 Hey team, how are you guys? Hey, Mark Anthony. Good to see you guys you too 30 seconds I want to call this meeting of the Durham City Council to order at 7 o'clock p.m. On June the 1st 2020 I Certainly want to welcome everyone here tonight. I want to thank those people who are listening and Watching how whatever form that might be tonight from home or wherever you are and welcome you to this Meeting of the Durham City Council I want to thank our staff and Our tech staff Our public affairs staff and others for making it possible for us to broadcast the meeting in this way As we have our moment of silent meditation tonight, and I'll ask you to join me in that moment that silent meditation in a moment I ask us all to remember George Floyd His family His friends all who loved him and to keep them in our hearts Please join me in a moment of silent meditation Thank you And now I'll ask councilmember Reese if he'll lead us in the pledge to the flag Thank you, mr. Mayor. I think I've gotten myself unmuted now and good evening colleagues and members of the public are listening at home I will now recite the pledge of allegiance 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 Madam clerk. Will you please call the roll? Mayor shul here mayor pro tem johnson here councilmember caballero here councilmember freeman Councilmember middleton Councilmember Reese here. Thank you. Thank you Thank you. Thank you, madam clerk And now we will go to announcements by members of the council Madam mayor pro tem Thank you, mr. Mayor. Um, I just wanted to say a few words tonight about the Um experience that we're having this last week in our country Um, I want to first express my solidarity with the family's friends and communities of george floyd bianna taylor I'm an arborie and all of the victims of police and racist vigilante violence across the united states I want to send my love to everyone who's been out in the streets over the last few days to honor their lives and to Um, my fellow elected officials here in north carolina and around the country who've joined their constituents in the streets including Three members of our city council As we've tried to mitigate the impacts of the coven 19 pandemic and the economic crisis that it's caused The many other social ills that we face as a country have continued unabated including The epidemic of white supremacy that began with the colonization and founding of our country and continues today As a mother of two black boys my family and I face the consequences of this epidemic every day a few months ago I sent my 13 year old son to a neighbor's home to give them a misdelivered package and I waited on my front porch the whole time anxiously Waiting to see if he was going to make it home. Okay I regularly see posts from neighbors on list serves reporting the presence of black people in their neighborhoods As if we don't have the right to exist on the street As a child in the 1980s my mother warned my younger brother not to play with toy guns So the police wouldn't think he had a real gun and shoot him Decades later the only thing that's really changed is that the ubiquity of phone cameras and live streaming technology has brought the reality Of this experience to a new and broader audience Over the last few days police forces across the country have recklessly and needlessly escalated conflicts with demonstrators in Minneapolis, New York, Atlanta, Charlotte, Raleigh and other cities and even shot and killed David McAddy an unarmed black resident in Louisville, Kentucky Police have responded to nonviolent demonstrations with chemical and projectile weapons They've attacked journalists causing serious injuries that have been documented on video and film And have ironically caused these abuses to be reported on accurately, which is extremely rare Even more disturbingly right wing paramilitaries and provocateurs have traveled to many cities including cities right here in North Carolina In order to start conflicts with police and manipulate this outpouring of resistance to police violence to satisfy their own political goals Many have pointed out the obvious difference in the way that police forces across the country have responded to this current wave of protests In contrast to the recent wave of armed right right wing defiance of stay at home orders that were almost entirely left alone by law enforcement Even when they shut down the entire state legislature in michigan Here in Durham, we're fortunate to have both elected and police leadership that value de-escalation and non-confrontational approaches to demonstrations I want to appreciate the work of our police chief cj davis and her staff in avoiding needless conflicts with demonstrators over the last few days I also want to appreciate the work of the many community leaders and organs and organizers and organizations who have spent much of the last decade Doing the hard work of pushing a police reform agenda to this point Without their work, we wouldn't have the leadership that we have today in the city And as many of us remember the response to the protests of heizu's work his death just over six years ago We know how different things used to be we're in a much better place today with our new police chief and with different leadership at our city But I also want to caution us against feeling superior to other cities or The or acting like policing issues don't exist here too. Our city still spends A significant and growing amount of money on policing. We still have a significant racial disparity in traffic stops We have use of force policies that don't follow best practices were preempted by the state from implementing transparent body camber policies We don't have functional civilian oversight or review board with any real authority to enforce changes and practices Again, that's an issue where we're preempted by the state of north carolina We've made a lot of progress here in Durham, but we still have a long way to go to get where we need to be So there's important work to do here in Durham as there is around the country to continue to move toward a safer and healthier community for all of us Just before the covet pandemic hit we passed bylaws for community safety and wellness task force And invited Durham county and the Durham school board to join us in implementing this new board Understandably covet has delayed much of our work But I'll be following up with our colleagues on the county commission and school board to make sure that this work can begin As soon as possible I continue to support calls from community members to invest public money in community safety outside of policing as well as education Healthcare housing recreation economic inclusion and building a stronger and more inclusive democracy I continue to be troubled by the amount of money that we spend on policing That I know could be spent on more effective community-based interventions to promote safety and wellness in Durham But we have to build those systems. We have to create those interventions And I've been a strong advocate for for changing these spending priorities in the past and I'll continue to advocate for different priorities in the future The only way out is through We won't solve these problems until we address systemic racism in all of our institutions But especially in our criminal legal system until we do black people will continue to suffer disproportionately From a system that values property wealth business and the maintenance of the status quo over black lives This is a rough time for a lot of us And so I also just wanted to take a moment to remind everyone to take care of yourself and take care of each other I've been doing movement work for 20 years And I'm regularly in the streets with people who've been doing this work for 50 years or more And I believe them when they say it's a marathon not a sprint Take some time for yourself and have some energy left to fight tomorrow and the next day And the next day for the better world that we all deserve. Thank you, mr. Mayor Thank you so much. Madam mayor pro tem Who else would like to speak during announcements? councilmember middleton Thank you, mr. Mayor. Good evening colleagues and good evening all who are watching I'm gonna thank my colleague mayor Madam mayor pro tem Johnson for for saying some critically important things I think we need to hear in Durham and around the nation this evening I um, mr. Mayor, you've gabbled us in to session this evening While chaos is going on in our country tonight Much of what's going on this evening and has been going on for the past week. Mr. Mayor I believe is actually just unsettled business That america has had on its ledger Since before its birth since before its inception Those matters are still rearing their head even today So I want to I want to firstly just commend you and thank you, mr. Mayor on the leadership you provided For a number of mayors who signed a wonderful statement That I think captured the heart of our city It's no wasn't surprised to me at all that the mayor of Durham Would be at the forefront of that effort was extremely proud Particularly given the dearth of leadership we have coming From the highest levels of our government Sometimes we at the local level feels like we're on our own as mayors and council people and others So I want to thank you for your leadership. I also want to commend Likewise a chief davis on their department on on what I thought was a great job that they did this past weekend In maintaining a profile that was very low They actually assisted a movement rather than hindered it non confrontational non Intimidating tight presence as we're seeing other departments exhibit around the country I do want to echo Mayor pro tem's Admonishment not to get too cocky or to get too comfortable because we had Pretty much event-free demonstration this weekend There are rumors that that folk aren't too happy with those some folk aren't too happy with the way things went This past weekend and they plan on trying to Assert themselves in our city and I just want to issue a call tonight To folk that I that I've worked with over the years of the decades and allied with on on work in this city Whether we've agreed or not Philosophically and sometimes we've had differences in philosophy never in the end result But I think philosophically I I want to call on those that have done the work and who are Lovers of this city if you're going to be in the streets tonight To keep our eyes open for those who don't really love us Who don't care about the floyd family who don't share our tears, but they're here to co-opt and preempt us This is durham We know the difference between a confederate monument and a mom and pop store where we get milk and vegetables for our babies We don't need to be uh told the difference between those two things. We understand that here in durham We understand the difference between a pharmacy and the symbol of oppression And the fire has already been lit in terms in durham the fire has been lit in our hearts The fire has been lit in our spirits and our souls fire is already burning in durham Yeah, equity and for justice So i'm just imploring those of us that that know durham those of us that love durham If we're out in the streets tonight, uh as we mourn As we have this collective outpouring of grief and resolve Uh to finish the unfinished business of the united states of america To make us be who we say we are If you've got a little bit of energy also to keep your eyes open for those Who aren't down with us who aren't down with the movement Keep an eye out for those who would seek to take advantage of our pain and take advantage of our tears This evening. This is durham. This is the bull city So we know bull and we don't need anybody bringing any more bull into the bull city So i'm calling on friends and allies tonight to keep your eyes open as we hit the streets We continue to express solidarity with with the name all the names that the mayor pro tem Has called amad arbery bryanna taylor and george floyd And to those countless names we will never know about because no cameras were present We will finish the work of making us who we say we are as a country and I think Durham's going to be ground zero for it. May god bless the floyd family god bless his memory God bless durham black lives matter. Thank you mr. Mayor Thank you very much councilmember Would anyone else like to speak? Is there anyone else that would like to speak during announcements? I would mr. Mayor Councilmember freeman Thank you. I don't want to repeat what's been said and I really appreciate all that's been said from mayor pro tem and councilmember middleten I do want to uplift just how hard Um, it is to kind of come face to face with this Um, as I think someone gave me the term uninvited mental health trauma and being able to Yeah, be amongst so many people in this city. I'm just so I'm overwhelmed with the pride of how we've handled Our own grief and our own hurt and our healing that's needed right now. I um I'm so grateful to uh, to the work that's been done over the years And I'll probably remain off the video because it's been I'm just not fit for public consumption and I've been trying my best to not do this Because I always do and loss of life any life Is hard and lost at the hands of an officer who is supposed to protect this service is It's the hardest to swallow especially. Oh my gosh and I don't want to keep keep um going down this road But I do want to say that it's important It is really important and I'm speaking specifically to black people in this city That you do take time and you acknowledge the hurt the harm And the pain that you're feeling Um There are no words I can feel it in my bones I can feel it All throughout my body the trauma I'm carrying is It's just in my dna And it is the reason I do what I do how I do it And I want to be mindful of the fact that these issues around race and racism Are with us and we have to address them We have to be willing to have those hard conversations And we have to be willing to do more than that And moving towards the actions. I know that today on a call with The national urban league and NAACP and other civil rights leaders Five years ago A commission was pulled together federally to address this So that none of our states would have to go through this same type of Anx and whether or not officers would be charged and we're still at the same place of ground zero Nationally I'm grateful to the work that our officers are doing here in Durham. I'm grateful to chief davis And I I I really want to just reiterate Just how far we have to go And that none of us are exempt From doing this work, but uh I really appreciate all that everyone is is pulling putting forward in trying to move us forward in this and Just want to thank you councilmember, thank you so much and I think we all understand anybody's need To be off-camera some tonight under these circumstances councilmember reese Thank you, mr. Mayor I'm as always Just amazed at my colleagues and uh the way that they can talk about these issues in the way that marries the deep personal Connection they have to this work with the very deep policy knowledge that each of them brings and I just want to thank the mayor pro 10 Councilmember middleton and councilmember freeman for expressing what we're all feeling tonight Mr. Mayor our country is in crisis tonight Um around the country we have seen Uh really an epidemic of police violence that has That we only know the slightest bit of because some folks happened to video recorded Um, that's certainly the case in the killing of george floyd Breonna taylor is another victim of police violence I'm out of Aubrey was a victim of vigilante violence But these these incidents have really shocked the conscience of our nation yet again and have drawn our attention yet again To the epidemic of police violence that continues to plague these united states and this is an epidemic That of course is the natural outgrowth of america's original sense of racism and white supremacy Really are original and still ongoing sense um that insidiously Seek to value black lives less than white ones as the result Of a rampaging out of control flavor of capitalism that enlists police violence as a means to protect private property All too often punishing small acts like attempted forgery Um with the death of those alleged to have committed And finally it's the end product of a decades long legal project project To provide almost absolute immunity to law enforcement officers for some of the most heinous acts they perform in the line of duty Now the solutions to ending this epidemic are clear We all know them more accountability for police officers and law enforcement officers better use of force guidelines and more resources For community solutions that keep our community safe outside of the context of law enforcement And i'm proud to say that this city council has been on the forefront of that work And we must redouble our efforts in the weeks and months to come the people of this city Demand it they need it and they have to have it Mr. Mayor this weekend here in durham We saw a day-long protest in downtown durham that did not feature Some of the kinds of police provocation and overreaction that we saw in other cities with here in north caroline and around the country That response to protest was a testament Um on the one hand to the leadership of durham's fantastic police chief cj davis But perhaps just as importantly to the hard work of hundreds of persistent and passionate community leaders Over a course of generations that made that kind of police leadership and the leadership that we've seen on this city council possible And tonight Mr. Mayor as councilmember middleton alluded to protesters are back in the streets of durham Asking simply that america stopped killing black folks and that our government at all levels Take concrete action to make that promise a reality for every resident Black lives matter mr. Mayor as you know as well as i do if we want to live up to what that promise truly represents We must have turned to that work now. I look forward to Reaching out on those issues in the days and weeks to come I thank you mr. Mayor Thank you so much councilmember councilmember caballero Thank you mr. Mayor. Good evening everyone my colleague city staff and everyone in the community who's joining us tonight Thank you to all my colleagues for their remarks. I think we're all struggling right now When we rang in 2020 And what seems like a lifetime ago? I know we never thought that two pandemics would collide in the manner that they have this year One of our pandemics is is new corona virus It's taken the life of over a hundred thousand us americans and many thousands across the globe Corona virus virus leaves us in a place of uncertainty What our future brings is unclear in many ways, but it's a virus Something unpredictable biological And it's designed right now is beyond our control the second pandemic I want to talk about a structural racism This pandemic is not beyond our control is not biological and it is not unpredictable It has been constructed and renewed for over 400 years And black folks have suffered its traumas while white folks have benefited One of the latest and most public examples of racism in our country was george voids murder Right on the heel of briana taylor and on med arbery all lynched by police or white supremacists Many of us have taken to the streets and protests and grief and we have seen The response in cities across this country due to the militarization of the police and durham We have tried to take a different approach and while our work is imperfect and incomplete when my daughter and I attended the protest here in durham on saturday The police response was markedly different Than what we have seen on social media and in the news and I want to applaud chief davis for her diligent work She's done a remarkable job changing the culture in durham's police department But I would be remiss if I did not also applaud and acknowledge the years of work of so many dedicated community members who on a daily basis remind us We must be ever vigilant of our past I especially want to champion the work of so many black women who have dedicated their lives and labor and forced us to implement changes here in durham around police violence These community leaders have constantly shown us the way the path the way forward and I'm grateful for their sacrifices I want to end on this note Our work ahead will be will continue to be painful and hard I will be listening to and taking the lead from black folks I will continue to do work on my own racism as I know how deep and rampant anti blackness is rooted within the latinx community I will continue to teach my children to be anti-racist And I hope all of us will say the words black lives matter over and over again Like a prayer like a mantra until those words are no longer necessary Because of the promise of justice and equity because the promise of justice and equity has been delivered Thank you Thank you so much councilmember Colleagues those were fantastic fantastic words and i'm so grateful to each of you for Those powerful expressions I will I don't have anything to add except I do want to read the statement The councilmember middleton alluded to On saturday midday. I realized that one of the ways to try to fill the vacuum in leadership In this country About the murder of george floyd was to have local leadership Talk about the murder of george floyd What it meant how would she respond? So I drafted this Sent it to a couple of other mayors thought I might get a few mayors to sign on And it took on a life of its own. Um, we now have more than 80 mayors in north carolina Cities and towns who have signed on and more are coming all the time So I want to read the statement. It's very brief North Carolina mayor statement on the murder of george floyd As mayors of cities in north carolina, we have come together to express our abhorrence Of the horrific murder of george floyd An act of unspeakable violence cold in humanity and racism The photographic evidence of this act speaks for itself Mr. Floyd was suffocated to death by a minneapolis police officer While pleading for his life as three other officers nelter stood by and did nothing to help him Even as he called out, I can't breathe As a as a society, we cannot tolerate this kind of police violence Rooted in systemic racism As mayors we work closely with the public police leadership in our cities And we know that they also will not tolerate this kind of police violence and racism within their forces Such acts not only harm innocent people But they also deeply erode trust in our police forces despite the good work of so many officers every day Officers who themselves support the racism and violence so evident the death of george floyd Our hearts go out to mr. Floyd and his family We support mayor jacob frive minneapolis and his call for justice and accountability We expect a full and fair trial of police officers involved We also support the rights of those who are peacefully protesting And honoring the memory of george floyd and countless others That have been victims of systemic racism and police violence Let's work together to ensure that protests remain peaceful and stay focused on building equitable In just cities for all in north carolina And we pledge to make every effort within our power to fight systemic racism within our police forces cities and this nation and signed by mayors from murphy to mania and we will This has Just been released on social media with more of these signatures and as more come in we'll continue to do that so Again, thank you all so much for your words. They were very very powerful and We need to continue to do this work The words are important and we know that we need to do the work guys along with it So thank you so much colleagues We'll now move on to priority items And we'll begin with the city manager Thank you. Mr. Mayor members of city council. Good evening uh, mr. Mayor, I want to reiterate So many of the words that you all have so eloquently said I think at this time political leadership local political political leadership is what is going to get us through This terribly tragic place we find ourselves in today And I want to thank you and all of the members of council for your willingness to speak out but also trust CJ davis the chief of police chief davis and I Continuing to work very closely together as we've addressed the challenge, but I don't want to take an ounce of the credit She deserves The credit that has been put her way As she has over the last several years Truly transformed many aspects of the Durham police department. Are we perfect? No And we have a ways to go but we're we are along along the way of a path that I think is going to lead to a much better Relationship and much better outcomes particularly at times of crisis like this So I think this is a time for local political leadership political statements Not administrative statements. So I don't I don't want to spend too much time on that also want to mention this evening As some of you know, I had a procedure today that X is limiting me to get a suit coat on this evening So instead I looked for a short sleeve black shirt that I thought would be appropriate to to wear an acknowledgement of the the The darkness that is facing us right now, but also one that I'm hopeful That we will for particularly in Durham find our way out of so. Thank you. I just have some very minor Items this evening where on four of the agenda items We've added additional information that the council had requested at the work session But those are my only priority items and thank you again for your support and in particular your support at chief Davis Thank you very much mr. Manager Madam attorney Good evening, mr. Mayor madam mayor pretend members of city council Um before I tell you I don't have any priority items. I want to say thank you so much for your words It is incredibly edifying and encouraging to work for a governing council that has such political courage and such strong conviction about justice and equality in this country. I can tell you that My staff and I spend a lot of time kind of expressing our appreciation amongst one another and our pride in in our city Both in the courageous leaders that are in the community, but also the courageous leaders that are on this council So thank you so much for allowing us to serve If there's anything the city attorney's office can do to help facilitate Um the work that you all are doing on this front Please don't hesitate to ask us. We are we're ready to go and we have no priority items Thank you. Thank you so much madam attorney Madam clerk Good evening, mr. Mayor city council. Um, I just wanted to thank you also for your words of courage and and uh equity and To trust everyone in Durham to do the right thing And I do have a priority item. It is For public comments to be heard and accepted After the public hearings tonight There is an email box that's been created And the email is public hearing dot comment At durham nc dot gov The p and the h and public hearing are capitalized and then there's a dot and then comment is capitalized for the c And if anyone would like to Make comments after the meeting tonight for the next 72 hours We will be accepting your comments So that's all I have mr. Mayor Madam clerk, would you repeat the the email again? Certainly, it's public hearing dot comment At durham nc dot gov The p and the h and public hearing are capitalized Then there's the dot and then the capital c and comment So we will be accepting comments after the meeting tonight for 72 hours Thank you. Thank you very much madam clerk We'll now move to the consent agenda The consent agenda is made up of items that the council has been working on previously The the consent agenda can be approved by a single vote of the council unless an item is pulled by a council member a member of the public in which case The item will be heard at the end of the meeting Consent agenda item one approval of city council minutes item two participatory budgeting pb grant agreement with el futuro incorporated Item three interlocal agreement with durham county for the sharing of sales tax revenue item four amend the f y19 20 budget internal service fund spending plan and other grant and capital project ordinances and amendments item five loan commitment to development ventures ink for commerce street seniors apartments item six loan commitment to durham housing authority durham Development ventures ink for elizabeth street apartments item seven contract amendment number one for the installation of federally funded u.s. Department of Housing and Urban Development HUD signalized pedestrian improvements Item eight allston avenue sidewalk project item nine interlocal agreement for mobile ticketing item 10 mobile ticketing system item 11 transit fare capping policy item 13 insurance plan f y 21 item 14 bid report april 2020 I uh item 15 cooperative group purchase contract seven sut fen heavy duty fully customized pumpers for the durham fire department item 16 contract the linear tree services llc for the removal of trees and Want to thank the administration and the linear tree services for the additional information on their hiring that was Excellent to receive item 17 u.s. Department of Housing and Urban Development HUD 2020 partnership and initiative grant General and those are the consent agenda items And I'll take a motion now for the approval of the consent agenda Move approval so Can move it but move by the mayor pro tem and seconded by councilmember middleton that we approve the consent agenda madam clerk Where you vote? I just wanted to make a comment Uh-huh There were a couple of items on the agenda That I know committee community members mentioned not being able to get comments in on And I just want to highlight. It's the I think it's uh, it's item two uh Or hold on. I'm sorry was items two 27 and I know there was a storm water fee and the water fees and the participatory budgeting I just want to note that the The fact that we only had about four or five comments is definitely out of the ordinary And so just noting that this process Needs to be a little bit more fleshed out so we're figuring out how to reach more people Or making sure the people who aren't online have access And that that's just pretty much it I just want to make sure we're we're figuring out what it is That's missing because uh four or five comments definitely seems really low Thank you councilmember And I do want to Remind all councilmembers that we have received those comments And we're made available to us by the clerk and I appreciate it. Thank you councilmember Can I have uh, uh, so we have we have a motion in a second madam clerk. Will you please call the vote Mayor shul I your pro tem johnson. Hi councilmember caballero Hi councilmember freeman Hi councilmember middleton. I vote yay and councilmember reese I thank you Thank you, madam clerk. The eyes have it and the motion passes unanimously We'll now move to our general business agenda public hearings um Although we've had one public hearing tonight's public hearings are going to be more difficult technically And I want to really thank the clerk and our technical staff for working so hard on this and I think I've been remiss in previous meetings also and not thanking the clerk and the clerk staff They have been such a huge part of Making the technology go here and uh, so madam clerk, please um, please accept our appreciation Um, our first item is General business agenda public hearing f y 2021 budget f y 20 to 21 to 26 capital improvement program cip And uh, we'll now hear from I believe, um, well, I see I see bertha johnson miss johnson Good evening mayor members of council Bertha johnson director of budget and management services. This is a event For us to have an opportunity to receive comments from the public on the fiscal year 2021 budget and capital improvement plan I'm happy to answer any questions Thank you so much. Are there any questions by council members at this time? Thank you so much. Um, and we'll now move to public comment madam clerk Do we have public comment for this item? mayor schul We have as far as i'm aware nithaniel Eretner and water management employee Are signed up for the budget item? All right. Thank you so much Um, and so i'll uh, is is mr. Eretner available to speak to us madam clerk Yes, sir I just unmuted him Mr. Eretner welcome, we're glad to have you and Uh, you we you have uh, is your camera working? Do you know or are you just calling in by phone? Just audio Okay, great. We're glad to have you and you have three minutes 370s hamming street and i'm here to talk about the police department budget As part of this uh, the proposed budget um I believe we need to divest as a community and as a government from the institution of policing This budget proposes 681 full-time positions for the police Which is over 200 more than any other department with a budget of 68 million, which is a third of our general fund and I have to ask What we're getting for this cost? I can't tell you a single incident in my neighborhood that required the response to arm people trained in lethal force I can tell you that every day in my neighborhood I can see people who need housing and food and medical care and for someone in official capacity to reach out with these services Each wednesday. I see cars lined up around the block for a local for church food pantry And we fund the police at such a level rather than expanding public services as a poverty of our imagination of what government can be If we cannot conceive of the city without substantial policing is because policing has become our default response to community issues Our police force feels stretched thin It is because we ask the police to do too much reaching far into realms where someone with different training could do it Better and more efficiently And i'm sensitive to the fact that 681 jobs is a lot of jobs But these are not the jobs we need people doing right now There are better ways to put people to work to build our community rather than simply exerting control Beyond the issue of this opportunity cost. There's a question of utility When it is commonly accepted that there's threatened to call the police and a black person as a threatened death sentence How can any of us in good conscience consider this a service that we can use? How can the service provide its purported goal of safety to the over 100,000 black citizens of this city? And how can I support a service that works for me, but endangers my neighbor? In the past week, we've seen dramatic demonstrations of how the police prioritize their own power over the interests of the populations They ostensibly serve And of course we can pet ourselves in the back for relatively peaceful protests here in Durham One doesn't have to go that far back in history to find incidents of abuse and undue violence committed by our police force Individual and cultural changes are admirable but fragile and cannot be depended on when structural issues remain We know that the police as an institution is built on violence We know it promises safety for some and condemnation to an impoverished and abused criminal black brothers And we hear about police reform But we have evidence that training programs do not work lower incidents of police violence or racial bias We have evidence that body cameras are ineffective at creating accountability and we can take away weapons But no weapon was needed to murder george floyd I encourage this council and the mayor to look at this time of mass unemployment economic crisis and see that Maintaining the police budget is a disservice to our community. It must take the opportunity to refocus our resources and providing services Actually make all our people safer Thank you Thank you very much. Mr. Gertner We now have uh someone who's identified only as water management employee Is that person available to the phone? How are you welcome? Thank you You you have three minutes I understand I believe the city has misled its employees and their families by insinuating It'll need to tighten its belt for the hard times ahead by eradicating the merit pay increases for its city workers this year All while holding a 35.4 million dollar surplus in the general fund And when merit raises would only cost the city 6.9 million from that fund still leaving the city with a 28 million dollar surplus Tom bonfield sent out a letter to city employees and their family saying He appreciates our frontline workers and the hard work that they do But apparently not enough to give us our hard earned wage increases for putting our lives on the line And those of our families we return home to each day Potentially infecting due to a presently rapidly growing infection rate throughout the state and country upon reopening We don't need empty words of appreciation. We want to see our dedications to our residents rewarded City workers received a mass printed paper letter with a printed signature from our city manager with no monetary value A letter that ended up in the trash by every underappreciated worker that read it and learned that their hard work for the year would once again Go unnoticed all while the city furloughed Parks and rec workers during a time when they needed money the most amidst this pandemic We want to drop the excuses and give city workers the raises we earned for keeping this city alive during a pandemic We see that six more police officers were approved in february seven more being asked to be approved now While you ignore the people that keep sewage out of your homes and clean water supply to your faucets trash out of your homes And from piling up on your properties and your streets swept and cleaned from debris You say thank you to us while turning your back to us. Thank you Thank you very much Madam clerk, do we have any other speakers on this item? Mayor that's all I can tell that we have we have multiple attendees But I can't tell what they're here to speak about I've received one one chat from one of the attendees and they're going to leave an email. They're going to be writing us an email And don't want to speak so I believe that's all Okay, should I ask them if they want to speak to the budget? Uh, I see now that uh, Danielle purifoy wants to speak to the budget and says she had signed up So can you um Contact miss purifoy. She's one of the attendees Okay, she's unmuted Miss purifoy, are you with us? Can you hear me? Yes, we can welcome and you have three minutes Thank you I'm Danielle purifoy and i'm here as a representative of durham beyond policing A coalition of durham-based organizers who believe we can build a public safety system rooted in public resources and community Accountability not punishment and surveillance Last year we came before you with a counter proposal to the public safety budget Demanding that the council reject the increase of police officers in this city and with a proposal for a community led safety And wellness task force to bring forth alternatives to policing effort that prioritize care through resources Professional public health-based support and community accountability and restorative justice practices And we commend your support those of you that supported us in that last year But this year in the middle of a pandemic that has killed over 100,000 people in this country and 944 people in north carolina In the midst of a nine million dollar budget shortfall denials of city wage City employee wage increases in the face of possible layoffs and many evictions pending the lifted the lift of the governor's stay The current budget Still allocates over 70 million dollars to the police A five percent increase to their budget This is a profound failure of imagination At this very moment my comrades your constituents are out in the streets in the middle of a pandemic Fighting for another system that we know is possible that folks around the world are already building We began that that world is one where violence is not met with met with rote fear-based decisions to punish We began this year with emergency evacuations of public housing that had been so horrendously neglected that residents health and safety was compromised We began this year with hundreds of evictions every month And we began this year with hundreds of people without viable and consistent access to shelter And that was all pre-covid 19 And my question is what else needs to happen for us to prioritize serving people over punishing them Mayor shul in the two years that I lived in your neighborhood I can recall seeing police cars a total of two times and I work from home So I see the streets there a lot In the month that I've lived in east durham. I've seen several a day Just two weeks ago. I and others in our community witnessed the police raid the home of a black family for three hours They threw a flash bomb in the house with children in it and made the family stand outside Stand outside mostly without masks for those three hours We have several eyewitnesses and video and photo photographic footage of that That um, uh, we will share with the community the the family's consent What I want to say is the bottom line as the other folks who have um, who spoken before me have mentioned is the folks who are rallying in the streets tonight have mentioned is that Something has to give Right, like this the situation in this country the situation in the city is not going to get any better Until we actually decide that what we need is to actually support our community And to prioritize their health and safety and well-being over punishing them throwing them in jail and And um end day during the public health during this pandemic. And so I respectfully Uh, you know advocate against right this increase in the the police budget in favor of reallocating resources that protect our community. Thank you Thank you very much. Ms. Purifoy We have other We have other attendees at the meeting. Is there any other attendee that would like to speak on the budget? If so Uh, if you would like to put your I just put in the chat that you would like to speak and we'll make sure even though you haven't signed up prior That you're able to speak. Is there any other attendee that would like to To be heard I want to thank all those who spoke on the um on this public hearing and uh Hearing no other speakers. I'm going to declare this public hearing closed Thank you very much. Ms. Johnson colleagues, uh, we've heard the Uh comments on the budget and the capital improvement program and of course Uh All of this will be coming for us and we will have all these comments Uh and others that we've received an email Um To be considering as we deliberate on our budget and capital improvement plan So I want to thank all the speakers tonight. Our next item is item 22 600 north roxburgh And I believe mr. Others may be our I see I see mr. Young mr. Young welcome Good evening, mr. Mayor Thank you. Um, it's good to be here tonight. I um as you are well aware We uh suspended public hearings on zoning annexation Expendement items um following march 16th meeting Um due to concerns about coronavirus and having public hearings in a way that was safe Uh and accessible to the public and I want to take just a moment to appreciate You all the clerk the manager's office technology solutions and public affairs Who have worked closely with our excellent staff? um to come up with protocols and notice changes and notice to make sure that um these um public hearings for these land use items that are going to commence tonight and go through Uh your next regular meeting on march 16th You know on three special um special call meetings on june 10th june 24th and july 1st Are open and accessible to the public. Um, so as you're aware that the clerk is received Um, I don't know if I'm not sure she's received any but she's had um the availability of folks to make comments Written comments in advance and she will provide you any notices she receives in that regard We also have provided notice for folks To uh with the notice that went out with this item and all subsequent items the opportunity to Regist pre-register to speak at tonight's meeting and I know there are some folks that have pre-registered to speak And an opportunity for folks to call in Live at this meeting So we we do believe that um all um so I can certify for the record that Required notice was provided or affidavits to that effect on file with the planning department and we do believe that um This item and all subsequent items will be um fully compliant law. I'm fully accessible So with that I'll turn it over to mr. Others to introduce the case. Thank you Thank you mr. Young and Welcome mr. Others I'm Emily struthers for the planning department and thank you pat for the introduction there um And as pat stated this item has been advertised in According to the state and local law and affidavits of all notices are on file with the planning department A request for a zoning map change has been received from tim cybers with four bath associates This site is 0.707 acres and is located generally at 600 north roxburgh street The applicant has applied for a zoning map change from residential urban multifamily to residential urban multifamily with the development plan in order to allow for additional density Key commitments include transit related improvements of a bus pullout and bus shelter curb extensions for parallel parking spaces prominent framed entryways on the roxburgh street frontage and contributions to the Durham public schools and the city affordable housing fund Additional commitments are identified in the staff report and on the development plan Uh two points of clarification within the staff report Um the site plan for eight units referenced under item b site history has since been approved And since the initial writing of the staff report and photos taken the building has been demolished The Durham planning commission at their november 12 2019 meeting recommended approval By a vote of nine to four for the proposed residential urban multifamily with a development plan zoning Staff determines that this request is consistent with the comprehensive plan including the future land use map and other adopted ordinances and plans Two motions are required for this application The first is to adopt a consistency statement and the second is for these zoning ordinance and staff as always is available for any questions. Thank you Thank you very much mistrothers. It's nice to see you again. We've missed you even if it's only virtual you as well Um, and i'm now you've heard the report from staff. I'm now going to clay this public hearing open And first i'm going to ask if there are any questions for mistrothers by members of the council Mr. Marry's and then Thank you, sir All right find my mute button. I thank you, mr. Mayor. Uh, good evening mistrothers. It is great to see our planning staff again We have missed you our monday meeting has been a bereft of public hearings and your absence was duly noted I'm glad to get us back to business notably a short night for y'all and we'll have a bunch of long afternoons and evenings coming up Excuse me with respect to this particular zoning change I wonder if you could help me understand What changes have been made to the proposal before us since the matter was at the planning commission? I ask because a commissioner miller suggested That um that we should only approve this rezoning if it includes a commitment to include prominent street level entry ways Or other human scale architectural features Along with rocks for a street. I wonder if you could help me understand What if anything the developer has done to address that concern? Thank you Certainly, thank you for the question. Um under tax commitment tax commitment number four I believe was provided following that planning commission meeting And that is that the building shall contain one or more prominent entry ways on the rocks for a street front And to create human scale architectural features on the ground floor of the buildings and uh, my understanding is that that has addressed that concern Thank you. That's all I have mr. Mayor Thank you. Councilmember Reese council. Mayor middleton. Thank you, mr. Mayor. Um, mr. Other's good evening. Good to see you As well. Just a real quick question. How common is it? For development plans not to specify whether units will be sale or rental I thank you for that question. Uh, it is fairly common since the udo does not Doesn't have the ability to Keep track of that or regulate that And so we wouldn't be able to enforce that commitment so much Uh, so it's not common. Um in my experience for that to be a commitment or to be identified on the development plan Right. Um, my question is an enforcement or or or I'm just curious as to how does that Does that happen often when we get development plans where they don't specify? I don't remember seeing many where I didn't know whether or not they were going to be for sale or for rent Just for my own experience. I was wondering how common that was I haven't seen any myself that specify that. Um, this one does not either My understanding is that they uh intend to seek condos, but again, it's not specified specifically in the development plan Yeah, council member. Oh, I'm sorry. Council member millison if I might weigh in pat young with planning department um state law pre-empts us from regulating what's called tenure, which is Whether a structure or building is owner occupied or rental occupied There have been a few instances where there was voluntary proper that identified that Um, and that has been accepted and permissible, but it's not something we can Require and force so it's I just want to emphasize what miss strudler said that it's very Because of that state law provision. Um, it's very unusual that folks offer that my understanding from Conversations with the applicant you can certainly encourage you to discuss this with the applicant when they speak is um That these will be apartment style buildings. Uh, so that that that has a definition under our ordinance about Textural style and features But that that it may be condoed which would allow it to be for sale. So again, you can pursue that with the With the applicant tonight. Thank you. Got you. Absolutely. Thank you very much. That's all I have mr. Mayor. Thank you Thank you council member Anyone else have questions for the staff at this time? all right, then we will um now move to hearing from the people that have signed up for the public hearing Madam clerk, I believe we have two people signed up tim cybers and john burns. Am I correct? Sir, I have tim cybers in attendance. I do not have john burns Okay, I see his name as having previously signed up If mr. Burns arrives digitally We will of course get him in Um, is there anyone else madam clerk signed up to speak on this item? Yes, sir all right and um I'll just ask the attendees if there are any attendees that would like to speak on this item Uh, and have not made yourself known. Uh, you can simply put your name in the uh in the chat box and we would love to hear from you Uh, first though, uh When there only is one speaker that we know of and that's mr. Tim cybers Mr. Cybers welcome Thank you, sir Mr. Cybers, uh, you are representing the applicant. Is that correct? That is correct, sir All right. Uh, mr. Cybers, I'm going to give you five minutes. Uh, I'm not sure how much you'll need. Um, and then we could see, uh How much time you need and also if there are other speakers on the other side of this Thank you, mr. Mayor, uh, again tim cybers with whorevath associates 16 consultant place Durham, North Carolina Thank you to pat and emily and all the staff members that have been able to get these meetings virtually Not only are you excited, but I know the development community in general is excited to To be able to have virtual meetings. So The first one here is a little nerve-racking. So I'm glad I'm glad to get the ball rolling on that item You're making you're making history. Mr. Cybers Well, I hopefully it's a good way, sir The the request in front of you tonight Is a change in the rezoning from rum which allows the 12 units per acre to rumd To maximize the 20 units per acre section 6.4 point 1 of the udo allows this Uh with the with the development plan in order to exceed that 12 unit per acre rate The project is 0.7 acres We've we have completed and the city has approved as staff mentioned a site plan to construct eight condominium units on the site Which is permitted by the udo This request will maximize the density for a total of up to 14 units an increase of six units Planning commission did approve this request with a vote of nine to four The members who did vote uh against this project had some concerns with architectural commitments As you have mentioned tree coverage and affordable housing and I'll respond to those moments and momentarily Before that I want to inform you that we did hold a voluntary neighborhood meeting on september 23rd 2019 At the Durham convention center. We only had two neighbors in attendance. Um, both which of uh were in support of the application Following that meeting. We had three other adjacent property owners reach out and also provide their support of the project The development plan that's part of the uh packet from staff doesn't include commitments to bus stops architectural design elements landscape buffers building and parking setbacks 70 percent of pervious area A maximum of the 14 units as well as access points onto rocksboro street and mallard avenue The development plan also commits to providing curb extensions as requested by the bike and ped commission As well as upgrading sidewalks and constructing brick bandings on portions of the sidewalks Those improvements have actually already been included on the approved site plan that staff previously mentioned These condominium units are anticipated to sell for approximately 300 to 350 dollars a square foot Equating to sale prices in the 650 000 up to 1.25 million dollar range In response to the comments by two the planning commission members our team worked with the staff to include a text commitment That the design will contain prominent entry ways to create human scale architectural features This is provided as tax commitment number four as councilman reese and uh, emily had mentioned earlier In addition to the current commitments, i'd like to adjust two commitments tonight Uh, first being prior to issuance of the certificate of occupancy Provide a one-time 14 000 contribution to the city of Durham dedicated housing fund First i should have mentioned prior to that Staff has seen these two additional commitments and reviewed them. Um, so they are aware of these two commitments as for the additional cost for the Dedicated housing fund after working with the planning commission We delayed our project a little bit to really research the affordable units For the location as well as the selling price of these condo units Our team did agree with commissioner johnson's statement that taxpayers money should not only be used Or should not be used to subsidize high cost residential development However, our team does understand that affordable units are needed in our city and because this is a higher cost development We did want to increase our donation to a thousand dollars per unit as compared to the standard hundred dollar per unit rate The second text text commitment I would like to add tonight is to provide a minimum of the five percent tree coverage Even though our project is exempt from tree coverage We thought it was important to provide this tree coverage that was requested by the commissioner brine as well as the adjacent property owner Really, as mentioned earlier, I do really appreciate the ability to have these meetings virtually And I ask that you vote in favor of the rezoning to add Six additional units to this development if there are any questions the developer and I are available to answer them. Thank you Thank you, mr. cybers Let me just I appreciate the uh deputy city manager wanda page has indicated that If you are a person who's called in on telephone And is not a smartphone, but you would like to speak You can press star nine To raise your virtual hand. So I just want to say that Um, it seems pretty unlikely that that would be the case. But if it is the case You can press star nine to raise your virtual hand Let me ask is there anyone here is present here tonight in the attendees Who would like to speak on this item you can enter that in the chat box or If you are attending and calling in on the phone, which is not a smartphone, you can enter star nine All right seeing not I believe that is uh There's the only people we have to speak the only person we have to speak tonight is mr. cybers And I'm going to ask council members if you have any questions Or comments for the applicant I'm sorry. I see none So seeing none, I'm going to close this public hearing And the matter is now before the council We would need two motions to Approve this item the first would be a consistency statement Is there a motion that we approve the consistency statement? Move to approve the consistency statement To move by council member caballero seconded By mayor pro tem johnson that we approve the consistent the previous consistency statement Madam clerk, will you please call the roll? Mayor shul I Mayor pro tem johnson I Councilmember caballero I Councilmember freeman Councilmember middleton I Councilmember race I Thank you Thank you the eyes have it the motion carries unanimously Thank you mr. cybers Thank you very much mayor And and I want to appreciate uh the fact that a thousand dollars per unit is um now the standard Mr. Mayor there's a second item for approval on that. Oh, you're sure is thank you mr. Manager for that reminder I think that my I'll just say colleagues. I think that my My ability to miss these items are part of them is even increased in the digital age and so I appreciate the manager's help and all of you all for Helping me keep our parliamentary procedure proceeding So we have another motion necessary to adopt an ordinance in many of the udo Is there a motion? So moved Move by mayor pro tem seconded a councilmember caballero Council Madam clerk, please call the roll mayor shul. Hi your pro tem johnson. Hi councilmember caballero Hi councilmember freeman I Councilmember middleton I Councilmember Reese I Thank you Thank you, madam clerk We'll now move to item 27 f y 2021 stormwater rates We will be receiving a presentation on this conducting a public hearing And then I and then adopting the ordinance to change the fee schedule. So first We'll hear I believe from mr. Weaver Mayor shul mayor pro tem johnson and council public works This item proposes to raise stormwater rates of fiscal year f y 2021 effective july 1 2020 The presentation you're referring to was received at the work session Yes We have two other items one is to conduct a public hearing to receive public comment on the proposed f y 2021 rates And the second one is to eventually hopefully adopt an ordinance to change the fee schedule revising stormwater rates effect at july 1 2020 The public hearing was advertised in the Durham herald sun and we have an affidavits Attest to that for may 12th and may 19th notices were also placed on the city of Durham website as well as at Durham city hall and On the website it was at multiple locations and all notices included an email address stormwater rate at durham nc.gov to provide comments Comments received to date will be read by staff And when you desire comments will be accepted Legis the legislature required us to go at least through june 2nd to receive comments And if your desire just goes longer in that that is certainly as the clerk indicated they were accepting comments longer than that This item does propose to raise stormwater rates um the rates For tier one would increase by 24 cents per month for tier two would be 50 cents per month and tier three would be $1 per month The non-residential rate would increase by 50 cents per eru, which is 2400 square feet per impervious surface The annual impact for rate repairs would be for tier one would be slightly less than three dollars per year For tier two would be six dollars per year And tier three residential would be 12 dollars per year And the effect for commercial property would be at an additional six dollars per eru or 2400 square feet of impervious cover The stormwater fund is a utility in that primary source of revenues from stormwater fees Rates for all tiers are middle of the pack that are proposed when compared with our benchmark cities as reflected in the presentation at the work session The probe proposed increase supports capital funding for stormwater retrofits that comply with our forest falls lakes stage one reduction goals As well as to begin to address our pollutant load reduction requirements for third fork in northeast creeks with that that's concludes by summary we have worked with the uh finance department developed these rates through the stormwater rate model And identifying the projects up through f y 2019 with that i'm here to support you and with this uh public hearing Thank you, mr. Webeke very very very much appreciate it Councilmember councilmembers you have heard mr. Webeke's presentation And i'm now going to declare this public hearing open and first ask so any questions for Mr. Webeke Members of the council. All right. Thank you, and uh, we we did have a good chance to discuss this at our work session um Mr. Webeke you said that you had received we we did uh as councilmember freeman mentioned we already received one item uh comment by email previously Did you also receive comment mr. Webeke that we had not received that you would like to put in the record I received a comment from Jennifer buzzen Um, and I can now feel like or sure. Yes, that would be fine From jennifer buzzen to derm city council as a resident of derm and environmental engineer and informer employee of the stormwater and gis division Of the public works department. I urge city council to support the proposed f y 2021 stormwater rates The rate increases do mainly to efforts needed to comply with the falls lake stage one existing development requirements And to begin to address total maximum daily loads TMdl's reduction requirements I support the rate increase for the following reasons the requirements to address To be addressed by the rate increase and its associated water quality improvement measures have been in effect for a while The city of derm must make more progress toward addressing them at the problems the requirements target have not been sufficiently alleviated Falls lake stage one existing development requirements became effective in january 2011 The third four creeks sediment TMdl was approved by epa in 2005 The northeast creek bacteria TMdl was approved by epa in 2003 The city of derm's national pollution discharge elimination system or npds permit mandates that we take steps to address these requirements The city's compliance with our permit will be audited in the future and we do not want to come up short The city's stormwater program has a strong reputation among north carolina regulatory officials Because this reputation often gains us a seat at the table When new studies and regulations are being discussed it is our it is to our advantage to maintain that reputation The water quality improvement measures which necessitate the rate increase will ensure that the city stays on the leading edge of the municipal stormwater field Thank you for a consideration of these comments jennifer buzzin pe 3206 courtland drive derm north caroline Thank you very much. Mr. Wepey Is there anyone else who is an attendee on this call that would like to speak on this item? If so, please, uh, you could put simply put your name in the chat if so And we'll just wait a minute for that All right. I hear no other Uh speakers see no other speakers to this item And i'm going to declare the public hearing closed Uh, the matter is now before the council We're being asked to adopt an ordinance to change the fee schedule revising stormwater rates effective on july 1st 2020 And I have a motion to that effect Is our second And moved by mayor pro tem and seconded by council member cabillero That we adopt the ordinance to change the fee schedule revising the stormwater rates Madam clerk, will you please call the roll? Mayor schull Hi, mayor pro tem johnson. Hi councilmember cabillero. Hi councilmember freeman No Councilmember middleton Hi councilmember reese Hi Thank you, madam clerk. Uh, the motion passes five to one colleagues At this time, they're being no more This is to come before this item 12 was skipped What was it mr. Manager? That was the uh water and sewer rates general business. I'm sorry I don't know. Yeah one more time. I needed correction and i'm grateful to you mr. Manager I almost adjourned without my apologies the general business agenda proposed water and sewer rates to uh Yeah, so we'll hear from staff mr. Greeley. I'm sorry. I apologize almost didn't set any water and sewer rates this year Good evening. Mayor mayor pro tem members of council. Uh, don grilly water management Um, the item before you is the proposed water and sewer rates for f y 2021 um per our discussion at the city county work session staff went and Did some further analysis and explanations which we've attached with the in additional information memo Which I hope you've had a chance to review we've also had an opportunity to Um, revise the rates since the decision for the paper performance this coming year Um, that I'll equated to a reduction of 1.2 million Dollars in the proposed budget. Um, we were able to then bring the proposed rates for a typical tier three customer from Uh, 2.9 percent down to 2.1 percent Um, the other other major question that came out of council was the discussion about the positions that were proposed For the upcoming year. Um, the department still considers them mission critical The total value of those positions is 755 thousand of which 120 thousand are the four vehicles The if those positions were not Approved to go forward then the rate would be able to be reduced from 2.1 to 1.7 percent um, the difference for tier one customer between a 1.7 percent rate increase and a 2.1 percent rate increase for tier one customer per month is three cents and with that I'd like to For open the floor for any questions by city council Thank you very much. Mr. Greeley. Um, this is not a public hearing item. So, uh, colleagues I'll ask if there are any questions for mr. Greeley or any comments All right We heard, um, mr. Greeley's presentation Uh, councilmember freeman, did you have some comments or questions? Just a comment Just acknowledging that in this time i'm a little concerned about raising the rates and I can't And good conscience move forward. Um at this time, but um, I just wanted to voice that out there Thank you councilmember Madam mayor pro tem Thank you. Mr. Mayor. Yeah, I'm a little confused about The order of these decisions like we're we're setting the rates before we approve the budget To authorize the additional positions So if we weren't to go if we were to decide not to authorize those additional positions would be then Have another action to go back and lower The rate i'm not sure. Um Until we have the discussion about the positions I'm not sure what to do about this item and and setting the rate You're you're muted If council, um, you know, it's your your call. This is in the past. We have typically Handled the rate adjustments prior to adopting the budget, but you certainly could Uh, adopt this, uh ordinance And and the rate structure the same night that you adopt the budget You know ask bertha just to be sure i'm i'm thinking that right I think there had we have done that in years past although i must admit in the last several years I think we've done it prior to finalizing the budget And part of that I think is just accumulating in the all of the budget documents so that they're correct instead of doing it kind of on the floor Sure, I think that I mean at least in you know, my tenure This is the only year that we've had this sort of budget situation. And so I think I would Feel more comfortable having the conversation about positions so that we have more information In order to set the correct rate Um colleagues any more comments on that? Um Mr manager, would you be comfortable if we held it and voted on it the same night as we did vote it on the budget Well, mr. Mayor, so the only the the challenge will be the ability to calculate a new rate on the on the floor I see what you're saying. Yeah It is uh, it would really be next to impossible. I mean you could certainly adopt the The rate structure the way you have it and then not approve the positions And then those monies would just be you know held held with In some other reserve capacity for future years adjustments But it would be very difficult to you know Depending on on which positions you would approve or not to just you know, I see calculate that Just, you know, I don't want to say on the fly but on the floor Sure understood understood Uh, see councilmember melton's hand Thank you, uh, mr. Mayor and then I Did I be sure? Okay, you recognize me. Thank you, mr. Mayor. I saw charlie's hand as well I um, I was the one who asked a question about the mission the mission critical question And and I appreciate the response Don it seems to me the answer was parsed along It seems to me an answer about improved customer service and regulatory issues and I guess in my mind the rubric that I was operating under At our last meeting was Efficiency and value added are critical are extremely important But I I don't know that I would put those under mission critical in this context now the regulatory issues Which I think there are three positions attached to us meeting our regulatory standards Is that correct that there are three positions that will address regulatory issues? Yes, and that they equate roughly 241,000 of the 755,000 right I guess for me if if if the rate increases being driven by an anticipation that we're going to go ahead and just Pass the additional FTEs Then I don't know how much punting to the night Where we adopt is going to be helpful to the same night adopting the rate and the Isn't the same night seem to me we're at a cross with what we need to make a decision as a council as to whether or not we're going to You know line by line if we find these um positions Uh, justifiable If they are in fact the driving force or at least a major driving force behind the rate increase I'm prepared to say tonight. I I would be willing to consider the three Regulatory related positions But I would probably need some more coaxing in terms of the other which undoubtedly add value and increase efficiency I'm not I'm not doubting the The wisdom of the positions at all. I'm going to be very clear about that what I do Think in our current climate You know, I'm averse to raising rates or you know taxes on folk like all of us are And if if that's what's driving this rate increase for the most part, though all those 11 positions Then um, I think I would place more priority on the three which are connected to regulatory Standards, but that's that's my position. So I'll leave it at that. Thank you, mr. Mayor Thank you councilmember councilmember reese Sometimes it's hard to find that mute button when it's your turn Um So what the the rate has to be set before the start of the new fiscal year? Is that right? Ideally, yes okay, um Is there something keeping us from? Uh addressing that at a special meeting after the adoption of the budget I mean, we're going to adopt the budget somewhere in the neighborhood of I think two weeks before the end of the fiscal year I'm after we make a decision about the positions There should be sufficient time to calculate the new rate. Um, I don't know how long it would take a week whatever it takes And then come back to us for a special session just to just to pass the The storm the water and sewer rates um, typically when we pass the rates they aren't in fact July 1 with the first billing to occur in august So it'd be a question of um, if we still want to push the Have the same kind of Month in advance notice of when we actually adopt the rates That affects how much revenue we do get and could actually drive the rates up a little bit If we try to recover them all in one year We already have a special meeting scheduled, uh for other purposes Uh, mr. Manager, uh, I was I was going to mention that mr. Mayor tell that I think we've got Two or three special meetings following the adoption of the uh the budget And and both of those are prior to july 1st at least one of them is july 1st actually which would still be all right All right Well, let me just then ask you mr. Manager. You can hear, uh the council's, uh Uh interest in The situation with these positions. I don't think we have a consensus yet. I know we don't have a consensus yet But there's more discussion wanted Uh for you and mr. Greeley, what's your comfort level with adopting the budget? As we usually do and then after adopting that budget when we'll have taken up the question of the positions We would then come back And set the rates at a meeting between When we adopted the budget and the end of june Mr. Mayor, I think ideally Because we do have the budget reconciliation item on the work session for thursday And acknowledging it's a long it'll be a long meeting any event, but I think it's possible that you know that we could reconcile that even thursday Okay, we may not have it rather than at the final budget adoption night on the 15th So that would give us some time If we need longer than the 15th to calculate the rate then we could possibly do that later in the month If everyone's willing to to reconcile Those decisions thursday, I think we can figure out a way to get it done That would be great. Mr. Manager, and then that could just be a priority item from yours Well, yes, I think the the budget reconciliation item is already on the agenda Okay, this would just be you know adding a another component to that that agenda item Thank you a lot All right, colleagues. That's the way we'll proceed. Uh, mr. Greeley. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Manager, and uh, we'll look forward to Talking about that more. Um, I could tell there's some differences of opinion and that's a good thing Sure, yeah, go ahead and council member don't sorry not trying to hold you up one last question How many if any, um fte slots do you have in your org chart that are not currently filled? Um, I think we have about 22 Are there Around 22 from Go ahead. I think don's frozen up. I understand Don't really have offers out Don, could you say that again? We we missed you Sure, I'm sorry. It seems to be having a some internet connection problems here. Um At somewhere around 22 23 positions that aren't that are vacant and currently being advertised that we have not made offers to individuals Okay What's the longest one? What's the longest amount of time one has been open? Uh, I I would have to Get that we've closed some of the longer ones recently with offers. So I can provide that to you Okay, thanks much Thank you, mr. Mayor. Thank you council member Don, thank you so much and we'll see you. Um at the work session Great. Thank you. Good evening everybody um So mr. Mayor officially, I guess let's uh, can we refer that item back to administration then um Sure, since we won't know exactly which meeting to to bring it forth, but we'll be Yes, we can't hear the month. Yep. We'll refer that back to the administration and ask for their guidance Um Colleagues this reminds me the work session I sent an email to everybody about this but we have a big work session So if you if there are items on which you have Major questions, of course as usual bring them up and anything you feel the need to bring up to pull from the agenda on that day um But I'm urging everyone if you have small questions or you know, little items that you can get solved before the session Uh to please send emails to our staff Uh, and so maybe we can avoid pulling as many items as We would normally the normal proportion given this large agenda So just urging everybody to try to do as much of that as ahead of time as we can Mr. Manager have I finally finished all the items? Yes, sir Okay, I'm sorry about that last one There being no other business to come before this City council tonight. I'm going to declare the meeting to adjourned at 8 28 And colleagues, I look forward to seeing you on thursday everybody stay safe