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Advisory Board Meeting

Town of Cary · Human Relations, Inclusion, & Diversity Advisory Board
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 at 6:00 pm · Conference Room 11130, 316 N. Academy Street, Cary Town Hall, Cary, NC 27513

Advisory board meeting Bonds and debtBroadband and technologyWater and sewer

Agenda document Full packet Minutes Meeting page Watch Meeting recap

What's on this agenda

Cary staff brought the town's utility billing system to the human relations, inclusion and diversity advisory board on December 2 for feedback, and got a long list. A member said the system feels outdated. Others said it should be available in other languages, that setting up notifications is not easy, and that the monthly bill and current water usage do not line up.

The board's clearest recommendation was to opt every resident into consumption notifications by default and let them opt out, rather than the other way round.

Summarized from the published agenda. Read the agenda itself before acting on it.

Meeting recap

What happened, drawn from the records published after the meeting. Minutes

Members also asked for daily water monitoring by text as well as email, one app covering utilities and garbage together, a mobile-friendly portal, a link to 311 inside it, more accessible graphs, the ability to choose when a bill is paid, additional authorised users on an account, profiles reflecting how a household is actually arranged, and payment by online, autopay, mail, in person, app-based transfer or split between several people in a household. One member suggested the redesign include environmental impact information. The board also suggested looking at which demographics use which payment methods before deciding what alternatives to offer.

The council liaison reported that Cary's Municipal Equality Index score rose to 72, its highest ever, from 49 the year before, with points added for the town's nondiscrimination ordinance and services for older LGBTQ+ residents. She also reported that the council had approved streaming and recording its meetings.

On the Hometown Spirit Award, members said nominations are low for a town Cary's size and recommended more advertising, more specific objectives on the nomination form, and publishing the selection rubric.

How the votes went

The agenda was amended to move the community conversation partnerships item to January and adopted with no objections. The November 6 minutes were approved without objection.

From the published minutes.

Speaking at this meeting

Sign up for Public Speaks Out by calling the town before noon on the day of the meeting; each speaker gets three minutes. Comments that arrive after noon are passed to the council as correspondence instead.

Town of Cary's own rules for public comment — check them before you rely on anything here.

Agenda items (3)

Discussion item · 2Procedural · 1
  1. 1. Utility Billing Experience – Citizen Input
    Discussion item Bonds and debtBroadband and technologyWater and sewer
    Speaker: Corrie Bondar, Kristy Buchanan, Wes Everett Members should review the utility billing portal and may bring personal devices for access to the current platform.
  2. 2. January Social
    Procedural
    Speaker: Jess MacDonald No advanced preparation is required.
  3. 1. Hometown Spirit Award
    Discussion item
    Speaker: Jess MacDonald No advanced preparation is required.

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