Regular Meeting

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Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [music]

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call to order the June 25th meeting of the Kerry Town Council. And at this time, I'll recognize council member Bonsel for our ceremonial opening.

Thank you, Mayor. Whatever brings you today, I want to welcome you to our council meeting. Thank you for joining and wishing you happy 4th in advance. Please uh if you could join me in pledge of 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.

First order of business is to adopt the agenda. There's been a request to amend the agenda to include a presentation of a proclamation celebrating the Carolina Hurricane Stanley Cup victory. Yay. Is

there a motion to adopt the amended agenda?

Motion to adopt.

Second. motion and a second discussion. All in favor, please say I. I.

Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously. So, we'll move right into recognitions, reports, and presentations. As I said, we added the proclamation, and I'll recognize Council Member Craig and Council Member Bella Hang for the presentation.

All right. Thank you. I just want to say for the record, this is the first time my family has been to a council meeting since I was sworn in two and a half years ago. [laughter] Apparently, it takes winning a Stanley Cup to get them here. So, welcome to everyone that's here tonight. Um, I am council member Michelle Craig and um, this is Council Member Wong and um, we just wanted to make sure that we gave recognition to the Hurricane SC Stanley Cup win. So, last month has been such an exciting time with the Carolina Hurricanes being in the Stanley Cup um, during the playoffs and particularly game six um, on the 14th when they when they won the Stanley Cup and brought it back to North Carolina after 20 years. We're so excited to have a proclamation tonight to celebrate the Can's win. It was exciting to be at the parade and see nearly 200,000 fans gathering in Raleigh to celebrate. We know that people were celebrating all over the triangle, all over North Carolina, across the United States. I even um heard from someone who had traveled here from Canada. So, um definitely a very exciting time. Not only does the Canes playing in and winning the Stanley Cup finals bring our community so much pride, but it was also a major economic driver. Um, having people coming in, watching games, supporting our local businesses and um,

just a great time. Um, you know, people coming from all over to see what's so wonderful about North Carolina. Um, and even, you know, even in Kerry, which we already knew. And um seeing the Canes players at the parade and the coaches and the Stanley Cup of course was such an exciting time, but we were so excited to see the junior Canes marching in the parade as well. And so when we were thinking about um doing a proclamation, it seemed fitting to invite some coaches and some players to come out. These kids give it their all. many starting out playing in Hurricane's housing like two of Bella's sons and my youngest son. Um Bella's sons weren't able to be here tonight, but mine mine is here. Hoping for a chance to make the Junior Canes and there's awesome there's some other wonderful teams in the triangle area. Also, we have a junior um couple of junior Canes coaches and some players with us tonight for the recognition. If you could come up and guys, I promise you don't have to say anything. just come stand over here. We'll give you the proclamation. As they're coming up, I just want to say that it's really a huge and

you want to you can come to stand over here. [laughter]

We'll make sure we get you those pictures that we took earlier. Um but um just wanted to say that traditional calendar Wake County Public Schools is out for the summer. And so I think a whole lot of people we were trying to reach out to after the Canes won and then we did the parade and the rally. People went out of town. So um there are so many more players. Of course this is not even this is multiple teams represented here. And um a lot of them are just celebrating in other places right now. So tonight we have with us um Junior Kane's coaches Brian Scully and Mark Hastings I believe. Are you both the 11 and up?

I'm 11.

One of you is 11 and up. Coach is 11 and up and one is 10 and up. And we have some players from each. We have Connor, you can just raise your hand if you want to. If you don't want to, you don't have to. Connor, Eli, and Ryan, I believe, play 11 and up. Um Thatcher um for the Junior Canes. Thatcher plays 10 and up for the Junior Canes. And then we brought some hurricane house league players as well who are aspiring to be junior canes possibly one day. Um I just got to keep working at it. Um and so we have Henry and Colby and they chose not to raise their hands and that's cool. [laughter] They they listened. They did great. So some of us have been fans long enough to remember the feeling of that 2006 Stanley Cup win and um you know 20 years is a long time to wait for the cup to come back. So, we're so excited that we have these Caniacs here that are going to be the ne these are the next generation of fans. And so, they're going to be around, you know, continuing to cheer, waiting for that next win. And who knows, um, with a lot of hard work, maybe one day they'll be out playing for the Carolina Hurricanes as well.

Thank you, Council Member Craig. And I would love to shout out to our mayor prot Lori Bush and our staff to initi organize the watch party at our downtown Kerry Park. And it's really really great for us to celebrate in Kerry for the hurricanes wing. And now

there

yeah we we we were both there but we didn't find each other because there are too many people. [laughter] Now, let's celebrate the Carolina Hurricanes Stanley Cup victory. Whereas the Carolina Hurricanes have brought pride and excitement to Carrie, the triangle and the entire state of the North Carolina through their dedication, resilience, and outstanding achievement in winning the Stanley Cup. And whereas the Carolina hurricanes have have

inspired our community to come together, creating opportunities for neighbors, friends, and families to share unforgettable moments, cheer on our hometown team, and celebrate the common bond of being Hurricanes fans. And whereas throughout the Stanley Cup playoffs, Kerry residents and visitors proudly show their support by gathering, displaying their Hurricanes pride, raising their voices in support, and embracing the spirit of camaraderie that makes our community special. And whereas the downtown Kerry Park brought the excitement of playoff hockey to the heart of Kerry through Carry for the Cup, Carolina Hurricanes watch parties on the great lawn where community members gathered with friends, families, and fellow fans to watch the games live, celebrate the team, and enjoy the thrill of playoff hockey together. And now therefore, I council member

[laughter]

and Bella Huang. On behalf of the Kerry Mayor and Council, do hereby recognize and celebrate the Carolina Hurricane Stanley Cup victory and encourage all residents to join in honoring this remarkable achievement and the sense of community, pride, and connection it has inspired throughout Kerry and beyond. just pull that. Um, so I just wanted to let me get back to this mic. Just wanted to say quickly that we will give the um we have two proclamations. we'll give them to um one to each of the coaches and to go back and share it with um with the Junior Canes League and also I don't I don't know I I heard there's some connections with the coaches with Polar Eyes House and so if if it makes its way one of them makes its way there to to visit or

whatever it's just really great that um the community can see that Carrie is so supportive of our our our youth athletes and u making sure that we're you know building building this future and um that we're all one and celebrating with the Canes.

Go Canes.

Goes. [clears throat] Our next agenda item is public speaks out. We've included instructions for speaking at this forum online and on the printed agenda. There were three opportunities to participate in public speaks out through written comments by calling in or by attending here in person tonight. And if you are here in person and would like to speak, please take a seat in the rows to my right that are highlighted. Public speaks out speakers have up to three minutes each for their comments and may speak on any town related topic as long as it's not a public hearing and that works to your benefit because you get more time at a public hearing. The threeminut time limit will be enforced not to be rude but to be fair to all of our speakers. We have a timer on the podium. It'll start off with a green light. When it turns yellow that means you have 30 seconds remaining. When it starts flashing red, your time is expired. And that is the point I'll interrupt you. Again, not trying to be rude, but trying to be fair to all of our speakers. I would ask speakers to be respectful in their comments to direct those comments to the entire council and not to one individual. I thank everyone in the audience for understanding and respecting that this is a business meeting. Please do not applaud, make remarks from your seats, use props, or

do anything else that may distract from this business meeting. So, now is the time for public speaks out. And first, I'll call on the clerk to read any written comments and call on any registered speakers.

We received eight written comments. These have been emailed to council prior to the meeting, provided to council upon arrival, and attached to the online agenda. We have seven registered speakers. The first one is Mary Lynn calls. Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is Mary Lynn cause. I live at [snorts] Searsstone Drive, that wonderful community of Searsstone, and my husband and I have lived there for six and a half years. I am here on behalf of the Searsstone Residents Association Council and all 500 Searsstone residents, some of whom are here today in the blue shirts. I'm speaking in connection with 24 REZ02 the proposed Sears Stone PDD amendment. I come with a thank you and an ask. First the thank you. We want to say thank you to all of you, mayor, council members, and members of the town staff, for the attention you gave to the information we provided at the May 28 public hearing. The questions that you posed showed that you took our information and concerns seriously and sincerely want complete and accurate answers.

However, many of us on the Sears Stone Residents Association Executive Council and our fellow residents were troubled by portions of the applicant's presentation, particularly with their responses to your questions. Their answers did not match the facts as we understand them. Because of that, Dr. Larry Crane, our resident advisor to the Samaritan Housing Foundation board, along with Jim Pierce, a member of that board and a fellow resident, emailed you a letter with attached documents outlining those concerns and correcting the misstatements. We have provided the clerk with printed copies of those documents for you this evening. So, here's the ask. and it's very important to us and we think it will be to you. We ask the town staff, not only those who deal with planning and zoning, but those who deal with real estate transactions to carefully review these documents so that you can get a full and accurate view of the situation and how we got to where we are. This really matters to us and we think it's going to matter to you when you make your final decision. On a more positive note, we look forward to collaborating with you on maintaining the current zoning. This is a special opportunity to have younger but still age restricted development adjacent to Searsstone. This was the idea we supported in 2020.

I have to interrupt you at this point. I'm so sorry.

Thank you for your attention. I appreciate it.

Um, our next speaker is Pamela um, Pinkney. Good evening everyone. Protocol has been established already so I won't lose my time by doing such. Uh is everything okay?

Okay. Good evening. I rather actually formally introduce myself because I came to North Carolina on a move of faith. I packed in my car and I said, I want to be somewhere clean and safe and just start a fresh. I'm Pamela Pinkney, also known as Reverend Pinkney or Apostle, and I'm running for president of the United States of America for 2028, doing something new. I am the ninth cousin removed to General George Washington, the first inaugurated America, who freed the first very first slave in this country. I'm also the daughter of the now late Dr. Betty K. But Pinkney, who was the director for the congressional office for Cong the now late Congresswoman Stephanie Tubs Jones, who I just buried my mom this year. And my dad is Charles Pinkney, who was the former council president in Warsville Heights, Ohio. So this politics is in my blood. But I came this evening because when I spoke on last time, I just uh the Bible talks about becoming enemies with people for speaking truth. I my prayer is that I have not become your enemy for speaking truth. I would like to work with this legislative body of the city and the state as well as our country to

establish peace, peaceful negotiation and various areas that would promote the peace as well as adequate housing and and uh protection for people against violence and bring some things in with some closure. I have experienced both sides of the desk and the fence. I was homeless for 24 years uh for speaking truth. I lost everything for doing so, but I did not commit a crime. Neither did I prostitute my body, use drugs, alcohol, tobacco, or anything even the desire to do anything bad. I I just wanted to see a system that works better. As I told you before, I have a victim of violence fund, truth speaks, for victims of violence because victims of violence don't have adequate funding and resources. Instead, victims of violence get labels instead of laws. I would like to work with you. Um, I really do appreciate your 311 service. It is very efficient. And the name of the person should have been Paul Webster when I was here last time, not Robert. I met his mom and I just wanted to just come and introduce myself and see if we can work together on some things. I am a licensed ordained preacher. I just got my honorary doctorate in divinity recently, but I don't want this bridge that that exists between religion and politics. Thank you so much for your time and I will see you during the budget hearing. Thank you.

Our next speaker is Mary William Stove. Hello and thank you for this opportunity to uh speak with you today. Um as a

longtime citizen of Kerry, I am delighted to see the council uh review the town smokefree ordinance to include vaping and ecigarettes. I am here to fully endorse and hope that you expand the current ordinance. Uh tobacco is a cause of death and disease. It is still prominent across the country. It is responsible for the death of many many young people. My my father in fact used tobacco. And so I know that you also agree with me when you see that we must do as much as we can in our town to protect our young people and our and our citizens. My interest here is to ensure that the updated ordinance recognizes and supports cessation resources as well. We know that over half of smokers really want to try to quit and attempt to do so uh without success. I also want to make sure that uh cessation information is promoted along with the ordinance um and that enforcement is focused on retailers um and not individual users alone. The CDC reports disparities and quitting behaviors persist along certain populations defined by age, race, ethnicity, education, and geography. Spanish language materials are not enough and additional cultural relevant support is needed. How will the town's expanded ordinance support cessation? Of course, NC quit line is one resource. However, I want to make sure that you are using all available resources. I make you aware of the Center for Black Health and Equity and also the resources that are available at the Office of State Health and Tobacco. Again, thank you for your proactive work to protect our citizens

and our visitors and especially our children. We know that vaping targets our youth with flavored products. If you have any questions, you have my contact information. Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Audit O'Hare. Good evening, mayor and members of the town council. My name is Adhaker. Almost exactly one year uh one year ago, I stood here advocating for a sidewalk and a crosswalk on Green Level West Road so students could safely walk to Green Level High School. Over 12 months of consistent follow-ups, I've learned a hard reality. Due to several logistical complications, building that entire stretch of sidewalk is unrealistic. But while the sidewalks are stalled, the construction isn't. Massive new development at Green Level West and Green Level Church Road is skyrocketing traffic, making this stretch increasingly dangerous for students. We cannot wait for miles of concrete that may never be poured. We need a realistic immediate pivot. A crosswalk from the Darlington Woods community entrance to the other side. This crosswalk isn't just paint on an asphalt. It is extremely important. This is a simple, high impact and cost-effective solution that instantly allows students to safely cross over and utilize this infrastructure. Right now, the daily reality is incredibly annoying. No one likes seeing students forced onto uneven, unpaved grass, risking injury just to get to class. No one likes to see anybody go sit in their cars for just a 10-minute walk. It clogs our roads with school traffic. And in an environmentally friendly, conscious town like Kerry, North Carolina, this would further promote this goal. It is bad for our environment all because of a safe two-minute crossing not existing. I ask that we build this crosswalk as soon as possible. I've personally spoken with over 150 households about across both

neighborhoods as well as town planners and council members. The community wants change. We cannot afford another school year of gridlock and I am personally willing to do whatever it takes to work alongside town staff to make this move as fast as possible. To show how minute of a change I ask for, I have provided 11 copies of a map illustrating this exact location. If you look at the maps in front of you, the long stretch highlighted in red represents the original proposal. This is proved to be logist logistically unreasonable for now, but I want to explicitly shift our focus to the section highlighted in purple. This market represents the crosswalk from the Darlington Woods community to the other side. And that single purple line is our realistic pivot. Make no mistake, however, my long-term vision has not changed. I fully intend to push to go beyond a crosswalk in the future to secure the complete pedestrian infrastructure our community deserves. But we cannot do that when student safety is on the line today, not later. Right now, we must do the absolute most we can as soon as humanly possible. Look at the maps. Since I since the full sidewalks are unrealistic today, let's at least give these kids a safe place to cross right now. I humbly ask you to prove the sidewalk, protect our students, and finally protect our community. Thank you so much for your time.

Thank you. Our next speaker is Mesa um Shahar. Good evening, mayor and council members. Thank you for taking the time to consider the tobaccof free ordinance and for the work you do for the town of Kerry. My name is Mansip Cho. I'm a junior at Green Hope High School and I'm here tonight representing the PO youth empowerment team which includes youth across Wake County, including many of us who live right here in Kerry. I want to start by saying that what I'm about to talk about isn't a problem happening somewhere else. I'm a Kerry resident. I go to a Kerry high school. What I'm

about to describe didn't happen in another town that we're reading about. It happened on my bus, in my school, and in this community. On my school bus, there was a student who openly sold vapes to other kids. It wasn't hidden or secretive. People knew who to go to, how much it cost, and when to ask. It was talked about casually, almost like trading snacks or candy. What struck me most was how normal it felt for so many students. There wasn't any shock or hesitation. It blended into the background of everyday life on a bus full of Kerry kids on their way to a Kerry school. It doesn't stop at the bus. At my school, we've had recurring fire alarms triggered by vaping in the bathrooms. Every time that happens, the building empties out and class stops, not just for the students involved. It's a disruption to education that repeats itself and it's a direct result of how easy it is for students to get their hands on these products in the first place. If access were harder for these products and these products weren't so visible and normalized, I don't believe we'd be pulling fire alarms over vape smoke as often as we are now. According to the CDC, over 2 million middle and high school students in the United States currently use ecigarettes. Before I saw what was happening in my school, this seemed like an abstract statistic. Now, it doesn't. As a teenager, you're not always thinking about long-term consequences. You're thinking about fitting in, curiosity, and what feels socially acceptable. When tobacco and vaping are visible and common in public spaces, it lowers the barrier for experimentation. It quietly sends the message that this is just a part of growing up and carry. Most people who use nicotine start before the age of 18, often much earlier. That's why the environments that youth grow up in matter so much. The signals we absorb from our surroundings shape our choices long before we fully understand the risks. Every public space where vaping is visible teaches kids that it's normal. Every space where it isn't teaches them

the opposite. This ordinance lets Carrie choose which lesson we're teaching the next generation. Raleigh saw the same patterns and recently passed a comprehensive smoke-free tobaccof free ordinance for their public spaces. Carrie now has that same opportunity to decide what kind of environment we want our young people to grow up in and to back that up with real policy. When you vote on this ordinance, I hope you think about the students like me who see those effects early and shape the environment car's youth grow up in and the standards that we internalize. Thank you for your time, your leadership, and for considering the voices of the youth who live with the outcome of this vote.

Thank you.

Our next register speaker is Sod Khan. Good evening, mayor and council members. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak today in support of the tobaccof free ordinance. My name is Sad Khan. I'm a rising junior at Green Hope High and a proud resident of Kerry. Today I'll be speaking on behalf of the PO youth empowerment team. As a student, I've seen firsthand how vaping has become a growing issue among teens. Over the past few years, I've noticed more issue uh more students talking about vaping and in some cases using these products at school events, parks, and other public spaces. What concerns me most is that many young people do not fully understand the risks. Nicotine is a highly addictive chemical found in tobacco and vape products and can have serious effects on adolescent brain development, learning, and mental health. I've also seen how peer pressure can influence these decisions. A student may start vaping simply because friends are doing it which causes them to want to fit in or because of the misconception that this product is just harmless. What starts off as curiosity can quickly become a habit that is difficult to break which is known as the

cycle of addiction. This is why tobaccof free public space matters. Children should be able to play at parks without being exposed to secondhand smoke or vaping aerosols. Families should be able to attend community events, walk along greenways, and enjoy outdoor spaces knowing that they can breathe the clean, fresh air. Tobaccof free spaces help create healthier environments for everyone, especially our youth. Recently, Raleigh took an important initiative step in protecting the youth and citizens by passing a tobaccof free ordinance. As a resident of Kerry, I hope our town can follow this example and continue building a healthier future for all. This ordinance is not about restricting personal choices. It is is about protecting public health, reducing youth exposure to tobacco products, and ensuring that our shared spaces remain clean, safe, and welcoming. Kerry has always been a community that values safety, health, and quality of life. In fact, in 2025, Kerry was ranked the sixth safest city in the nation, making it the only city in North Carolina to be included in the top 10. That recognition reflects our commitment to protecting residents and create a community where families can thrive. By supporting tobaccof free spaces, I respectfully encourage you all to support this ordinance and would reflect choosing cleaner air and healthier lives. as a young person who will help shape the future of this town. I hope you will join me in making this choice. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Thank you.

Our last register speaker is Roshan. [clears throat] Good evening, mayor and council members. My name is Roshan and I'm a rising

junior at Panther Creek High School [snorts] as well as a resident of Kerry and a member of the PO youth empowerment team. I'm here today to advocate for to advocate for a tobaccof free ordinance for the town of Kerry. I will tell you all the story that I experienced personally and I have no doubt that many other students also experienced this across the town. On the very first day of my freshman year of high school, I walked into the school bathroom and saw and immediately saw a cloud of vape smoke. I turned around and walked right back out. But that's the thing. I had a choice to walk out. Not everybody does. Every student must go to the bathroom at some point throughout the school day. When vaping is happening in bathrooms, students aren't choosing to be exposed to it. They're forced into that environment again and again, sometimes every day. And that repeated exposure exposure is not just dangerous physically due to the secondhand aerosol. It's also dangerous psychologically. And this is something that I experienced firsthand. For many students, the first time seeing this can make you uncomfortable, maybe even scared. But after repeated exposure, you become desensitized to it and it maybe even becomes normal to you. And that's the danger of vaping in public places that students frequently visit. The moment something becomes normal in a young person's mind, it becomes significantly easier for them to start doing it themselves. To put this in perspective, if a young person start starts vaping, they're more likely to become addicted due to their brain still developing and they could be the reason it's normalized for somebody else. Continuing the cycle, although there is signage across the school clearly prohibiting the use of tobacco products on school grounds, students can continue to use these products, highlighting the widespread addiction. The problem is so prevalent in some places that the bathrooms are overpop populated purely due to the number of students vaping, taking away from students who generally just want to go to the bathroom. A tobaccof free ordinance is crucial to breaking the cycle. It removes vaping from the places that young people can't avoid, stopping normalization before it starts. I was

lucky that first day being able to walk out, but I couldn't avoid it forever. If we want young people to make healthy choices, we have to make spaces where healthy choices feel normal. And that's why I believe passing a tobaccof free ordinance in Kerry is a big step towards creating a healthier future for me and my peers. Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

No additional registered speakers.

If you're in the audience and would like to speak at public speaks out, now is your opportunity. Good evening. I'm Andrew Hos and I just want to say that I'm very thankful to live in Kerry and in the United States of America, uh the greatest country in human history and about to celebrate its 250th birthday next week. Uh there are a lot of people that obviously um have different beliefs or um opinions than myself and they are often shared here in public speaks out and they're often um very critical of certain government actions and a particular law enforcement agency in in particular. So, I would like to actually help reach out to those that are affected by certain law enforcement agencies by trying to offer solutions, immediate solutions. Uh, I'd like to address the widespread spread panic amongst our undocumented migrant population. Foreignb born people across the country are looking for ways to avoid being apprehended and deported. To assist them, here are 10 helpful tips for migrants looking to avoid ICE. Tip number one, go back to your own country. Simple but effective. Tip number two, obey immigration laws. Studies show that the best way to avoid being charged with a crime is to not to do anything to break the law. Tip number three, take off your

sombrero. You'll be less identifiable and blend in with every other Juan, Ricardo, and Heraldo. Number four, resist the urge to lead an armed gang and forcibly take over an apartment complex. It may be difficult, but your willpower will pay off. Number five, please don't rape anyone. American society tends to view this behavior as no bueno. Number six, learn English. Making a convincing case to governing authorities is much easier when you actually speak a language they understand. Number seven, try cutting back on less than one murder per week. ICE is targeting violent criminals first, so go easy on the murdering. Number seven, sorry, number eight, get your MS-13 face tattoo gang gang tattoo removed. I understand that laser removal can be pricey, but it will help you be less conspicuous. Uh, number nine, ask Selena Gomez to hide you in one of her mansions. She has several, and based on her social media posts, she'd definitely do something to help. And finally, number 10, find the perfect hiding place, like Venezuela. ICE will never look for you there. Following these tips are a surefire way to avoid capture and deportation. Thank you and good evening.

Anyone else for public speaks out?

Hi there. My name is Diana. Very good to see everyone tonight. I wanted to acknowledge the young Did you let go the mic? Thank you.

That is a habit I have. Thank you for the reminder. Um, I wanted to acknowledge the young folks here tonight

because I have been so impressed. I really have with the tobaccof free ordinance and I think it's a wonderful idea. I actually work in healthcare so vaping is very concerning to a lot of us in healthcare. We're just beginning to really understand the long-term consequences. I mean, we're talking about very hot steam that folks are inhaling and damaging their lungs with. It's a it's a different beast entirely than cigarettes. Um, so I am very in support of an ordinance and I think there also needs to be more of a big picture view on additional steps because I have seen spaces that have tobaccof free ordinances and people still smoke, right? So, we can have the ordinance in place, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it'll stop folks from using tobacco products. So, are there ways that we need to reach out to young people? Um, is this do they need alternative coping mechanisms to deal with school stress? Do we need some sort of youth program to engage students? Maybe they're needing additional support, right? and sometimes that can manifest in addictive behaviors. Um, so that's just one thought and something I'm happy to continue the the discussion with you all and also with our young folks over here. Um, I'm just I love to see that this is on the table and that the youth are so involved and I do hope you all will consider it.

Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else for public speaks out? Seeing no one, I'll close. Public speaks out. We'll move to item four, which is the consent agenda. For the benefit of

people watching our meeting on TV, I'll take a moment to review the consent items. Actually, there's only one consent item and that is the Pitter Sears Road annexation 26A4. Would council members like this item pulled for discussion? If not, I would entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda. So moved.

There's a motion,

second

and a second. Discussion. All in favor, please say say I.

I.

Any oppose? Motion carries unanimously.

We now move to public hearings. Same rules apply for public hearings that apply for public speaks out with one exception. Public hearing speakers have five minutes each for their comments. Our first public hearing is 23REZ14 Hatcher property reszoning. Principal planner Rachel Smith will introduce the item. Council will not take action on this resoning tonight. It will return it will be referred to the planning and zoning board. They will make a recommendation and it will return to council at a future date. Miss Smith.

Thank you. Good evening, Mayor and Council. This is a resoning for an assemblage of approximately 23.15 acres in western Kerry. One parcel is unadressed and the others are addressed 74 and 80 Saunders Grove Lane. The property is located within K's corporate limits and is in the Carpenter special planning area shown in red and adjacent to the Carpenter National Register Historic District shown in blue. There are no documented historic buildings on the site. The surrounding neighborhoods include Old Carpenter, Carpenter Village, and Magnolia Estates. The site's eastern property boundary abuts a stream and a pond. The pond is owned and maintained by the Magnolia Estates HOA. A 100 ft buffer comprised

of the 50-foot noose buffer and the additional 50-foot carry urban transition buffer will be required on the property's eastern boundary. The Carpenter special planning area map shows the conceptual alignment of several planned greenways, including the village trail, a character-defining feature of the special planning area and a unique element within K's planning framework. The parks, recreation, and cultural resources system plan further refineses the locations of these proposed trails and the applicant has committed to build the village trail along the western edge of the property and to build the portions of the Kit Creek Greenway corridor which run along the boundary of the site. The site is south of Sounders Grove Lane and north of April Bloom Lane. Raybrook Way stops just to the east of the property. The current zoning is Kerry residential and the applicant requests resoning to residential 8 conditional use. The proposed zoning conditions limit the development to a maximum of 52 detached dwellings and include a concept plan that illustrates the overall layout and key zoning commitments. The R8 zoning requires a minimum lot size of 8,000 square ft and the applicant is committing that at least 40% of all lots will be a minimum of 10,000 square ft and will be located in the yellow pod areas as shown on the concept plan. Community gathering area will be a minimum of 7,000 square ft, 2,000 ft more than the LDO requirement. Most perimeter buffers which would otherwise be permitted on residential lots will be on common lots and the applicant has offered architectural commitments. Non-traditional exterior building

materials are prohibited, including vinyl siding, ephus, and plastic composite lumber products. And corner lot homes must incorporate additional architectural details and foundation plantings on lot side lot facads. Homes located within 100 ft of the village trail or Saunders Grove Lane, both important viewshed corridors leading into the historic Carpenter Crossroads area, must incorporate at least two traditional architectural design elements from an approved list, such as gable roofs or front porches. These commitments help ensure that the homes most visible from these key corridors incorporate design features that complement the character of the historic crossroads area and reinforce the unique identity of Carpenter. The conditions also include multimmodal commitments. A transit easement will be dedicated along the Saunders Grove frontage and there will be a raised pedestrian crossing on April Bloom Lane. Additionally, the developer will construct the greenways, multi-use paths, and the village trail as shown on the concept plan as they are shown adjacent to streets. We note the 12t wide multi-use paths are generally interchangeable with street side trails. The village trail will be located along the western edge of the site as a 12- foot wide meandering ADA accessible trail located within a 60 foot wide corridor. Consistent with the carpenter special planning area vision, the trail will incorporate contextsensitive materials and design elements intended to evoke the area's historic character. The applicant is also committed to providing at least two interpretive signs that tell the story of Carpenters's history subject to review and approval by historic preservation staff. Subject to securing necessary easements,

the applicant has offered to extend Braybrook Way beyond the subject property to connect with the existing street network. The missing segment is relatively short, approximately 60 to 65 ft in length and is located within existing public right ofway. However, as written, there is some uncertainty regarding implementation because the connection may require easements from adjacent property owners that have not yet been secured. The offer does not include removal of the existing Braybook Way turnaround bulb upon street connection. staff has evaluated the request with the imaginary community plan. We note the carpenter special planning area has one of the most detailed and place specific planning frameworks within the community plan. The subject property is located within two carpenter sub areas. The Crossroads Village sub area is envisioned as the historic heart of Carpenter where development should be particularly sensitive to the area's historic character and rural setting and the neighborhood south sub area is intended to consist of detached residential neighborhoods similar in scale and character to the established subdivisions. The village trail is envisioned to provide place defining connectivity and transition between the crossroads village and the neighborhood south sub area. When looking at the policy guidance of the special planning area, the proposal includes architectural commitments specifically designed to complement the character of the National Register Historic District, including restrictions on exterior building materials and enhanced design standards. Use form transitions, which are also discussed in the shape chapter analysis, include a development program similar to the surrounding neighborhoods. And the proposal would build the very first portion of the village trail

through the site to help connect new residents and existing neighborhoods with community destinations. The architectural commitments also help to meet historic preservation master plan goals as does the offer for historic interpretive signage to share the history of Carpenter. For the live and shape chapters, the proposal creates a detached dwelling residential neighborhood that adds to the housing supply in western Kerry while remaining generally compatible with the surrounding area. Transitions are provided through the use of 10,000 square foot lots 2,000 ft larger than the minimum required in the R8 district, primarily located around the periphery of the development, as well as an overall density of 2.25 dwellings per acre, which is compatible to nearby neighborhoods. For the enriched chapter, the proposed 7,000q ft² community gathering area may contribute to open space preservation. And the gathering area also supports broader live and shape chapter objectives by enhancing neighborhood design, community interaction, and overall development quality. for the engage and move chapters. The proposal includes several multimodal improvements that would enhance safety and connectivity both within the development and to the surrounding area. The dedication of a transit easement also helps support future transit service as the area continues to develop. If construction can be more fully assured, as discussed in the staff report, the proposed Prey Brookway extension would eliminate a gap in the transportation network. The staff report also notes the benefits to removing temporary turnarounds when streets are extended and several recent resonings and development projects have been removed by the developer. If the bulb is not removed by the developer during the street connection, the redundant pavement is likely to remain as is until the neighborhood or the town pay to remove it.

A neighborhood meeting was held in October of 2023. 25 nearby residents participated. Questions and concerns related to traffic, privacy, buffers, community character, the location and design of storm water facilities, greenway and trail connections, tree preservation, and the future layout and architecture of the development. The applicant voluntarily held two additional neighborhood meetings to meet with neighbors and keep them updated on the case as conditions were refined, including one meeting held earlier this month. The meetings, the minutes from all three neighborhood meetings were attached to the staff report. While there has been consistent contact with neighbors since 2023, staff has not received any direct communication since the posting of the public hearing signs and the mailing of notice for the public hearing. Staff provided notice to property owners within 800 ft which exceeds state and LDO requirements for notice and signs were posted on the property. This concludes my presentation. Jason Baron, the applicant's representative, is available to provide his comments and following the public hearing, I'm available to answer your questions.

Thank you, Mrs. Smith. I would invite Mr. Baron for Uh, good evening, Mayor and Council. Jason Baron with Morning Star Law Group here on behalf of the applicant and MI Homes, who's the proposed builder of the site. Appreciate the opportunity to be here. I'll try to keep my comments brief. I mean, candidly, we I believe this case is is pretty much a slam dunk. Uh, this is one of those cases that I enjoy working on and credit honestly to my client and the thorough work that the staff has put in on this case and ensuring that the case that is presented before you tonight fits squarely with the community that's going to be located from a fit standpoint. It's going to have tie-ins to those uh adjacent communities. And so uh at the forefront of the discussions that we've had with

the neighborhood is making sure that whatever gets developed there is going to be complimentary to what is already there. Additionally, ensuring that it's going to be consistent with the Carpenter special planning area. As Rachel mentioned during her presentation, the good news is the Carpenter special planning area has very sightspecific details associated with the plans for development of this site and we're complying with all of those. Uh, and so we believe this is one of those cases that quite literally checks all of the boxes from a comprehensive plan consistency. And the reason we know that it does is because the applicant took it upon themselves to do two things in this case. First, it's a concept plan reszoning. So, we have the benefit of a concept plan that shows what the layout is going to be, where the 10,000 foot lots are going to be, where the 8,000 foot lots are going to be, how the sidewalks are going to connect within the community as well as around the community, where the transit location is going to be located, where the buffers are going to be located. It provides predictability so the community knows this is what we're going to get. Additionally, the conditions are incredibly thorough. I mean, this is a fairly small development. This is 52 lots. It's not it's not a ton of development on this site. It's just 23 acres. But even with that, my client in the in close consultation with the staff, we believe has put together a very thorough list that provides, as I said, predictability and and complimentary uses with what is there on the ground. I do want to mention and if I could go back to the I think there's a concept plan somewhere in here. if not. Um, so this is the concept plan and I I want to highlight the trails. Again, this is a 23 acre site. If you take a look at the site, you have, as was mentioned, there's three different trails that encircle this site, all of which are 12 ft wide. So you have a traditional greenway that essentially picks up at the northern portion of the site and lines the entire northern and eastern section of the site and winds its way down to the southern portion of the site. You have a

streetside trail 12t wide that lines April Bloom. The entire southern boundary of the site is has a 12-oot trail. And then as Rachel mentioned, there's a 12-oot trail, the village trail, the first of its kind. Town hasn't seen one of these. It's the only place that it exists. There's an there's the 12oot trail that ent that that lines the entire western boundary of this site. So all told, there's in excess of 3,000 linear feet of 12 ft wide trails that completely encircle this development. It will provide great, you know, great opportunities not only for these residents, but for the people who already live in this area to get out, to be able to bike, to be able to walk and and move around. And so, you know, it really is is one of those unique opportunities uh to be able to work with the staff. As was mentioned, this is the first of its kind from the village trail standpoint. Has been a fun conversation with the staff. Candidly, when when we received the first comment, we asked staff, "What do you want us to do?" They said, "We don't know. What do you want to do?" I mean, not not literally, but honestly, it's the first of its kind. We don't know exactly what it's going to be. And I I think if you read the condition, that condition contemplates continued collaboration with the staff associated with how that village trail on that 60 foot wide section 60 foot wide section of greenway uh with a 12ft trail in the middle that's going to be winding through. So I can't say enough good things about the work that everybody has put in on this case and we look forward to hearing your feedback and continuing through the process. Thank you.

Thank you. So now is the time for the public hearing for 23r14 Hatcher property reszoning. I'll call on our clerk for any written comments and to call on any registered speakers.

We had five written comments, no registered speakers. Um these the written comments have been emailed to council prior to the meeting, provided to council upon arrival, and attached to the online agenda.

Thank you. If you are here in the audience and would like to speak at this public hearing, now is your opportunity.

My name is Mac. Patel. I live in west part of Kerry. Uh uh first of all, thanks mayor and council member and the staff member for this uh opportunity to uh speak on this project. Uh I own a small parcel which is on the northwest corner of this property like we have a common property line and basically on the northwest side and western side of this property there are um smaller parcels. Uh they all do not have a city uh sewer and water. So it would be nice if they can give us couple stop which we can accommodate for our small uh single home parcels. Um my address for that property is 54 Saunders Grove Lane. Um [snorts] and otherwise this is a very good project for 52 homes in a 23 acre. That's I think a pretty good uh um I would like to see that developed. That's all. Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay. Anyone else for this public hearing

Mary and council members, thank you for having us here. Um, I'm Mike Allen. I live in uh Magnolia Estates, which is part of the proposed or next to the proposed area. Um overall we're very pleased with with the proposed plan for for this Hatcher property. It's it's this was the third iteration. Uh there were two previous um proposals that came through that we wanted to put at least 100 to 120 town homes on the area back there that is now designated for 52 single family homes. So we're very pleased with that. The plan seems solid uh for the most part. Everybody that I know in the neighborhood is happy with

it with one exception and that is the it's been mentioned several times the Braybrook extension. You know, right now we have one road going into into Magnolia Estates. A lot of times we you hear that you need the extension because of emergency vehicle access and things like that. Well, we've had our share of fire trucks. We've had our share of ambulances and police in the neighborhood. It's never been a problem. In fact, access into Magnolia Estates through Mark Morsville Carpenter and Lewis Steven is on a four-lane highway. If you extend Braybrook into this the new development area that this is a very tiny narrow uh neighborhood there and it not only makes it to me it would seem uh more difficult and and less safer to go through there to get through this neighborhood here if you extend Braybrook. Right now there's four if you look at it there's four proposed access into the Bray the new uh neighborhood. We've got one and we're slightly bigger area than this. One has been sufficient for us for a long time. Four I think is probably a little bit more than is necessary. If you leave Braybrook at the turnaround that's in there now and actually do the new proposed that is proposed to connect to Braybrook, make that a turnaround that still gives you three roads access and it doesn't have emergency vehicles zipping zigzagging through the new development to get into Magnolia Estates should they decide to take that area. So, so basically what I'm trying to say is please take a look at, you know, evaluating the need to extend the Braybrook into the new development area because um it's just going to dis um it's going to set back the quality of life in our neighborhood and it's really in my opinion not necessary to to do that. But that's all. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else for this public hearing?

Anyone at all?

Hello, Diana here again and I think I'm finally getting the hang of this microphone. So, thank you Mayor Weinreck for all your friendly reminders. So, there's a lot of work that has been done by the applicants. I can see that. I just wanted to kindly ask for a little bit more attention to detail regarding the buffers just because I have seen a lot of neighborhoods go up in this area and builders sometimes have a tendency of choosing vegetation that just takes a really really long time to grow. Right? So the species selection of trees matters here because the construction can take place over a year and we've got tiny little trees that are going to take years and years to catch up. But not all trees are the same. Not all vegetation is the same. Some do grow faster. For example, red oaks 15 to 18 feet within two years. So, I think with a little bit more of attention to detail regarding that buffer would be wonderful. As I mentioned, I've just I've seen it happen with other builders where they just plant these little twigs in the ground. They're choosing like the smallest, cheapest trees possible, I think, that they can get and it it just takes years and years to really see the benefit of any vegetation. I very much appreciate that the builders are going to be reveating the east side of the property. That's something that they've talked about. Uh I just want to encourage that there be a little bit more planning in terms of the timeline of how long it it takes to get the benefit of vegetation and reveation. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else for the public hearing? Seeing no one will close the public hearing. Thanks to those who spoke. Uh just want to remind you that this will next go to the planning and zoning board

for their review and recommendation and it will come back to council for a vote in a few months. Having said that, I'll open it up to council members for questions or comments. [snorts]

Sure. This is in district A. I'm happy to begin. Uh I'd like to thank uh the applicant for meeting with me in town hall and with town staff earlier this week to talk about the proposal. And it is a pleasure to see uh communication between residents and applicants and the development community resulting in a proposal that is this mindful of what is appropriate for the area, mindful of resident feedback. As our resident shared, this is now the third iteration of what could have been built here. And I think this goes to show what happens when you have that collaboration. and I think we've landed somewhere that uh feels very appropriate for the area. Um I thank the residents for helping to shape that process. Uh the uh concern that I shared with the applicant when I met with them as I share with most applicants I meet with is canopy preservation. So this parcel does not have a lot of mature canopy. A little bit in the southeast corner. and we talked about retaining as much as we could throughout the uh greenway on the eastern edge and in the wetland retention area. Um Rachel, to address the resident concerns about the connectivity, could we talk about that just a little bit? That connectivity there is required by our ordinance.

So because the site is over five acres, it will have to stub to the eastern site and it will align with Braybrook. Now you can see that this is an offsite gap here off of their property. So it's that 60 to 65 ft that the applicant is offering to build off of their property to make the connection. Connectivity is required for us, but if the applicant does not offer to build this, then at some point perhaps Carrie might be the

ones who have to pay for it. Uh, and so could you help a a newer council member also understand the interaction here between our connectivity requirements and our stream buffer protections because does this in fact connect through the stream buffer that that's what it looked like from the original from the maybe the the first slide we had. This is not in the same location. You can see this is okay this might be helpful. So this gap is on this spot right here. You've got homes already in here. So, the stream buffer is to the east of this area.

Could you go back to the first slide? Oh, well, you know, it's here. Tiny. Uh, but maybe the first slide where the cross

How about this one?

Yes.

Is this better?

Yes. So,

oh. Oh, this you're talking about this this crossing. Yes. So, there'd have to be a covert of of some kind.

Okay. So, I'm just trying to understand with our stream buffer protections, but our connectivity requirements how we reconcile the two.

I'll add it would be reviewed during um development plan review for buffers and whether or not a crossing could be made.

Okay. Um can do you mind if I

Yeah, please tack on to this. Was there not a requirement when the previous development was created um to go all the way to the um line Why did why did Braybook stop before the property line?

We'd probably have to research that because developments sometime old.

So, is Braybrook a um it's a town owned road?

Yes.

And it's up to current public standards,

believe so.

The right of way is standard and does extend all the way to the property line.

The rightway does, but the road is

the road stops short. Correct.

Okay. So there's no requirement. That's what I'm trying to understand. Is there no requirement for? Let me let's forget

about what was supposed to happen today. Would there be a requirement for it to go to the property line?

Um, not necessarily. And I'm thinking in this situation, it could be if there were stream impacts at that western end of the road. Sometimes the federal regulatory agencies will not let you build a road through that that's not already connecting to something. Okay? So they may have been kind of So there are situations where people are forced to stop construction short of the property line for reasons like that.

I thought that might be where you were going

and topography reasons if they couldn't fill it and had to go off site to get the fill to make the road connect.

Okay. But so they weren't required some sort of payment and lose so that eventually when that road was going to be constructed it didn't have to come from taxayer dollars.

We'd have to look.

I'm just I'm just thinking for the future. I know we can't go backwards, but it's some questions to ask as we look at new developments, especially infill ones where that requirement either has to be, let's say, um this wonderful developer who's offered to build it, although colors are more expensive than a road, or if in the future we say, "Hey, you don't have to build a road, but you have to give us the money for the road." Yeah, I believe and I'm looking at Cassie and Priatham in the audience. I believe we do that today with current development so that we

Okay, great. Just wanted to check.

Thank you, Mayor Prom, for some clarification. Uh, no. So, I I I don't really have much more to add. Um, again, just my appreciation to the residents for helping to shape this for the better. My appreciation to the applicant for being so responsive. you know, this is now uh the second meeting in a row that we're considering this special plan area. And I think this application was very responsive to the intentions of that that special plan area. Um, and I think the attention to detail for historical character, for the green spaces, for the village trail adds a lot of great amenities in this area.

Any other comments?

I have some questions.

Me, too.

Okay.

Go ahead.

You're already on. Okay. Well, I I just want and this is not a challenge to this. This is quite literally me learning and trying to understand, but this is the first time I've seen um an applicant come with a promise of pods having a a specific lot size, you know, and showing it to me in this manner. So, those center pods being 10,000 square feet, right? Or I'm sorry, the outer pods being 10,000 square feet and the other inner ones being a little bit smaller. I'm curious what is trying to be achieved by those lot sizes being what they are where they are.

Sure. And let me pull up the concept plan.

I'm making assumption that it's a transition. Correct. Um so the idea was to have the larger lots as a transition buffer um because this is an infill site to the adjacent um neighborhoods that are existing. So here you can see Magnolia Estates the lot sizes um are usually around 10,000 square ft. Up in here a couple of these um corner lots culde-ac lot lots are a little bigger up to 15 um,000 square ft. Um, Carpenter Village does have smaller lots generally and then Old Carpenter here and I I just pulled the plats immediately adjacent

um to this property. So, the idea was to have a similar feel um to these adjacent lots and neighborhoods.

What is the setbacks um for this zoning? I I'm asking because geometry is the only math I was ever good at. Um, and if those larger lots have larger homes, I don't think they're going to achieve quite the transition feel if if the lot is, you know, I've got a very very large house next door to me. Um, on a lot that's just a little bit smaller than mine and it feels very

very like close. Um, if there was a little bit more open space, of course, we've got five foot setbacks. So, that's kind of what's what's in my head is that geometry. How does that geometry really work?

Sure. So, the um staff report does have the setbacks for the proposed R8 zone. Um so, the roadway setback because these are all local streets is going to be a 20ft front. Um the rear is 20 and then the sideyard yard is a 5ft minimum with a 20 foot combined. I will say that on my site visit that these are some some very beautiful large homes. um we don't have a lot coverage um or like a area ratio um in the LTO for these lots and so those large lovely homes on some of like the 7500 foot lots there is quite a bit of lot coverage

existing to your point

I I was just curious I don't have any problem with it I was just trying to understand what was trying to be achieved and and I got to admit I'm also I find it an interesting way to go about transitions it's just Not something I've seen another applicant. I don't know if anybody else has seen this before.

In the past, we've seen it a lot. I

It feels like a clever way to approach the transition um without planning more stuff necessarily than is necessary, right?

It protects the um abuing um neighbors who are concerned about houses looking very similar to houses by them. And then it would create I I feel like it would create a lot of harmony with the the surrounding.

Exactly.

Yeah. Okay. That was very very This is very new to me and I find it very interesting. Um and then uh I'm curious 54 Saunders Lane. Uh the gentleman mentioned perhaps us I guess stubbing it but with utilities. Is is this an

undeveloped parcel? Is that the goal? So there's currently it's just a I'm assuming just a

nothing

empty nothing.

There's a single family home on the property now and so the applicant will be required to extend utilities and typically they they do stub um to adjoining properties. Now they can absolutely work with the gentleman um offline it's together to try and work out. But if there's an existing property there, is it not is it does it need to be annexed or

this is in the corporate boundary. So no, there's no annexation associated with

Okay. So it just happens to be on I'm assuming well and septic.

Okay. Thank you. That's my only questions.

I have a two questions. The first one is the area that's marked wetland. What can you tell me about that? It's not in yellow. It's in white on the map that's up now on the bottom.

Sure. So, a lot of these features will be field determined at the time of development plan. Um, so this there has been enough engineering to know that that is a location of a wetland. Um, and so they wanted to indicate that it was not um going to be part of the development scheme at this point.

Okay. But it's part of the reszoning but not part of the concept plan for development. There's no no anticipated development pod there.

Um and then when is there a BMP that's required somewhere on the site?

Uh so there will be storm water facilities. I don't have a lot of information on them at this point in terms of the engineering. Um certainly there will be storm water facilities.

What's a BMP?

Uh best management practice. So where would let me where then is sorry it's very small. Where is the community gathering space? It'll have to be centrally located per the LDO. It has not been identified in this concept plan the exact locations.

Just from a past experience, it would be great if the BMP could be seen as an

amenity and if the amenity could be part of the community gathering space. I'm Mr. Baron knows how how much we in town council love amenity. Make a good BMP amenity with a fountain and all of that. That would be awesome. I' I'd love to know where that is. I think I know that our our goals are always to have a community gathering space that's centrally located, but I think it would be I I've often seen them on the plan. I This is the first plan I've seen in a while that didn't have a location identified preload identified. 7,000 square foot is great. I just wanted to know that. And do we know what a historic interpretive signage is? It will be along the village trail. Um, as written right now, it would be in the easement for the trail. We staff is sort of noodling internally on if that is the best location for it to be. Um, it may it may be more appropriate in other places along the village trail. So, we're working with the applicant on the exact location and placement. That will ultimately be a development plan decision. might be great if the historic preservation folks could be wait be a part of that discussion. I know that they would always love to be part of anything that celebrates the history of the community. So, I would also s suggest that um one thing I don't do enough is I can't remember an applicant coming to a public hearing with a reasonzoning that is this size and not having anyone really come speak out against it, but rather people coming to speak for it. Although we did get some some emails that it was very respectful and thoughtful and so I'd really like to commend the applicant and the whole team for doing the due diligence spending a lot of time with the neighbors coming to us. I know

sometimes people like to lowball us and say, "Oh, I'm going to use this as something that I can negotiate with." But what you came with is really great and my questions are always nitpicky, but my nitpickiness is very small. [laughter] So, I'm really I'm really quite impressed with what what was brought before us and I like to thank staff and the applicant for making um making this a relatively easy discussion.

Agree.

I agree as well. Sorry. Uh, Council Member Bonsel, I was just going to piggyback on that real quick to also say that the written comments we received were not uh, as they historically are an expression of opinion, but more this time a series of questions and clarifications that I believe staff and the applicant could probably answer pretty readily. Rachel, if we could just make sure that we get answers for the written comments. That was really more the nature of the responses we got this time.

Sorry to interrupt.

No problem. I actually used to live on the intersection of uh William Henry and April Bloom. The corner house was mine. We rented there when we moved to North Carolina. So most of the people who have written this, I believe I could recognize their names. Um they're all good friends. Um [clears throat] so I feel compelled to request this and I don't think this is the right time to probably mention or maybe it is. I don't know. Uh sometimes the timings could be off depending on which phase of the project you're on. But the construction traffic these some of these neighborhoods um around this site they're very mature and people have been living there for many many years now. Um how will the construction traffic flow through these? Like will this be taken care of by phases or how is this going to be planned for? Jason

It's a great question. It's actually a question that came up at our neighborhood meeting. We've already started discussions related to

I promise I did not read that.

That's [laughter] quite all right. Um, so Saunders Grove Lane is where we're going to start where the client is going to start construction. That's the front entrance to the site. that's the the the the main entrance to the site. U we've actually started conversations about the possibility of like we have done in other cases putting up barriers um to those connections that are proposed into the neighborhoods that would come down at a certain you know either CO or building permit or plat just to ensure that folks um have predictability and know that the construction traffic won't be going through their neighborhood.

I think that would be fabulous. And is this in phases? Like I'm pretty sure this is not going all together. So

it's just right now the anticipation is it it could be one single 54 lot phase or 52 lot phase just because it's not a ton of development uh and there's one way in and one way out but right now just don't know.

Do we have a commitment for uh putting the barriers or is that a standard practice that you guys follow?

Uh we don't have a commitment right now. Again, we got that um question at our meeting in early earlier this month and we have already begun conversations internally about the possibility of adding a condition to provide that comfort to the neighbors to know that the construction traffic won't be going through their neighborhood.

That would make me feel happy. Thank you so much. And I don't want to get calls from my friends yelling at me.

Understood.

Thank you.

Yep.

Other questions or comments?

I said one other comment. um how much I I believe um going a little bananas with streetside trails and greenways um and such is a really great approach to reszoning applications. [laughter] I it's that that's also a first and I I quite literally pictured that I'm like okay so and now that neighborhood can go over here and it's all I just thought that was just a really keen way to to

approach it. So, I figured I' i'd say it. I'd like to see more um of this level of mobility within the the development. It's pretty neat.

Thank you. So, as a reminder, this will go to the planning and zoning board for their review and recommendation. In the meantime, if you have questions, Rachel Smith will have the latest information and she can answer those questions for you and or you can contact any of us at any time. So, thank you.

Thank you. We now move to our first discussion item bid award for go carry bus operations and maintenance facility transit director Kelly Blazy will present the item and council may take action. Miss Blazy.

Good evening Mayor and council. We have reached an exciting milestone for the Go Carry bus operations and maintenance facility. A project that started 15 years ago. This is when we were still a small transit system known as Catran. So tonight I will walk you through all that we have accomplished in that time leading us to where we will discuss the recent bid for construction. As a reminder, transit service in Kerry is managed by town staff and operated by a service contractor which is currently MV Transportation. Since beginning transit service in 2001, the contractor has operated from a leased facility at the corner of Chapel Hill Road and Trinity Road. The building sits on just over 3 acres and originally served as a heavy equipment maintenance facility. In 2011, Carrie conducted a feasibility study to determine whether we should continue to operate from the site leased by the contractor or build a town-owned transit facility. The current lease must be renewed every four years, and there is not another existing facility from which Goary could operate. A town-owned facility provides certainty that Kerry

can continue to operate and grow transit service to meet the needs of our community. The feasibility study reviewed administrative, operational, maintenance, and vehicle needs for the next 30 years. The resulting report recommended that the town purchase a 9 acre site from Go Triangle located on Tower View Court behind the James Jackson Public Works facility. Carrie applied for federal grant funding to help fund the purchase of that property. In 2016, Carrie was awarded just over $1 million from the Federal Transit Administration to support this land acquisition. In September of that year, council approved a purchase agreement with Go Triangle to acquire the property on Towerview Court using a combination of federal and local funding. That purchase was final in June of 2017. The 2018 Wake Transit plan included a facility condition and capacity assessment for transit facilities in Wake County. The assessment determined that the current operations facility cannot support the growth planned for TR transit service in Kerry. Parking is limited, circulation through the site is tight, and the building cannot accommodate operational needs. These findings led to dedicated wake transit funding to support the design and construction of a new bus operations and maintenance facility. In 2019, we began the design process with the development of space and programming criteria along with identifying the technical site and building requirements. This work included staff from multiple town departments as well as regional transit partners. During this time, Carrie applied for additional federal funding to support construction and was awarded $14.7 million. During design, we identified an opportunity to adjust the property line

between our site and the adjacent site owned by Duke Energy. This property exchange was approved by council in May of 2025 and completed in April of this year. The final project design was also approved by Car's development review committee in 2025. It gives Duke dedicated driveway access to their substation and gives Carrie more space for parking and direct access to the public works site. So this leads us to the final design of the 85,000 square foot project shown here. The facility incorporates administrative space for carry staff, operations and maintenance space for go carry service provider and a separate fuel and wash station. The attached parking deck provides parking for employees on the top level and covered space for transit vehicles below. The site can accommodate future fleet expansion and incorporates sustainability features such as solar panels and a rain harvesting system. And as you can imagine, we are all very excited to begin construction. This project is primarily supported by the Wake Transit Plan with over $76 million in funding, including contingency, and close to $16 million in federal grants. Of the $92 million allocated in total funding, the town of Kerry provided $251,000 as a local match for the land acquisition. In 2017, we issued an invitation to bid this spring and received three bids, all coming in below the engineers estimate of probable cost prepared at the 100% design stage. Based on our review, Swinton Builders submitted the lowest responsive and responsible bid. Once again, we will revisit all that we

have accomplished beginning in 2011 and bringing you to tonight's meeting. Once council approves the award for construction, we will begin work this summer with an anticipated opening date in late 2028. With that, I bring you staff's recommendation to award the bid for the construction of the Go Carry bus operations and maintenance facility to Switton Builders for a total bid amount of $49,387,755. Happy to answer any questions.

Miss Glazy, this is good news for me. Uh, great job. Thank you.

Uh $50 million and our taxpayers pay $250,000. Uh and it's going to benefit them greatly. So, what a deal. So, thank you.

Council members, questions, comments.

No, I was really impressed in the report about all the I mean, you mentioned a couple of the sustainability items, but things like the permeable pavers, you mentioned the rain harvesting, the solar um uh the EV charging stations. I really thought that the staff report was really complete and showed our total um commitment to sustainability. So really well done.

Any other questions or comments? Are we ready?

I just want to share um my perception of you, Miss Plesy, since I started doing this four years ago now. Your competence, your ability to make me understand these things with which I have absolutely no understanding or experience when I started here has been absolutely remarkable. you are a real asset to the community. So, I just want to say thank you for for always doing such a great job.

Thank you so much.

Are we ready for

I want to just Sorry, one last comment. Sorry. Um I also want to mention and compliment the staff members who have been part of this team of building this entire you know the vision. There was so much work that went into this like

acquiring and like talking to home owners and getting the sites and negotiating with each and every home owner and coming up with a plan on this. I I think this was a tremendous effort and um all of you together did it and um this is amazing. I think it's going to add so much value to Tana Kerry and the residents. So uh this shows how amazing our team is and how great your vision is about the future of Donna of Kerry. So thank you for all the work that you guys have done.

Yeah, I I would love also to share some comments and Kelly I need your uh conference with just like council member uh Kong Johnson. I need that too. [laughter] And especially I heard that the land was purchased in 2017 and it's such a great deal and before the pandemic we only pay 250,000 and imagine now it will at least double or triple the price [laughter] and yeah so I was so amazed by the decision by the council in 2017 [laughter] I wasn't here. I know a lot of council members would not hear and also the go triangle's uh mobility hub is also going to start design and also we see the durm is also in construction and Raleigh's uh station already done and we are the only town will provide the um transition hub like this. I'm very excited for this. Just like mayor, basically a oneliner, just a lot of amazing things as um council member Wong said about going on with transit across the the triangle area and thanks there's nothing I don't love about this and thanks to staff for so many years of your dedication and all that you've put into this.

Thank you.

Were you ready for a motion?

Did you want to do one? [laughter] Sure. I'll Well, I I was I I was sitting here doing the calculus thinking, uh, all of my colleagues said such wonderful things. Do I keep the meeting moving or do I let you know that I share their appreciation? So, I'll just keep it brief and say ditto. Uh, and I will make a motion. Do I have a motion language for the screen?

On the screen.

On screen.

On the screen. I do. I make a motion that we award the bid for the construction of the Go Carry bus operations and maintenance facility to Swinton Builders for a total bid amount of 49,387,755.

Second.

There's a motion and a second. Discussion. All in favor, please say I. I.

Any oppose? Motion carries unanimously. Thank you.

Thank you. That's the intimate. We now move to our second discussion item. Fiscal year 2027 recommended bud budget. Interim town manager Russ Overton will introduce the item and assistant town manager Stacy Ti will present as well. Council may take action. Council better take action. We're running out of time. [laughter] Correct. Uh mayor, councils, and council and members of our community. Tonight concludes many months of work of a very thoughtful and collaborative bud budget process and begins the work ahead moving this organization forward. And I want to thank the council for all the work that you've put into reviewing and discussing this year's budget. I'm proud of our collaboration as well as the time and dedication and committed to this effort. This budget reflects council's priorities, community feedback, and the work of our board's commissions and staff. It recognizes both opportunities and responsibilities that come with being one of the nation's most desirable communities and delivering the service that it takes to run and maintain the services to our 192,000 residents that call Kerry home. Our budget is fundamentally about ensuring that when residents experience emergencies, police and fire are there to respond. It's about maintaining parks, greenways, and

having programs that people enjoy and rely on for quality of life. It's about keeping water and wastewater systems flowing reliably, ensuring solid waste and recycling um are collected consistently and maintaining streets, sidewalks, and public buildings so they're safe, functional, and clean. It's also includes planning for the managed growth through zoning, development, oversight, and issuing permits as well as providing transit services and traffic management that keep our community moving. Equally important are the internal services department that support all of this work behind the scenes, enabling staff across the organization to deliver the everyday services residents expect. Some of this work is highly visible to residents every day. Other parts are completely invisible, yet just as essential to making our community function. Um, we are often judged more directly on the services people can see and experience, but our success depends just as much on the unseen systems and people working consistently behind the scenes. One program I wish every resident could experience is Carrie 101, where participants gain a firstirhand understanding of what makes Kerry run. This year, we have likely received more public input on the budget than ever before. And if I had one desire going forward, it would be that more residents would have the opportunity to see and understand the full scope of what it takes to deliver services they rely on every day and how adopting the budget tonight is fundamental to ensuring the necessary resources are considered to make it all happen in the upcoming year, which really is um what tonight's adoption is all about. This budget continues carries strong financial stewardship and strengthens a renewed commitment to transparency, accountability, and public trust. It invests in our employees and moves us forward to a more disciplined multi-year approach, budget planning, which is increasingly important as local governments across North Carolina face uncertainty around the future revenue authority and property tax policy. While

residents strongly value highquality services, they're also increasingly sensitive to property taxes. Our responsibility is to bridge that gap through clear decision-making, planning, and showing the value of community investment while delivering services that a community has come to expect and keeps Carrie Carrie. This budget includes a significant commitment to public safety, ensuring they have the staff and resources they need as Carrie continues to grow and support the needs of the community. It also continues steady investment in infrastructure, parks, transportation, utilities, and other community assets that define our quality of life. Another highlight of this budget is the addition of two positions within our finance department to enhance internal capacity, improve oversight, and strengthen financial controls. In the coming year, we will also continue refining policies and procedures to ensure consistency, transparency, and accountability in how public funds are managed. I want to again thank the mayor and council uh for your leadership, our boards and commissions, our residents for their input, and to all the staff across the organization that makes the town run. And a special thank goes out to Stacy Ti and the budget team for their work in bringing this all together in a time of transition. As interim manager, I appreciate the trust you've placed in me and in the entire organization. I certainly couldn't do this without everyone on the entire team of Carrie working together with council staff and the community. I'm confident we will continue Car's tradition of excellence. On behalf of the organization, I respectfully recommend adoption of the FY2027 budget. And I'll turn it over to Stacy for a brief presentation uh before your vote. And again, thank you all.

Thank you.

Great. Thank you, Mr. Everton. Good evening, Mayor and Council. I'm happy to join you this evening for the adoption of the fiscal year [clears throat and cough] 2027 budget. Council has been making steady progress on the budget since January. We are now at June 25th, which is the date for final discussion and adoption of the fiscal year 2027 budget.

There are three key takeaways associated with this budget. Uh the first is that it's uh rooted in council and public priority input. It represents the single largest investment in public safety in K's history. And lastly, it's the first step in instituting a predictable, transparent approach to funding Kerry's services. The fiscical year 2027 recommended budget funds 55 new positions including police officers, emergency communications officers, firefighters, internal audit and compliance positions, a budget director, and a communications director, to name a few. It also reinforces Car's commitment to employees by focusing on compensation through a classification and pay study and restoration of merit increase funding at 5%. This budget also brings funding to new capital investments while maintaining the infrastructure that's already in place. 54% of the capital budget supports maintenance projects like street resurfacing, facility maintenance, and water and sewer line rehabilitation. Council has worked diligently during this budget process, discussing priorities, asking questions, and considering reductions. As a result of this work, staff presented an option to you at the June 11th work session that reduces the recommended property tax rate by one penny. That option is reflect reflected in the changes list documentation before you this evening and is noted on this slide. As far as other rates, the solid waste and recycling fee is recommended to increase $2 per month or approximately 8% to $28 and utility rates are recommended to increase 4% overall with the increase applied to the base rate. This results in a $38 per month increase for the typical household. The fiscal year 2027 recommended column on this chart presents the budget as it was published on May 14, 2026. The fiscal year 2027 adopted column notes the results of changes made since

the recommended budget was published. Starting with the operated operating budget section, we see that the changes council made during the June 11th work session resulted in a $159,226 decrease in the general fund. No changes were made to the utility fund. the other funds category which includes a number of smaller carry funds as well as the capital area metropolitan planning organizations or CAMPO fund increased by almost $6.5 million. Kerry serves as the lead planning agency for the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization. While their funds are incorporated into K's budget, they are passrough funds that do not belong to Carrie. staff realized after the fiscal year 2027 recommended budget had been issued that a portion of campus 2027 funding was not included. This adjustment corrects that oversight. In the capital improvements budget section, we see that the utility capital budget remains unchanged and that the general capital budget has decreased by $242,872. In the total budget line, you see that the fiscal year 2027 adopted budget total is 579.6 million or $6 million more than the recommended budget. Again, this increase is solely driven by including the full camp budget, which represents pass through dollars. Staff recommends that council adopt the fiscal year 2027 recommended budget along with the proposed changes detailed in the changes document before you this evening. The three actions noted on this slide are required to both adopt the budget and ensure that the counties are prepared to collect collect taxes on car's behalf. This concludes my presentation and I am available for any questions you all may have.

Thank you, Miss Ti. Uh, [clears throat]

I have comments to make and I would invite all of my colleagues to make comments as well. I'd first like to start by thanking the staff. Words can't say enough. That's just such an understatement of how long you've worked, how hard you've worked long hours to complete this budget. It was a significant undertaking particularly this year when we are continually addressing the changes that emerged following the former town manager's breach of trust. And I mention the breach of trust because that's the context in which this budget was developed. The breach led to inaccurate information being provided to council over several years, leaving critical needs unressed, particularly with our police and fire departments. For 18 consecutive years, Kerry has maintained the lowest tax rate in Wake County. And based on what I know today, I believe the low tax rate of recent years was achieved at least in part through incomplete and misleading assessment of town's long-term needs. The council was repeatedly presented with information information suggesting a tax increase was unnecessary when in reality additional revenue was needed simply to sustain service levels. The result has been a significant backlog of public safety and infrastructure needs. Carrie has not added a new police officer in 10 years, and I can't imagine how much we've grown in that time. The police department is currently understaffed by 89 officers.

At the same time, our growing community requires two additional fire stations to meet increasing service demand. We've reached a point where public safety levels could be affected if these staffing and infrastructures needs are not addressed. In fact, some areas of Kerry are already experiencing longer average police and fire response times. This budget is designed to confront those realities, address critical needs, and begin, I say begin, closing the gaps created by years of underinvestment and misleading forecasting. Almost all of the egregious spending undertaken by the former manager in recent years has occurred without council knowledge. Fortunately, the overall impact on the budget was limited. The council and the interim manager are already implementing changes to strengthen oversight, prevent similar extravagant spending in the future. We also anticipate recommendations from both the internal investigation and the state auditor which will lead to additional improvements in our financial controls and governance practices. It's important to understand that 60% of our revenue comes from property taxes, 21% from sales taxes, 81%. And those revenues sources have remained relatively flat since the population has grown by less than 1% for the last two years and sales taxes have been relatively flat. At the same time, 80%

of our expenditures is public safety and public works where costs continue to rise with doubledigit inflation in many areas of town services. Maintaining the high level of service that Kerry residents have come to expect over the years will require significant investment over the next three years. Now more than ever, economic development must be a priority. With the community largely built out and our population growth slowing, economic development is one of the few sustainable ways to expand the tax base and reduce pressure on future property tax increases. Unfortunately, this budget reduces funding for the second consecutive year to the organization that leads much of our economic development efforts, the Kerry Chamber of Commerce. In my view, that is a big mistake. It sends the wrong message to our business community who we will need in the future. Strategic investments that deliver measurable economic returns must remain a priority. Kerry has worldclass facilities. Wake Med Soccer Park, USA baseball, Kerry tennis park which attract major events drawing visitors from around the region, around the nation and around the world. And they generate millions of dollars in economic impact for our community. Choosing to not invest in these assets that consistently produce these returns would be shortsighted. Economic development is not optional. It

is essential to maintaining both our quality of life and our competitive tax rate in the years ahead. These investments help sustain our high quality of life, support local businesses, and maintain a competitive tax rate for our residents. As we plan for the years ahead, investments that create long-term economic value should be a core component of every budget. The good news is this budget is moving us in the right direction. At the annual council retreat in February, priorities were identified by council in this order. Public safety, capital investment, high performing staff, affordability, main ser maintaining service levels and facilities. This budget begins to address the significant backlog created by the shortage of police officers that I mentioned and the lack of fire stations that I mentioned that have equipment and personnel that are going to be needed. It is important to emphasize that this budget represents the first phase of a three-year public safety recovery plan. As a result, future budgets will also need to prioritize public safety investments to fully address these critical needs. The budget makes meaningful progress in addressing the town's capital needs with 54% of the budget dedicated to maint maintaining parks, roads, and other community infrastructure. Key investments include Carpon Fire Station Road, the multimmoal center, and the design of two new fire stations. However, the budget does not keep pace with the growing needs of our roads and sidewalks. This budget includes $3 million that is allocated for sidewalk

improvements, but there was an additional 3.7 million that was needed. So, we're losing ground. and we continue to fall behind. Similarly, road maintenance fell short of about $5 million, further increasing the maintenance backlog. Addressing these shortfalls will require a significant investment in future bud budgets. Delaying road maintenance only increases long-term costs. As road conditions continue to deteriorate over time, and inflation continues to go up, even a one-year delay can result in substantially higher repair and reconstruction expenses. Making timely investments both fiscally responsible and cost effective. This budget does a good job investing in our exceptional staff who had suffered under the decisions made by the previous manager. It is important to note that out of the 55 additional staff members in this year budget, this year's budget that we will get a budget director and two internal auditors which are desperately needed. Affordability was identified as a top priority by this council at the retreat. So much so that a penny on our tax rate is dedicated to affordable housing after advocacy from a special interest group. This resulted in the council adding an additional $700,000 to the manager's recommended budget. Unfortunately, that additional funding was directed at organizations that had already been funded and included in the budget, and it didn't uh create any more additional housing units. In fact, one of those organizations still lacks the sufficient funding to move its project forward. I'm concerned about the optics

of this. Making spending decisions in response to a request from a special interest group, particularly the ones particularly one that includes individuals who worked on my campaign and other campaigns and go to my church. It doesn't sound like sound policy. Simply throwing money at a problem does not guarantee meaningful results. Many of our residents are complaining about affordability in general, not just affordable housing. And affordable housing initiatives are primarily intended to benefit future residents while the current residents bear the cost through higher taxes or cuts in services. As a result, this is actually adding more financial burden to the people that are expressing concerns about affordability. I think this is a discussion that the council needs to have and I think we can do better than what we're doing today. So, unless our people that are complaining about affordability want to move in cheaper apartments, we're not helping them. So, we need to find a better way to help our our residents. At the core, tax rates reflect our values and our priorities as a community. If we want to remain a premier place to live, work, play, raise a family, run a business, we must continue to evolve, adapt, and invest in our future. This budget establishes tax rate of 36.75 cents. And while it does not achieve all the goals I would like to see accomplished, it represents meaningful progress in several important areas and positions in our community to continue moving forward. Now, I know I've expressed several concerns about

this budget and I know it may be difficult to hear and I know it may have made some people angry. That was not my intent. My responsibility is to be candid about both the strengths and the shortcomings of the decision before us. So I've spoken a long time, but on balance, this is a good budget. Thank you for this budget. I think it moves Carrie in the right direction and for that I wholeheartedly support the budget. Now I'll open up my colleagues and see if they can speak longer than that.

[laughter]

We we never start at the end. So, does anyone want to start?

Everybody look is looking at me.

Oh, that's we just naturally look that way. Not Russ, right? We were looking [laughter] at Russ.

I've prepared something to say.

I think it's much shorter than mayor.

Good. We don't need another one.

[laughter]

Um this is my seventh month to be on the council but I feel it's been seven years and I just shared with uh uh Mayor Port Laura Bush today that we new council members uh fast learner learners so we learn some uh everything in a short time. um about this year's budget, I was asking myself one question. What are the essential services our residents count on every day? Um I think it's sometime somebody needs 911 or 311 and they could get the police officers, firefighters to arrive quickly. And when there's a winter storm hits, they are expecting the road to be safe. And I still remember earlier this year 3 a.m. in the morning and it's I already see our public works already working on the

road. That is how excellent our Kerry public works are. And um when there are heavy rains, the storm water system is really important because we are trying to invest more but it depends on our budget and we also need to find more funding for the infrastructures. Uh I have heard several uh residents reach out to me um expla express their concerns about the rising cost of living. Uh they may be unemployed or they have um uh senior seniors that lived on a fixed income and I know seniors they're different. Some are have better 401k but some are just living on the fixed fixed income. It's really hard for them. But al I also heard from other residents that they really appreciate the parks and wrecks in Kerry because they really enjoy the sports and recreation in Kerry and they they request more sports venue. I was like that's very expensive or couldn't afford it. The more important is the essential services that we need the public works and public safety. So I was debating myself but also I'm a small business owner and my first in instinct is always to ask can we find more revenue can we operate more efficient can we reduce cost before asking our people to pay more and I know mayor port is another champion on this always her list is the longest one every work session I see she asks a lot of questions about um how can we get more revenue resources. But this year is really a tight timing and that's another question to our interim town manager Russ because your job is much tougher. I

think it's the toughest one in car history because we need to find more revenue resources and we'll keep asking starting July 1 because this budget is not the end. It's just another starting of the next year's budget. Um, and I really appreciate our staff to work on this uh this uh budget in such a short time and we debate so much. We have emails and even our council members are trying to get more for different districts or st we all speaking for all our people in Kerry but I think not one council member or a mayor or anyone in Kerry can make Kerry such a great place to live. It's because of the longtime history everyone has contributed to Carrie but this budget maybe hurt someone financially but I feel the public safety we cannot wait until the there is a we don't want to be on the news anymore like I we want to have better news but not something related to public safety and really appreciate uh Chief Salt and uh Chief Cooper has been so working so hard and they haven't complained to us at all. But I wish our staff including our town manager's office complain to us as our public speaks out like our residents to let us know the really pain. Where is the really pain? Where is the really issue? So we can work on it together and just invest early and so it will benefit everyone.

That's my first one.

Thank you.

Sure. [clears throat]

Well, thank you, mayor, for your cander. I think if we are doing our job as

public servants and elected officials, we need to be able to communicate hard truths. And I was a candidate this time last year and I shared similar hard truths with residents that I said I hoped I would earn their trust by sharing what I saw as difficult news which is we are in a budget environment that is going to require additional property tax investments every year. Uh, but I pledged that we would make those property tax increases as incremental as possible, as reasonable as possible. But they were necessary because I also committed to preserving Car's highquality town services and keeping Carrie special. And I think this budget threads that needle. reasonable people are going to have disagreements, but I think where we landed through months and months of hard work with my colleagues here, but first and foremost with staff uh at 2.75 cent increase and our investments in public service and while insufficient to maintain everything that needs to be maintained and everything new that we would love to see built, we're moving in the right direction. And so I'll be supporting the budget. others.

Um I [clears throat] have a couple of comments. Um so first thank you um to the mayor and to all the staff and colleague and especially to my colleagues. Um the work that went into this budget. I don't think in my time here that we've ever had this amount of robust discussion that wasn't just about the minutia associated with each individual item, but our values associated with those respective items. Um, and also given the shortages that we've had um, in the budget and the various departments, it really was a team effort across the entire organization. And I recognize how difficult this is um and the process has

been and I appreciate the level of collaboration that we've seen and the commitment as well as the professionalism that it took to get us where we are. Um, the budget is where we decide where your taxes, tax dollars are used. And as a council member, it is one of the most important decisions and one of the most important pieces of work that we do because it directly impacts your safety, your quality of life, your streets, your parks, and our future. Most importantly, as the mayor has said, our future as a town. And this was not an easy year for so many reasons. Um, and we've been put in a very difficult position learning how far behind we were with respect to public safety and given where we are. I want residents to know that this council really dug in. I don't think that you would be surprised. Looking at our set of meetings, we looked at fund balance. We looked at new revenue ideas. We asked hard questions about current spending, future obligations, especially um even looked at areas in employee health care where costs continue to grow if we don't address them now for the future. But at the end of the day, I believe that this budget does what we need it to do. As the mayor said, it first and foremost and as council member Hong said, it fully funds public safety. Not all the way, but as much as as many people as we can bring on in in a single year, we never want to be in a position where someone calls for help and we say we couldn't get there fast enough because we didn't have enough people. That's a core responsibility and it's something this budget honors. It also ask more of

our partners. I I understand um mayor that you're not um happy with our um asking the Chamber of Commerce, but we asked all of our partners to take an equal um cut in what our some of our funding is. And we asked them and they stepped up to support us to help us find efficiencies just as we're doing those internally. We took steps for greater equity where we're moving away from subsidizing EVs, so EV charging. And that's just one example of where we can be fair across the entire community and and not subsidize or uh lose off potential revenue. Um we also made different very difficult decisions to defer some capital projects. Um, those aren't decisions that we took lately, but and I know council member Richards is still pining for that Lewis Stevens sidewalk.

Thank you, Mayor Prom Bush. Shout out to Louis Stevens.

They But they that is one of the things that each one of us took a great big part of keeping the BA balance the budget balanced and responsible. And I do want to be clear about one thing. I did want a lower tax rate. I think we all did. Um, I can only speak for me. I still believe that an 8% increase is too high for many families. Um, especially those already struggling. I know that comes on top of the infla increased inflation and a higher cost of living pressures that we're all feeling across the board. But at the same time, that increase is directly tied to the things that people told us they value, which is public safety staffing and maintaining our strong financial position and our AAA bond rating, keeping our affordable housing work moving forward rather than cutting back. And I do understand it's a bit of a paradox because I believe in strongly in continuing to fund our affordable housing efforts. We

absolutely are in the middle of a housing crisis and our community has been clear not just a single organization but our community across the board including reading our um the work from our bianial survey. They want the town to stay engaged. They want the town to stay engaged for multi in multiple ways for affordable housing. not just building more apartments, but preserving the naturally occurring housing that we have and by looking and partnering with places like preserving home that go in and rehabilitate homes so that people can stay and age in place. That's what some of this funding goes for. And until we can bring forward another housing bond and have other ways to fund these initiatives, I believe what we've included is responsible to continue that investment. So, this is just a one-year budget, but I think one of the things that we've all talked about is also forwardlooking policies put in place will give us more accurate and timely information. Thank you, Stacy, and the budget team throughout the year so we can track changes and keep a more responsive finger on the pulse of our finances. Um, and I'm hopeful that as we wrap up this fiscal year, and I'll put in one more plug for it, that we'll have more breathing room that when sales tax comes in higher than expected, uh, when those projected SA we beat the projected sales and property taxes and that money that we put in that fund balance will go back into the basics that people notice, like fixing the streets, like filling in our sidewalk gaps, like building out our greenways because that way we can use fund balance to improve each of our daily lives without coming back and asking folks for more. So tonight, my responsibility is to vote on the budget in front of us, but and as you so eloquently said, it's not perfect, but a lot of thoughtful work and some truly difficult tradeoffs

happen, but I think it it's absolutely clear that our focus is what matters most and what matters most is keeping Carrie Carrie. Uh, and for those that reason, I'll I plan to support it.

Did I go next?

Sure. So I think you probably have already heard 50% of us and um have heard how different we are yet how similar our thought process is that we want to do what is best for Kerry. Um and the decision- making is really centered around in the best interest of um of the residents and people. That is extremely important thing to note. And by the way, I've not prepared anything. I'm I scribbled something and I cannot even read my own writing now. But um I am excited and nervous today. I'm excited because um I love what we have in the project uh in the budget. It was a very well thought of budget. Public safety is at the heart of this. But then we also have some very good projects that are going to help us move um carry forward. But I'm also nervous because I know that this is going to create a burden for some families and it is going to be a very difficult it it it weighs very heavily on me. I just want to put it out there. Um, I appreciate everyone that provided their input or share or shared your struggles with us. Your voice matters. I agree that we could have done better if we had time, if we had a little bit more resources, but we had competing priorities. we had a big responsibility

to support all the audits and bring the stability to the organization. Um I personally requested um and I know that um all my colleagues probably they're going to speak for themselves but I'm kind of speaking just for myself. Um I requested our town manager to find two pennies um in the proposed budget and we were able to find one penny and we were working towards finding the other one but obviously the like I said the timing um you know I wish we had more but we here we are today and this is what we have. I'm not being pessimistic. I'm just kind of being optimistic here because now we have like good things coming um as part of this budget where we will be able to support our public safety, but we also have to recognize that um there are people who are going to have hardships because of this tax increase. Um like um everybody said, this is not the finish line. This is not the end of it. We will continue to take your input. We will continue to work towards um um finding efficiencies, cutting cost, building revenue sources, and I think that's going to help us kind of stay at par next year. I'm hoping, I'm optimistic. Um I don't um I I'm a little torn in my heart. I'm 50/50. Um, but I really, you know, I will support this um, budget because I really want to want the staff to know that I appreciate all their efforts. This has been tremendous work. It has been the kind of pressure that you guys have went through during this past few months. It's um, unreal and I I

think each one of us have seen you go through that phase and we appreciate everything that you do. So, um I will support this, but I hope that uh next year we can think about finding more cost savings and you know um find more efficiencies in our budget. I've been thinking about all day what I would say and I had it all planned out and then I wrote like two more pages of things while I was listening to everybody. So, who knows what will come out at the end. I usually don't follow my notes when I get home and watch it again. And I'm like, "Wow, that's what I said." [laughter] So, [clears throat] like the previous budgets that we've passed in my I guess it's my third time passing a budget and they've always been hard. I think what makes the the whole process and everything different for me this year was I still flagged up my very huge binder like I had in previous years, but the binder was bigger. there was a lot more information in the binder which prompted a lot more good questions that I knew to ask and also as um as the mayor alluded to there were a lot of other reasons where we knew to ask specific questions about some things that we didn't know before and so one of the question one of the things I remember sitting with staff and saying is um tell me more about this can we consider We're pausing this and this until we can learn more about specifically how it's helping meet the community needs. Not necessarily that it's bad or wrong or we shouldn't be funding it. You know, there was a time where we seem to have more cash flowing in with the influx of people coming in. Um, so you know, perhaps a

lot of those things made more sense then, but right now as I'm understanding more in my third cycle and I just want more information before I believe that's the thing that we should absolutely fund. And that was the part of the process where we already had the recommended budget of 3.75 cent increase and we were trying to see what we could bring down. And I remember sitting in a 3x4 meeting with council member Cole Johnson for hours with staff and just saying we were just saying tell me more about this, tell me more about this. We both came with our notes. Tell me more about this. And so we did that and others gave input as well. And we we were able with including using the fund balance some fund balance we were able to get it down one pity. And I know I've said this so many times in the past years but my district B is more more than $40,000 a year median household income less than Kerry as a whole. And that varies by district, but my district is the lowest of the incomes. That's not that doesn't seem odd. It's the oldest part of Kerry along with you know that some of the parts of South Kerry, but you know that's the aging infrastructure. You know, a lot of the needs we have are there as well. Well, but very established neighborhoods. People who grew up here, raised their family here, have retired here, are on fixed incomes as council member Wong was talking about. And so I hear from people that a tax increase can it will be very difficult for them to be able to pay their taxes. They're afraid of being priced out of their homes. I hear equally if not if not more from people. The tax rate is so low here. I'm so excited about all the amenities. Why

won't you give us more? So this budget is another one of those times where it feels like no one is happy again. For this group of people, the tax rate is too high for this group of people. They didn't get what they wanted, the additional things that they wanted. And we're just trying to maintain roads and connect sidewalks and and invest in public safety. So if you'll humor me for a minute, I will tell a story. Um, it came up this week and I emailed it to the mayor. Someone emailed us. Um, and if you want to tell who someone is, you can, but I won't. I don't know them personally. Um, but someone emailed us and said they had a medical emergency and they were so grateful by how quickly the fire department responded so much faster than EMS was able to get there. and they were able to be able to get the help that they needed, a life saving, you know, things that they needed. And within five minutes, the fire department was there and they were taken care of. And it reminded me of a story that I told I know I told the mayor back in February 2025 last year at our um our staff council retreat. I can't remember if I set it into a microphone or if I just had a couple of convers.

Okay. Did I tell everybody? [laughter] Um, but so I had a family member who lives in another county. It's a more rural area. So I expect Car's response time to be faster than some of the more rural areas. But the fact of the matter is that it is truly life or death. And when you said earlier that 80% of our budget is public works and public safety, I said I think I might just wrote it on here. I was like, I think I might tell the story. but she had a a lifethreatening emergency and it was during the time where it had been snowing. The roads in her area had

not been plowed. Again, not in Wake County. Um, and so even in good weather, roads being fine, I don't believe emergency medical services could have gotten to her in five minutes. But, um, it did not turn out well for her. And so just something for us to think about that we cannot take these things for granted. That it truly is life and death on so many occasions. And I know there's so many more stories and people don't always tell us the stories, but every day our emergency medical people and our front line is our fire department. They respond and it it truly makes a huge difference. And I shouldn't get better care and response times where I live because I'm close to everything than people in more rural areas and in places where we haven't gotten our fire departments yet. And it was more than a it was more than a year ago. I remember asking numerous times something doesn't seem right. Do are you sure we don't? And this was to our former town manager. Are you sure we don't need to invest more in public safety? Nope. We're good. Obviously, more conversation than that, but and then you keep bragging about us having the lowest staff to resident ratio. It like actually dropped below seven staff members per thousand residents. That can't be sustainable. And so the things that I looked back at and in the back of my mind were red flags and I just didn't know additional questions to ask or additional ways to ask the questions. The answer was is I should have come to staff and um

hindsight's 2020. We're moving past that. We know what to do now. We've learned so much in the last six, seven, eight months or so. So we're moving beyond that. were in making the investments that we should have made at least last year when we were asking the questions. I wasn't the only one who asked the questions and probably obviously should have before then because as you said it had been 10 years since we made and we we've seen those graphics. So that is the the number one priority. That wasn't something I ran on. Like I didn't go door tod door and say we have to invest in public safety because Carrie's safe and those kinds of things. People weren't saying to me, well what about the fire department and what about the police officers? And the needs are very different in in every district, every neighborhood. So, keeping that in mind that when I vote, I think about what the residents of district B need, but I have to think about what the residents of district need in others as well. And so, that, you know, has been heavy on my mind. And unfortunately, some people may think that we're not listening to what they're saying, like, you know, we're we're telling you this is what we need and you're not giving it to us. and um that that it feels heartbreaking and a reality for many of our votes. Um most of our votes um most people are not happy. It's just there's some kind of compromise. This one hits a little bit harder because it is somebody is coming from somebody's pocket, you know, whether or not they can pay their bills. So, it of course all my rambling um is partially to say that um we are listening and we truly wish there was a way to give everyone what they asked for. And as we're prioritizing

more and more, we're learning, I believe, that we have to really prioritize those non-negotiables, uh, the needs before we prioritize the nice to haves. And I also recognize that there's a lot of things that are more than nice to have that we need that we don't have in this budget. And it's been a really hard compromise. And I so appreciate the staff that have spent more hours than we even have any idea, but I know the hours that you've spent literally with us. And it's way more than what I've seen in my previous years. I did I have another page. I'm so sorry. Um

just don't eclipse my time. [laughter]

I'm I was I'm going to just ramble until I'm sure that I'm past your how long you talked. Um, I did want to address one thing. um and just say um pick just some thoughts that I wrote down while others were talking that I my votes will never be based on special interest catering to special interest that my votes will stay in line with the values that I ran on the things that I said were important to me. If that changes, I will publicly be happy to say so. And then and it also what I ran on started with my ideas and then I validated that by knocking so so many [snorts] doors and hearing from the same people in my district. My district overwhelmingly is supportive of investing in affordable housing. Even people that I know it's very difficult for them to make their payments very much support affordable housing. That's not going to be true for everyone. But I'm not sure. Um I think it's important

to think about that when people speak individually, we have one voice and it's a small voice. But when we work collectively and many people are saying the same thing in a way that elevates an idea and brings other people in that that is so much more powerful than a single voice. So I'm not sure if that's where an idea of a special interest group that was alluded to earlier. I think it may be semantics how we're looking at things differently. I don't recall having a conversation with anyone on council about a special interest group. I don't I don't recall hearing that prior to today. So, I just wanted to say as far as affordable housing, I think many voices coming together collectively are very powerful and are saying the same message that has been a value of many of us for a long time. and anything additional to that. Um, I' I'd love to to know more about because I'm unaware of it. I think I probably said enough and others probably said some similar things, but um I don't know when a budget's ever not tough. Maybe maybe in years past. Um, I haven't seen that, but I so very much appreciate all the work that my colleagues have put in and the staff as well and all the feedback that we got. The year that we raised taxes so significantly my first year, I only got one email was super surprising. So, I'm very happy um that we did get so much input even though they weren't saying the same thing.

Bring us home. you think you can talk 15 minutes?

I'm going to be bright but brief. That's one of the the things we talk about at work. Um because I tend to ramble. The good thing is one of the reasons why I wanted to wait till last is because I think my colleagues here have done a

very good job of outlining a lot of the things that were examined where we trimmed uh where we were all in agreement as far as our priorities um and the really great job that staff has done. So, I don't feel there's 15 or 20 hours of us talking about the budget available for anybody online who'd like to see how we got to the budget where it is. Um, I am very confident in this budget is an excellent budget. This is not a budget that I believe is um we compromised very significantly. That's why nobody's terribly happy, right? That's a that's a significant amount of compromise that went into this budget. It's excellent. It's examined. It's well thought through. And what this is is a people budget. This is a budget that has the humanity in it that our last probably quite a few years was probably leading needing a lot more of. Um one of the things that I see pretty frequently is people saying um just be leaner or get more done. But the honest truth is what we are doing right now is bordering on abusing our employees. So we cannot continue to do that. We cannot continue to expect everybody to make our lives pleasant and good and livable and show up when we call 911 on our very worst day. But I'm sorry you're working more overtime than you want or I'm sorry you're working 60our work weeks. You're a public servant. You're a kind person. That's what kind people do when they work in the public sector. That's unacceptable. And what this budget is is an investment in people. And I think it's a really important one that is if we put it off any longer, what our entire community would have se would have seen would have experienced is a disruption to their services, a disruption to their quality of life. And this is an investment in the quality of the of life of staff of our public safety. Not not just public safety though. It's really across the board.

Um, all of our teams are very lean and they affect the quality of life for everybody here in Kerry very significantly. It happens to be public safety where we're making a very significant investment in this budget because that really is where it's life or death. And we also have some morale problems we really need to address. So, I'm really proud of this budget. I I'm I'm supporting it without reservation. This is appropriate. I think, you know, and I agree a lot of times with what Harold um the way you summarize what happens when we kick the the financial can down the road. If we don't invest now, if we don't invest thoroughly in maintaining what we have, it will cost us more. It is no different than not cleaning your gutters because you're eventually going to have to replace your roof because you you didn't spend a little bit upfront. And that's one of the things that I I said when I was running for reelection, I shouldn't have won. I ran on a I ran on a platform of reelect me and I'm going to increase your taxes and here's why. But it was it was honest because we really do need more investment in the coming years. I'm not talking about raising taxes 20% year-over-year. I'm talking about modest incremental tax rate smoothing. We keep talking about it. We need to invest in these things. We need to invest in our people and then we need to invest in our stuff. and I think it's going to be really critical moving forward. So, I'm very proud of this budget and I I I have no reservations um in supporting it. I believe that we did the the due diligence and the hard work and we're correcting for some of the problems that needed a little bit bit of attention from from before and I think this is an excellent solution to a host of problems.

Well said. Thank you all of my colleagues. Well said all of you. So, I think now's the time for a motion. I I'm glad to do it. I move that we adopt the fiscal year 2027 recommended budget with the proposed changes and I move that we

adopt the attached resolutions authorizing Wake Chattam and Durham counties to bill and collect the town of Carerry's real property taxes in fiscal year 2027 and that we adopt the resolution authorizing the Haram town manager to execute the interlocal agreement for the collection of taxes between Chattam County and the town of Kerry.

There's a motion second

and a second. Further discussion. All in favor, please say I.

I.

Any oppose? Motion carries unanimously. And again, thanks to each and every one of you. Yeah, it's just incredible what you did.

Thank you.

Thank you, staff.

Okay. Need to go into close session. I would entertain a motion. Pursuant to GS143 3181 11A1 and 3, I move that we hold a closed session to consult with attorneys employed by and are retained by the town in order to preserve the attorney client privilege between the attorneys and the town to prevent the disclosure of information that's made privileged or confidential pursuant to the laws of the state or not considered a public record within the meaning of chapter 132 of the general statutes or is privileged and confidential pursuant to GS 14764. for six and to consider the qualifications, confidence, performance, character, fitness, conditions of appointment or conditions of initial employment of one or more public officers or employees.

There's a motion second [laughter] and a second discussion. All in favor, please say I.

Any opposed? Motion carries and we will go into close se session behind us.

We'll reconvene our meeting. We have no further business. I would entertain a motion to adjurnn.

Motion to adjurnn.

Second

discussion. All in favor, please say I. I.

Any opposed? We have a unanimous meeting. Ajourned.

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