Knightdale Town Council Meeting

So I get [Music] Yeah. research.

Yeah.

All right. All right. Welcome, welcome everyone to our October Town Council meeting. Thank you so much for joining us. We are going to go ahead and get started this evening. Uh we're going to start it with our invocation by councelor Morgan.

All right, before I get started, I just want to if we would maybe take a moment of silence for a true um pillar of Nightdale's community, uh Jim Hart. He passed away. His service was earlier today. Um he was a founding member of the Veterans Advisory. um board. Uh he's American Legion member and u just a super nice man for anybody that that knew Mr. Hart. So if we could just have a moment of silence and then I'll give the invocation. Thank you Lord for this time to gather in this place to celebrate, to listen, and to act on matters that are important to our town. May our words, our thoughts, and our actions be pleasing to you, and may they be beneficial for all in our community. Amen.

Thank you.

Next, we will have our pledge of allegiance. Tonight we are pleased to have members of both PAC 347 and Troop 347 in attendance. PAC and Troop 347 are partner youth groups dedicated to preparing the next generation of leaders in the Nightdale area. The groups serve all school age youth from kindergarten through high school in activities that promote citizenship, community engagement, personal fitness, teamwork, and being active. Both groups meet at Northside Community Church at 700 p.m. on Mondays during the school year with the troop also meeting in the summer. You can find

more information about the groups at www.pac347.org or www.troop347.org. At this time, I'll ask the scouts to um lead us now in our pledge of allegiance. Scout salute.

I aliance 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. You want us to shift where you're at? One, two, three. [Music] Have your bags. All

right. Always a great moment. We're thankful to have them come in and lead us in our pledge of allegiance to get us started with our meeting this evening. Uh next we're going to jump to the adoption of the agenda. Any changes to tonight's agenda, questions, comments or motion to adopt?

Motion to adopt.

Second. All in favor?

I.

Any opposed? Majority approves. Motion carries. We'll go with the agenda as is for the evening. Uh jumping into presentations, recognitions, and awards. Introduction of administrative assistant Mrs. Morris. Good evening, mayor and council.

I was still eating Skittles, so give me a minute. I'm sorry. Tonight, I'm excited to present to you all. Come on, baby. As you can see, she's already working. This is Kayla Gibson. She is our new administrative assistant for the community relations department. Kayla is a recent graduate of Hampton University with her mers in business administration. During her time as a student with Hampton, she interned with Price Waterhouse Coopers and the Hampton's Proton Cancer Institute. Kayla has a love for marketing and also for finance. Hint hint, Antoine. She's excited to bring her enthusiasm and her skills here with us in the community relations department. And not only that, Kayla is a Nightdale resident. So, she came home after she graduated. Welcome, Kayla. [Applause]

Welcome, Kayla. We're glad to have you and welcome back home. Next is the introduction and oath of police officer, Chief Caps.

Good evening, Mayor and Council. always a pleasure to be able to come before you and introduce new members of our organization. Uh as you know, we are working feverishly uh to find and hire

and bring on board uh men and women who are dedicated to our mission to uh public service. Uh and this evening we are very excited to be able to introduce to you our newest officer, Mr. William Weaver. And as he and his father are making their way to the podium, I'll mention that Mr. Weaver is no stranger to public service. Uh he has been serving as a police officer for almost the last decade over in Wilson. Uh he has a bachelor's degree uh from UNCC Pimbrook and brings with him a number of years of experience, several certifications. Uh as you can tell, he has an extraordinarily strong uh support structure. And tonight we are very excited to be able to administer his oath of office. And mayor, I believe that you're going to come around and uh help us out with that. All right. So, if you just want to repeat after me.

I and state your name. I, William Weaver,

do solemnly swear

that I will support and defend

I will support and defend

the Constitution and laws of the United States

and the Constitution and laws of North Carolina

and

the Constitution and laws of North

and that I will faithfully discharge

And I will faithfully discharge

the duties of my office

as police officer

as police officer.

So help me God. So help me God. [Applause]

[Music] Come on. Come on. You can get in. Okay. You got to look this way though. Mr. We,

we're not quite done.

Perhaps the most uh important uh moment uh that that we engage in when we do this oath of office is the public challenge around our five rules. This is something that you've heard me talk about many times, something that I'm extraordinarily passionate about. Um, and on the heels of this very public promise that you just made, now is the time to reinforce something that we've had a lot of conversations about uh already. There's a lot of rules, a lot of regulations, a lot of law, a lot of policy that guides the work that we do, and they're all important, but our expectations boil down to a handful of very simple and powerful tenants. Rule number one, the mission comes first. And our mission is about other people. our individual preferences, all of our personal loyalties, that stuff gets set aside. The mission always comes first. Rule number two, you have to have an unwavering allegiance to our core values. Our core values are the things that identify who we are and what we believe in the most. And so the way that you engage with other people, speak with other people, the decisions that you make must be aligned with those core values. Rule number three, tell 100% of the truth 100% of the time. Honesty really is the best policy. And in a time where the truth is not always popular and it has consequences, it's important. Rule number four, remember this oath. It's a public promise. Perhaps not as

important as your wedding vows, but very important nonetheless. Make sure that you uh honor that oath. Never break it. And then finally, rule number five. I can't expect perfection. That is not a standard that we can place on any human being. But we can ask our men and women who choose to serve in this profession to always give your best effort. The people that you work alongside of, the people that you serve in the community, and even for yourself, that's what matters. Give your best effort. And William, if you do those things, follow those five rules passionately and with all your heart, everything else will have a way of taking care of itself. Proud of you. Welcome aboard. Congratulations. [Applause] [Music] Once again, uh to both of you, welcome. We are glad to have you as part of Nightdale. Next, it the Great Trails State Day uh proclamation. Nightdale's natural beauty is critical to our quality of life, health, and economic well-being. The trails that span across our community are an integral part of the recreational and transportation possibilities of our area and promote an enjoyment of scenic beauty by our residents and visitors. The parks, the greenways, the trails, and natural areas in our community are welcoming to all and provide a common ground for people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds to access our rich and diverse natural, cultural, and historic resources. Trails offer quality of life benefits to all as expressions of local community character and pride, as outdoor workshops for science education, as

tools for economic revitalization, as free resources for healthy recreation, and as sites for social and cultural events. The North Carolina General Assembly has designated the third Saturday in October as Great Trails State Day in North Carolina to promote and celebrate the state's extensive network of trails that showcase our state's beauty, our vibrancy, and our culture. In support of this designation, I, Jessica Day, mayor of the town of Nightdale, do hereby proclaim October 18th, 2025 as Great Trails State Day in Nightdale, North Carolina, and commend its observance to uh to all people. Furthermore, I urge all citizens to explore trails in Nightdale on this day and join other communities across the state in celebrating our trails on October the 18th. [Applause] [Music] Next is our community planning month proclamation. Change is constant and it affects all cities, all towns, suburbs, and counties. Community planning helps manage this change in a way that provides better choices for how residents work and live. It provides an opportunity for residents to be involved in making choices that determine their future of their community. The month of October is designated as community planning month throughout the United States. During this month, we recognize how sound planning and plan implementation increases the quality of Nightdale's natural and built environment. We take this time to highlight how planning is essential to creating safe, resilient, and equitable communities. The celebration of natural of national community planning month gives us the opportunity to publicly recognize the

participation and dedication of members of the nightale land use re review board, participants of the community planning academy and other night residents who have contributed their time and their expertise to the improvement of our town. During this month, we also recognize the valuable contributions made by our professional planners here in Nightdale and extend our appreciation for their continued commitment to public service. So now, therefore, be it proclaimed that the month of October is hereby designated as community planning month in the town of Nightdale. [Applause] And now that we have proclaimed October as community planning month, I'd like to turn it over to Miss Goodman to share about this year's planning academy. Good evening, mayors and members members of council. I'm happy to be here tonight on behalf of development services. Jason and a few others from the team are currently in Charlotte at the annual planning conference. Um, so as the mayor just proclaimed, October is community planning month. Uh, so what better way to celebrate than to recognize the participants of our recent community planning academy. Over the past three weeks, 15 residents have dedicated their time and energy to learning about land use, zoning, transportation, the development process, and the many complex decisions that go into shaping a thriving community like Nightdale. So, we really enjoyed the opportunity getting to know these residents and helping them learn and understand more about community planning and Nightdale's vision for growth. It's always our hope that these participants uh stay engaged and utilize what they've learned to make a positive impact on Nightdale's future. So, at this time, I'd like to invite the Planning Academy participants who are in attendance tonight to come up and the mayor to come down and we'll take a photo.

On three. One, two, three. [Applause] And with that, I want to thank uh our staff for taking the time um for this planning academy, creating the space for that. And I also want to thank our residents of Nightdale, dedicated residents who said you wanted to take time out of your evenings to learn more about the town that you live in. And hopefully it's exciting you uh to want to do more to to get more involved. And we always have opportunities uh in Nightdale to do that. So, thank you so much and look forward to seeing you around. Next is our public comment period. Is there anyone here tonight who wishes to address the council? If so, you may come forward at this time. All right. If not, at this time, I'll turn it over to our town clerk, Miss Smith, to share written comments that have been received.

Thank you, Mayor Day. Good evening, members of the council, Mayor. Uh, we did receive one written comment for tonight's council meeting. You have all received this comment via email, so I'll just briefly summarize. Arkna Ruiz, 319 Hester Street, expressed concerns with potholes on the road behind the Bojangles. Um, did want to note that staff has advised me that this has been repaired. Um, but as always, the full written comment will be included in the official record of the meeting. Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Miss Smith. Next is reports on citizens inquiries.

Are there any reports on citizens inquiries? Some council.

I had one citizen contact me about a um I guess you'd call it an unckempt lot along Nightdale Boulevard that's been referred to the assistant town manager's uh office for enforcement as I understand it.

Thank you for that update. Any others? All right. If not, we'll move to the consent agenda. Any questions or comments about the consent agenda or motion to adopt?

Motion to adopt.

Second.

All in favor?

I.

Any opposed? Majority approves. Motion carries. We'll move to our public hearings for the evening. The first one is AN-6-25 2309 Markx Creek Road. Miss Goodman. Good evening again. Um, tonight I have for you the annexation of 2309 Marks Creek Road. This is a little bit different than some of the other annexations that you've seen recently. This is a town-owned property. Um, so it is a town initiated annexation. Uh, this parcel is 1.12 acres. It's located on the west side of Marks Creek Road. um just on the east side of the Nightell station subdivision. Um and the current use is it's a vacant lot. Um it's zoned GR3. The town purchased it in March of um with maybe a future intention of having an extension to Carolinian Avenue which would uh connect the Nightdale Station neighborhood to March Creek Road. This is just uh showing a recorded survey of the parcel. And then as I mentioned, this is town initiated. Um at the September meeting, there uh council did adopt a resolution to set the public hearing and give

notice for tonight's public hearing. Um a costbenefit analysis was not conducted for this annexation since it is town initiated and the uh the impacts to town services are negl negligible and also there's not an established use. So, a little bit different than the other annexations, but uh staff's recommendation tonight is to, uh, close the public hearing and adopt ordinance 251015-001, which would effectively annex the area. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you, Miss Goodman. Any questions, comments from council? N hearing. Thank you. This is a public hearing item. So at this time we will open the floor. Is there anyone here tonight who wishes to speak on this item? If so, you may come forward at this time.

All right. If not, then I'll bring it back to council. Any final comments, questions?

I'm shocked there was not all kinds of people wanting to speak about this. Oh, no kidding. Uh, I'll make a motion to close the public hearing and adopt ordinance 25105001 effectively annexing the area.

Second.

All in favor?

I.

Any opposed? Majority approves. Motion carries. All right. And that's it for our public hearings for the evening. So, next we'll move into our new business, Vision Zero Communications Plan. Mr. Trip. Good evening, mayor, members of council. I hope y'all are doing well this evening. Uh tonight we're going to have a guest speaker uh from the Highway Safety Research Center at UNCC Chapel Hill come talk about a vision zero communication plan. Um as you know, we are a vision zero community. We have a

goal of zero traffic fatalities and a goal of zero serious traffic accidents. Um as part of that we adopted the safety action plan in 2024 uh in December and part of that plan was creating uh one of the steps in that plan is to create a communication plan to better u make the public aware of vision zero in the projects that we're undertaking uh like quick build projects. Um a good example of a quick build we just did was on Parkside Commons um where we made it a four-way stop instead of a two-way. had some um accidents occurring where people had the rightway but some of the people that stopped signs couldn't see uh the cars coming in a little bit of speed. So um we ended up making it a four-way stop and since then we've had no incident. So things like that that are really quick, but we want to let the public know what we're doing about vision zero and get them to actually give some input on areas that we need to focus our efforts. So I'm going to ask Dan to come up with the uh HSRC and he's going to speak about uh this communication plan that they're going to be working on. uh for us and then I'll come back at the end.

All right. Thank you.

Thank you, mayor, members of council. Glad to be here to talk about this plan uh that we've been discussing for a little bit and getting underway on that soon. Um my name is Dan Jolene. I'm with the Highway Safety Research Center. I'm a researcher there. I'll share our bit about our team um in a moment here, but I'll talk a little bit about this plan uh communications plan and how it relates back to traffic safety in the town of Nightdale. So, this is our team. Um, we're at the highway safety research center at UNCC Chapel Hill as well as the injury prevention research center. We've got planners, engineers on staff, as well as people who are wellversed in communications, marketing, PR, kind of bridging research to practice so we can help save lives by what we can learn from studying transportation safety. The purpose of this plan is to really align all of the strategic communications that the town is likely already doing in a number of different ways around this goal of preventing deaths and injuries. Um, and so what we're looking at doing is coming up with clear, concise messages that connect the

town's investments and the town's work back to this goal of safety to continually remind residents or remind folks why this is being done. A lot of times when people see changes to their road, changes to an intersection, they might ask why, why is this happening? What's the purpose of this? Um, and this plan will help everyone understand at the outset why these changes are being made and what that goal ultimately is for and how it benefits everybody. There are going to be four steps involved in development of this plan or that the plan will involve. One of those is uh defining the audiences we want to reach. Um we're going to craft some messages around traffic safety that can be used in a number of different ways. Uh we'll talk a little bit about delivering those messages, how to get them out there to the people who need to hear them. Um and then measuring the impact of the plan. Is it working? These efforts actually taking hold or do we need to do something a little bit different? Um, defining the audience is is pretty important because um, if we go out there with general messages, as we've learned from research, they don't really resonate with anyone in particular if they're for everybody. We want to hone in on well, who really needs to hear this? And that is the entire community, of course. But if we can think about subopuls, organizations, local business, um, internal communications to st town staff across departments about why we're doing this, teachers, parents, and students. A big part of the initial outset of the plan will be identifying who those groups are, who we want to reach, and uh at that point, we'll be able to shift then into how we can craft messages that will really resonate with them. Um that might be different for a parent, teacher, or a student than it would be for the local business community when we're thinking about why we're making investments in traffic safety and what those mean for everyone. Um, so we want to make sure that the town's investments, as I said, are connected in these messages, that each time the town rolls out a new project, a new intersection change, a trail, um, that the town understands how that is related to traffic safety, how that's making their trip safer, um, how that's protecting their family members and their neighbors. Uh, we wanted to be clear and simple, no jargon, people don't need technical terminology. We want to bring it home and make it make

sense to everybody. This is going to include um I put some material here on both proactive and responsive messaging. I think it can be a way to market investments to share what's going on with upcoming projects, but can also be useful in helping to respond if there are tragic events that occur if a crash does occur. Bringing that point home if media reaches out to say we are focused on traffic safety. We have a plan of action to respond to that. So preparing things like talking points to help in those kinds of situations will be a big part of this plan as well. Then finally figuring out once we have our messages and we know our audiences, how are we going to deliver those in a way that makes sense to those folks? Um that could be through things more traditional methods like um meetings here, could be through PSAs, news ads, but it could be community events. Uh we can do um school-based outreach uh education for students and for their their families. some proactive media engagement as well as social media. A lot of different ways we can get things out and I'm sure you all are doing a lot of that already. It's a matter of weaving that traffic safety message into those channels. And then finally, tracking and monitoring the impact of what's being done through this plan. We can collect numbers on how many people are seeing these messages and receiving them. Um we can identify metrics that will help us understand what's working and what aren't what isn't. Um and then finally doing some things like surveys. I grabbed this image from a great survey you all did when you were developing your plan about how people actually feel about traffic safety in the town of Nightdale. Doing something like that again can help us continually have some information back from folks um that can help you know again drive that messaging and steer the program in the right direction. The timeline is here. Uh we're kicking off this this activity this month and it's going to last about a year. Uh we're planning to deliver a draft plan to the town in the spring. Um, and then having in the summer some opportunity to maybe pilot test some of those messages and some of those depending on what kinds of projects are going on at that time. Uh, and then using that to revise, finalize the plan about a year from now. And that's what I have for you. I'm

happy to take any questions.

All right. Thank you so much.

Questions, comments?

I just one one thing. Um, really appreciate the the work that your team's working on. uh Dan and and I saw our police chief over there really sort of plugged in. So I know as this gets developed that u you'll certainly be reaching out to um to that that group and and the police chief and and folks. I know Dustin um will really have this u sort of dialed in to where it needs to be. But uh really looking forward to the work that that's going to happen here.

Yeah, I think uh meeting with a lot of different folks in the town of law enforcement of course as well as others I think it'll be initial step. Um, it's just learning more about what's happening and what needs to be part of this.

Thank you, Dan. Uh, so as Dan went through, we're really excited to get this project kicked off. Um, and we're going to start really quickly here. Uh, start working on this. Uh, thanks for the vote of confidence, counselor. I appreciate that. Um, so with that, what we are asking is that uh you uh vote to authorize the town manager to enter into a contract with the HSRC to complete a vision zero communications plan pending legal and financial reviews. And that's all I have unless you have any questions.

All right.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. If there are no more questions or comments, is there a motion? I'll gladly make the motion to authorize the town manager into a contract with HSRC to complete a vision zero communication plan pending legal and financial review.

Second.

All in favor?

I.

Any opposed? Majority approves. Motion carries. Next is Operation Greenlight, Miss Smith.

Good evening again. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to you tonight

about Operation Greenlight. Um this is an initiative that is not new to us as a town. Um but wanted to take this opportunity to summarize um for the community what this program is. So Operation Greenlight is a nationwide initiative. It was spearheaded by the National Association of Counties and the National Association of County Veteran Service Officers. The goal of Operation Greenlight is to raise raise awareness and shine a light on the challenges that veterans face, especially when they return to civilian life. And so by participating in Operation Greenlight, we're encouraging our community members, our business leaders to light their homes, light their businesses green for a week in November, the week leading up until uh Veterans Day um to let our veterans know that they're seen and that they're supported here in this community. So, we have been participating in this since 2022. So, I have a couple photos here from past years. Um, every year we adopt a resolution in support of this initiative. We promote through social media platforms and we make sure that our facilities and parks are illuminated in green. This year, Operation Greenlight will be in effect from November 4th through November 11th. And so with your support, we would work with the community relations department to um get messaging out to the community so that we can try to get as much participation as possible and have our public works department support us in making sure that our town facilities are participating as well. So with that, um it is staff's recommendation that Mayor Day share the resolution in support of Operation Greenlight and that you adopt the resolution so that we can do that this evening and I'm available if you have any questions. Thank you, Miss Smith. And now at this time, I will read the resolution in its entirety. Supporting Operation Greenlight for active military service members in transition to civilian life. Whereas the town of Nightdale has great respect,

admiration, and gratitude for the men and women who have selflessly served their community and this community in the armed forces. And whereas the contributions and sacrifices of the men and women that served in the armed forces have been vital in maintaining the freedoms and way of life enjoyed by our citizens. And whereas there are approximately 700,000 veterans in the state of North Carolina with over 50,000 of them residing in Wake County. And whereas veterans continue to serve their communities in the American Legion, veterans of foreign wars, church groups, and CIVI and civil service. And whereas approximately 200,000 service members transition to civilian life annually. And whereas studies indicate that 44 to 72% of service members experience high levels of stress during transition from military to civilian life. Whereas active military service members transitioning from military service are at high risk for suicide during their first year after military service. And whereas the Nightdale North car, the Nightdale Town Council appreciates the sacrifices our United States military personnel made while defending freedom and believes specific recognition be accorded them in appreciation of their service and to demonstrate the honor and support they have earned. So now, therefore, be it resolved that the town of Nightdale hereby declares November 4th, 2025 through November 11, 2025 a time to salute and honor the service and the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform transitioning from active service. Be it furthermore resolved that the observance of operation greenlight,

the Nightdale Town Council encourage encourages its citizens to recognize those have who have been helped to preserve freedom by displaying a green light in the window of their place of business or residence. And now if there are no questions or comments with the resolution, is there a motion for the resolution?

So moved. Move to adopt.

Second.

All in favor?

I.

Any opposed? Majority approves. Motion carries. Thank you so much. And next is the advisory board and committee reports. Uh this is an opportunity for council members to share any updates from any recent advisory boards, any committees. Are there any updates to share

from a I guess from a transportation standpoint? Um the uh a lot of folks have seen all of the earth moving uh for the final phase of 540. Very thankful for that to get underway. Um it it's getting to a point to where it will start impacting the Noose River Trail where it will cross over the Noose River Trail. Uh there's a commitment in that project as I understand it to keep that trail open for folks using the trail 365 days a year during daylight hours. But uh been told that you know heavy equipment will start crossing the trail and needing to access uh points in that area. So anybody that's down on that section of the trail just needs to be aware. Also a little bit outside our jurisdiction, but Rock Croy uh Road will be closed soon. I I can't remember the exact dates, but they'll have to be doing some open cutting uh to get some lines put in there. I think it's going to take about three days. Uh we're working on a plan to get better communication from DOT and and others on

roadway projects. Um it's just uh you know we talked a little bit about communications. Uh we we do I think a really good job here in Nightdale, but obviously DOT is a very big uh organization and sometimes even the most minute uh details of a project could impact a business or something. So we we continually work on that. Commend staff on that. And also I met earlier with staff um we we're working on and they're they're working on uh developing um some projects for our metropolitan planning organization Campo the major transportation planner here in the triangle area uh to do some studies um for um congestion relief and and maybe some safety relief. Uh hopefully have some more updates on those. We'll keep our fingers crossed that they're accepted and we can maybe give some further updates at a at a time in the future. So that's all I had sort of on that. But sort of important stuff, neat stuff.

Any others? Okay, if that is all today, um this concludes our meeting. May I have a Is there a motion to adjurnn?

So move.

Second. All in favor?

Any opposed? Majority approves. Motion carries. We stand adjourned for this evening. Thank you so much for joining us for our town council meeting this evening. Especially to um those that were in our planning academy. We appreciate you joining us. Have a good evening. [Music]