2026-08-10 - Council Briefing

00:04If I could have your attention, please.

00:06I'm going to recognize Mayor Pro Tem

00:07Jacquelyn Johnson for invocation.

00:10>> Thank you so much, Mayor. If we can all

00:11bow.

00:12Heavenly Father, we thank you for

00:14allowing us to gather today once again

00:16in service to our community.

00:17We ask you to give us wisdom in our

00:19discussions, patience in our

00:20differences, and clarity in every

00:22decision before us. Help us to remember

00:24the people we are here to call to serve.

00:27And let the work we do here this

00:28afternoon strengthen our city and move

00:31our community forward. Guide us, protect

00:33us, and keep our hearts centered on

00:35service. In your name we pray. Amen.

00:40>> I call to order the Thomasville City

00:42Council briefing meeting

00:44for Monday, August 10th, 2026. Welcome

00:47everybody in the chambers here this

00:48evening. We have some guests with us

00:50that we'll be recognizing shortly. And

00:53uh and our staff as well. Welcome.

00:56Our first order of business will be

00:57additions or deletions to our agenda.

00:59Mr. City Manager.

01:05>> Good afternoon, Mayor

01:06and Council.

01:08Uh I do not have any additions or

01:11deletions from the agenda that I

01:13remember.

01:14>> Okay, what's the pleasure of Council

01:16with regards to the agenda?

01:17>> Mr. Mayor, I'll make a motion to approve

01:19the agenda.

01:20>> Is there a second?

01:21>> Second.

01:24>> Okay, you may

01:26record your vote.

01:36Okay, I have six votes in the

01:38affirmative. And uh that is a unanimous

01:42decision. And I'll just mention here

01:44that uh Council Member Doug Hunt is

01:46absent with an excused absence this

01:48evening.

01:49>> [snorts]

01:51>> Our next item for our meeting next week

01:53will be the public forum. It'll be for a

01:552-minute time limit uh the subject of

01:57the uh speaker's choice at that time.

02:00Uh this evening we'll have a recognition

02:02that we're going to do and some

02:03presentations

02:05uh regarding uh the uh Piedmont Large

02:08Animal Rescue Association for helping

02:11rescue Miss Kitty, the donkey that was

02:13down in Fairgrove stuck in the mud

02:16here a few weeks ago. So, I'm going to

02:19come down front and we're going to

02:20recognize those folks at this time.

02:51>> Okay.

02:52>> Okay.

02:54Okay, we uh we're going to call you up

02:56one at a time and we'll present you with

02:58a little token of our appreciation, give

03:00you recognition for the service you gave

03:02to our city. Uh for those of you that's

03:04joining us uh

03:06on

03:07social media or YouTube, uh

03:11this donkey was stuck in the mud several

03:13month or weeks ago. Uh a lot of our

03:15first responders went down there. It's

03:17in the Fairgrove area. Uh

03:20uh they they couldn't do much with the

03:21situation. They called out a wrecker

03:23company. They called these folks that

03:25we're going to recognize here tonight

03:27from the rescue animal rescue

03:29association.

03:30And with a collaborative effort of all,

03:33they finally got the uh donkey out of

03:35the mud.

03:36Uh far as I know, the donkey's recovered

03:38well and back to health and

03:40doing fine. So, I got a thumbs up from

03:43Denise, so.

03:44So, that's very good. So, we would uh

03:48city manager will call your name and

03:49when he does, just please come up front

03:51and remain front, and and after we get

03:54everybody recognized, then we'll have a

03:55picture together.

03:57Thank y'all.

03:59>> Okay, thank you, Mayor. Uh

04:01the members I'm about to name are from

04:04the Piedmont Triad uh

04:06large I believe large animal rescue, is

04:08it?

04:09>> Piedmont Emergency Animal

04:10>> Emergency Animal Rescue. Thank you.

04:12Uh

04:12>> [snorts]

04:13>> Sandy Mayberry.

04:25Ann Slayton.

04:34Bruce

04:35Bruce Buttner.

04:46Tara Stebens.

04:55Kelly Emerson.

04:58She's not here. Okay.

05:00Uh and Michelle Brock from the Forsyth

05:02County Emergency Management.

05:06>> Michelle's over every time.

05:09>> I didn't respond. It was

05:11the volunteers with big hearts that that

05:14did that.

05:15So, she keeps us all together.

05:17>> [laughter]

05:19>> Is Alyssa Is Dr. Alyssa Cole here?

05:23She was going to try to make it. She was

05:25uh from the uh

05:27the vet that serviced the animal for

05:30many weeks, I think.

05:31Uh unfortunately, she doesn't look like

05:34she's here in the audience.

05:36>> [snorts]

05:37>> Okay, thank y'all for the service you

05:39rendered to our city through the help of

05:41this rescue, and uh we're going to

05:43recognize that. We're going to get a

05:44picture. Couple of you come on this

05:46side, if you would, with me and then

05:48I'll get in the middle and we'll

05:50we'll get a picture taken here.

05:56Look at

06:04>> [applause]

06:24>> Thank you all. As a donkey mom, that was

06:27probably the most

06:27>> [laughter]

06:28>> serious time of my

06:30life. I can't thank these folks enough.

06:32Thank you.

06:33>> You're welcome. Have a good day.

06:38>> Appreciate you.

06:39>> Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you.

06:41>> Thank you all.

06:52>> Okay, we're now down to recognitions and

06:54presentations for our meeting next week.

06:57Uh we'll have a recognition of Piedmont

06:59Crossing fire heroes and I'll do that

07:01one.

07:03Uh proclamation for National Overdose

07:05Awareness Day, uh

07:07I'll ask Council member Hunter Three if

07:08he'll do that one and proclamation for

07:11Suicide Awareness Month for September,

07:14Mayor Pro Tem Blackwell Johnson, he'll

07:16take care of that one for us at that

07:17time.

07:18Um also at that meeting we will have an

07:21a a consent agenda. We may have more to

07:23add to it.

07:24Uh but right now it'll be the the

07:26minutes of the meeting of July 13th,

07:282026

07:30and the meeting of July 20th, 2026 will

07:33be on the consent agenda.

07:36Uh we have one item, item seven, which

07:38is a regular agenda for this meeting

07:40this evening

07:41and it's discussion regarding 30 Salem

07:44Street enforcement status.

07:47Uh

07:47so, it's our our county attorney's going

07:50to take that one, I think.

07:51>> Yes, I am.

07:52>> Okay.

07:53>> Good afternoon. I never take time off.

07:55You can see what happens when I do.

07:58Um

07:59so, I'll be paying for it for at least a

08:01week and a half. Um

08:04so, 38 Salem or 30 Salem Street is owned

08:07by Mr. Leake. And there's a couple of

08:09issues going on simultaneously with this

08:12at the same with this property.

08:15The concern is

08:17twofold. There is

08:19it is in a district that does not allow

08:21a warehouse operation. As you know, Mr.

08:24Leake owns one property that's in that

08:25district that is a prior non-conforming

08:27use, so it is a warehouse and we cannot

08:31do anything about it being a warehouse.

08:33This property, though, was not opened as

08:35a warehouse. It was opened as an

08:37operating storefront.

08:41To our knowledge, it doesn't appear it's

08:43had store hours in quite some time. So,

08:46there needs to be a zoning hearing for

08:49zoning violation regarding that.

08:53Um where he'll have an opportunity to

08:54present evidence that he is operating it

08:56as a storefront. Um and if not, then

08:59it will cease to be allowed to be

09:02operating in its current capacity.

09:05The second issue we have is that the as

09:08you know, um

09:10it was deemed to be unsafe for the

09:13amount of property that was in it. And

09:16there were fire code violations. Um he

09:19did have dumpsters on site for quite

09:21some time. When they went in and did the

09:23fire inspection,

09:24they found that the second floor had

09:26collapsed.

09:27And so, our fire chief um and code

09:31enforcement officials went in, made the

09:32determination what had to be removed. He

09:35did remove all of the property that was

09:38on the second floor. There is still

09:41property on the first floor

09:44that is still deemed not safe from a

09:47fire code standpoint.

09:49The other issue is in the order he was

09:51instructed to obtain a engineer's

09:55certification that the building was

09:57structurally sound without the second

10:00floor.

10:02When I had spoken with Mr. Leak, he had

10:04indicated that he had retained the

10:07services of an engineer and that the

10:09engineer had not yet been able to

10:11provide him what he needed.

10:13I have not heard back from that. So at

10:16this point, I think it would be

10:17appropriate to proceed forward with a

10:19condemnation proceeding on the building

10:22due to it being deemed unsafe from our

10:24standpoint. At that time, he would have

10:27the ability to obtain an engineer certi-

10:30certification or make the repairs to

10:32deem it safe.

10:33Otherwise, we need to proceed forward

10:35with the condemnation and then at the

10:37same time,

10:39we can collect any liens that have been

10:42not excuse me, not liens, penalties that

10:44have been assessed. Civil penalties are

10:46different than liens. Civil penalties,

10:49in order to actually collect them,

10:51you're going to either they have to

10:53voluntarily pay or you have to sue on

10:55those civil penalties to make them

10:57become a lien that then they become a

10:59lien on the property. So it's better to

11:02resolve the issue so then you know what

11:05the outstanding penalties are and do it

11:06all in one swoop so you're not

11:08duplicating efforts. But something's

11:10going to have to be done to move it

11:12forward. It's not moving forward.

11:14So if council is of the opinion that

11:17they would like us to proceed forward

11:19with the zoning compliance hearing and

11:22the condemnation, then we can move

11:24forward on that.

11:27>> Yes.

11:28>> Okay.

11:30>> And I checked with Glenn and with Chuck.

11:33They've all followed through all their

11:34steps that they needed to thus far. So,

11:36I think they're ready for that point.

11:38>> Do either of you have any

11:40thing that you would like to add?

11:43Yeah, come come forward to the

11:45podium, please.

11:47>> And please correct me, Glenn, if

11:48anything I said was incorrect.

11:51>> Um [bell]

11:51this

11:53this actually started

11:55back in

11:582024

12:00that I first reached out to Francis

12:03and spoke with him about, you know,

12:05wanting to do an inspection in his

12:07buildings.

12:08Um

12:10he kind of gave me the runaround for 3

12:12months.

12:13And in January of '25

12:16uh that's when I actually got an

12:18opportunity to go out there

12:20with

12:21search warrants or administrative

12:23warrants so I could do the inspections.

12:25That's when I found

12:27the collapse.

12:28And

12:30you know, we've been working on that

12:31ever since.

12:33But I can say that he owns a building

12:35right directly behind it.

12:37Used to be the barber shop, which is now

12:39storage for him now.

12:41So, apparently most of his stuff he took

12:43out there, he's putting in that building

12:46as well.

12:47So, I know that's an actual business,

12:49not a warehouse.

12:51So, I just wanted to

12:53give y'all an update of what we found

12:56um with that. But there's no no movement

12:59on the other building on Guilford. He

13:01put a dumpster out there

13:04and it's just sitting there.

13:05Um

13:07but

13:09yeah, no other movement on the 500

13:11Carolina as well.

13:13So,

13:15yeah, that one.

13:16>> So, the barber shop turned storage, we

13:19can do the zoning violation on that one

13:21as well, right?

13:23>> Is it operating as a barber shop now or

13:24is he just using it

13:25>> No, it was closed, but now he's got

13:27storage in it.

13:28>> So, if it's being used as a warehouse,

13:30then there's a zoning on that as well.

13:32>> So, we've got two zonings

13:34and a condemnation

13:36that we can move on like now.

13:39>> And Glenn, I will tell you Mr. Leaks,

13:42the last thing you said to me about

13:43Guilford

13:45was that he was waiting on you to

13:46contact him and tell him what he needed

13:48to remove at Guilford.

13:51>> [clears throat]

13:55>> So, would you like to reach back out to

13:57him one more time and tell him that

13:58again while we're doing all of this

14:00other?

14:02>> I can't. After 2 years, I can do that

14:03again.

14:04>> Okay. I thought so.

14:05I thought so.

14:08>> Appreciate it.

14:08>> Thank you.

14:10>> Thank you.

14:13>> And the follow up on the zoning and the

14:14condemnation letter, I'll try to get a

14:16hearing scheduled in the next 25 days.

14:19And um well, 60 to 90 days is what by

14:22the ordinance to get this creative not,

14:24then we'll bring it before you.

14:25All right, thank you.

14:26>> Thank you.

14:29>> All right, everybody knows what

14:30presentation is, so we'll

14:32do that.

14:34Thank you, guys.

14:37All right, I'm going to turn it over to

14:39our city manager now to talk about the

14:42next couple of hours.

14:45>> Thank you. We have a very light overall

14:48agenda, so I just need to know whether

14:50you want them on consent agenda or

14:52regular agenda.

14:54Uh item A on regular agenda is

14:56consideration of budget amendment 2027

14:59P2-01,

15:01which is transferring funds to allow for

15:04uh hiring of

15:06staff.

15:07>> Regular.

15:09>> Regular? Okay.

15:14And item B is consideration of revised

15:17capitalization depreciation policy.

15:21>> How about it?

15:22>> Consent. Okay.

15:26>> Okay, so you consent agenda

15:28Monday will consist of items 6A and 6B

15:33and item 8C. Excuse me, 8B on this

15:38agenda. And then your regular agenda

15:40will be one item at this time, which

15:42will be consideration budget amendment

15:442020-2027.

15:47>> All right, thank you very much.

15:49I have a number of items for our for our

15:51meeting tonight.

15:52We have our council report and

15:55the former budget there are any of those

15:56that I'm sure everybody will be ready

15:58and

15:59make their report at the proper time.

16:03Now, do we have any additions or updates

16:05from anybody this evening?

16:07>> I just want to give an

16:09an update to council regarding a letter

16:12that you may or may not have received

16:14from a police association out of Texas

16:19that is basically soliciting funds from

16:21your residents regarding a attempt to um

16:27uh

16:28bring before you a resolution that

16:31supports policing, specifically quality

16:34of life policing.

16:36It basically accuses the ACLU and others

16:39of trying to prevent police from

16:43enforcing what we consider quality of

16:45life, which is homelessness, violations,

16:48or

16:49vagrancy, or um

16:52graffiti, things of that nature.

16:54This is not something put out by the

16:56city of Thomasville. It does reference

16:59city council

17:00uh

17:01because what they're proposing to do is

17:04send a resolution to you all to vote on,

17:07uh but really it's a fundraising effort

17:09by a nonprofit

17:11that is not associated with the city or

17:13the Thomasville Police Department. I

17:15just want to make you aware of it in

17:16case you get a contact about it.

17:19It it went out over the weekend and

17:22people are probably getting it in their

17:23mail right now.

17:25It is It is not related to us at all and

17:27quite honestly

17:29it's not even accurate because in this

17:31city at least we do enforce those types

17:33of ordinances and and take

17:36great pride in and our efforts to

17:40address quality of life whether it's

17:42through the police department, code

17:43enforcement, fire marshal's office

17:45whatever it may take.

17:47So, just want to make you aware of that.

17:50>> Thank you.

17:51>> Thank you.

17:52Uh and I asked a few of you when you

17:54came in earlier the

17:57luncheon that will be next Monday at

17:59Four Rivers Community Center

18:02uh for the

18:04uh

18:05employers support for the Guard and

18:07Reserve.

18:08I'd like for all of you that can to be

18:10there. So, if you would just let the

18:12city manager know I think

18:14I think Lisa said that she was coming. I

18:15think Diane is coming.

18:17Anybody else can let the mayor's office

18:20and uh

18:21let her

18:23All right.

18:24Talk with Bobby then. Okay.

18:26So, we'll we'll make reservations for

18:28y'all. So, appreciate that. Are there

18:31any other additions or corrections?

18:34Okay, we're down to the adjournment. Do

18:36I have a motion to adjourn?

18:37>> So moved.

18:39>> Second?

18:40>> Second.

18:42>> Okay, may I vote?

18:46Yes, six zero.

18:48And your turn.

19:00>> Yes, I got

19:01>> Is it 11:00 or 11:30?

19:02>> I think it's at 11:00. I had that's when

19:04I thought

19:04>> It will be you know shortly after 11:00

19:08And lunch is at Lunch is at noon.

19:10>> Okay, so

19:11>> Lunch is at noon but there's a

19:12presentation