 15 seconds. Good evening. I'd like to call this meeting of the Durham City Council to order at seven o'clock on Monday, May the 18th, 2020. Another meeting that we're having over this digital platform at this extraordinary time and I want to thank our staff once again our technology staff and all who work to make this possible. Thank you so much. Before we have our moment of silent meditation, I just want to note that we have 37 Durham residents who have died of COVID-19. We have a thousand people who have contracted the infection here in our community. We have thousands of people out of work. We have many businesses that have shut their doors temporarily. And I would ask us to remember all of them and please join me as we take a moment of silent meditation. Thank you. And now councilmember Reese, I would ask you to lead us and pledge the flag. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I will do that as soon as I can get my situation together. There we go. Thank you. All right. I pledge allegiance 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. Thank you very much councilmember. And now Madam Clerk, can you please call the roll? Mayor Shul. Here. Mayor Pro Tem Johnson. Here. Councilmember Caballero. Here. Councilmember Freeman. Present. Councilmember Middleton. Here. Councilmember Reese. Here. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Clerk. We'll now move to ceremonial items. We do have one ceremonial item tonight for Children's Mental Health Awareness, the Children's Mental Health Awareness Month Proclamation. Tika Damsen is not here to accept this, but I know that Tika is listening and on behalf of all those who are working for the mental health of our children. Children's Mental Health Awareness Month. Whereas to promote awareness of positive mental health, well-being and development for all children, youth and young adult ages, birthed 26 years in North Carolina. And whereas the leadership in Durham, North Carolina recognizes that mental health needs and treatment be on a par with medical needs and treatment. Whereas families should not feel stigma and shame to seek treatment for their children and youth and be able to discuss openly their need for help without public retribution. Whereas Children's Mental Health Promotion needs to be available to everyone. Education on the identification use of children of child strength to support success and promote mental health. As well as anti-stigma, inclusion, and social skills education should be available to all citizens of North Carolina. Whereas available school-based mental health programs and positive behavior interventions and support should be considered as best practices and be encouraged to be practiced in every Durham, North Carolina public school. And whereas children are recognized for having unique needs for recovery of mental health, emotional behavioral and substance use issues, and not being combined with the adult mental health population for treatment. Whereas effective mental health treatment services to strengthen families, youth leadership development and family partner peer supports results in children and youth overcoming trauma, becoming successful in contributing Durham, North Carolina citizens in a safe environment in their home schools and community. Whereas the Durham City Council, North Carolina Mental Health Planning and Advisory Council, National Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health, Alliance Behavioral Health Care, NC Families United, the NC State Children's Collaborative and the Families, NAMI NC, Public Health, Department of Social Services, all medical facilities, all legal entities and communities who have children, youth and young adults struggling with emotional behavior health issues, joined to recognize Children's Mental Health Awareness Month and Safety. Therefore, I, Stephen M. Schull, Mayor of the City of Durham, North Carolina, do hereby proclaim May 2020 Children's Mental Health Awareness Month in North Carolina and commend its observance to all of our citizens. Thank you so much. And maybe we could have the traditional clapping of the hands. And thank you so much for the folks that are working in Children's Mental Health. That's such important work. And now we'll proceed to announcements by the Council. Are there any announcements by members of the Council? If so, please raise your hand. All right. I don't see any. Thank you very much. We'll now move to priority items by the City Manager. Good evening, Mr. Mayor. I'm out of the City Council. This evening there's one priority item, which is agenda item number three, the Affordable Housing Loan Service Portfolio Agreement. And I just wanted to mention that there's additional information that has been added to that item at the request of the City Council to work session. That's my only priority item this evening. Thank you, Mr. Manager. Madam Attorney, priority items. Good evening, Mr. Mayor. Madam Mayor Pro Tem, members of City Council. The City Attorney's Office has no priority items this evening. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Attorney. Madam Clerk. Good evening, everyone. The City Clerk's Office has no priority items. Thank you so much. We'll now move to the consent agenda. The consent agenda is made up of items the Council has previously worked on. It can be approved by a single vote of the Council. Anyone, a Council member or resident, can pull an item from the consent agenda, in which case it will be taken up separately at the end of the meeting. Item one, FY 2021 Budget Development Guidelines. Item three, Affordable Housing Loan Portfolio Servicing. Item four, Municipal Agreement for East Club Boulevard, Sidewalk Spot Safety Funds. Item five, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition Scata on On-Call Services Contract. Item six, South Durham Water Reclamation Facility Administration Building Renovations Award of Professional Architectural Services Contract. The DTW Architects and Planners LTD Limited. Item seven, Proposed Advanced Acquisition for the Future Expansion of Lake Mickey. Property of Russell Ellis Estate, Parcel 192276. Item eight, City of Durham Employment Training 2018-20, Grant Project Ordinance Superceding Project Ordinance Number 15305. Item nine, Ordinance Recognizing the Reference Guide for Developing, Development and Establishing a Related Fee. Item 10, Contract Amendment Number One for ST302, Street Repairs and Repaving 2020 Project. Item 11, Contract Amendment Number One for ST300C Utility Location Services. Item 12, Contract Amendment Number One for ST301C Paving Services 2020. Item 13, Contract Amendment Number One, SW39C for Additional Construction Engineering and Respection for SW39, University Drive Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities Project, Tip Number 5514. Item 14, Utility Extension Agreement with 919 Storage NC98 LLC to Serve Carthage Industrial. Item 15, Street and Infrastructure Acceptances. You have now heard the consent agenda and I will accept a motion for... Move to accept. Second. Been moved by Council Member Milton, seconded by Council Member Caballero, that we accept the consent and approve the consent agenda. I'm going to ask council members please raise your hand so that I can see them and the clerk can see them. All in favor please say aye. Raise your hand. Aye. Thank you very much. All right. I'll oppose no. The ayes have it. The motion passes unanimously. Thank you. We'll now move to the general business agenda. We have our first item. We have two items on the general business agenda tonight. One is a public hearing but our first item is very important and this is a very, very important presentation by our city manager on our budget, our capital improvement plan. I'll just say that before the manager speaks, I just want to say how much we all appreciate what he, the budget staff, deputy city manager Wanda Page, Bertha Johnson, our budget director, and everybody in budget and finance especially, but also all of our department heads and everyone who's worked on this has had to totally turn a budget that was once right side up upside down and do it again. And I'm just so grateful for that. And so, Mr. Manager, I'm especially grateful for your leadership and I'd like to introduce you now to give the presentation. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I appreciate those kind remarks. Good evening, everyone. Mayor Schull, Mayor Pro Tem Johnson, members of the city council, city staff, and those viewing on the Durham television network, the website, or on one of our social media live streams. I am pleased to be with you here this evening, virtually, of course, presenting the proposed 2020-2021 fiscal year budget for the city of Durham, the 12th budget that I have had the privilege to present to the community, but certainly the most unique in my 42-year career. At this time last year, Durham was concluding its celebratory sesquicentennial year and my budget message celebrated the city's foundation of inclusivity, diversity, and innovation that continue to successfully propel our city into the future. Even only a couple of months ago, our budget and community trajectories were on a path to significantly ramp up these efforts and initiatives. Of course, our world, country, state, and community have almost overnight been rocked by the ravages of COVID-19, while our values and aspirations have not wavered, our immediate attention and budget priorities have had to shift to COVID response, recovery, and restoration, along with routine service delivery, while at the same time acknowledging the resource limitations of which depth and duration remains uncertain. As always, the city's strategic plan and the five goals remain the framework for the city's programs and services as we develop budget recommendations. However, immediate needs require pivoting strategic planning initiatives and priorities and activities to respond to COVID impacts. As we have quickly had to adjust how we conduct city business, provide services, and begin to reimagine our work, we are truly appreciative of the trust and support we have received from Mayor Schuyl and City Council members, and I thank you for your leadership and direction during this difficult time in our city's history. Additionally, the City Council's collaborative development of clear budget guidelines for the administration and budget staff continues to be an incredibly helpful in the budget development process. While my previous recommended budget presentations have traditionally been integrated into a topical theme, this year it is difficult to focus on much more than the numbers. The numbers that reflect the devastating financial impact that COVID-19 will have on our budget. The total proposed budget for fiscal year 2021 is $504.3 million, compared to $477.8 million for the 2019-20 fiscal year, an increase of $26.5 million. But this increase is primarily in the debt service fund, $24.3 million, due to an accounting requirement related to a debt refunding that's anticipated in October of 2020. And the transit service fund increase of $4.1 million related to service expansion enhancements that will be paid through intergovernmental revenues, such as the Durham County Transit Tax and Grants. The proposed property tax is $53.17 per 100 of assessed value, segmented for designated uses, and is the same tax rate from the prior year. Due to continued growth in Durham, total new real property value is projected to increase 2.31%, generating an additional $2.5 million, compared to fiscal year 2020. However, actual property tax revenue will not increase at that rate due to expected personal and business financial COVID-19 impacts within the community, resulting in likely lower collection rates and tax revenues from personal properties such as vehicles. Total property tax revenues are projected at $189,143,923, allocated among the five funds as noted. But this reflects an estimated $1.1 million loss in property tax revenues from where we thought we were pre-COVID-19. But what this does mean for the average homeowners that their property tax bill should be similar to last year, about $1,229 or $102 per month on the median house value of $231,000. The proposed general fund budget, which includes the city's core services, is $214.6 million, a 0.6% decrease from last year. And I will discuss the details of this decrease later in the presentation. Total sales tax collections are estimated at $64.2 million, a 6.6% decrease, resulting in $4.4 million less revenue than the current fiscal year. COVID-19 is expected to have a continued negative impact on sales tax collections due to closures, job loss, and changing social gathering patterns. The depth and duration of this decline in sales tax remains to be seen and will have to be closely monitored throughout the year with the potential for further mid-year budget expenditure adjustments. Of note is the difference between the anticipated sales tax collection pre-COVID-19 to the proposed budget, a reduction of $9.3 million. While many business sectors have been negatively impacted by COVID-19, the hospitality industry has been starkly impacted. The impacts are likely to extend well beyond phase three of the state's reopening plan. And while not as significant as sales tax and absolute dollars, the revenues from occupancy tax are projected to decline by 30% or over $1 million from pre-COVID projections. Additionally, while we still are waiting for confirmation, it is anticipated that state-shared revenues will also decrease between 10% and 25% or as much as $1.5 million. These revenue projections are not yet included in these budget numbers, and we hopefully will have them available by the upcoming budget work sessions. Over the last decade, the city has prudently managed to build up fund balance as a continuity cushion for unexpected situations and natural disasters. I would never be so bold to suggest these reserves were anticipating a pandemic as well. But we must look to these reserves to offset the significant revenue losses just discussed to avoid property tax increases or significant reductions in service and staff. Fund balance is projected at the end of this fiscal year at 20.6% or $42.5 million, which is approximately $8.3 million above the fund balance reserve policy of 16.7%. While over the years, the use of fund balance has been limited to one-time expenditures, the budget proposes to draw $7.2 million for fund balance for one-time funding expenses of only $100,000 and to cover revenue losses related to COVID-19 of approximately $7 million. The proposed general fund expenditures of $214.6 million is a decrease of .55% or $1.2 million. Personnel expenditures did increase by $2.5 million, including a full year of funding for six additional police gang unit officers, as well as increases in employee health and retirement benefits. Net operating expenses increased by $487,000 after reductions in travel and conference budgets, fuel savings, and suspended programming costs totaling $12.6 million. These increases were further offset, but other personnel and operating costs reduced by other operating cost reductions as referenced on the next slide. And some of the most significant of those reductions are noted here. Other budget items of note, while street paving and maintenance continues to be a significant concern for residents responding to the most recent 2019 resident satisfaction survey, the proposed budget reduces funding for street paving from $10 million to $6 million. This limited level of funding is not sustainable for more than one year. The city will be able to continue to invest approximately $68.5 million in upgrading and increasing capacity for water and sewer improvements, including water and sewer rehabilitation, future water supply, and Jordan Lake reconstruction projects. A modest increase of about 2.9% for the average customer and the water and sewer rates are also included to continue to support these ongoing capital operating and sustainability efforts. As has been stated many times in this presentation, we are yet to know the depth, breadth, and duration of the impacts of COVID-19 on our community. We can anticipate that the city will likely need to provide additional resources to support small and disadvantaged businesses, community nonprofit organizations, and families, and to cover increased costs associated with sanitation and space modifications in city facilities. In addition to funding that may be forthcoming through federal and state channels, I am proposing a $5 million COVID-19 response and recovery fund be included in the city's debt model and available for use in fiscal year 2020-21. At this time, I do not have recommendations on specific allocations or programs for the use of these funds, but I believe it is prudent to set aside funding for what we know will be significant gaps in recovery and response needs. I anticipate we will begin work in the very near future regarding potential allocations and programs. As I conclude this abbreviated budget presentation, I want to talk about the most anguishing and difficult recommendation that I have had to make associated with this proposed budget, that being suspending employee compensation adjustments for the next year. Our employees have been the backbone of every success I and we have enjoyed for the last many years. Well in advance of this COVID-19 pandemic, Durham City employees have shown their dedication to public service and serving our residents with care, responsiveness, creativity, and compassion. Their response to unprecedented needs COVID-19 has imposed has shined an even more significant spotlight on their commitment to service. Over 1,250 employees continue to provide service front and center every day, exposed to dangers that the community was told to avoid. Over 700 other employees within a very few days pivoted their work and their workplace to the confines of their homes, never missing a beat of service while some even had added responsibilities of helping their school-aged children learn while they work. I have never been prouder of our organization and our employees and the leaders of this organization. The city has strived to put our employees first for their dedication and commitment and I am pleased that we have been able to provide premium pay to employees who have been at the front line of service and additional leave benefits to all employees, including part-time employees. Even said, however, the challenge of finding an additional $7 million to provide compensation adjustments for employees next year could not be overcome. I am confident that the City Council will continue to support future opportunities to support and recognize the incredible work of our employees in the brighter days that I know lie ahead. While it will be different this year, we invite residents to take a closer look over the next few weeks at the full recommended budget, as I am sure the Mayor and Council members will. Staff looks forward to delving deeper into the details of the proposed budget at next week's virtual budget work sessions. Please watch for times and topics for these sessions. Developing the budget is always a collaborative process, relying on the groundwork of long-term financial and strategic plans. However, the emerging impacts of COVID-19 has made this budget development process one for the ages. As always, special recognition to Director Bertha Johnson and her budget managed services team, department directors for their leadership, as well as Public Affairs Director Beverly Thompson and her staff, and Kerry Goode and the technology solution staff for their assistance with this virtual presentation. It is now time for the elected leadership and residents to review and scrutinize this proposed budget. Residents are invited to submit their thoughts for the virtual public hearing on Monday, June 1. The web portal to submit comments, along with the deadline for when comments must be received to be included in the official public record, can be found on the City's website at the address provided on the slide. We remain committed to transparency in the budget process, as well as in total operations. Copies of the proposed budget are now available on the City's website as well, and I also want to encourage our residents to continue to engage with us on any of the social media platforms listed here. We work hard to communicate what we're doing on these platforms and want to engage with you, particularly during these challenging times. In closing, let me say again how much I appreciate Mayor Schultz's leadership and the very difficult decisions he has had to make over the past few months, and for his continued support to me, our executive team, and our employees. Mayor Schultz, while it seems like an eternity ago, just a few months ago, you spoke during your State of the City address about the two big crises the city had faced in the past year, and little did we know. I hope that your legacy does not come down to be known as the crisis Mayor, but if it does, your leadership certainly is worth recognizing for the many years to come. These truly are very difficult and unimaginable times for all of us in our community. Durham was riding a wave of greatness filled with diversity, inclusivity, and innovation. We all remain hopeful and prayerful that personal behaviors and actions, no matter how inconvenient for the short term, and medications and vaccines in the long term will get us through this crisis, and that Durham and our lives will emerge more committed to our values and our priorities. May God bless Durham and us all. Thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. Manager. I really appreciate the kind words and especially appreciate your budget presentation in this very, very difficult time. It really is hard to imagine all the changes that we have had to make, and I so appreciate our city staff being able to pivot like this and present a very difficult budget, but a budget that I think it's very, very critically, critically important to make the hard decisions that you did, and I thank you for doing it. Before we move on, I'm going to just ask our tech staff if we put the video on for all of our council members and staff as everybody. I don't see the Mayor Pro Tem's video up, and I do see Council Member Middleton now. The Mayor Pro Tem sent a chat message saying she needed the host to enable her video. Okay. Okay. She has an error message that the host has stopped her video, so I'm sure that will have, there you go. Great. Thank you. Welcome back. Before we move on again to the, to our next item that I just want to reemphasize to Tom, how much we appreciate the presentation. We know you've had to make a lot of really hard decisions. We look forward to the budget public hearings that are upcoming soon, and I'm just very grateful for all that everybody has been doing. Thank you so much. Maybe we'll have a, we have the virtual clapping. Thank you. All right, and now we will move on to our general business agenda public hearings, item 17, proposed amendment to the FY 2015, 16, 16, 17, 17, 18, 18, 19, and 1920 annual action plans. And I will first ask, I believe that the resource person is Wilmer Conyers. Is that correct, Ms. Conyers? That's correct. Great. I just, before I introduce you, I would like to say that in an effort to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's requirements for providing accommodations, a sign language interpretation would be provided for our deaf, hard of hearing, and deafblind residents tonight. Our sign language interpreter, who we see now on our screen, is Ms. Monica McGee. Ms. McGee has served as one of the sign language interpreters for Governor Cooper. Ms. McGee, thank you for being here. We're very grateful for your presence. Thank you so much. Ms. Conyers, I'm now going to turn the microphone over to you. Good evening, Mayor Phil and members of council. My name is Wilmer Conyers, and I am the planning and performance administrator in the Department of Community Development. The purpose of this public meeting, this public hearing is to receive citizen comments on the proposed amendments for the FY 2015-2016, 2016-2017, 2017-2018, 2018-2019, and 2019-2020 annual action plans. The citizen participation plan contained in the adopted 2015-2020 consolidated plan requires that a public hearing be conducted for formal amendments that add, delete, or substantially change the consolidated plan or the annual action plan. Notice that this meeting was properly advertised in the Herald sign, the Carolina Times and Capasin newspapers, and was distributed via a general listserv and posted on the community development website. The proposed amendments represent a reconciliation of the community development block grant funds which are needed to bring the city in compliance to satisfy the outstanding annual expenditure test. These proposed amendments represent a reconciliation of $2,853,191 in CDBG funds. The proposed amendments were made available for public review from April 17th through May 18th, 2020, on the community development's website and was distributed via general listserv. Comments from the public hearing and a summary of written comments received from citizens concerning the proposed amendments will be included in the final amendments. Later on the agenda, we request council approval on proposed amendments to the FY 2015, 2016, 2016, 2017, 2017, 2018, 2018, 2019, and 2019, 2020 annual action plans for submission to HUD. Thank you. Thank you very much, Ms. Conyers. You have heard the report from staff and I'm now going to declare this public hearing open. And as I do so, I do want to note that this is the first public hearing we have had as a council in this new era. And so we'll all do our best with it. Our technology staff, the clerk's office, our PIO staff, public affairs staff, and others have worked very hard to make this work. And Deputy City Manager Wanda Page, I want to appreciate you for this as well. There are four people who have pre-registered to speak at this public hearing. And I'm going to first give them a chance to speak, and then I will ask if there are other people who would like to speak as well. And our staff has arranged for that to happen if there are people who would like to. But first I'm going to ask Matthew Schnars. Mr. Schnars, welcome. I see you're here. Good evening, Mr. Mayor. And you have three names. That was, I was just testing the platform. I don't actually have any public comment, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. I'm part of the community development team. Great. I knew that, but I didn't know you were testing the platform. So thank you for helping us out and I appreciate it very much. The next is Linnea Foster. Ms. Foster, are you with us? Madam Clerk, are we able to recognize Ms. Foster? Mr. Mayor, there is no Linnea. First name Linnea Foster, L-A-N-E-A Foster. Mr. Mayor, there's no one by that name in the waiting area. In the waiting area. Okay. Thank you. Next is Pilar Rocha Goldberg. Is Ms. Rocha Goldberg with us? Mr. Mayor, I do not see Ms. Pilar Rocha Goldberg. Okay. I wondered, well, let me ask the last name. Sean Ross. Is Sean Ross with us? Unfortunately, Mr. Mayor, I do not see him in the waiting room either. Okay. Well, I hope that this wasn't a miscommunication. It may be that I did not see any written comments from them, but we did receive a number of written public comments, but I'm hopeful that this was not just a miscommunication. But let me just ask if they are listening tonight right now and trying to get in. What would be their process, Madam Clerk? I believe they're receiving a invite to the Zoom meeting. They have to click on the link. They will be entered into a waiting area and then one by one, they are given speaking rights. Right. As of right now, there's no one in the waiting area. All right. So Ms. Foster, Ms. Rocha Goldberg, and Mr. Ross, if you all are listening, please, you've received an email with the Zoom link. Please click on that link and you should be entered into our waiting area. I'm going to give it just a moment. So just in case they are listening, we will give them an opportunity to sign in. Madam Clerk, in the meantime, is there anyone else who is waiting with public comment tonight? To my knowledge, there's no one in the waiting area, Mr. Mayor. All right. We're just going to wait another minute in case folks are trying to get in and we will give them that opportunity. Council colleagues, I will note that we also received a written public comment that you all, of course, received this afternoon. Many of the comments were regarding rent relief and asking that the city have a moratorium on rents. We are not able to have a moratorium on rents. This is not within our power, but we will be talking quite a bit at our upcoming work session, our hearing from our community development department on a very strong commitment that they're recommending that we make for emergency rental assistance. For a moratorium on rents, I'm afraid there are only two possibilities. One is that our state Supreme Court Justice, who put that moratorium in place, could extend it through court action or our General Assembly is our other option, I'm afraid. All right. Madam Clerk, still no one in the waiting room? That is correct, Mr. Mayor. All right. Council members, are there any colleagues with any questions or comments for Ms. Conyers or staff on this item? Mr. Mayor, I just wanted to clarify on your last statement, the moratorium that has been put in place was on evictions, not on rents. I just wanted to not confuse anybody. I appreciate that. Thank you, Madam Mayor Pro Tem. That is an important correction. Council Member Reese. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. You mentioned the public comment that we received in this item asking the city to enact moratorium on evictions. As you mentioned, local governments in North Carolina don't have that legal authority. We're currently under a moratorium for evictions that was established, as you said by the Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. I can tell you that if folks are interested in submitting public comment to the judicial task force that is looking at when and if to lift the moratorium on those kinds of proceedings, they can go to www.ncquartz.gov and they'll find a comment box there where they can direct comments to the COVID-19 judicial task force. That's a really good way to get messages about how to handle these issues. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you very much, Council Member. I appreciate that good information. Any questions or comments for staff about this item? All righty. Seeing none and hearing no other public comment, I'm going to declare this public hearing closed and the matters before the council. We're being asked to approve the JAF proposed amendment for submission to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Mr. Mayor, I'm sorry. I was trying to seek recognition. I'm sorry. No, absolutely. Just a quick process question. My suspicion is that if 100% of the people that sought recognition to speak tonight didn't show up, that there's something probably going on other than all of them weren't trying. And I'm wondering, and so far as this was a requirement to hold this public hearing, with the inability of those folk to get in 100% of them, how would that affect the process moving forward and our ability to take any action we need to as a council? Well, that's a great question. And I'll ask our city attorney if she has any thoughts about that. And I see Mr. Johnson. Mr. Johnson, do you want to comment? Thank you, Mayor. Thank you for the question, Council Member Melaton. It would not have impact on prohibiting the council from taking action tonight. That's number one. And those persons still have an opportunity to present their comments and write and we'll receive them. Okay. Thank you for that. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Madam Attorney. Do you have anything to add? Just Mr. Mayor, as I pointed out in an email to the council this afternoon, that after the public hearing, we have to continue to receive comments for an additional 24 hours in any event. So those folks are definitely entitled to be heard through that process. Thank you so much, Madam Attorney. Council Member Reese. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. If I could just ask our clerk to make sure to send the link to the public comment portal for this item to the folks who did sign up to speak tonight. That way we can kind of close the loop with them. And if there was some kind of technical difficulty with them accessing this system, which we're trying for the first time tonight, then they can easily just click the link in the email and then leave those comments so that we can have them. That's a good idea. And I think it would be good also, Madam Clerk, to get in touch with the three of those people because we're going to do this again. Okay. If they don't respond, we need to reach out to them and make sure that the next time we do this, if there has been a technology glitch that we're we're on it. Okay, we will. Thank you. Thank you very much. All right. Any other comment? Thank you for that. Those are good comments. All right. If not, we've been asked to approve the draft proposed amendment for submission to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development HUD Attachment and to authorize the city manager to execute all administrative requirements and contractual documents for the implementation of the amended action plans. I believe we can do that on a single action. Can we not, Madam Attorney? That's correct, Mr. Mayor. Thank you so much. Do I hear a motion for the to approve the draft proposed amendment and to authorize the matter to execute the requirements? So moved. Second. Second. It's been moved and seconded that we take these actions. And I'm going to ask now, all in favor, please raise your hand. Everybody needs to. In order to out of an abundance of caution to be sure that they're we're compliant with the new remote meetings law. Can we actually take the vote by roll call? Yes, we can. Thank you, Madam Clerk. I was trying to get off of mute. There appears to be a few folks on the YouTube chat that are trying to get access to the Zoom public hearing. And I'm not sure if they if there's a way to give them access or to provide them access that they are trying to make public comments. Okay, thank you. Well, before we take this vote, we should hear about that. I'm going to defer here to our technical people and the clerk who might have the best advice on this. Mr. Mayor, I'd like to defer to Ms. Wanda Page. All right. Mr. Mayor, this is Wanda Page. I was on on with the technical team in the back, but I'd be happy to respond if you would please repeat the question. I'm sorry. Sure. There are a couple of or there are some people that Councilman Freeman says are on YouTube chat who would like to get into the public comment and make public comment, but have not been able to do so. So we would like them to be able to do so before we take action. Can you advise or can someone from the technical team advise as to how we can tell people to do that? Yes, there is a link that the four individuals who did sign up that link is the public's link. And I can actually get someone to forward that link to one of those persons if I can get there. Someone would chat me their email. I think these are people who have not previously signed up as a way I understand it from Councilmember Freeman. Is that right Councilmember? They can sign up during the public hearing. For people who have not previously signed up, where do they go to find the link to sign up? Just one second Mayor. Thank you. Thank you time. We're all learning here. Y'all I'm having some wireless issues and I'm going to try to connect my computer to an ethernet box in my house. So I'm going to turn off my camera for a little bit. I'll be back ASAP. Thank you. Thank you everybody for their patience and for those of you all who are trying to get in. Thank you for your patience and we're waiting for our tech folks to figure it out. We'll be with you as soon as we know. Mr. Mayor, this is Juan DePage. I just sent the telephone number and password for the meeting in the chat box. Sorry, Ms. Page, would you say that again? So I put the telephone number, the meeting ID and the password in the chat box for this meeting. Can you see that, Mr. Mayor? Yes, I can. Should I announce that number? Yes. Are people who are watching able to see the chat box or not? No, they cannot see it. Okay. All right. I'm going to then read the number and then I'll read the meeting ID and I'll read the password. These are a lot of things to read, but I'm going to read them several times so that people will have the opportunity and then we'll give people a few minutes to call in. First of all, the phone number. I assume the one at the front is not necessary, but one, three, one, two, six, two, six, six, seven, nine, nine. Let me say that again. Three, one, two, six, two, six, six, seven, nine, nine. I'm going to say it one more time. Three, one, two, six, two, six, six, seven, nine, nine. Then there's a meeting ID and let me read you this ID. So long number, so I'll read it several times. The meeting ID is nine, four, five, two, seven, four, six, oh, two, nine, five. Let me tell you again. Nine, four, five, two, seven, four, six, oh, two, nine, five. And the password is two, seven, eight, oh, six, four, two, seven, eight, oh, six, four. And this information was also posted in the YouTube live feed. All right. Let's wait a couple of minutes and see if there are people that would like to enter the waiting room through that method. And Madam Clerk, when you see the first person come in, please let me know. We'll get the public comment started anew. Mr. Mayor, there is a speaker in the waiting room. It's Pilar Rocha Goldberg. Thank you very much. And as other people come in, Madam Clerk, just please line them up. Colleagues, we have a motion and a second on the floor, but fortunately we haven't voted. And we'll hear this testimony prior to voting. Ms. Rocha Goldberg, welcome. I believe you have been handed the microphone. Welcome and you have three minutes. So far, your microphone is still muted. I don't know if you need to unmute it or if it needs to be unmuted by our staff. Mr. Mayor, the microphone is not unmuting. Okay. Mr. Mayor, this is Metsch-Nars. The panelists may be able to unmute by hitting star six or pound six. All right. Ms. Rocha Goldberg, can you hit star six or pound six? I believe she hung up. Okay. I still see her name there, but does that mean that she's still there or not? She's trying again. Yes, she may speak. Okay. She's under the... Hello. Is this Ms. Rocha Goldberg? No, this is Stella Adams. Stella. All right. I think you're the second person on our list. So we'll go ahead and hear from you. Thank you for being here. Ms. Adams, welcome. And you have three minutes. Thank you. First, I want to say how much I support the work that's being done with the CDBG program. I do have a question as to whether there are any of these amended funds that could be transferred and used for other projects affecting those communities. All right. Do you want to go ahead with any other questions or comments and then we'll we'll answer that. Yes, I wanted to comment on previous item, but I just want to say that I strongly support the tax assistance program. I believe that it should be included in the city budget. It meets the commitment that the council made to residents to support diverse income communities. And it is a commitment that I hope that the council will take seriously. You asked us to vote for an affordable housing bond on the premise that it would do so. You also promised that the proceeds from 505 West Chapel Hill Street would be used for the housing fund. And I think that anything that you need to do for McDougal Terrace can come out of the housing fund. That $8 million is one time money. And so we cannot, as a community, allow you to put it in the general fund without meeting the commitment you made that it would go into the housing fund and would be used to create diverse income communities throughout downtown and throughout Durham. I am asking you all hashtag to keep your word and to support the tax assistance program and to support projects and programs that emphasize diverse income communities. That money from the 505 West Chapel Hill Street is not money that can just be diverted to the general fund because the community will never get those funds back. Thank you. Thank you very much, Ms. Adams. And let me also say that in relationship to the CDBG funds that you referred to earlier, I do think that there is some flexibility in the use of those funds. We'll hear more about that in our work session on Thursday at one o'clock. Thank you. And we'll be sure to ask that. Thank you so much. All right. Thank you. Madam Clerk, do we have another person lined up in the waiting room? Mayor, that's the only one. All right. I'm going to ask again if Pilar Rocha Goldberg would like to try again to get in. I'm sorry that she wasn't able to speak the first time. I'm going to wait and just make sure that she doesn't want to try one more time. I want to thank Council Member Freeman for watching that YouTube chat and letting us know that there were people that wanted to get in. Thank you, Council Member. You're welcome. Also, she noted that she's having some internet trouble, so she's trying again. All right. We'll be patient. Thank you. Mr. Mayor, just a quick comment. I'm not sure where this is on the agenda for the upcoming budget work sessions, but can we make sure that our admin gives us more detail about the funding from the sale of 505 West Chapel Hill Street and their recommendation that we move that money into the general fund? Yes. Thank you. Thank you. I'm sure staff has heard that and will be ready to do that. We're still waiting for Ms. Rocha Goldberg, and we'll just give it another couple of minutes and see if her internet situation works out. This isn't the most interesting meeting that we've ever had, at least this part of it. Mr. Mayor, at least we're not running our fine language prevents where the governor has. That's a great point. We're making it easy. You don't want to entertain us, Mr. Mayor? No, I do not. We already had the city manager's report. I think that was that was the important entertainment for the night. We've got the substance. Mr. Mayor, there are no additional speakers in the attendee waiting room. All right. All right. Colleagues, I expected this meant that because Ms. Adams could get in that this was probably something on Ms. Rocha Goldberg's end, at least in the second try. So we will, of course, be happy to take over the next 24 hours additional comments to this amendment. And I'm sorry that that we are in the situation we're in, but I look forward to hearing her comments. Let me go back now. We have a motion on the floor to conduct the to approve the draft proposed amendments and to authorize the city manager to execute all administrative requirements to contract contractual documents. And we are going to do take a roll call vote per the instructions of our city attorney. Madam clerk, will you please call the roll? Mayor Schuhl? Aye. Mayor Pro Tem Johnson? Aye. Councilmember Caballero? Aye. Councilmember Freeman? Councilmember Middleton? Aye. Councilmember Reese? Aye. Thank you. Thank you very much. The ayes have it. The motion passes unanimously. I will see you while I'm councilmember Caballero. I'm sorry. Yeah, I'm just wondering earlier when we passed the consent agenda and reading the city attorney's memo around passing if we need to do a roll call for that as well instead of just a show of hands if we that's going to be our new protocol. Madam attorney, should we go back and take that vote by a roll call? I'm happy to do so if you advise so. I apologize. I missed that one. Yes. The remote meeting statute now requires that any vote be taken by roll call. Great. Thank you so much. We'll now take a vote again to we'll have we'll we'll I'll accept a new motion that we approve the consent agenda. Move to approve. Second. Been moved to approve and seconded that we approve the consent agenda. Madam clerk, will you please call the roll? Mayor Shul? Aye. Mayor Pro Tem Johnson? Aye. Councilmember Caballero? Aye. Councilmember Freeman? Aye. Councilmember Middleton? Aye. Councilmember Reese? Aye. Thank you. Thank you everybody. I really appreciate everybody's help tonight getting us through this. It wasn't the smoothest ever but it was our first public hearing in this new format and I think we've all learned some things and we'll continue to improve. I see no other business before us so there being no further business to come before this body. I'm declaring this meeting adjourned at 8.02 p.m. and I will see you all at the work session.