 Good evening. We'd like to call the Durham City Council meeting to order Monday at 7.03 p.m. I certainly want to welcome all of you that are in attendance this evening. If we could just take a moment for silent meditation, please Thank you. I would ask Councilman Brown if he could leave us in the pledge. Madam Clerk, would you call the roll please? Mayor Bell. Mayor Pro Tem Cole McFadden. Councilmember Brown. Councilmember Cattady. Councilmember Moffitt. Yes. And Councilmember Schill. We have two recognitions to make this evening. The first being national public works week proclamation. Like Marvin Williams, the director of public works. If you would join me and anyone else that you'd like to bring forth. Some of you may have seen the posters as you came into the lobby this evening. This proclamation speaks to the fact that public works services provided in our community are an integral part of our citizens everyday lives. Whereas the sport of an understanding and informed citizenry is vital to the efficient operation of public works systems and programs such as water, sewers, street and highways, public buildings and solid waste collection. Whereas the health safety and comfort of this community greatly depends on these facilities and services. Whereas the quality and effectiveness of these facilities as well as their planning, design and construction is vitally dependent upon the efforts and skill of public works officials. Whereas the efficiency of the qualified and dedicated personnel who staffed public works departments is materially influenced by the people's attitude and understanding of the importance of the work they perform. Now therefore, William v. Bill Bell, Mayor of the City of Durham, North Carolina do hereby proclaim the week of May 19th through 24th 2013 as National Public Works Week in Durham. And hereby I call upon all citizens and civil organizations to quaint themselves with the issues involved in providing our public works and to recognize the contributions which public works officials make every day to our health, safety, comfort and quality of life. With my hand, the Corporate City of Durham, North Carolina, this is the 20th day of May 2013. I'd like to present this to Mr. Williams for new comments. Thank you, Mayor Bell, Mayor pro 10 members of council. Just on behalf of the staff, I'd like to thank all of you for the recognition for the all the hard work that the public work staff does on a daily basis. We're one of those departments that we usually go unnoticed until things go wrong. So it's good to get this positive each year to remind to remind the staff and the public that what we do is important. We did have several events planned for this year, but unfortunately because of weather and end of grade testing, we've had to delay some of those events until next week. But we will have some job shadowing opportunities going on within the department this week where our engineering and storm, our staff will be exchanging places with our maintenance staff for a couple of days and vice versa. We'll also have a department gathering this Friday at our operation center. And next week, hopefully we will hopefully we'll be able to start construction on the rain garden for one elementary schools and have some equipment displays at a few elementary and middle schools throughout the city. So we're still trying to work out the exact date since the weather didn't is not on our side this week, but we do want to thank you for that and invite you to participate once we have those dates and locations finalized. Thank you. Good evening. I am so excited about what I'm about to do. This is the first year that we have had two winners of the Colmack Fadden Diversity Change Agent Award. Because of the sincerity expressed both nominations, the selection committee decided that it was a tie and that both should be honored and recognized for the contributions that they have made to promote diversity through their actions and deeds. The 2013 honorees are Ruby, Hargrove, Mons, and John Conyers. Let's give them a round of applause. And we'll be doing that later. Just a bit. You may be seated. You'll have to stand about three more times. Ruby Hargrove Mons is highly respected in her role as human resources manager and always goes over and above and beyond when called upon. She always makes herself available to train staff, support departments, and to nurture staff when needed. She is fair-minded and demonstrates leadership at the highest level. Above all, she treats everyone fairly and with respect. She always leaves a person's dignity intact and maintains a strong sense of integrity in all that she does. She is a model employee for the city of Durham. Now, John Conyers is also highly respected in his role as custodian for City Hall. John Conyers is a dedicated employee. He never meets a stranger and he loves his job. His focus is to do the very best that every task that he undertakes. John always demonstrates genuine diversity because he connects well with people from all backgrounds. He speaks to everyone and always asks, how are you doing? And he waits for you to respond. He really does. He is a good listener and is easy to talk to. He tries to see the positive in everyone and he always reaches out to you. And it doesn't matter if you are the city manager or a stranger who comes to City Hall. He's the same. John has an easy going temperament and he demonstrates selflessness in his actions and deeds. Both Ruby and John truly promote the Diversity Council's mission, which is helping City of Durham employees honor and promote diversity by helping them to value differences. I am proud to honor both of them. And without further ado, please welcome to the podium Ruby Hybro Minds and John Conyers. Come on down. I just want to say thank you to the City of Durham employees and to the person who nominated me. Thank you very, very much. I would like to thank Ms. Cormie Fett and I would like to thank the mayor and I would like to thank the whole City Council and wanted that nominated me for this award. Thank you very much. Well deserved. Let me ask other comments by any of the council members. If not, then I would ask for prior items first by the city manager. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Good evening, everyone. No priority items received. Likewise, City Attorney. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. No priority items. And Madam City Clerk. No items, Mr. Mayor. We're proceed with the agenda as presented. The consent agenda items, as you know, may be approved with a single vote about a council. If a member of the council or member of the public asks for a consent agenda item to be removed for discussion, we'll do that and discuss it later in the program. Consent agenda items item one is overtime performance audit, March 2013. Item two is storm water utility fee performance audit, April 2013. Item four is request to amend grant project ordinance number 14398, high intensity drug trafficking areas. Item five is a contract for ST265, 2013, street repairs and repaving. Item six is an item that can be found on the general business agenda. Item seven is contract MR10, residential meter replacement project phase for Vanguard utility service Inc. Item eight is Department of Water Management, Miss Lake facility master plan. Item nine is an item that can be found on the general business agenda. Item 10 is an item that can be found on the general business agenda as a public hearing. I'll entertain a motion for the approval of the consent agenda items. It's been properly moved in second. Madam Clerk, we open the vote. You close the vote. It passes. Six does he work? We move to the general business agenda and I'm going to ask that item nine, the proposed physical year 2013, 2014 budget and physical year 2014, 2019 capital improvement plan be presented first and then we'll have item six on the general business agenda. And I'll turn the program over to the city manager, Tom Bonfield. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Good evening, Mayor Bell, Mayor Pro Tem Cole McFadden, members of council, city attorney Baker, city clerk, Ms. Gray, city staff that are here with us this evening and residents of Durham here tonight and those viewing either on DTV eight or possibly in a few days from now on demand. It continues to be my honor to be entrusted to lead this great organization and the over 2400 city employees committed to service within the organization and throughout the community. I am pleased to be here before everyone this evening to officially present the proposed budget for the city of Durham for the 2013 2014 fiscal year. For years, we who live here have known that Durham is a great place to live, work and play. And each year that fact is affirmed by visitors, national publications, and many other organizations. Just last month, the small office, the world's smallest office, received an international award for creativity and innovation from the world chamber of commerce. More significantly, this was the first time this award has ever been received by a city in the United States. I congratulate our partners at the greater Durham chamber of commerce and downtown Durham Inc. for putting Durham's innovation and creativity on the global map. Among other recognitions, you may recall back in April, just last month, Durham was named the tastiest town in the south by Southern Living Magazine, an acknowledgment that almost every one of us will agree with. Durham, with our more than 700 restaurants, shared companies with other megastar destinations like New Orleans, Charleston and Memphis, and we won. Thanks to our great and varied culture, but just as important, but just as important, thanks to the votes from Durham residents and visitors. I also want to take the opportunity to recognize the Durham Convention and Visitors Bureau for their great work to receive this recognition. Among the accolades used to describe Durham's food scene, diverse, affordable, healthy, sustainable, accessible, and of course delicious. This year, as I thought about the tasty town theme and all the words to describe it, I thought it was analogous to developing a budget. Is it sustainable? That is, can we meet community needs for the long haul? Is it affordable? Do we have the resources to pay for our needs and wants? Is there diversity? Does it contain something for everyone? Is it healthy? Does the budget contain the right ingredients for proper development and growth? And as much as we would like something of everything on the menu, how do we select what ends up on our plate? The proposed budget attempts to answer these questions. Just as the tastiest town title was successful because of voter participation, the city's budget process also needed community participation. As in the past years, we listened to the elected officials and to the residents in many different ways as we prepared the budget. And I'd certainly like to take this first opportunity to again thank the Mayor and City Council for their guidance and participation from the beginning of the budget process and certainly the residents who let us hear their voices along the way. And while Durham's restaurant scene is varied, the restaurants all have a strategic focus, great food and great service. Durham's strategic plan goals play a major role in driving the budget process for the city. These goals are supported by ingredients, programs and services, if you may, that are measured to ensure that resources are used effectively and the decisions about the budget are based on data. The continued prioritization of programs aligned with strategic plan goals demanded that budget priorities and new programs clearly support improving the city's economy, community, neighborhoods, management or its infrastructure. While in the end, it's all about the food to be successful, great restaurants also have to be greatly managed, well managed. And that includes being properly financed, being creative with atmosphere and presentation, having great employees that provide great customer service, reducing waste to be cost effective, well you get the picture. So to our commitment for being a well managed city includes a highly engaged workforce that is committed to excellence, creativity and service. We are an organization that works to provide cost effective services and adheres to sound financial practices. Many factors determine a well managed city including cost of services, adequate resources to provide them including fair and reasonable tax rates along with responsible debt ratios, bond ratings and reserves. This year's total budget, proposed total budget is $381 million for all funds and represents a $7.8 million or a little more than 2% increase over last year's budget. The proposed general fund budget which provides for most of the city's core services is almost $170 million, a decrease of a little more than $7 million or about 4% from last year. This decrease is in large part the result of a new special revenue fund to better track the penny for housing tax enacted last year and reclassifying tax revenues and related expenditures more appropriately into the debt fund. All told after all these accounting adjustments from a budget to budget basis, property and sales tax revenues, the largest percentage of revenues available to support general fund operations are expected to be relatively flat even in best case analysis because actual revenues are not even meeting this year's budget estimates. The most significant bright spot of general fund revenue picture is the projected growth and licenses and permits due to the significant increase in development activity and building permit reviews that we are seeing again this year and we are expected to see next year. The recommended total property tax rate for next year remains at 56.75 cents per $100 of taxable value. The table shows how the property tax is to be allocated to cover property tax supported city expenses. This includes increased support for transit and a reallocation of support for debt related expenditures and of course the continued penny for housing. The proposed general fund expenditures include a small increase in personnel expenditures, a decrease in operating expenditures and a sizable decrease in transfers as discussed in the tax rate comparison chart. The general fund as I've said is principally supported by property tax, sales tax and the distribution of state collected local revenues. While the local economy is certainly on the rebound, an increase in these revenues to the anticipated levels has just not yet occurred. The sluggish revenue growth coupled with continued increases in public safety costs and the decline in state and federal revenue sources to support existing transit services have required that we look at other operations to reduce costs and balance the budget. As a result, the proposed budget cuts $1.5 million including 16 positions from operating department budgets. Four of these 16 positions are currently filled and we expect that the affected employees will be transitioned to other comparable positions. The proposed budget continues to meet our general fund balance reserve policies which are projected to be 12.15 percent at year end. The proposed budget also uses $300,000 of fund balance reserves for one time expenditures. The city continues to enjoy an outstanding credit rating by all rating agencies in part due to a debt ratio consistent with city policies that is projected to be at 14.32 percent next year which is below the budget guideline of 15 percent. As mentioned earlier, city employees continue to excel and are at the core of the positive resident satisfaction results from recent surveys. It is fair and important that the city reward performance to maintain a competitive and motivated workforce. While it was hoped this budget would support reinstituting a more robust performance-based increase, unfortunately, current resources cannot support more than that over the last two years, which is a 2 percent increase for general employee pay plan and a 3 to 5 percent increase for the police and fire pay plans. While these pace adjustments are certainly in line with current inflationary guidelines, they in no way reflect what I believe our employees have earned. On a very bright note, the city's self-insurance plan, health plan, continues to perform at a very high level and as a result we are pleased that for the second consecutive year there will not be a premium increase for health insurance. This is particularly noteworthy as health industry trends continue to reflect double-digit cost increases. Dental insurance premiums will, however, need to be increased by nearly 3 percent. Community partnerships contribute greatly to a well-run city. Endurant partnerships between the city, county, and Durham public schools are critical to assure residents that resources are deployed efficiently, collaboratively, and without duplication. This past year we saw the fruition of collaborations on our joint strategic plans to benefit the overall community. This proposed budget continues to build on our agreed-upon shared responsibilities, including warrant control, providing homeless services, gang reduction strategies, sustainability, connecting youth, school resources, and many other areas. Especially important this year, I am recommending the city partner with the county and Durham public schools to fund two new positions for the Durham system of care. These positions will support the challenges of at-risk youth and connect all youth in our community to educational and job development opportunities, as was recommended in the IBM Smarter Cities Challenge initiative that was completed last year. Promoting a strong and diverse economy through growth in business and industry, including small and entrepreneurial businesses, as well as employment opportunities, continues to be at the forefront of the menu in this year's budget. Continued signs of economic recovery can be seen throughout the community, from the continued resurgence of downtown's new restaurants, hotels, and residential options, to expansions on Duke's medical campus, to new vision for Research Triangle Park, it's not difficult to feel good about our progress and prospects. Yet we know many gaps remain to assure that economic progress and prosperity is shared throughout Durham. Business improvement grants are funded to boost downtown revitalization. This budget also includes funds for para street improvements, including building enhancements and operating expenses, and other neighborhood revitalization grants. The downtown bid is proposed to remain at seven cents per $100 of assessed value and continues to generate positive reviews from downtown businesses and visitors. I would like to take this opportunity to highlight the Find Your Cool Summer Concert series that has begun downtown, bringing employees and Durham residents to the heart of downtown to enjoy great music and our restaurants, of course. I invite everyone downtown every Thursday night this summer to check it out. Connecting businesses to job seekers is another high priority. While we'll continue to provide services to businesses in partnership with the Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce, downtown Durham, Inc., area colleges and universities, we'll also continue the JobLink Career Center partnership to train and connect potential employees to businesses seeking local talent. Unemployment is still too high for area youth, and to help remedy that, the newly branded Durham Youth Work Internship Program represents a broad-based community approach to provide jobs to youth. Special thanks to Durham County, the Durham Public Schools, the JobLink Career Center System, the Durham Workforce Development Board, and private sector businesses for helping expand this program. Arts and culture continues to be a great source of leisure and entertainment, as well as an important economic driver. In addition to the public-private partnership that operates the highly successful Durham Performing Arts Center without outside operating support, this budget also provides over $1.6 million to support the operations of other great arts and culture venues, as seen on the slide, as well as nationally-renowned signature events and festivals. Continued funding for public art is also included in the budget. The City will also partner with the Cultural Advisory Board, the Durham Arts Council, and other local agencies on a North Carolina Arts Council smart grant to develop a plan to use art to improve connectivity. A safe and secure community continues to be one of the community's highest priorities and uses the greatest available, the greatest share of available resources. Thanks to continued community involvement, as well as best practice public safety initiatives and partnerships, Durham's crime rate continues on a downward trend. At the same time, first response times for fire and emergency services have improved because of improved technologies and better deployment of resources. A new joint initiative to improve cardiac resuscitation rates is also showing significant results. While three administrative positions in the police and fire departments were eliminated in the budget, all of the sworn positions are fully funded. The budget includes funding for 16 police department positions that were previously funded by grants. It also includes a 911 systems manager that will be funded by existing telephone surcharges. Other items include new funding for additional staffing for forensics accreditation and as you will see later on the Capital Improvement Plan, design support for new police headquarters, new 911 center, new fire station in Southeast Durham and additional automatic vehicle locators on fire vehicles to improve response times. As mentioned earlier, this budget continues to fund public safety partnerships with Durham County and I'm pleased to announce based on statistics provided by Sheriff Andrews that the four year warrant backlog elimination project jointly funded by the city and the county is expected to be successfully completed by the end of September. This budget fully funds that the city share to complete that project. This budget also begins to fund a new partnership between the city county and sheriff's office to provide ongoing warrant control support in the magistrate's office. The budget also continues a funding partnership with Durham County to support the gang reduction strategy initiative housed in the criminal justice resource center. Durham's underfunded criminal justice system continues to be a great challenge and burden for a number of years. The city has provided, has directly provided or secure grant funding for a number of positions that otherwise would be funded by a properly funded judicial system as federal and state supported resource grants continue to dwindle. There is even more pressure to maintain these programs which further strains available local resources for our core services. This budget provides funding for domestic violence judge and funding for an assistant district attorney for gang prosecution continued funding for other grant criminal justice positions that have or will expire over the next two years are not provided in this budget. Strong neighborhoods are the building blocks of a thriving and livable community and continue to be a high priority for Durham. While many Durham neighborhoods are satisfied with the services they receive from the city we know that other neighborhoods need additional help and attention to become thriving and livable. In addition to existing programs to support and improve neighborhoods such as code enforcement and affordable housing through the city's dedicated housing fund a new initiative called the neighborhood compass is funded this year. The goal of the neighborhood compass is to collect data that provides key information to evaluate and improve the quality of life in our neighborhoods and the services we provide. It is built on a model that has proven to be successful in many communities nationwide and supports a key initiative in the strategic plan. Redevelopment within the Southside communities hit full stride this year and promised to deliver the first tangible fruits of decades of planning and efforts as the first phase of mixed income rental units at the intersection of Lake Lakewood and Roxboro in the first phase of affordable home ownership units in the Southside St. Teresa neighborhood are completed next year. This proposed budget provides for these initiatives in the five year housing funding plan changes are underway to provide improved transit services as a result of the designing a better bus service study. However as voter approved expanded bus service and rail plans begin to be implemented we continue to be challenged by diminished resources and increased costs needed to meet our transit aspirations. As mentioned earlier this budget includes an increase in property tax dollar allocation of approximately one point two million dollars to pay for core transit services bringing the total annual transit property tax allocation for dated to almost nine million dollars. While maintaining the regular boarding fee at one dollar this budget includes a fair a proposed fair increase to the multi-day pass all without reducing current routes or using any of the newly enacted motor vehicle fee charges for expanded service. These fair changes will generate an additional three hundred and seventy one thousand dollars to support closing the one point six million dollar funding gap in in data that we started with in transit. A public hearing associated with these fair changes will be held at the June 3rd City Council meeting. Fiscal year 2013 is a critical year for the city's transit system. While the management agreement with triangle transit has been very successful for the financial viability and continued success in the long term it is critical that a complete and fully funded transition plan be developed to assure that basic and enhanced services are properly funded. Over the last several years the solid waste management department has continued to improve by pursuing efficiencies and cost effective practices as well as by identifying additional revenue generating opportunities. The department is primarily supported by general fund tax revenues rather than a direct user charge. Fortunately the overall general fund has benefited greatly from these cost saving improvements. The department continues to pursue waste diversion as a principal goal in seeing an increased interest in yard waste and recycling programs. The department will expand a program in the coming year called Operation Divert to increase recycling in underperforming areas of the city. As a result of new disposal agreements for household solid waste and recycling materials to be presented to the city council at Thursday's work session a new three point four million dollar transfer station will be constructed by waste industries to improve transfer station operations. Unfortunately the department continues to struggle with adequate resources to provide for truck fleet a truck fleet that meets the daily demands to collect waste from over 80,000 households each week. In order to assure an available dedicated funding source to provide for fleet replacement this budget includes a solid waste capital recovery fee of one dollar and fifty cents per household per month beginning July 1st. For most residents this charge will appear on their water bill. While this fee is new to Durham we are one of the last cities in North Carolina to initiate a monthly charge for garbage collection services. The downtown and ninth street parking study was commissioned this fiscal year to evaluate the parking resources and needs in these two important districts. The results will be presented to council later this summer. This budget however does contain several of the recommendations in the study including the increasing the monthly fees for parking lots and parking decks in the downtown area beginning October 1st as well as increased special event parking fees by one dollar beginning July the 1st. These increased rates will generate an estimated total of two hundred and forty five thousand dollars per year that would otherwise be required of the general fund to subsidize the parking fund. The parking study also identified the need for a full-time position to mark to manage parking resources. These activities are currently managed only as time permits with existing resources and the proposed budget includes this recommendation. Maintaining and managing fiscal physical and environmental assets to attain community goals is a critical component of our success. However because these assets are sometimes less visible or can be very costly to maintain or improve difficult decisions are often delayed due to more urgent operational funding needs. City has made significant strides to commit funding over the last several years to address long-standing physical asset deficiencies. This budget continues this progress even though resource restrictions continue to keep us from reaching ideal spending patterns. Replacing and repairing aging water and sewer infrastructure while meeting increasingly stringent water quality regulations to be a continues to be a high priority for the city. The rate increases recently approved by the city council are included in this budget and these increases will generate more than three million dollars for water and sewer as well as storm water improvements. This budget continues funding deferred maintenance projects at five hundred thousand dollars. A complete list of projects to be funded will be be provided to the city council during the upcoming budget work sessions. The completion of the twenty ten bond paving program earlier this year significantly improved the condition of poor and very poor rated streets in our community. A new pavement condition survey is currently underway and will provide an updated look at the conditions of our streets. Despite continuing resource limitations the budget does provide seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars for street repaving to meet expected needs however this is short of our initial our initial budget goal of one million dollars. This budget does include debt financing to acquire approximately six million dollars worth of fleet vehicles including police and fire vehicles. The capital improvement budget includes nearly fifty three million dollars for new projects or to complete existing projects. On this list other projects deemed essential to the city's capital infrastructure needs are funded many of which were referenced earlier in this presentation. I'm confident that this budget proposal represents a healthy sustainable varied and affordable menu that meets Durham's needs and expectations just as in any dining experience your thoughts are important. While we are not available for a critique on Yelp questions and comments can be sent in a number of ways by email on the city's Facebook page or Twitter feed or even by video submission on the city's YouTube channel. Here's your chance to let us know what you think then we'll respond to your comments and answer as many questions as we can during our live e-town hall event on Monday June the 3rd which will be aired on DTV8 and streamlined on the streamed on the city's website. In addition to our e-town event here are some other ways you can let us know what you think copies of the preliminary budget are available on the city's website and the city clerk's office and in the library branches. Also later this year of course we'll conduct our 2013 resident satisfaction survey for more positive feedback about how we are doing. As we prepare for the 2013 resident satisfaction survey we'll continue to strive to maximize satisfaction by allocating resources to the highest community priorities knowing that the results of the 2011 survey indicated that three and four residents in Durham believe the city was moving in the right direction and that this level of satisfaction is up almost 25 percent from 2005. I'm confident that working together we can find the right balance to optimize resources and priorities but clearly we cannot afford every item on the menu. As communities across the country continue to face unprecedented challenges we are fortunate to live in a place that continues to lead create and innovate with incredibly engaged residents who have shown a great willingness to pay for what they believe in and value. I am confident that the proposed budget continues a commitment of innovation and improvement to help advance our community and meet the needs of all of our residents with transparency stewardship and fiscal responsibility. In closing I want to iterate on behalf of the entire staff that we are honored to be entrusted with the stewardship of these community resources and to serve the residents of Durham. I continue to appreciate and value the close working relationship between the mayor and the city council the city administration and also congratulate all members of the council on your collegiality in which you conduct business and interact. Your political leadership and unselfish dedication to the Durham community are appreciated and at the same time inspiring. It has been some time since the city council was a complete body at meetings due to council member Clement's extended illness. I spoke to Mr. Clement today and know that he is watching from home this evening. Last week council member Clement reached a 30-year anniversary mark on this city council a milestone in his commitment of service to this community that should be recognized and celebrated. Mr. Clement I know you're you're still listening because you promised me you would be and after hearing a hearing a city manager present a budget for the 30th time I'm sure you have heard and seen it all but I want you to know that we miss your presence and hope to see you back with us very soon. Most importantly I want you to know that this great milestone was not missed or recognized because you could not be present on the dais this evening. Congratulations and thank you for this longevity of service to the city council and to the community and we hope you're feeling better soon. In closing I want to give special recognition and thanks to the budget management services director Bertha Johnson and the entire budget staff that's sitting in the front row over here as they have been at the forefront of not just the budget development process but also the continued execution of the strategic plan the alignment of departmental strategic plans performance management system dashboard and many other process improvement initiatives this year. Thank you and finally I also want to acknowledge the work of public affairs director Beverly Thompson the entire public affairs staff not only for their work on this presentation but for all they do to represent to present the city in nothing but the best image and transparent light. Together we will continue striving to make Durham a place of excellence where great things continue to happen. Let's dig in thank you. Well as Tom comes back to the dais I certainly want to thank him for presenting a well articulated budget. I think it reflects many of the concerns and comments that we heard throughout this budget process both from the community both in our public meetings and I guess things that I've heard on the street. As probably most of you know this sets off the beginning of the council's deliberations and we will really be getting into the details of what has been outlined beginning Wednesday made a 29th 28th I guess. Wednesday 29th and 30th the council will be working in two full days to try to come together on a final budget. Again I want to congratulate the manager and certainly the staff and the community for their input and then look forward to great deliberations and a lot of detail and hopefully come up for budget that I know will satisfy everybody but will satisfy this council as a minimum. Having said okay yeah yeah we do finish the budget. We made a slight change to allow the manager to present the budget and we'll move back to the general business agenda with item six which is award extension agreement with ERC enterprises LLC to serve 2722 East Geer Street. I'm sorry did you have a comment? Councilman? Okay. Rob can you just briefly introduce this item. Thank you. Robert Joyner with the development review group for the public works department. The item before you water extension agreement with ERC enterprises LLC to serve 2722 East Geer Street. This item is for a extension agreement. This particular property is located on East Geer Street. It has a failed well documented failed well and under the ordinance it has come forward to request an extension of service to this property for this purpose. Just point out there there was some additional information that was provided based on some questions that came up in the work session as to why the staff was not pursuing annexation at this point and hopefully that information was helpful. Thank you. I'm going to recognize councilman Katani. Thank you mayor. I'll move the item but I just wanted to note and thank the manager and public work staff for the additional information that I had requested at work session. I do understand management concerns about inefficiencies particularly as a single lot and I can support this but do believe in the future as I said at work session that we should be getting these along with the annexation request so that we can see the analysis as we move forward and of course you mentioned that you already did that for this one. Certainly. Thank you. It's been moved to second. It's been moved in property second for discussion here in uncalled a question. Madam clerk will you open the vote? Close the vote. It passes 6 to 0. The next item is the general business agenda public hearings. Item 10 Liberty warehouses number one and two local historic landmark designation removal. I recognize planning director Steve Medlin. Good evening Steve Medlin with the Durham City County Planning Department. Case LD 1203 is an application for removal of the landmark designation of Liberty warehouses number one and two by Green Fire Development. The landmark property is located at 611 and 613 Rigsby Avenue. The two conjoining warehouses were built in 1938 and 1948 respectively. This property was designated by the City Council as a local historic landmark in 2010. The structure was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008. At the time of designation the statement of significance cited that Liberty Warehouse is the only surviving loose leaf tobacco auction house in downtown where once a district of such auction houses stood. When the Liberty Warehouse stopped hosting tobacco auctions in the 1980s it represented the close of a significant error in Durham's history. As the only remaining evidence in the built environment of this piece of cultural history the Liberty Warehouse is significant by association with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history and by embodying the distinctive characteristics of a type that is now rare. Despite some changes to the exterior and interior the structure remains or excuse me retains integrity. Planning Department, the State Historic Preservation Office and the Historic Preservation Commission have reviewed the submitted applications and justification and are recommending denial of this request. Glad to answer any questions you may have and the applicant is here and is prepared to do a presentation in support of their application. Thank you let me ask other questions if I remember the council before we hear from those who sign up to speak. If not I'm going to call names of persons that have signed up to speak. Let me ask is it anyone else that this is a public hearing is it anyone else that wants to speak on this item that is not signed up with the clerk's office? If you don't mind if you could just go to the desk to your left and sign one of the cards is anyone else that and the reason I'm asking this again is to try to determine how much time to allocate for this discussion. So I have 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 plus 14 persons that I want to speak on this item and unlike our rezoning matters it's not a question of giving so much time to one side and so much time to persons that are either for or against. So I'm going to allocate three minutes each to the persons that have signed up to speak and of course the council is free to ask further questions comments from the persons that speak in terms of the comments that the council may choose to make. So if you don't mind if you could move to the right to the podium to the right. I have Paul Smith, Roger Perry, Bryson Powell, Robert Chapman, Bill Kalkoff, Josh Porter, Wendy Hillis, Larry Tilly, Heather Wagner, John Martin, Peter Katz, Bo O'Reilly and the young ladies moving up. Again we aren't yielding time so I would ask if you would be considered your remarks in trying to make your presentation. Thank you Mayor Bell and City Council members. I'm Paul Smith, managing partner of Green Fire Development and current owners of the Liberty Warehouse. We're the applicant to remove the local historic landmark status from the building. The building is currently on a contract for sale to East-West partners represented here tonight by Roger Perry and Bryson Powell. They will present their plans for the future of the building momentarily. From my point of view I'd like to state that we make this request for de-listing with some disappointment and after a lot of effort to find an economically viable use of the building. If you look at Green Fire's body of work we have been at the forefront of adaptive reuse of historic buildings downtown. The Baldwin building, the Cress, three buildings at Rogers Alley and most recently the deal to bring 21C to the Hill building. However Liberty Warehouse is on a different scale. It's a 2.6 acre site with over 200 square feet under roof. Last year I engaged with community stakeholders and several potential development partners to see if we could save at least half the building for most likely a large retail use but we couldn't even come close to making the numbers work. Additionally last July Preservation Durham asked the state to grant the building statewide significance which would have given the HPC the power to block changes to the building indefinitely. The state denied the application due to the large number of all brick tobacco auction warehouses still standing throughout the state and in much better condition than Liberty specifically calling out the metal siding and metal roof as negatives. This is not to diminish the importance of the Liberty Warehouse to Durham but I think it is contextual and I think most of the Preservation folks here tonight would agree that what happened in the building is more important than any architectural significance the building has and I think the East West plan works hard to take account of that history and it's reflected in the commitment that we worked out with Preservation Durham over the weekend. So I'd like to hand it over to Roger. Good. Mayor Bell, Mayor Pro Temko, Fadden members of council. I first appeared before you in 1983 when I brought to you the plans for Woodcroft to create a new community of housing and next use in our community which I think you stood the test of time in a very sustainable way. I also note that I enjoyed very much the fact that council member Clement was there for those proceedings and was a key part in supporting our efforts for Woodcroft and we wish him well. We're excited about the chance to be developing a new community in Durham and one downtown. The fact of the matter is, as Paul said, the existing conditions at Liberty Warehouse make it both from the standpoint of when it was built and its current condition a building that is non salvageable in terms of significant redevelopment for the community. This site has been proposed for for residential and mixed use development and the way that Liberty Warehouse is built and the condition it's in simply does not provide ability to save and salvage the building. Our commitment to sustainability and preservation of the culture and history of tobacco auctioneering both in Durham and throughout the state though is significant. As a young boy I often went to tobacco auctions in Fayetteville where I grew up. We met last week in a very positive manner with Preservation Durham and came up with a list of initiatives that you see listed on the screen now to preserve and maintain the history and memorialize the culture and the past of what occurred at Liberty Warehouse. We're more than happy to both with the Preservation Commission and the historic Preservation Commission to continue those discussions and enhance those further in reasonable manners. This is a rough site plan of the preliminary site plan of the redevelopment which as you see shows three buildings. A large building on the left facing Foster Street Corporation and Central Park is a residential and commercial building wrapping a parking deck. The other two buildings are also residential and commercial buildings. You'll note at the bottom of this site plan a green space adjacent to Central Park which would become a new pocket park and a new portion of public space for the Central Park if that were to be approved by the Central Park Commission. We also opened the building to create visual and pedestrian pathways from the north or from the from the through the site to create to remove the fact that Liberty Warehouse is very much a barrier at this point. These are some more massing studies. What we're proposing is 50,000 feet of commercial space as well as residential. This is a rough rendering of the project which you can see very much takes a cue to the historical significance of the warehouse space in and around Durham with large warehouse type windows and brick construction. And finally an analysis of the tax benefits of the city of Durham in terms of real estate tax and sales tax of approximately $850,000 a year. I'd be glad to answer further questions. Thank you. I had requested that Roger make a quick presentation in terms of what the proposal was and that's why I've extended it beyond three minutes. That's the one exception. The rest of the speakers I would ask remain in three minutes. Thank you, Roger. Thank you. Bryson Powell, okay, Robert Chapman. Honorable Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, members of the council, Mr. Manager. My name is Bob Chapman. I am a 48 year resident of Durham. I have been a new urbanist real estate developer for the last 25 years with projects in Florida, Arkansas, several cities in North Carolina and two or three in Durham including Trinity Heights and some of the work that we've done on year near and foster near the site of Liberty Warehouse. I was thrilled years ago by Woodcroft. It was a real game changer. I've watched Roger's work for all these years and every project he's done has been, I've liked it more than the project before. The Falls in Raleigh, 54 East, Metamont, actually Metamont then 54 East. And I think that this project, he will, in this project he will continue his pattern of improving on what he did before and I think we're very very fortunate that he's come back to Durham. I need to say that my background is also includes receiving three pine awards for historic preservation and serving on the board of preservation Durham for a number of years. I think this is a real plus for us and I want to endorse it completely. Thank you Roger. Good evening Mayor Bell, members of the council, Bill Kalkoff, 39 Westridge Drive, Durham actually in Woodcroft. I'm here to support the removal of the designation, the historic designation of Liberty Warehouse. When I was given the opportunity to start downtown Durham, 20 years ago, you know we didn't have a river, we didn't have U. McCall writing million dollar checks to say fix downtown. We didn't have, we weren't a state capital where 35,000 employees got dumped in downtown and our tax dollars built museums there but what we did have was a lot of cool buildings and we really did undertake the renaissance of downtown Durham with an eye on the historic readaptive use of our historic properties in downtown. And I say this because I want you to know we understand the role of historic preservation in downtown's renaissance. We, it has my strong personal support, has over the years and it has obviously had a very positive impact on downtown. We are proud when I say we was the collective we over three million square feet of historic buildings in downtown we have renovated over the years. It's an amazing number. However, not all buildings can be saved renovated and make economic sense. Liberty Warehouse is one of these buildings. It is constructed of materials that are questionable in quality design and character. Over the past three years we have had a number of developers working with Paul and others to examine a building. Could it be redeveloped? Could it make economic sense? Could we save it in part or in whole? The answer kept coming back no. As a result to save the warehouse in any part would require massive significant sums of public capital dollars and ongoing public operational support. In addition, the process for the historic commission as you know has been called into question by me and many others including members of this council and as undergoing review as we speak. Any delays that the historic preservation could impose upon the development of this property would discourage any financial institutions and any private investment from moving forward. With east-west we bring you a known and reputable developer in his letter dated May 16, 2013 to Wendy Hillis of Preservation Derm with copies to you. He outlined the historic elements he will keep with the building. It's an investment of over 50 million dollars in our downtown. It's a significant growth of our tax base and tax revenues. It will create a number of jobs. Very importantly, the proposed project is consistent with the goals and vision of the downtown master plan and the Durham Central Park plan which I'm proud to say was one of the originators of. The development of this key property would have a major catalytic effect for the future investment in the Durham Central Park District of downtown and help with the connection between the city center district and the Durham Central Park District and it complements the private investments that have been made by folks like Measurement Incorporated, Durham Co-Housing, the YMCA, Bob and many others. Therefore, I ask you to support the removal of the designation. Thank you. Thank you. Next is Josh Porter. Parker. Good evening, Mr. Mayor, members of council. It's good to see you and be here. My name is Josh Parker of 3121 Cornwall Road. I'm president of the board at Preservation Durham, a private nonprofit here in Durham supporting preservation efforts across our community. I want to first thank you for your time and deliberation regarding the future of Liberty Warehouse. It's been a real pleasure to speak with many of you on this issue. Preservation Durham is particularly concerned with protecting Durham's historic assets. Durham has a rich cultural and architectural history and our very uniqueness is easily expressed by our buildings and the sense of place they instill in residents and visitors alike. Delisting of Liberty Warehouse is not our first choice tonight. However, we do understand the realities our community faces when working to balance historic preservation with revitalizing our downtown. Examples such as West Village and American Tobacco make very clear the importance of historic preservation and its value in a thoughtful economic development strategy. While Liberty Warehouse has no less rich or important a history than Lucky Strike or the Hill Tower, it is strikingly more complicated building to redevelop. Landmark status is intended to provide protection for historic buildings and an economic incentive to the private sector for their redevelopment. It's less clear in situations where a building is functionally obsolete or is deteriorated past a point of salvage, at least economically. These are both scary situations for organizations like ours but we nevertheless encounter them. Given that Liberty merits landmark status but has circumstances that make preservation all but impossible, we've been motivated to work on ways that we can accomplish as much preservation as possible while preventing the building from getting worse or disappearing altogether. It's important to highlight that this is a unique situation and not indicative of how all preservation situations should be handled in our community. PD has worked with the developer and owner on an agreement that would give us our best chance for partial preservation and full documentation of this important building. Again, given the circumstances, we feel like this is the best way to move forward. As has been noted, Roger Perry is one of the finest practitioners of his craft and we are confident that he will honor our agreement and be a great partner moving forward. We're supportive of the owner and developer's request to delist the property as a local landmark. This strategy is a reasonable compromise to prevent losing the building altogether and I'd like to introduce Wendy Hillis to provide a little more information on our agreement with the developer. Thank you again for your help and support of Preservation Durham, the Historic Preservation Commission, and preservation issues in our community. Thank you. Next is Wendy Hillis. Mayor Bell and Council members, my name is Wendy Hillis, 1516 North Duke Street, and I am the Executive Director of Preservation Durham. As most of you know, we work to protect Durham's historic assets through action, advocacy, and education. The future of Liberty Warehouse is key to our mission as it is one of the last remaining tangible connections we have to the era of tobacco auctions, a trade that greatly influenced Durham's economic success in the early 20th century and brought with it a distinct culture and atmosphere. I am pleased to share, as many others have already shared, that we have reached an agreement with Greenfire and East West partners regarding future development of the site. A letter outlining this agreement was forwarded to you via email last Thursday. In the agreement, East West partners has agreed to integrate the existing Southern Brick Wall of Liberty Warehouse into the redevelopment plans, incorporate the Northeastern Brick Facade and Liberty Signs into the redevelopment plans, reuse existing old wood materials from the warehouse within the redevelopment, and recycle those that are not reused on site, memorialize and document the Liberty Warehouse building and the tobacco auction business in Durham, use architectural forms and materials that contextually relate to the surrounding area. Perhaps most importantly, East West partners has agreed to a continued dialogue with preservation Durham around the development of Liberty Warehouse that will include regular communication and meetings as the project proceeds towards construction. Should a scenario arise where East West partners is not involved in the redevelopment of Liberty Warehouse, Greenfire Development is committed to meeting the same criteria I just outlined. Preservation Durham remains committed to the Historic Preservation Commission and their incredibly valuable volunteer work to safeguard the historic architectural integrity of Durham. The lifting of local landmark status from the Liberty Warehouse is not our first choice of action, and we maintain that the building continues to meet the criteria for local landmark status. Given real constraints, we feel that direct negotiation with the owner and developer has ultimately resulted in reaching an important objective, retention of as much of Liberty as possible. I am satisfied that Preservation Durham has done everything we can to ensure that the Liberty Warehouse will continue to serve as a link to Durham's storied and cultural past, and we will continue to work with the present and future owners of the property to ensure that our agreement is honored. At this juncture, we support the developer's request to delist the structure and thank them for their deliberations. Larry Tilley, Mayor Bill, members of the council, I'm Larry Tilley. I'm a business owner and the property owner at 636 Foster Street down the street from Liberty Warehouse also live at 1010 West Markham. I'm here in favor of delisting the property. I don't have a prepared speech, I just am here to support this development because I feel like it's the only way that this thing is going to get going, and I really want to applaud the folks that got together and worked still out between Preservation Durham and the developer. I think that's a really good thing to do instead of a big contentious meeting tonight, so I'm in favor of delisting. Thanks. Heather Wagner. Hello, I'm Heather Wagner, 209 West Trinity. I'm also the chair of the Historic Preservation Commission. On February 5th of this year, the commission reviewed the request for the removal of designation, along with current photos of the structure and the original designation landmark, landmark designation report. In weighing the evidence, the commission found that the property still met the criteria for landmark designation as outlined in section 3.17 of the unified development ordinance, and thus voted unanimously to recommend to you all the denial of the request. The report, prepared by the applicant, outlined the damage to the roof and structural supports as the reason for the request, noting that sections of the roof and interior structural supports are in need of full replacement. It further asserts that these replacements would affect the historic integrity of the building to such an extent that it would no longer meet the landmark criteria. However, the landmark designation materials submitted in 2009, which call out the character defining features of the building as justification for its architectural significance, make no mention of the specific significance of the roof and structural supports. Rather, the report indicates that while expansive roofs with skylights were typical in tobacco auction warehouses, original skylights in Liberty Warehouse had already been removed or covered with a new roof installed in the 1980s. A change that was not deemed by the historic preservation commission or this body to have negatively impacted the historic integrity of the building. Furthermore, the application materials cite extensively the cultural and historic importance of the building as Durham's last remaining auction house in downtown. Durham has been careful to preserve and celebrate its tobacco heritage, including farms, storage, and manufacturing facilities, proving that historic preservation and economic development are not only compatible but a true recipe for success. The Liberty Warehouse numbers one and two are significant as the only remaining evidence of the culture of tobacco auctions in Durham. While we realize that demolition of the structure may be inevitable, by law that demolition would be allowed regardless of the landmark designation. To remove the designation when the building still meets the designation criteria serves only to undermine the landmark program as a whole. Thus, as the preservation commission continues to strive for continuity in the implementation of the local landmark program, we urge the City Council to demonstrate the same level of consistency. We ask that you deny this request based solely on the evidence regarding the cultural and architectural significance of the property provided in the application, as you would for any landmark designation and to do so independent of potential redevelopment proposals for the site. Thank you. John Martin. Good evening. My name is John Martin. I live at 401 East Trinity Avenue, and I'm here tonight to ask you to slow down for a moment. I think I spoke one time before the Council asked you to slow down on Alston Avenue and that didn't work, but I'd like to do that again tonight. I think it's really important to understand that in the democracy the process by which you make decisions is extremely important. So I don't want to talk about the merits of the Liberty Warehouse and the problems of redevelopment. I just want to say something about the process. Let's let the process hear work. I am heartened by the fact that Mr. Perry and Preservation Durham have been talking with each other, and I think they have the best of intentions in doing that. But with all due respect, these are people meeting out of public view. Can we have a situation in which these people will talk publicly, in which the rest of the public gets a chance to offer comments on it? And we have a procedure for doing that. Mr. Perry said he's willing to work with the Historic Preservation Commission, submit your plans to the Historic Preservation Commission, and let's see what they do. If they come up with a verdict that you don't like, you can always come back to the Council and then the Council can vote to do what you're being asked to do tonight. But that's respectful of the process. To simply say tonight, well, we want to have this go forward and we don't care about whether or not it's gone through the normal kinds of channels, I think is to deny the maximum amount of citizen input. Now I know what you've been hearing. You've been hearing talk about, well, if this isn't done tonight, he'll go back to Chapel Hill and this won't happen, and presumably downtown Durham will crash and burn. Now I think you know that that's not the case. I mean 10 years ago you could make this argument. This property is eventually going to get redeveloped. I hope it will be redeveloped very, very well. And so if you don't take away landmark status tonight, the sky will not fall. Downtown Durham will continue to thrive, and this will ultimately happen, but it'll happen in a way in which there is greater openness in this process. So I would urge that you allow the process to operate. Thank you. You're welcome. Peter Katz. Good evening, Council members. My name is Peter Katz. I live at 4-2 East Trinity in Old North Durham. My concern lies mainly with what will replace the Liberty warehouse and how it will impact our area. Based on what is widely considered to be a very poor justification for delisting the Liberty warehouse, specifically on its merits, on its historic merit, and also what is, I believe, is widely and inaccurately held perception that the push to delist the property is based on facilitating and expediting the redevelopment of the building, I would argue that our focus should be on ensuring that the redevelopment occurs in a way that best complements its surroundings and speaks to our city's values. I've criticized early designs of the building as being literally cut and pasted out of the streets of South Point. I think the designs are definitely getting better, and I really appreciate the role that Preservation Durham has taken, and I appreciate the developer working with Preservation Durham to try and do a really good project there, but I think it still needs some work. Specifically, before you vote, I would like to hear more about the Mr. Perry's retail strategy. Can we expect 50,000 square feet of chain stores in this location across from Central Park, or do you intend to support local businesses? I'd also like to hear more about your residential rental policy, and I'd like to hear who will be able to afford to live in it. Thank you. Bo O'Reilly, Mayor and Council Members. My name is Bo O'Reilly, 911 West Markham Avenue here in Durham, and I'm here tonight with Cassandra Gooding and she and I serve on the Board of Liberty Arts, which is a non-profit artist collective here in Durham, so I'm here sort of representing the arts, and with the hope that the arts will sometimes be represented in the new plans here. As some of you may know, Liberty Arts maintains the pavilion, the semicircular structure on the southern end of the building. This is where our boundary is, where we have metal cores, and so we have a real stake, of course, in what what happens here, and we, of course, were tenants previously in the southern end, the interior of that building. We had studio space until the roof collapsed, and so we had to vacate along with many other artists who had affordable, we might call affordable, studio space there. Fortunately, most of us relocate, in our case, over to Golden Belt, but we still maintain the foundry there, and we're very interested in, you know, in the future and maintaining a presence there, and we hope that you will, you know, participate and be involved in the arts, so not so much here to be pro or con as far as the landmark designation, even though we very much want to honor the history, the tobacco history of the area. I think we applaud the progress that you have made, Roger, and, you know, with Preservation Durham. So, I think that that's probably it. We would hope, if possible, you know, to meet with you also and to sort of voice our hopes, really, for what may come, you know, in these plans in the future, but again, we are an artist collective, primarily metal artists with some glass and clay and some woodworking, and so we hope there'll be an artist's presence in the new plans. Debbie Pratt, is that correct? Good evening, Mayor Bell and the Durham City Council members. I'm Debbie Pratt. I was also a former tenant of Liberty Warehouse. My husband, Vernon Pratt, was an artist, and he had an awesome space, just an awesome space. He built it with his own hands. I have, actually, it's been over two years since the roof collapsed at Liberty Warehouse. I have two questions to ask the Durham City Council members. After you found Green Fire properties responsible of the demolition of neglect and gave them an October 213 deadline to comply with the necessary repairs to Liberty Warehouse, did you start finding Green Fire properties up to $500 daily? If, in fact, you did not find Green Fire properties and no penalty was issued, I want to know why not. If you don't mind if you continue your presentation. That's it. Thank you. I've got those two questions. Thank you. Philip Azar. Thank you. Mayor Bell, Mayor Pro-10, City Council members. Obviously tonight a very difficult and important vote in terms of the direction of Durham is going. Historic tax credits and incentives have been important to Durham for a long time and have done a lot of good. It seems to me tonight that if the decision is made to delist the Liberty Warehouse, it's not really based on the merits and what the Historic Preservation Commission has studied and said and the criteria that are set out. It's because there are other urgencies. It's simply infeasible and City Council has made that determination. It would be my hope if that is the route that you go, that it's done in a way where the work that the Historic Preservation Commission has done can be honored and continue to go on. It may just be one of those times when City Council and a commission that it has created, it has populated, just need to come to different conclusions. That's not the end of the world. If the decision was made to originally list it, it was made in good faith. If it needs to be delisted in good faith, let it be delisted in good faith. But it doesn't need to be done under any idea that the commission has done and the individual members have done anything but serve the way they should in accordance with the criteria and statutes and ordinances. Again, I think Durham has done very, very well not just by the commission's work and this type of tax credits, but in all the local and national historic districts in town. It's helped a lot, a lot of ways. And if this is one instance where there needs to be a parting of the ways, let there be a parting of the ways. Thank you very much. Welcome. Let me ask, is it anyone else that wants to speak on this item? This has been a public hearing items. Anyone else who wants to speak to this not spoken? Let the record reflect that no one else asked to speak on this item. I am going to close the public hearing and I guess I do have a few remarks that I like to make and I'm sure members of my colleagues on the council probably have comments they want to make also. First of all, the only reason that we're here tonight discussing this issue is because almost two to three years ago, almost three years ago, the city council, by a vote of four to three, decided to designate this as a landmark, historic landmark property. I was one of the four that voted for it. And I can tell you my rationale for voting for that designation at this time preceded a lot of other things that have happened. When I first became mayor earlier on, I had Mike Lomansky and some of the investors, I think the gentleman was from Ireland to come into my office to talk about what was happening in Durham and to talk about what visions that I have as a mayor of Durham, particularly as it pertains to downtown. And after having told him at least what I thought were possibilities in Durham, one of the things that I said to them is that I don't think you'll go wrong by investing in downtown Durham. They may not remember that, but I remember it. And I really meant it when I said that. At that time, Greenfire, in my opinion, were taking on a responsibility that no one else had taken on in terms of the properties. They had a vision also, and the vision involved how they felt they would like to see the properties that they were about to purchase to be developed. And I was very supportive of that effort and still am. But as we all know, economics changed. They were not the only ones that were hurt by the downtown and the economy. And things didn't go exactly as they had planned. But I don't think it's because they didn't want it. I think it was to a certain extent it was beyond their control. So when I voted to designate this item, I voted with understanding that first admit the criteria, which we all heard. But the real rationale behind me making the vote is that I wanted to see something done with that property. And if by designating this as a landmark piece of property, it would afford an opportunity for that property to get developed, I was supportive of it. We waited almost three years now, and we've seen what has happened to the property. We've had persons that have been residents in the property to talk about the roof areas. And a young lady asked why weren't we finding them $500 a day. That isn't the issue for me. The issue is that what was the intent behind my vote to designate that property. And it simply was to try to get something done on that property in a very positive way. It hasn't happened. We now have another opportunity to make that happen. And it's not the fact that, and the reason I asked Roger to make his presentation, I sat down with Roger, and I'm sure other members of the council had done, to see what he was proposing for that property. He comes with a background of having done things in a quality way, and that's what we want in downtown. It's not like we've got somebody that's an unknown, that has not developed in this community, that doesn't have a background for developing quality products. He has that. So I am in support of delisting the property, just as I was in support of listing the property because I wanted to get something done on that site. Now, whether or not it happens, we don't know. Just like I thought it would happen when we did what we did, but it didn't. But I'm hopeful that if in fact the council comes to the determination to delist the property, that we'll be in a position to try to move positively on that property, not only for the good of the property itself, but for this community. You just heard the manager give his budget report, and one of the things we're trying to do is to continue to develop and expand the tax base in this community in a very positive way with quality products, so that we can move things forward, as a lot of people are asking us to do. So my rationale then was what I said. My rationale now for delisting the property is hopefully to get something moving on that site in a very positive way in a quality product. Having said that, I'm going to recognize other members on the council. I recognize the Mayor Pro Tem, Councilor Brown, Councilor Ducati, Councilor Moffitt, and I guess that's in that order. Yeah, I'm going to vote for it to excuse my communication challenge. Philip, I just wanted to make sure that you understand that we value the work of the commission, just as we value other committees, the planning commission. We don't always go the way that you want us to go because of certain circumstances, but we do value your work, so I don't want you to think that we're going in a different direction if we don't vote the way you want us to do that. Thank you. Councilor Brown. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Three years ago it was a rather close vote, four to three, and the Mayor and I were on the on the same side, and I voted for this partly too because of my preservation background, but an interest and concern, but I thought something good would come of it, and so here we are three years later, and certainly the vision that I had as a preservationist, and as one who favors development in downtown Durham, including Central Park, that vision has not been fulfilled, and after 10 years here representing the citizens of Durham, thank goodness there are a few votes I wish I could take back, but I'm very pleased tonight that I will be taking back my vote and supporting at least the Mayor, the Mayor Pro Tem, and delisting of this property. Secondly, I'd like to thank Paul Smith from Green Fire and Roger Perry from East West Partners, Josh Parker and Wendy Hillis for doing what you did, that is to say getting together and reaching what I think is a meaningful compromise. In fact, I think I can speak for my colleagues when I suggest that we'd like to see other people do this as well. So thanks again, and thirdly for those who are concerned about how the building will eventually look, how it fit into the neighborhood, what kind of and so on. I'm reminded of what Churchill said to paraphrase him, this is not the end but it is the beginning of the end, and by that I mean you will have numerous opportunities, not the least of which will be with a site plan review and others as well, to review the progress that's taking place now. So I don't view this as a difficult decision at all. To me, it's an easy decision, I'm excited about it, and I'm excited too that Roger Perry is here and what I have seen so far from his plan, not totally scrutinized of course, but believe me folks, it will be a hell of a lot better than what we've seen in the last three years. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I recognize Councilman Moffitt followed by Councilman Contatti. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'd like to start by thanking everyone who's testified tonight, who's taken the time to share their concerns in person and by email. We're a passionate community, and the views shared with me have run the gamut from protect it to raise it, and there hasn't been a lot in between. It's clear that the people of Durham love Liberty Warehouse, a lot of people do, or at least the interior of it, or at least the history that it represents. Gary Keeber wrote, both as a preservationist and developer, a very thoughtful and detailed essay about the building, its history, the place of tobacco in Durham's past, and what he believes should happen. We got a flood of email about the local historic designation, a lot of it in favor of retaining the designation, but there were also a number of people who favored removing it. I've been reading and listening and asking questions, and I have a few thoughts. First, this is not about a proposed project being better than what's there, or about whether removing a designation makes more money for the city than keeping it. We can't say, well it's historic, but only until something better comes along. Removing a local historic designation would remove any opportunity for binding commitments on a path forward, in this case for east-west partners, as well as for anyone else that might wind up with the property, and that's just something that we have to keep in mind. It's also not about castigating or honoring the historic preservation commission. It's not uncommon for historic preservation commissions to be somewhat controversial. They have a job to do, and when they do it right, concerns will arise from time to time. The issue is whether the council aired when they made the designation, or whether significant changes in the condition of the property have occurred since the designation was granted. Second, if this wasn't subjective, if it was based strictly on objective criteria, there'd be no need for a vote, and no mechanism for removing the designation. Whether the building merits a local historic designation is subjective. Third, the building does represent a part of Durham's history that gets short shrift, is evocative of a bygone era, and we love our history and our buildings. American tobacco, Liget Meyers, Golden Belt, Bright Leaf, and Venerable are all just part of the legacy, and this city has played a role in the preservation of each one of them. Fourth, a local historic designation does not protect the building. It does provide up to a year for developing a plan to preserve all or part of it for documenting it and memorializing it, but when that year is over, no matter what has occurred, the property owner is free to do whatever she or he chooses to do. One of the great things about Gary's essay is that you can pretty much find whatever you want to. I mean, he's got it all in there. I'm going to pick and choose a little bit. Once liberty is gone, it's gone forever. The unfortunate fact is that most of the building is quite ugly and poorly suited to be the kind of adaptive reuse that has driven projects like Golden Belt and American Tobacco and so on. It's mostly a giant shed with skylights with one attractive facade. I'm going to skip through some of this, but when the original is a giant shed, it's difficult to turn to apartments etc., then there's no way to keep the building. There are compelling reasons why liberty has little viable future as an intact structure. The historic preservation commission's power is limited and I'm going to stop there quoting him. I'm going to tell you this. I studied this building for Green Fire after they bought it and it was already in decay. Most of the skylights leaked, liberty arts flooded every time it rained even then. The scrap exchange flooded even then. The roof collapsed two years ago, the building has been vacant and it's been in decay even worse. Hand writing has been on the wall. The people who care about this building have been working on trying to save it. A committee is met on a regular basis trying to come up with solutions. Even with the historic preservation commission's guidance, if no plan has emerged in two years, what will another year give us? So I will tell you that had I been on the council in 2010 knowing what I know, it's unlikely I would have voted to grant the local historic designation. In any case, the conditions have continued to change and I cannot see now how hanging on for another year will make a difference. So as you might surmise, I will vote to rescind the local historic designation. I'm glad the property owner has to repay the tax benefit they received but as I understand it, it amounts to an interest-free loan. I would like to see the ordinance change so that in the future, interest and penalties are also assessed when the owner seeks to have the designation removed. Thank you. I will recognize councilwoman Katadi. Thank you, mayor. First, I want to start by thanking everyone. There has been quite an outpouring of emails, conversations, et cetera. And I do applaud the work of preservation Durham in coming to what I consider a compromise in working with the developer towards retaining pieces of the warehouse. I do want to thank the historic preservation commission. Thank you for serving. Thank you for your time and your effort. And I do appreciate your concerns. I will say that I did not support the historic designation when it came before us previously, so I am comfortable with delisting the property. Thank you. I recognize councilwoman Schul. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor, I wanted to ask staff to answer the question that was raised by Ms. Pratt concerning, I think a lot of people would like to know why and do not understand probably why the fines were not levied and I was wondering, perhaps Mr. Madeline, you could give an explanation of that. Absolutely. Absolutely. Steve Madeline with the Durham Planning Department. In fact, Greenfire was issued a civil citation of $500. Immediately following that, they elected to submit both the D listing of the property as well as a certificate of appropriateness for demolition pursuant to the provisions of the unified development ordinance when those applications came in the door, all enforcement actions at that point are stayed until such time as those applications are subsequently handled. We're here this evening. Obviously, if the property were to retain its historic designation, then obviously the fines would then start again. Thank you. And likewise, Mr. Perry, several people have come to the podium and asked, would you be willing to what are your thoughts about the inclusion of the arts and as related to the foundry? I wonder if you could say a word about that. And also, there were questions about the rental, the prices of rent and affordability, and also believe sort of what your thoughts were about, what your plans were for retail and any thoughts about that at this point, inclusion of local retailers. I'll try to remember all those. I can repeat them. As it relates to the retail uses, this is not a location or a place that would have appeal or will attract national retailers. We'll have to have local and one-off tight merchants in this new facility. First of all, it won't be all retail. There will be some components of office as well as retail there. My guess is that the vast majority of the retail considering what's already in the district will be based on some form of food and entertainment, music, those kinds of things. This is not, this isn't them all. I mean, this isn't a place where, this isn't a place where national retailers are attracted or will appeal to. So it'll be a local thematic retail consortium of local merchants and people in the music and entertainment business. We absolutely have a strong commitment to the arts. I was most delighted to hear the gentleman who got up and spoke about his experience in the foundry. We look forward to working with those and certainly an inclusion of public art will be part of our site planning will certainly enhance what we're building and and make it not only more attractive to the community but more economically valuable for us. So so we'll certainly we'll certainly do that. And if you'll refresh me with the other questions. I can't even remember it myself. All the rents. Yeah, the rents. The rents. Thank you. And the affordability. Thank you. The the project will be a will be designed. This is not student housing. This is not luxury housing. This is designed to be workforce housing for people working in and around in near downtown. And those people who prefer to live in a downtown setting as opposed to a more suburban or ex urban. Lifestyle. So, you know, you know, we'll we'll be we would expect that a large percentage or significant position percentage of the occupants of this new project will be working at places like American Tobacco and other places like that. You know, the rents probably will the rents will not be extraordinarily high because the units will be small. They will be small efficiency one bedroom, two bedroom homes here. So the terminal monthly rent price will be probably workforce affordable depending on how you define that term. So this is not this is not like this is not like the site next to the jack tar where we're talking about luxury condominiums and luxury housing. This is a place where it'll appeal to young creative class urbanites who have upwardly mobile careers. And you know, it'll be a you know, although I'm not it'll be a cool hip place for for for that for that creative class of people and it'll have to it'll have to retain some affordability. It'll probably retain some affordability as a function of size as much as it will anything else. Thank you very much. I know those are not those remarks are not binding but it's nice to hear them appreciate it very much. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just a couple of comments. I'm also in support of the delisting. The and I also want to add my thanks to preservation Durham and the folks that did work on this compromise the developers. Thank you. I think it's it's good. I think that the it does lead to another issue that is something that we as a community need to deal with in the in the not too distant future which is that I wasn't on the council so I don't I don't have to say I did or I didn't vote for it last time but I do think that we have a situation where the council at one point decided this was historically significant. And now the council is removing the list that it's delisting de-designating that and and doing so for reasons essentially of economics not for reasons of historic significance. This is I think a very legitimate reason a reason of economics but I do think it points out a problem that we have as a community that we really need to kind of figure out. We the people on the historic preservation commission are volunteers they give their time and they have done great work in our community. There's also I know a feeling on on part of some members of council and members of the community that the process isn't working as it should be and I'm really pleased that our planning staff is already working on this. They're they're focus groups that have been formed. I know that historic preservation that preservation Durham has offered its assistance in this process and so I think that what we need is and so so I think one of the things going on here is in answer to why John Martin has to think a great question. Why aren't we going through a different process here and I think the reason is that there's not full community confidence in the process and I think we need a process that we do have full community confidence in and I think that what planning staff is beginning to undergo and which the others of us in the community are thinking about is going to produce something better and so we need we need a process that works for the community at large and also really maintains a very strong voice in any development going forward for historic preservation and for the historic preservation commission and I think that if we do it right we can get both of those things but I think that there is at this point a lack of confidence in that process for reasons that I'm not all clear about because I haven't been in on it very long but I think it's something that we've got to try to figure out so Mr. Mayor lastly I want to say that I too have experience with the building my company has stored things there for many years and my sense of it is that it is not it's it would be very very hard to salvage short of the kind of plan that has been proposed and so I was pleased with the compromise and so thank you very much Mr. Mayor thank you and let me be clear again this is not an indictment of the preservation historic preservation side we've got a process we're following the process we're following the process it's open it's transparent each of us has had an opportunity to express our opinion on it we've gotten how many emails about four and I guess this is Durham so we're going through the process so I guess I would have an issue to talk about going through the process we've heard we've listened and it's up to the council to make a decision and I've explained why I did what I did almost three years ago others people have explained why they're doing what they're doing so we have a process and it's not a we're not denigrating anybody on the council on these commissions I said earlier on you all serve a valuable process for us you're an extension to a certain extent of the council but it doesn't always mean we're going to agree and that's the process I mean ultimately we are held accountable for decisions that we make and this is a decision that the council is making the council made a decision three years ago and the council the process allows the council to make a decision tonight so I hope no one thinks that this we don't have a process we have a process you might not like it and process is all can be improved I think I'm going to be involved in a forum a focus group with the preservation here's a blur I don't know who's doing the staff the planning staff yeah somebody's doing anyway I'm willing to participate I might be late but I'm still willing to participate so we have a process and I appreciate strongly the time and effort that the volunteers put into doing the things that they have to do but understand that at some point in time we aren't always going to be in agreement and I always reserve the right as an elected official to make a decision and that's what I'm doing tonight so I would entertain a motion on item that's yeah I closed did you say something for yeah I closed well the the managers are mind to be enough maybe I would ask the city attorney the proper motion Mr. City Attorney to delist the property it would be what okay well go ahead make the motion I keep that listed then the motion should be to it's the motion in the agenda okay to delist delist to delist yeah we we need to make sure this is correct you want to state the motion yeah I make the motion and before I do that too I I just want to add to what the mayor just articulated and that is that and I've said this before but I think tonight is worth repeating that even in Durham the discussion the debate the dialogue needs the end and that's why we are making a decision tonight and that's why I'm very pleased to make the motion to delist the property the subject property that we have been discussing on discussing on Riggs v Avenue this has been a proper movement in sucking Mr. Planning Director you satisfied with that motion yes sir Mr. Attorney you satisfied with it yes sir all right I haven't heard the motion going to call a question Madam Clerk will you open the vote close the vote it passes six to zero thank you any other items to come before the council if not council adjourned at 8 52 p.m