary of what this meant which then translated into this resolution and realizing that it was important for us to provide comment um because you know I think very candidly the current federal government is looking to put this rule through and had not followed the proper procedures and that's why they had to open their public comment period which at least gives us the opportunity to weigh in and be heard. So, um, we will we will do that and we will get this to the correct people at Housing and Urban Development and, uh, I hope that my fellow council members will join me in voting yes. Thank you.

Thank you. Okay. What are the wishes of council in respect to the resolution? We have a motion to approve by council member uh, Clinton Quintana, second by council member Joiner. Any further discussion? All in favor of that motion, please indicate by saying I. I. Any opposed? Item passes unanimously. Thank you to the council members for working hard on that. [applause] And the last items of business is our reports. Item RP1, reports of council's appointments committee for boards, commissions, and committees. At this time, I'd like to recognize council member Andrews, who is the chairperson of the appointments committee for boards, commissions, and committees.

Andrews, thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um the appointments to boards committees commissions and committees committee met on uh April 6th and um I I was present as chair and um mayor Safo and council member Lyall uh were also present as members. Um, we recommend for appointment to the Commission on African-American History, um, Mimi Windam to fill a vacancy that expires on 1118 2028. Um, we also voted to remove uh, member Tiffany Cook and uh, appoint member Stephanie Willie uh, for a term that expires 11:2127 and is thereafter. Uh all all of those are eligible for reappointment. Um to the city of Wilmington Community Relations Advisory Committee, uh we voted to appoint uh or recommend for appointment Madison Holland, Cara Stretch, and Ella EJ Hanley. Um and those are all terms that expire for 21 of 2029. Um, for the city of Wilmington housing affordability advisory committee, we are recommending Antuinette Williams as a resident of affordable housing along with Sonia Moldro and uh, Lisa Espie as an atlarge member and Craig Johnson as the uh, member representing the Capefir homebuilders. To the convention center advisory committee, we uh voted to reappoint Emma Saunders as an atlarge member. Um to the loan review board, we voted to reappoint uh Mike Morgan, excuse me, Mike Moran to the CPA

slot. And to the sister city commission, we voted to reappoint Kim Huff uh as the CVB representative. And with that, I would like to move the uh appointments. We have a motion to approve council member Andrews, second by council member Law. Any further discussion? All in favor of that motion, please indicate by saying I. I. Any opposed? Item passes unanimously. This concludes the regular agenda of the item to be brought forward by city attorney. Mr. Mayor, I am happy to report that you do not have a close session tonight. And it's still Thank you for the gift. Um, our city manager, do we have any items we brought forward?

No items. Can um, wait a minute. Our city clerk? No, sir. Okay. Council member Santuo.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, I want to take an opportunity since this is our last April meeting. Um, to let folks know that April is sexual assault awareness month. Um, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, nationwide, 81% of women and 43% of men reported experiencing some form of sexual harassment and or assault during their lifetime. Um, one in three female victims and one in four male victims of attempted or completed rape experienced it for the first time between the ages of 11 and 17. So, this is a difficult topic to talk about, but I think it's important to share the data surrounding sexual assault and um to um highlight resources that are available in our community. Um some local resources that we have are the Carousel Center, which helps victims who are minors and their non-offending family members. um the new Hannover County Department of Social Services, the Rape Crisis Center of Coastal Horizons, the Domestic Violence Shelter and Services, the Community Justice Center, A Safe Place, and of course, uh law enforcement, Wilmington PD, New Hover County Sheriff's Office, and our New Hover and Pender County District Attorney's Office. Um I personally know how incredibly difficult and painful it is to experience, report, and heal from sexual assault. So, I just want the people in our community um who have had these crimes committed against them to know that you are not alone. Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Andrews.

Um I wanted to mention that uh tomorrow is Earth Day and hence the green and uh while we don't necessarily have anything scheduled for tomorrow, I hope you will uh enjoy it in your own way. We do have a public hearing uh set for Thursday um April 23rd right here at the Skyline Center um that is uh the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission um who they're they're poised to pass rules um which really do nothing to address our uh high PAS and uh 14 dioxane levels in the Capefir River. And so if you would like to come and speak, that meeting starts at 6:00. Speaker registration starts at 5 and so your comments would definitely be welcome.

Thank you, Mayor Pro Tim.

Yes, sir. I uh in my official capacity on Saturday morning had the honor of filling in for the mayor at 6:15 a.m. at ILM [laughter] International Airport to uh give some departing words to 85 veterans who were going on the Honor Flight, the Honor Flight of the Capefir uh area to Washington DC. And I tell you, it was amazing. Uh I'm not typically up that early on a Saturday morning uh dressed fully dressed and uh but I I truly enjoy myself um sharing words and thanking the veterans for their service uh Vietnam vets, Korean War vets, and some veterans from uh World War II. And it was just amazing handing out cookies and and and shaking hands and and and I didn't know how many of of those young people who were excited to meet me. And I tell you, we had a great time. And I was just giving them cookies. But I told them, "Take them at your own discretion." Now, they they were asking me, "Are these gluten-free and sugar-free?" I said, "Take the cookies at your own discretion. You can't blame me for whatever happens after you take the cookies." But I truly enjoyed myself. And um it's just some of the perks of of being in this position, getting to meet with the uh the residents of our community is is just a beautiful thing. So I'm always glad to help and so just just had a great time.

Thank you. Thank you, Council Member Clinton Quintana.

Thank you, Mayor. Uh I stand with you, Cassidy, on your statement. Uh this week I had the pleasure of visiting Hogard High School and speaking with the young ladies of empower her shift. These were a phenomenal bunch of ladies. I had to sit through two lunch sessions but that was great because I didn't eat. I allowed them to eat while we spoke about things and this one in particular was I shared my story on abuse and being assaulted and how I got through that but also walking away. And so your comments are very timely and thank you. And so again, I'll speak out as a young woman and now an older woman who has survived that. Ladies, you can do it. Walk away. Get your help. Do what is necessary, but preserve yourself and your family. And thank you.

Thank you, Council Member Laauo. Well, the mayor prom took mine, but I [laughter] I was at the other end of the event um at the welcome home ceremony for the veterans um from Korea War and Vietnam. And there was actually a few World War II um veterans that we still have with us. So, that was really a blessing. And um there was a female veteran among the Vietnam vets and um her guardian said at the welcome home, you know, event, everybody got off the plane and the guardian said it's taken her 50 years to get a welcome home party. So that was really special to be a part of and I thank all the veterans um out there.

Thank you, Council Member Joiner. Um there is a piece of legislation at the general assembly that I I guess has moved forward and is going to be on the ballot for a constitutional referendum um this November. And I'm annoyed with it, but that kind of doesn't matter because it's about us. And uh the the lazy answer or the lazy excuse uh for proponents of this piece of legislation would to say that city council members probably don't want to be further regulated by the state government, which you know, fair enough. But what I want to point to is a trend of the general assembly putting politically sexy constitutional amendments on the ballot to turn out the vote when their own policies and platforms can't do it. And there is a constitutional amendment that voters will see on the ballot this year that says for or against constitutional amendment requiring limits on property tax increases by local governments. You ready to vote? You ready to fill in your bubble? Because that's all you're going to get in November. There's not going to be anything on that ballot that explains what that limit should be, which local governments it should apply to. Uh it's not going to say what the actual limit is and how the general assembly goes about setting it. And fair enough, that's the general assembly's prerogative. We are a instrument of state government. Local governments exist in North Carolina because of state government. That is their choice. Um but the trend has been for them to put these attentiongrabbing um amendments on the ballot just to turn out the vote when the amendments don't actually explain what they are uh and nor do they uh provide any context on the ballot. And by way of example, I want to point to an amendment that passed unanim or not unanimously but overwhelmingly uh I think it was in 20

18 maybe 2018 they passed another tax amendment which said uh that there would be a limit statewide on uh state income tax at 7%. So that one was actually more detailed but the actual income tax rate was less than 4% already. So it is entirely misleading. It does nothing to actually uh make a meaningful change under North Carolina law, but it gets people out to vote on something that they can spin as controversial and exciting. Uh and I mean honestly, it'll be a fool's errand for us to campaign against this. That amendment is very likely to get passed. That has been the trend over time. But I just wanted to point out the pattern because I think that it is um you know, we we deserve better from our lawmakers uh than to play little tricks like that. Thank you.

Thank you. So with that, thank you for taking an interest in your government and participating in this process. With that, we stand a journ.