2026-10-12 - Council Briefing

00:00of my changes in

00:10>> Is there any discussion?

00:13>> [clears throat]

00:13>> You may record your vote.

00:16I have six in the affirmative, so that's

00:18a unanimous decision.

00:21And it is approved.

00:23Uh we're now down to uh

00:26recognitions and presentations. I

00:28recognize our uh deputy city manager,

00:31Eddie Bowling.

00:33>> Mr. Mayor, if it's okay, I may present

00:35from here because my computer is going

00:36to die as soon as I unplug it. I didn't

00:38realize that before.

00:39>> Um I would ask that Chuck George come

00:41up. We're going to kind of walk through

00:42the Kern Street of redevelopment uh

00:44process.

00:46Um so you'll see in front of you the

00:48Kern Street redevelopment. What we

00:50wanted to provide with you was uh three

00:52different concepts. Uh Michael, Chuck,

00:54and I are here to answer any questions

00:55you may have, so we'll kind of walk

00:56through this very short presentation to

00:58give you some um respective concepts for

01:01the neighborhood. Um so what we want to

01:03do is talk about house production. Um

01:05before you today, we have three

01:06different options. One is a 20-house

01:08option, one is an 18-house option, and

01:11the last one is a 20-house option.

01:13Originally during our discussions, you

01:15would looked at a 20-house option. Um so

01:17we were able to bring you three separate

01:19options.

01:20Uh for context, we are now live

01:23streaming, so we're good from that

01:24perspective. Um we want to talk about

01:26different types of ownership structures,

01:29um whether it's an HOA

01:31uh or it's property owned by the

01:32individual.

01:34Um talk about infrastructure burden,

01:36whether it's a city-owned street or a uh

01:38neighborhood-owned street. Uh what

01:40zoning path is necessary, and talk about

01:42long-term maintenance.

01:45Um so option one, two, and three are all

01:47presented here, and I'll break them down

01:48individually, uh the different concepts

01:50and plat plan alternatives. And

01:52obviously, Chuck will be here to answer

01:53any questions you may have.

01:56Number one is the highest density, so

01:58it's a condominium style neighborhood.

02:00Um it puts 24 units on the property. You

02:03can see there's a common area in between

02:06um the row of homes that face Kern

02:08Street and then a row of homes that face

02:10the new driveway.

02:12This produces the highest yield of homes

02:14in the property on the area. Um so

02:16there's no individual lot lines, the

02:18gardens and common areas will be

02:19maintained by an HOA.

02:21Um private driveways for the residents

02:23and it's not a public city street that

02:26crosses over from Cates to Leonard.

02:29Um and that would be an expected to move

02:31forward in the condominium style

02:32ordinance pathway. Um

02:35it does produce a higher yield, still

02:37has to go for the Board of Adjustments

02:39for Planning Board uh for adoption, but

02:42it does give you additional homes. Um

02:44this is worth mentioning um that it does

02:48produce some 900 square foot homes

02:50facing the driveway area that faces the

02:53Cates Avenue area.

02:54However, because it's HOA maintained,

02:58all of the property being maintained by

02:59the HOA it'd have the highest HOA cost.

03:02And so in in the essence if we're trying

03:04to run down the price of a home

03:07ownership or living in a neighborhood,

03:09then this may have an effect. You know,

03:11we increase density, however, because

03:13they're maintaining the storm water

03:14pond,

03:15uh and then the public areas or the the

03:17neighborhood areas around the homes,

03:19there may be higher than normal HOA fees

03:21because of that.

03:23>> [snorts]

03:24>> Option two is a traditional individual

03:26lot plan, so they would own their own

03:27lots, they would own their own home. Uh

03:29there's 18 units and as you can probably

03:31see it may be challenging, but um these

03:34are all based on 1,200 square foot

03:35homes.

03:37And um it does produce the lowest yield

03:40out of all three options. Um you do have

03:42individual home ownership, so they do

03:44maintain their yard. Uh there's a new

03:46internal roadway that would be a public

03:48city street that goes from Cates Avenue

03:51to Leonard. It does meet the R-6

03:53framework with two exceptions. One,

03:56uh rear yard setback, and then minimum

03:58lot size. We would have to go to the

04:00Board of Adjustments for those things.

04:03Um

04:04Chuck, do you want to talk about the pud

04:06and that way we can kind of talk about

04:07it that's direction. Uh this is

04:09applicable for option two and three.

04:11>> Well, basically we would have to create

04:13an ordinance

04:14for cluster development

04:16uh to be able to reduce the size of the

04:20uh square footage of the lots for the

04:22homes to be built on. And then the

04:24frontage of the

04:25uh the property line as well. Maybe

04:27reduce it down to a 35-ft street front

04:30or something of that sort depending on

04:32the details of the concept we want to go

04:34with.

04:36>> Okay.

04:37Okay.

04:38>> Option three um is moderate density

04:40small lot plan again. So, this reduces

04:42lot size down it mimics some of what you

04:45saw in option one. So, we get some homes

04:47that are around the 900 sq ft area. Uh

04:49but it does get to the 20 yield that you

04:51originally talked about having. Uh this

04:54um does again have individual home

04:56ownership uh where they'll maintain

04:58their yards. It is a city public street.

05:01Um there would be relief required for

05:02rear setbacks, lot size, and then also

05:05for frontage. Um as Chuck mentioned, I

05:07think the frontage was 50 ft we would

05:09have to drop it down to probably 35 ft.

05:11>> Mhm.

05:11>> Um so, it does balance density and it

05:13balances home ownership.

05:16So, um

05:17again, I think you could do a planned

05:19unit development on option three as

05:20well, correct, Chuck?

05:21>> Correct.

05:22>> And um

05:24so, I think that's obviously an option.

05:26Depends on what density you're looking

05:27for.

05:27>> the HOA. How much are you talking about

05:30from the HOA fee standpoint?

05:32>> It's hard to

05:33>> sure on that what the fees would be.

05:35>> It's going to be hard to say, but again,

05:37if we're trying to drive down the cost

05:38of home ownership, that's that's another

05:40factor that we know will be there.

05:42Um we've talked about we saw other units

05:44at 50 $50 a month to $100 a month. We

05:48expected it would be on the higher end

05:50because not only are they maintaining

05:51the exterior of the structure, the lots,

05:53the sidewalks that goes in between, and

05:56then additionally the um storm water

05:57pond. So, there's a lot to think a lot

05:59of things that need to be maintained um

06:02as a result of that.

06:03We don't have that number. Again, it's

06:05something you can look at if you choose

06:07to.

06:07Uh

06:08>> Doug, in comparison, think about Royal

06:11Manor out on 62. Royal Manor, those are

06:13patio homes. I think there's 52 doors

06:16there. I'm doing that by memory.

06:19They were maintaining the exteriors of

06:22the structures. They were maintaining

06:24sidewalks, and they're in charge of

06:25maintaining their streets. They do not

06:27have the funds to keep up their streets.

06:29Their HOA dues are currently $100 a

06:31month. They could not afford to maintain

06:33the exteriors of the property, so

06:35they've had to amend their covenants to

06:37make the actual homeowners responsible

06:39for uh

06:40taking care of the exteriors. And it's

06:42been an issue. But there if if there's

06:45street issues, there's not going to be

06:46any money there to to repair those

06:47streets. And that's at $100 a month, so

06:49that's just something to think about.

06:53Um so, we wanted to talk about the three

06:55different options, put them in front of

06:56you just all on a one-pager, so you can

06:58kind of give you an idea of what we're

06:59[clears throat] looking at. Um

07:02Michael, uh Chuck and I did talk about

07:04what options we thought would probably

07:06best for the neighborhood. We talked

07:07about option two and option three

07:09primarily because it does meet the

07:11council goals for homeownership. Option

07:15three does reduce the size of some of

07:17the properties to around a 900 square

07:18foot home, which was also a priority of

07:21council. Uh they are cottage style

07:23homes. Um we think that would be the

07:25most cost affordable um while trying to

07:28meet the intent of putting 20 lots on

07:30the property.

07:33And happy to entertain questions, uh but

07:36our goal today is to come up with a head

07:38nod or majority vote of council to say

07:41we like option one, two, or three. We

07:43would go back to McGill to begin the

07:45development

07:46uh and then proceed forward with the and

07:48try to break ground within 12 months.

07:51>> Perfect. I'm excited about this. This

07:53has been a long time coming with this

07:54project. Um and I appreciate this

07:56breakdown you gave for us, Eddie.

07:58Personally, I'm with, you know, hearing

07:59some of the

08:01set priorities that we've met, option

08:02three just sounds the most feasible with

08:04really helping ensure that we can

08:06increase that home ownership while also

08:08giving some of that diversity within the

08:09housing um for some of those working

08:11families. Um so, personally, I think um

08:14option three is going to be really more

08:15beneficial for us.

08:17Um and then if I had to choose a second

08:18favorite, I guess that'd be option two.

08:20>> I'm okay with either two or three.

08:22>> How many of the homes in option three

08:25are the like 900 square feet versus the

08:28>> There's

08:29uh eight plus three, six, nine across

08:31the front

08:32>> Okay.

08:32>> uh that face the new street, which is

08:34where Kate's Avenue is.

08:35>> Okay.

08:36>> That's in option three.

08:37>> Okay.

08:38And the rest of them are

08:40>> Yeah, so when you look at the back,

08:41you'll see those are 30 by 40, so those

08:43are 1,200 square feet and there's seven

08:45across the back.

08:47And then four uh adjacent to the

08:49stormwater pond. It's kind of

08:50challenging to see on this slide.

08:52>> No, it's great.

08:58>> They're one and two bedroom homes.

09:01>> I like the two different sizes.

09:02>> I'm good with that.

09:04I'm good with that.

09:08>> That's a public street.

09:12And we just need to

09:13adjust our ordinance, probably create a

09:15pad for this area or cluster development

09:18for each type homes to meet the minimum

09:19square footage of 3,340

09:22ft that's being requested here.

09:25And then uh 18th uh

09:26reducing a setback to 18 ft, maybe 15 ft

09:30instead of a 25 minute requirement on

09:32our ordinance.

09:33>> Do you want to listen?

09:35>> So, really not the

09:37the only

09:39difference between

09:41the only difference really between two

09:43and three

09:45would be

09:47the number of units and some of them

09:49would be just a little smaller in the

09:51front than the ones in the back.

09:53>> Correct. Yeah. Yeah, so the road

09:54frontage on option three gets smaller

09:57because you're increasing the density by

09:59two homes.

10:00>> Okay.

10:01>> Correct.

10:03>> And I think we talked about this

10:05already, but we would not probably be

10:06able to start in like the upper right

10:09corner

10:11until the whole site has been graded and

10:14prepped, right?

10:15>> That's going to be a decision by McGill

10:17cuz because they have so many things

10:19they have to go in to it. I don't know

10:22if they go to the planning board and

10:23approve it all at one time. Chuck, do

10:24you want to speak to that?

10:26>> Normally the

10:27development this sort of goes to the

10:29planning board for approval first. Uh

10:31they have to see uh the

10:33preliminary of the project and normally

10:36they'll go ahead and do the complete

10:37construction plan

10:39for Once that's approved, then the

10:40complete construction plan would be

10:41done. But it could be broken up in phase

10:43once the construction plans are

10:45completed and approved. You can uh do

10:47that per station as phase one, then uh

10:49lower

10:50the middle section as phase two, and

10:52then the lower section maybe as phase

10:54three, but the pond and the

10:56going probably at that point in time

10:58because you can That's when you get your

11:00high density once you start developing

11:02the lower portion of the property.

11:11>> You mean two or I I like three. I like

11:13the the variety of options.

11:15Um

11:16personally, that's my number one.

11:20>> I have a question.

11:21Would that storm water pond back there,

11:25would that help with the issue that

11:29Nat was talking about at the cemetery.

11:34>> No.

11:36That's the collection of the water just

11:37from this site.

11:39>> Okay.

11:42We talked about this I think at like my

11:44very first council meeting.

11:46And I'm so excited.

11:48It's going to be awesome.

11:51>> We're excited to do something like it's

11:52the first time we've been able to

11:53develop an airport. So we're very

11:54excited to

11:55>> This is

11:56This is not something that towns of

11:58Thomasville size typically do. So,

12:01good job.

12:09>> Looking at show of hands to see

12:11where we're at to give them some

12:12directions. So I would definitely put

12:14that vote out there for option three to

12:16give us some of that variety of sub that

12:18housing while also providing still those

12:2120 units.

12:32>> That's great. That's the direction we

12:33need. We appreciate it. We'll get with

12:34Miguel and move forward in that

12:36direction. Thank you.

12:37Yes.

12:43We're now down to regular agenda for

12:45this evening and these do require votes.

12:48So the

12:504A is consideration of contract with CPL

12:54for

12:54architectural and engineering design

12:57services for the Regi- Registrickland

13:00Community Center and Carver Park

13:02project. Mr. City Manager.

13:06>> Thank you, Mayor.

13:08This is the contract basically for

13:11establishing both the detailed

13:14engineering design work that has to be

13:15done

13:16based on the preliminary work that that

13:18you've approved

13:20and the construction management once we

13:22get it under contract. So it's so this

13:25is a contract for $365,480

13:29with CPL to manage those two portions.

13:34That

13:35That's about Well, we're figuring about

13:378% of the cost of construction and

13:41which is in line with typical services

13:43of this sort. We've had success with

13:46CPL. We've They've already been doing

13:49phase one work.

13:50So, we do recommend that you approve

13:53this contract. And this allows us to

13:56start the next phase and they are doing

13:59going to be doing their best to meet our

14:00time frame so that we can expend the

14:05grant funds

14:06as fast as possible which of course this

14:09would be part of the grant funds this

14:11cost.

14:13So, I ask for you to approve that this

14:15evening.

14:15>> Okay, what's pleasure of council?

14:17>> Mr. Mayor, I make a motion that we

14:19approve the contract for CPL for

14:20architecture and engineering design

14:22services for the Regional Strickland

14:23Center.

14:25>> Second.

14:26>> Okay, we have a motion second any

14:27discussion?

14:32Okay, you may record your votes.

14:36I have six zeros so that has been

14:38approved.

14:41Item 4B is consideration of temporary

14:44road closure ordinances

14:46for Chair City Christmas and Star

14:48Bethlehem Drive-Through Nativity.

14:52Mr. City Manager.

14:53>> Thank you, sir. These are

14:56events that have going have been going

14:58on for a couple of years. Well, the Star

15:01Bethlehem for many years the Chair City

15:03for the last couple years

15:05in our organization. They're They're

15:06requesting the same street closures as

15:09they have in past years

15:11and do recommend approval for these two.

15:14And again, the reason why we're

15:15approving it tonight is that we have to

15:17submit these to the state because the

15:19state roads are being closed and we're

15:21close to the timing

15:23where that will be an issue if we don't

15:24get them approved.

15:26>> Okay.

15:27All right, having heard this uh what's

15:29the pleasure of council?

15:31>> Mr. Mayor, I'm

15:32uh move that we approve the temporary

15:34road closures for Star of Bethlehem and

15:38Light Up the Holidays.

15:39>> Is there a second?

15:40>> Second.

15:41>> Chair City Chair

15:42>> Chair City

15:43>> We've already done Light Up the

15:44Holidays.

15:44>> Oh, god. Chair City Christmas.

15:46>> Lots of fun.

15:47>> Yay.

15:49>> Who's that?

15:53>> Just pick one.

15:55>> Okay, we have a motion and a second. Any

15:57discussion?

16:00Okay, you may vote.

16:03And I have six zeros, so that has been

16:06approved.

16:07Uh next item for our meeting next week

16:09will be the public forum.

16:11It'll be a 2-minute time limit for the

16:13subject of the speaker's choice.

16:16Uh

16:17item six, recognition and presentations.

16:20Uh we will have a resolution uh in

16:22support of the green light for veterans,

16:25November 3rd through 10th.

16:27Uh

16:29Council member Doug Hunt will do that

16:30one.

16:32We have a domestic violence

16:34proclamation, uh Council member Lisa

16:36Shell

16:37will do that one.

16:38And we have a proclamation learning

16:41disability awareness month, Council

16:43member Jacquelyn Johnson will do that

16:45one.

16:45Thank y'all very much.

16:47Okay, we're now down to our consent

16:49agenda. I'm going to recognize our city

16:51manager once again to take us through

16:53the remainder of this.

16:54>> Uh can I just ask a question about the

16:56the three uh resolutions? Uh

16:59we'll light up uh city hall with green

17:02lights during the the period 3rd through

17:0510th. Uh right now we're lit up with

17:07pink lights. Uh we may change that to

17:09orange or purple or something for

17:11Halloween. Um

17:13for domestic violence, is there a color

17:16>> Purple.

17:17>> Purple, that's what I was I was thinking

17:18it was purple but I wasn't positive.

17:20Um so after we do the green lights, I'll

17:23switch to purple.

17:24Um and then does anyone know does

17:27learning disability have a a color?

17:29>> It's multiple colors like a rainbow.

17:32Uh like red, orange, yellow.

17:34>> Uh we we I

17:35Can we control those individual windows,

17:38Eddie, uh with different lights?

17:40>> Yeah, we'll change them when we want.

17:41>> Okay, so we'll at some point in in some

17:44point in November we'll we'll transfer

17:46to it

17:47that to celebrate that.

17:49>> That's in October.

17:51>> Is that Oh, in October. Well, let's see.

17:53Green lights in November, domestic

17:55violence is is This This month. Okay, so

17:58then we'll switch

18:00we'll switch um sometime between the

18:0215th and 20th to to purple and run it

18:05for the rest of the month. And then

18:07disability Oh, no.

18:10Oh, man. There's too many things going

18:11on. All right, we'll figure it out.

18:13>> So can we do them I mean I'm I'm okay if

18:16y'all are okay with like doing purple

18:18for a week and then switch it over to

18:21Jaquesa's and then y'all can for a week

18:23and then um

18:24>> Yeah, we've already been doing it for

18:2710 days

18:28for for

18:29>> And folks have been loving it. So I I I

18:31love the little creative idea with the

18:32LED lights. It really is awesome.

18:34>> Okay. All right, we'll do 10 10 10.

18:37See if that'll work out.

18:39All right.

18:40>> All right, sounds good.

18:42>> Well, we don't have to worry about

18:46green light until November.

18:48>> Right.

18:51>> So okay.

18:54Okay, I'm sorry. Uh consent agenda. So

18:57the two items on your consent agenda are

18:59consideration of minutes of the briefing

19:01and committee meetings uh from September

19:0314th. That's item A. Item B is

19:06consideration of minutes of the council

19:07meeting September 21st um 2026.

19:12And then uh,

19:13then your regular agenda for, uh, next

19:16month, excuse me, next week is, um,

19:19item A is consideration of budget

19:21amendment 2027-P4-01.

19:24Uh, Thomas A. Vantis here. Uh, this was

19:27not on the committees because action at

19:29the committee affected this. So, give

19:32you a quick overview.

19:34>> Good afternoon, Mayor and Council.

19:36>> Thank you.

19:36>> This budget amendment is added, um, to

19:38appropriate or to transfer $60,000 from

19:41general fund contingency for the

19:42government relations, uh, contractual

19:44agreement. And it also appropriates

19:47$800, uh, of contributions for the Light

19:50Up the Holidays event in the

19:51beautification fund.

19:55>> Thank you.

19:56>> Would you like that to be

19:57consent?

19:58>> Consent or regular agenda?

20:00>> I'm voting consent.

20:01>> So, this No, regular. Um, so, this

20:03budget amendment, is it going to be,

20:05uh, together?

20:07>> No, that Well, it's one budget

20:09amendment. Um,

20:10yes, so, it would be together.

20:12>> Is no way to split the two? Like, how

20:15are we, cuz if if we vote or don't or

20:18disagree with one of the

20:19items, but want the transfer for the

20:22money?

20:23>> We If that's the case, then we could go

20:26ahead and divide it into two different

20:27budget amendments.

20:30That's just paperwork.

20:33>> Okay.

20:34>> Yeah.

20:35All right, so,

20:37note, two different

20:39two different items, both on regular. Do

20:42you want both of them on regular?

20:44>> Yes.

20:44>> Okay.

20:46So, it'll be A1 and A2 for right now.

20:49Yeah, just separate the two items.

20:52And when do we label label the first one

20:54A and the second one would become B on

20:56the regular or, yeah, on regular.

21:06Okay.

21:07Um, item B is consideration of award of

21:10service and maintenance contract for

21:11sewer line cleaning and CCTV TV inspect

21:15inspection.

21:19Consent?

21:21All right.

21:24Uh item C is consideration of amendment

21:27to the Main Street map.

21:29>> Regular.

21:34>> Okay.

21:36Item D is consideration of vehicle

21:38safety and telematics program policy.

21:41>> Regular.

21:43>> Okay.

21:45>> [snorts]

21:46>> Item E is consideration of amendment to

21:48special event approval process and

21:50application.

21:52>> Consent.

21:54>> Okay.

21:57Item F is consideration of street naming

22:00and address assignment ordinance.

22:02>> Regular.

22:07>> Item G is consideration of amendment to

22:09animal control ordinance.

22:11>> Regular.

22:12>> What you say?

22:13>> Regular.

22:21>> Um item H consideration of amendment to

22:24loading zone ordinance.

22:26>> Consent.

22:27>> Consent.

22:31>> And item I is call for public hearing

22:34regarding economic development grant for

22:35project bagel on November 16th.

22:39>> Regular.

22:46>> Okay, those are the items that I have. I

22:48will read over uh the

22:50consent and regular to confirm.

22:53Um consent agenda will be 7 A and B.

22:58And also 8

23:00B as currently written

23:03uh E

23:05and H.

23:07Uh everything else will be on regular.

23:10Everybody agree?

23:11>> [laughter]

23:11>> Okay.

23:13Okay.

23:14>> Give it back to you, Mayor.

23:15>> Okay, thank you very much. Then we'll

23:18after the uh agenda items are taken care

23:20of, we'll do our uh committee reports

23:22and assignments.

23:24And

23:26we will have a closed session for

23:28personnel

23:30on the next Monday.

23:32So, that takes us down to item E,

23:35additions and updates. Does anyone have

23:37anything for

23:40additions or updates?

23:43Okay, we're down to adjourned. Do I have

23:44a motion to adjourn?

23:46>> So moved.

23:47>> Second.

23:47>> I have a motion and a second.

23:50All in favor, say aye.

23:51>> Aye.

23:52>> Opposed, no.

23:54We're adjourned.

23:56>> Just a reminder,

23:57tomorrow I will be at a conference in

23:59Miami.

24:00Thursday and Friday, Friday I'm out of

24:02town