Regular Town Council Meeting

[clears throat]

Audio test, podium PC.

Mhm.

All right, good evening.

[laughter]

Thank you so much for being here tonight. I'll go ahead and call this meeting to order. Town Council meeting for Tuesday, May 12th, 2026. And thanks to those who joined us by live stream on YouTube. Um before we go into the rest of the agenda, I would like for all of us to stand and honor our nation and join us in the pledge of allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

All right, thank you so much. We'll move now to the invocation. I want to read a diversity statement that the town of Apex values and celebrates diversity and inclusion. We see diversity as a strength that binds our community together. Inviting members from different faith communities to deliver the invocation at the beginning of our council meetings supports this unity. Recognizing that that not everyone practices the same traditions, we welcome you to have a private moment of silence at this time. What I would like to do is uh bring to attention we have a proclamation tonight. I'm going to proclaim National Police Week and Peace Officers Memorial Day 2026. And Friday is actually Peace Officers Memorial Day. And we think about the men and women in uniform who are very courageous. Uh they make the ultimate sacrifice and those who are not with us today. Um maybe some families are still mourning from their loss. So, what I would like to do now is enter into a moment of silence to commemorate the lives lost and those again who paid the ultimate sacrifice not only in our state, but in our nation and the world. So, if you would join us in a moment of silence.

Thank you. All right, we move now to I want to call up some good friends from the community, Anna Johnston LDS Church. They have a presentation about the great town of Apex and the amount of volunteerism that we do here. Um so, we're going to hear some great news.

Yes, we are. We are here to share some wonderful news and um uh Mayor Gilbert, uh Mayor Pro Tem Mahaffey, and members of the Apex Town Council, we are very happy to be here on behalf of JustServe. Uh my name is Anna Johnston as Mayor Gilbert mentioned, and I'm here as the Communications Director of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And I'm joined by Becky Jesperson, our JustServe um specialist here in Apex, and Ryan Jesperson, who's one of our faith leaders in the area. And we are honored to be here tonight to formally recognize the Town of Apex with the JustServe City Award. The JustServe City Award recognizes municipalities that demonstrate excellence and exceptional leadership in volunteering and and community service. It is presented to communities that not only support service efforts, but will actively foster a culture where neighbors, organizations, schools, businesses, faith groups, and civic leaders work together to strengthen their community.

Um JustServe itself is a free online platform that helps connect people with meaningful opportunities to serve in their local communities. Through justserve.org, residents can find ways to volunteer based on their interests, skills, availability, or causes they care about. Whether someone wants to help once a year or just once a week, JustServe makes it easy to connect willing hands with real community needs. Apex is receiving this recognition because of its ongoing commitment to volunteerism and community partnership. One meaningful example of that commitment was the town's proclamation on March 24th, 2006, declaring April as

National Volunteer Month. That proclamation reflected something already deeply evident in Apex, that service is valued here, encouraged here, and woven into the fabric of this community. Apex consistently demonstrates what can happen when a town prioritizes connection, compassion, and collaboration. From volunteer-led community events to partnerships with nonprofits and schools, to the countless residents who quietly give their time and talents every day. Apex exemplifies the spirit of service that this award was created to recognize. What makes this especially meaningful is that volunteerism builds more than projects, it builds relationships. It creates belonging, it strengthens neighborhoods, and reminds people that even small acts of kindness can have a lasting impact. As communities everywhere face growing challenges and increasing division, cities like Apex show the power of coming together in service. This award honors not just individual volunteer efforts, but the culture the town has helped create. One where people are encouraged to look outward, help one another, and work together for the common good. We also encourage all Apex residents to visit justserve.org to explore local service opportunities, post available volunteer needs, and continue building on this wonderful culture of service.

All right.

So, um tonight it is our privilege to present the JustServe City Award plaque to the town of Apex in recognition of its outstanding commitment to volunteerism and community engagement. In addition to the plaque, we also brought some JustServe swag and informational items that we would like to leave with the town and and we'll share those with with Mr. Coleman following the meeting. So congratulations to Mary Gilbert, the town council, town staff, and community partners for making leading by example and making service such an important part of this

community's identity. Thank you.

This is wonderful. Thank you so much.

[applause]

I would like I would like our town manager Randy Bassburg to come receive that on behalf of the town. So if you would come around and get it.

[laughter] [applause]

What a great honor. And we already knew all of that. So we know who we are. Yeah, town of Apex. We're the best. We're the best. Thank you again for taking the time to present that. All right, we'll move now to announcements and petitions by the governing body. But before we do that, I want to acknowledge a special guest. Really no guest. This is her home. Our very own commissioner Sheila Stallings. So thank you for being here today.

[applause]

All right, Mayor Pro Tem Mahaffey.

Uh sure, thank you, Mayor. Um Good evening, everyone. I I guess I have one item I want to tell the public and and the council. I attended a City Vision, which is a annual conference that's hosted by the League of Municipalities. This year it was in Raleigh. So I really had no excuse not to go. It's a it's a wonderful opportunity for municipal officials to, you know, get together. There's sessions. I attended one about disaster preparedness and another one about municipal communication and uh we have guest speakers. It was the uh I believe the state auditor was there and um elected a new board. You're all welcome to join. It's a good time. Uh typically they're a little farther away, but uh you know, I learned a lot and you know, I'm excited to bring some of that stuff uh back to the town. So, that's all mayor. Thank you.

Very well. Thank you so much. All right, Councilman Gray.

Good evening, everyone. I want to say once again, just proud to be part of a community that has such a dedication to service. So, thank you so much for this award and it's um I think a great reflection of the folks who live here. It's just a It's a great thing. Um as part of community engagement, as you all know, we're in budget season. We're getting down towards the end. Um and I I just want to take a moment to say uh you know, we are at that stage. Last week we had um another uh full council budget work session. Um we've had uh prior to that we had a couple of finance session work sessions as well. There's been a number of working sessions and meetings with staff. Um so, we are getting to the point where we're getting to that point of having a budget presented here for people to make comments. Um but, that doesn't prevent you from making comments and still talking about the budget today. We still have that on our agenda, but I do think it's important um for you all to know that uh you know, your comments uh whether in email, whether here in council chambers, whether to us as we're walking around the town have made great contributed uh great contributions to the budget process. Um if you had an opportunity to watch the um our budget work session last week, you will have seen or you will have heard a lot of the comments that have come from the community um get placed within and as key points of discussion during the course of the budget. Um so, I I tell you that to say your voices are heard and um we appreciate the comments. I I I can't say everything is going to be accepted. I I mean it's this is you know, a longer process, but it's being heard and it's definitely being incorporated. So, thank you so much for the participation and we want to continue to engage in your participation. Feel free to bring your comments to all of us during during our office hours. I know that Council member Mayor Pro Tem Mahaffey has his office hours this week. I know next week I'll be hanging out in Apex Community Park

just waiting for people to talk to me about budget. So, please feel free to continue providing your input. It makes a huge difference. Thank you.

Thank you, Council member. All right, Council member Zigerman.

Um it's a beautiful day in Apex today. I want to thank everybody from the public who chose to be in here with us instead of enjoying the 75° weather outside. Um I have no other announcements. Thank you.

Thank you, sir. All right, Council member Mo.

Okay, thank you, Mayor. First, I want to thank Anna to you know, for the award to Apex. I'm so proud. Um also as Ed has mentioned it's budget season. We receive many emails, messages and also you know, met some residents. They wish to talk about budget. I want everyone to know we hear you and we are considering your opinions. If for some of you you don't receive you know, replies, don't worry. We got all your opinions. We received so many emails and messages. Okay. Uh another thing is um the Peak Resilience and Wellbeing Task Force our first workshop on May 29th 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Apex Senior Center with one of our leaders, Cheryl Starling. You know,

[laughter]

she's leading this task force with me. So, thank you, Cheryl, and all is welcome. Thank you. That's all.

Thank you. All right, Council Memories.

Thank you, Mayor. First want to say what a great segue, Anna, from the presentation and the award. Thank you. I was going to talk about just do a little bit of follow-up from last month. Folks may have gotten this in the mail today. It

is Get Connected. Have you heard? You're invited, and all sorts of engagement opportunities um from Adopt-A-Park to Journey League. These are great opportunities to get off of the infinite scroll and go out into your community and engage. And I think you will find that you'll get more out of it than you put in. And I just also wanted to say thank you to all of the Think Apex nominees and awardees, as well as the folks who were at the volunteer appreciation dinner the other night. Thank you to our community evidenced by the award this evening. That's it. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilman. All right, I don't have anything to present tonight other than Apex is is the best, so we'll end with that. And I'll move to adoption of the meeting agenda, and I want to turn over to Clerk Alan Coleman to present any changes.

Yes, Mayor. Good evening. The only change that has been recommended is staff is requesting the deferral of regular meeting agenda item number two, which is the ordinance amendments related to yard waste, deferring that until May 28th.

Okay. Thank you so much. Any other changes? For me.

Yes, sir.

[clears throat]

Consent item number one, we are recommending from staff that that item be delayed to the next meeting, so May 28th.

Thank you, sir. All right, with those changes, is there

I'll make a motion to approve with the deferral of item number two.

All right, thank you so much, Mayor [clears throat] Pro Tem. Is there a second?

Second.

All right, all in favor say I.

I.

Opposed? Motion carries. All right, we'll move now to our consent agenda, and we had the consent agenda item removal as presented by the manager. Any other? Okay, is there a motion?

I'll make a motion to approve with the removal of consent number one.

Mayor Pro Tem, motion.

I'll second.

Second, great. All in favor say I. Any opposed? Motion carries. All right, moving on to Town Council Committee Reports. This is a time in our meeting agenda for updates regarding any recent meetings of the Town Council Committees. One meeting has been held with the ad hoc Finance Committee, and I defer to the Finance Committee Chair, Mayor Pro Tem. I'm happy to provide a status report.

Thank you, Mayor. The ad hoc Finance Committee met on April 30th, and the the committee, as a reminder, is myself and Council Member Gray. We reviewed the general fund budget. Much of the information presented was substantially the same that we subsequently heard in the work session, so there's no need to to go through all of it again. I do want to provide a little bit of a timeline again. My comments on the budget, um at the work session, you know, we we reviewed the budget, and we we had some recommended changes, and we all kind of we'll exercise, and the final output is going to be a series of options, um potential for consideration by the council at our May 21st work session. We anticipate to get maybe four different options at different tax rates that the council will at point decide kind of the budget will firm up, and we'll decide kind of what the new baseline is. After the 21st, and and again, this may have been said before but it bears repeating. The 21st work session will decide on kind of the new budget. I will advertise then for the final adoption which will now be in June. June 9th I believe is the date. So we pushed that back given our work session the potential for changes there.

[clears throat]

Uh given that there's two opportunities for input I want to highlight. Um I'm holding my office hours which I do every month on the second Thursday. It'll be this Thursday at 9:00 a.m. in the Friendship Room over the Senior Center. If you want to talk budget with me that's a a good time to do it. And we don't have a firm date or time yet but I'm looking to hold an office hours town hall with the budget after that 21st meeting. So there's another opportunity to kind of address any final changes. And I'm looking at again not final maybe around the 21st in the evening. Um and

I'll you know just talking with Kirk this today we don't have it worked out but I do want to have an opportunity to meet with me after we we make the changes on the 21st. So pencil that in for the 26th and uh that's the update I have now. Okay, thank you so much for that report.

All right, [clears throat] we'll move now to the town manager report. Mr. Westbrook.

All right, thank you mayor. I've have a few items to go over and then we have a presentation. I'll invite our finance director up. I'll start with some of the events. So this one is pretty cool to mention. It's the first time we've titled it this way but the Brett Gantt Sculpture Walk is officially underway. Uh that goes from April 2026 through March of 27. Uh you can learn more about that on our website. It's the sixth annual sculpture walk. Uh there will be another new item that we're bringing to the table through our Parks and Recreation Department. The Apex Amplified Concert. Uh it's going to be part of a series but the first one is this Thursday May 14th. That will be from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. And that will be here in the parking lot of Town Hall. And again additional information available on our website with that. Uh COM University this is very timely given budget season. It's the caring for your mental health. And that's May 21st, but also timely with Council member Moos' committee that she's put on a lot of emphasis on mental health. So, they will be doing that at the Halle on May 21st from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The sushi sushi and sumo event, which we talked about last meeting, that's been rescheduled. The new date for that is May 24th. That's from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and that's at the Apex Community Park volleyball courts. Uh also, since our next meeting falls after the Memorial Day holiday, I want to mention a couple of items related to that. The Memorial Day ceremony will be Monday, May 25th, and that will be held at the Apex Fire Station 1 in downtown. That will be at 9:30 a.m. And that is an event organized by the Apex American

Legion Post 124. So, we do great partnership with them. Be a great event. We've got also the Peak Resilience and Wellbeing workshop. That's Friday, May 29th from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Apex Senior Center. Couple of closures, again back to Memorial Day, the town hall town offices will be closed for Memorial Day on the 25th. And we went over a couple of these meetings already, but I'm going to mention them again. The May 21st is the town council next work session on the budget. And then May 28th will be our regular meeting, which take note is a Thursday because of the holiday week, we've pushed it to a Thursday. All right, couple of more things here. This Ask Apex continues to do a great job with our customer service lines there. 92% of calls are resolved by the Ask Apex team. So, again, keeping it in the 90th percentile there. The average wait time for calls is 46 seconds. So, I don't know that the team can drive it much lower than that, but they continue to do a great job Couple updates. Budget, I I it pretty well covered. We do have another public hearing on the budget tonight. This will be the fourth public hearing and then the fifth will be on the June 9th date. So, we will have had a total of five official public hearings on the budget process. Then, meter update. We [clears throat] have approximately 16,600 electric meters that have been exchanged to date, which is around a little over 50% of our meter exchange. So, it continues to go well on that front. The last update that I have relates to the sale of streetscape. Uh and just so council's aware, I did send out our staff did send out an update to the downtown businesses. So, they're receiving this information in a little more detail. They received that a little about an hour ago. Um they'll have that information. Uh the clock has officially restarted with our contractor there. They've been on site this week. They've done some minor utility work and some erosion control. Tomorrow, they will begin underground conduit work again.

Uh and some paver repair work will be scheduled on the shoulder of Saunders Street. And then that was because of the storm drainage pipe that was replaced there. The soil cells are scheduled to resume next week. Uh so, they're diving full force into the project. We anticipate seeing a lot of progress over the next few weeks. Uh unfortunately right now, the timeline is pushed back and we are working through that. Uh the timeline right now puts it somewhere in December, which is what we had hoped not to be. Uh but now our goal is to focus on how many days we can pull back from December. Uh so, we are working with our contractor. Uh they've committed to do everything they can to work with us on that, including working later, working some weekends. Uh so, we believe we can claw back some days and hopefully pull that into November and maybe even I don't It's aggressive, but we hope to shave some days. I'll say that. Um they've committed to that. One of the challenges is working this project is uh has a a of subcontractors on it. It's a very involved project. So, that communication continues, but as the different subs come online, hopefully they'll commit to the same to keep our momentum on that project going. So, we'll give you more updates, but we are beginning to make arrangements and plans and and see how it impacts events. I did have a meeting last week with a downtown business. I'm making myself available to go down there and talk to the businesses. Work through We want to be completely transparent on it, and we want to try and and everybody's mindful of where we need to try and pull back some days on this and hopefully help out with the holiday season there. So, that's the update. The good news is they're back to work. The bad news is we're a little delayed on the project that we can hopefully make up some of that over the course of the project. I believe that is all the update that I have. And so, if you're good, we can go to All right, I'll invite John up to speak about our audit.

[clears throat]

One minute. It's probably going. Coming back. Small technology stuff.

How's everybody doing?

[laughter]

I did not do it.

You didn't do it this this time. [laughter] You didn't do it this time. Okay. All right. We won't put it on you this time. Thank you for your patience. All right. I will say um Mr. Bossburg I stopped by um at the Ask Apex center today. Um, they either didn't want to talk to me or they were really busy. But I that's they focus yeah, I would say that. So, but really busy confined space. Um, grateful about maybe plans in the future to give them more space.

Yeah, it's actually in the works.

Very good. They're doing a great job. We good?

Yeah.

All right, let's do it.

Uh, so Mr. Mayor, members Town Council. So, just wanted to pop by briefly at your meeting this evening and give you an update on the status of your financial statements for fiscal 2025. Um, we were actually targeting this evening to be the pre- Oh, thank you. Yeah, that's helpful. Um, that we were targeting having this actually be the actual date of your audit presentation this evening, but um, struggled with getting to that deadline. So, it's just wanted to quickly drop through and explain where are your financial statements and then just quickly revisit some numbers from your retreat back in February just to make sure that you're comfortable and understand you've still got you're still working with basically the same numbers you were then. Um, there are basically three primary

factors that are driving the reason why your audit is late this year. Um, the first and foremost, this is actually the reason that we cited when we filed the initial notice of delay with the local government commission is um, the federal government shutdown delayed the release of the 2025 OMB compliance supplement and that is a very very long federal regulatory document that provides guidance to auditors who are reviewing federal grants for compliance. Um, and [clears throat] to that point, Apex reported a significant amount of federal and state funding in fiscal 2025. I did some comparisons. It was almost as much as the last four years combined. Um, so there was a lot of federal compliance testing that needed to be done in order to ensure that the financial statements of the town were accurate. The second was is we also had to implement GASB 101 in this period compensated absences, which is a new governmental accounting requirement that requires us to track liabilities for not just vacation leave, which we've done in prior audits, but also uh leave that isn't settled in cash such as comp comp time and sick time. And that also that required a 3-year look back. So we actually ended up having to contract that out and so we got that analysis done in January 2026. Um and it's of course notable that the town prepares its financial statements in-house. The 150-page book that goes to the LGC, 95% of it is prepared by town staff and to that point um it was normally prepared by your finance director and your assistant finance director and both of those positions experienced significant turnover with finance director and assistant finance director. This is also the first time we've done these statements in our new accounting ERP that went live in January 2025. So in addition to turnover, we have a learning curve. I did in fact receive the first draft of comments from Cherry Bekaert LLP on Saturday night and we went to work on updating the documents, preparing the

next draft. We got a little bit more on Monday morning. I say tomorrow, but I I actually meant tomorrow is actually when we will send another draft back and we're still targeting on having a signed audit opinion from Cherry Bekaert and a presentation at your May 28th meeting. Let's quickly jump through just to talk about your fund balance report from your last from your February retreat. Um actually your fund balance is up slightly by $75,000 in the general fund. Uh and then there are some categories that have shifted. You actually do have more fund balance available for appropriation and that's after we went through all the different classifications of fund balance, we did find a little extra money there from some classifications that weren't necessarily need to be used. So, your general fund available unassigned fund balance is $34.3 million. There were some slight changes. Again, the general fund went up by $75,000. The utility funds went down by about uh $300,000 in electric, $33,000 in water. Um and this is mostly just timing of liability. So, it's not that you actually lost cash or anything like that. It's more of the timing of when expenses hit the books. So, generally speaking, your fund balances are relatively unchanged from your February update. Any questions about the status of the audit or those figures that I can answer for you?

Any questions for Mr. Griffin?

I do have one question, please. Uh if you can go back one slide. The No, uh one before. Yeah, that one.

Uh on electric, uh we're saying $18 million for the fund balance. Is that including uh outstanding receivables?

That would include any uncollected receivables, yes.

That makes sense.

All right, any other questions?

Um do you have a date for when you think the audit will be finished and uploaded to the to the auditor's office?

I'm May 28th the latest is the goal. So, but we're hoping to get that to you, get the full book printed, signed off on, and give it to you before the

presentation. As soon as that As soon as Sherry Beckerd signs it, I can send it to everybody. Can send it to Moody's, the LGC, all that.

So, I mean, the audit's in the hands of the auditors right now. So, we It's It's out of It's been out of our hands for a while.

We did submit So, we've been submitting documents all through January, February, March. We gave him draft copies of the financial statements, our statement of net position, schedules of revenue changes in fund balance, notes back in March. Um we got the feedback. Um so, now I need to turn around another draft for them. Should be Fourth draft will be the last one.

Thank you for the presentation. Um just want to confirm we are facing no penalties at this juncture.

No, you would actually you would see a small portion of your sales tax withheld after July 1st if it was still outstanding. But they actually can't withhold more than your actual audit contract, which is actually it'd be a percentage of I think the audit contract's like $80,000 or a percentage of a percentage at that point, so. No penalties.

All right. Any other questions? Hearing none, thank you so much. All right, we move on now to the town clerk's report.

Yes, good evening. Thank you. Um so, just a couple of updates. Um we do have uh several advisory board position openings. Um so, we'll be bringing those back to you all in June. Um all of our youth positions are expiring, so we're encouraging our youth that want to engage uh with their local government. Uh the only requirement there are two uh is that they be 16 and that they be attending an Apex-based high school. Um we have selected a new vendor for our uh public records software, so JustFOIA has been selected. So, we're really uh pleased and and proud about that. A lot of hard work. Um there was um kind of a committee, if you will, of all departments that were involved in selecting that uh program, and so um the

recommendation was to move forward with that. Um as mentioned by the manager, the next council meeting is Thursday, May 28th. Um and then we are monitoring closely several pieces of legislation. Uh the grocery sales tax reduction um that is moving pretty quickly. Um would be an impact to Apex of about $2 million, so that's something we're we're monitoring closely. Uh we will also be receiving an uh presentation from Wake County Board of Elections at the next council meeting on the 28th uh regarding even-year elections and what that looks like to the town of Apex. So, just wanted to put that on everyone's radar and then we're also monitoring uh, the property tax cap legislation, which is hitting the news everywhere. Um, it has moved from the Senate Senate's proposal has moved into the house. Um, the house's proposal is still sitting in the house. Um, very different viewpoints, but just wanted to call attention to that. Um, and then lastly, um, we are gearing up for our columbarium uh, promotion, uh, which sounds kind of morbid, but we, uh, we do have, uh, several, uh, spaces available at the columbarium, so we will be, um, promoting that and and you'll have more information that you can learn. We will, for those that are already on the waiting list, just to clarify, um, we will be contacting those before we reach out to new folks. So, just wanted to put that out there. Um, it's a project where if you've been by our cemetery on Upchurch Street, you've seen the columbarium that's been under construction and so, um, we're starting to get some questions about how how people can proceed with securing a spot in the columbarium. So, more information to come on that. Thank you.

Just a quick question, that youth opportunity you mentioned, um, is Apex-based high school?

That's right.

Does that mean cuz some some people live in Apex, but they go to like Green Level, so does that still count? Okay, just want to make sure. Okay, great.

Yeah, and it they can be in public, charter, private.

Okay, perfect. All right, thanks for that report. We'll move now to proclamations and special presentations. We have three

proclamations tonight. I'm going to ask my colleagues to um, join me up front and read the proclamations together.

I'm going to read it for you.

[clears throat]

All right, the first proclamation tonight is mental health awareness month 2026 and I'll fitting council member move will lead us off in this proclamation. Thank you.

Whereas mental health is essential to overall well-being, resilience, and quality of life of every individual, family, and community and

Whereas millions of Americans experience mental health challenges each year regardless of their age, background, or circumstance and it is important to recognize that recovery, hope, and support are possible through awareness, education, compassion, and access to care and

Whereas on April 14, 2026, the Apex Town Council unanimously adopted a resolution forming the Peak Resilience and Well-being Task Force to support residents through education, prevention, and early intervention initiatives, and related resources and

Whereas mental health professionals, advocates, caregivers, first responders, educators, and community organizations play a vital role in supporting those experiencing mental health conditions and fostering a culture of understanding and inclusion and

Whereas the Town of Apex is committed to supporting the health, safety, and well-being of all residents and encouraging open conversations surrounding mental health awareness and emotional wellness.

Now, therefore, I Jacques K. Gilbert, mayor of Apex, North Carolina, do hereby proclaim the month of May 2026 as Mental Health Awareness Month in the town of Apex, and encourage all residents to support efforts that promote mental wellness, reduce stigma, and foster a caring and connected community for all. Signed by yours truly. And receiving the proclamation will be members of the Peak Resilience and Wellbeing Task Force. So, if you would, please come up and accept the proclamation.

[applause] [laughter] [clears throat]

[applause]

All right, thanks again for receiving a proclamation. The next one is National Police Week and Peace Officers Memorial Day 2026. Council member Gray will be leading this proclamation.

Little mixed up. We got this guys, don't worry. That's right. National Police Week and Peace Officers Memorial Day 2026. Whereas, National Police Week has been celebrated each May since 1962 along with Peace Officer Memorial Day each May 15th to honor the individuals whose services keep our community and country safe. And whereas, the town of Apex is served incredibly well by its excellent force of over 100 sworn police officers whose professionalism, selflessness, and bravery ensure the safety and security of our town. And whereas, Apex's officers do numerous things every day to protect the safety and security of our town including responding to emergencies, patrolling highways and streets, serving as school resource officers, ensuring safety at special events, engaging with the community, securing public meetings, and more. And whereas, serving as a police officer is an incredibly dangerous job and a Peace Officers Memorial Day serves as a reminder for us all to never forget the sacrifices and risks that officers take every time they put on their uniform. And whereas, the town of Apex extends our immense appreciation to our entire

police force. And promise to never forget the heroes that have fallen in the performance of their duties and their families and

Now, therefore, I, Jacques K. Gilbert, mayor of Apex, North Carolina, do hereby proclaim the week of May 10th through May 16th, 2026, National Police Week and further proclaim May 15th, 2026, Peace Officers Memorial Day in the town of Apex and express my sincere gratitude for the hard work, determination, and dedication shown by the Apex Police Department, the best in the nation. My brothers and sisters in blue, please come up and get the proclamation.

[applause] [applause] [laughter]

Do we need to go up on this one?

Yeah.

Okay, I'm going to stay down.

All right, our next proclamation, I think I have this one right. Councilman Zigman will be kicking us off for Public Works Week 2026. Councilman Zigman.

[laughter]

All right, proclamation for Public Works Week 2026. Whereas, the town of Apex's Public Works Department provides many invaluable services, including solid waste services, facilities and ground maintenance, fleet vehicle vehicle upkeep, street and signs maintenance, and more. And

Whereas, Apex Public Works Apex Public Works employees represent a broad spectrum of skills and abilities and serve the town by helping maintain cleaning cleanliness and sanitation, safe travel, and upkeep of town facilities and vehicles and

Whereas Apex Public Works has a broad portfolio of responsibility including maintenance of 247 miles of town-owned roads and 266 miles of sidewalks and managing solid waste and yard waste services for nearly 25,000 homes maintaining 342,000 square feet of facilities and grounds and performing inspections and repairs on over 400 420 vehicles um and 250 pieces of equipment and

Whereas the National Public's Work Week theme for 2026 is rooted in service, powered by community emphasizing the pivotal role public works plays in the functions of our town and how serving residents is a primary source of motivation and

Whereas the town of Apex is proud of our entire public works department and the phenomenal work they do keeping Apex beautiful and helping the town run smoothly.

Now therefore I, Jacques K. Gilbert, Mayor of Apex, North Carolina, do hereby proclaim the week of May 17th through May 23rd, 2026 Public Works Week in the town of Apex and express my appreciation to our public works staff for the immensely positive impact they have on the quality of life in Apex. Receiving the proclamation is our public works director, John Mullis. Looks like the whole public works team is here tonight. If all of you would come up and RECEIVE [applause] THE PROCLAMATION.

[applause] [applause] [laughter]

YEAH, WE WANT TO WE WANT TO SHARE IT.

GALS AND GALS. YEAH, Sarah and I.

Yeah, Sarah was fine.

Yeah, you want to get in the center so

you are in here?

Okay.

Oh, we need to balance this out.

Let's get maybe one one more person over here.

Yeah.

Come on, leave a little gap.

[laughter]

All right, you guys go back here. You all step up.

Yeah, let's have all the folks.

And you right here, yeah, you can you go over this way a little bit more and then you guys go back uh as much as you can. So there you go. Just trying to like keep it like a little bit more.

What's that?

There you go. You got it.

All right.

Thank you.

Thank you so much, mayor.

THANK YOU.

[applause] [clears throat]

COLLEAGUES, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING THE PROCLAMATION. All right, moving now to public forum. This is an opportunity for community members to speak. Just please remember your time. Um that's a lot of we have a total of nine people signed up to speak tonight. So we'll go ahead and kick it off. We'll start with Jim Herx. Will please come up. And Mr. Clerk, it is uh 3 minutes. I have you listed here in the public forum to read. You want to go to the budget? That's fine. Okay, that'll work. All right, Pam Keenan is our next speaker.

Thank you, Council. I appreciate the opportunity to be here. I have 9 minutes.

Yep, 9 minutes.

I have 9 minutes. Okay. Um My name is Pam Keenan. I'm a 25-year resident of Cary and 25-year a of Apex United Methodist Church, which as you know, is deeply involved in service and mission in every aspect of the community. But there's a particular aspect of the mission work at Apex UMC that I've been involved in so heavily over the years, and that's Family Promise. And the focus of Family Promise is family homelessness. Um I know you're in the middle of budget season, and I know the buzzword these days everywhere you go is affordable housing, affordable housing, affordable housing. But I don't think that a lot of people often make the connection between affordable housing and family homelessness. That's something that kind of flies under the radar screen. But there's some pretty sobering statistics maybe that I would really like you to think about. Um families make up roughly 20 to 30% of the populations suffering homelessness. I know our stereotype is the the guy under the bridge, the veteran who's returned home with mental illness, the um the drug addicts, the people um with substance abuse issues. But 20 to 30% of all the homeless people are families. Now, that translates to there being one child in every two Wake County classrooms. How many Wake County classrooms do we have? That's K to 12. There's a child in every other one of those that is probably experiencing homelessness. That's far more likely number than that's being reported. Think about parents who are very concerned that someone might find out that they're homeless. Social services going to be knocking on the door, maybe taking their

kids away. There's a lot of social stigma and shame that people can't provide for their children. And so, while we know 20 to 30% is reported, there's probably a lot more. What's the specific impact of homelessness on children? It's pretty dire. Four times more likely to suffer from mental illness during the course of their lifetime. Seven times more likely to have to repeat a grade in school. Seven times. Because their family is suffering homelessness. 50% more likely to experience homelessness themselves as an adult. Those are pretty significant social impacts that affect all of us. What are the root causes of family homelessness? Lack of affordable housing. Bingo. There you got it. Lack of affordable child care. Something people don't really kind of connect the dots on between housing, child care, and homelessness. Families who can't afford child care can't work. Parents and families that can't afford child care can't work. And the typical job disruption, uh, death or unavailability of free child care from a family member, illness, disability, domestic violence, parental abandonment. So, all of those things come into play and they all track back to affordable housing. So, Family Promise is an organization that started I don't know, 25, 30 years ago. They're nonprofit. They're nationwide. Um, and they provide, first of all, emergency shelter for families that have had something happen in their life like that job loss, like that disability, um, like that child care disappearing that has caused them to lose their

permanent stable home. And Family Promise brings in families, um, puts them in an emergency shelter there on Method Road in Raleigh. They own an apartment building that used to be student housing, and they have four units that are used for emergency shelter for families that are living in their car or living in the park or living maybe surf couching and get thrown out. They come through the concentrated entry with social services and are referred to Family Promise and then stay in the emergency shelter, and they can stay up to 90 days and while Family Promise tries to stabilize them. Churches like Apex Methodist used to be part of a network of about two dozen churches in the area that would house these families for a week at a time, but COVID stopped that, and so now they're housed there at Family Promise. And then they have transitional housing available for them, a rapid re-housing program. They have landlords who will provide below cost rent rental units for them, but the need is so much greater. There's a year's wait list for families who need emergency shelter. So, that's not very helpful. What can What's the ask to the town? What's the ask? Partner private partnerships, public partnerships to build more affordable housing units. Think about maybe an emergency housing unit here in Western Wake County. Could be something like what's happening in Cary with the Greenwood Baptist Church, where they're building the building that's got the social services and affordable child care on the ground floor, transitional housing, and then affordable housing upstairs. It can be providing tax breaks and permitting and zoning support to developers who are

willing to come in and do affordable housing. It can be allowing different kinds of housing like modular housing and tiny homes in places where those properties that would be available for those might not be zoned for that and for permitting. It's a public campaign to help communities who might have the NIMBY syndrome understand that maybe some affordable housing in their community, their neighborhoods would be a good thing for them. It would expand people's horizons and not bring the host of social ills that most people think come with that. So there it's thinking outside the box and being creative doing the things that you're already doing which is you know driving home that sense of community among all of us but helping more of us stay with us because as the rents rise and the housing prices rise in Apex, more and more people are driven out of Apex and into other fringe areas. So that's the ask from Family from Family Promise. Think about when you're talking about affordable housing it is certainly teachers and police officers and public service workers, restaurant workers but it's families as well and when you're making those budget decisions and you're making those decisions to encourage affordable housing, keep the families in mind too and what are ways that you can promote affordable housing to keep these families off the street. Thank you.

Thank you for speaking. Thank you.

[applause]

Michael Collisaur. Good evening. My name is Michael Colosar and I own and reside at 106 Fanwood Court in the

Bradley Terrace section of the town. While 3 minutes will not do justice to my topic tonight, I hope that the town will consider and act upon the topic I present, namely the creation and implementation of an audit committee. Certain events have been in the news in the past few months regarding the town of Cary and the city of Rocky Mount, which suggests that their systems of internal controls were not as robust as they should have been. The Government Finance Officers Association, or GFOA, has recommended for many years, dating back to 1997, that municipalities establish an audit committee or its equivalent. I have provided the town clerk with a PDF file that GFA's policy statement on audit committees and I hope that all interested or concerned parties have received or may receive a copy of the statement. So, how do I become concerned about this topic? It may be helpful for you to know a little bit about my background. Yes, by the color of my hair, I'm a senior citizen. I am 80 years young. My experience includes the following. I received a bachelor's degree with a major in accounting from Queens College of the City University of New York, followed by a master's in business administration with a concentration in finance from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business. I began my working career in the New York City office of Arthur Young, now known as Ernst & Young. I sat for and passed on my first attempt all four parts of the CPA exam and earned my license to practice as a certified public accountant in the state of New York. My first government experience began shortly thereafter, being drafted into the United States Army at the height of the the War. That honorable 2 years service included a 14-month special assignment to the United States Military Academy. I returned to Ernst & Young after my military service and became a manager

with significant worldwide responsibilities for the conduct of audits for two Fortune 50 companies. I was recruited to another Fortune 50 company to be their worldwide director of accounting where I, along with others, had the responsibility for that entity's compliance with generally accepted accounting principles, the annual report to shareholders, and periodic filings. My second government experience came when I ran for and was elected as a trustee to a governing board in the County of Westchester. As a member of that body, that municipality created an audit committee in 2005 that included professionals from the community. My last government service was as the controller of the Town of Greenburgh, the 13th largest town in the State of New York. Time is running out, so I will omit some other comments. I welcome the opportunity to discuss this topic in much greater detail with any member or members of the Town Council or members of the town staff. Thank you for your attention tonight, and I am happy to respond to any questions you may have, but I recognize you have a comprehensive agenda for this meeting. Again, thank you.

Thank you. We're speaking. Karen Ziller.

[applause]

Hi. May I have 5 minutes or just three?

Uh do you have four people with you?

I just have one.

Okay. We got to give you three tonight. You can come back next meeting, though.

Okay.

We'll hear you again.

Sounds good. Okay. My name is Karen Ziller. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak on behalf of the Apex downtown community. I was born and raised in Apex. I went to Apex Friendship. Um here I have a comprehensive list of small businesses that my friend Sawyer and I um visited yesterday and today um in downtown Apex. There's about 20 of them. I do have them here if possible to hand

out. Um

Like this?

We basically asked these business owners and employees their experience with the downtown Apex construction, just comments, feedback, any kind of experiences. Um if they had any statistics for them to be able to give us that. Um and the range of sales going down for these businesses ranges from 15 to 20 uh to 15 from 15 to 50%. Excuse me. Um so obviously this is a mix of new and old businesses. The newer businesses obviously don't have the data to compare because they've only been around for a little less than a year. Um there's been a a lot of rumors and we've been hearing things that like maybe the engineers had some wrong designs, that they still kind of continue to do these things uh to go with to go along with it. Um regardless, the deadline's been pushed. I do understand that there wasn't a recent update, that the new deadline is January of 2027 for the whole project to be completed. Um but I do think that there's some things that we can kind of advocate for, whether it's maybe weekend hours, night hours, evening hours [clears throat] for these construction workers to continue working so we can compensate. Um maybe even compensation for tenants' rent. Um hours have been cut. It's been really hurting, especially at service uh food service industry workers um because we rely on tips. Um so it's kind of been a big endeavor all around. Um I know a parking deck project has been talked about, but I do think that that is kind of a priority to give more parking rather than take away 15 spots on the street. Um I think that there's just been a lack of continuous communication, accountability, and transparency transparency. Um but we all around are very optimistic about this project at the end. Um but we just need change, putting things out kind of on the table, being adults, and really just talking about like what's

going on here. Um and some kind of compromise reimbursement or compensation. And I know I still have 30 seconds. Um So,

[laughter]

that's crazy. I'm a I'm a yapper, actually. It's crazy. So, I will say um Greg from the antique um shop was the one who came up with the idea of some kind of compensation for the tenants. Um and then Cynthia from uh the Cocoon Galleries was talking about her concerns for rent being raised at the end of all of this, which she's been around here for a while. A lot of old businesses have been here, so it's like if they're taking a hit now, then we should compensate somehow, so. Thank you.

Thank you so much for speaking tonight.

[applause]

Sawyer 3 minutes. Just click.

Hi there. Um I'm one of the friends of Karen over here. We've gone together to a bunch of the different small businesses as she's explained for us. Um our goal was to just kind of create a little bit of more um communication between the small business owners, the employees, and the citizens of downtown Apex. Um I'm a food service employee, and my livelihood is at risk because of the lack of communication, the lack of urgency that's happening with this um construction project. And I don't want you to think that we are against the project itself, but I think that there's been a lot of issues that maybe haven't been considered by the council members and those who have organized this. Um, on the website it says that throughout the entirety of the project that um the sidewalks will remain open and accessible. The term accessible suggests that this is accessible to disabled people, those who need mobility aids, those who are using wheelchairs, those who are using strollers. And the reality of it is that that's simply just not true. Um, I can't tell you how many customers, how many people I've spoken

to in the last couple of days who have expressed that because of their disabilities, their inability to have that mobility, um, they're unable to use the side of the street where the construction is. And so then when eventually the project moves to the other side, that's going to continue to be a deterrent. Um, we've found that not only on the side where construction is, but also on the side opposing it, um, that there have been such issues with things not only like um revenue, but also um like tables for restaurants aren't able to be used outside, their patio seating, because of the dust and the gravel and everything that's ruining food, ruining guest experiences. Um, I see this firsthand every single day. My income has gone down because of business, and I know that obviously this is a concern for the small businesses themselves, but it's also on the individual level. And I don't know if that's something that has really been brought to the attention of everybody here. Um, I just also wanted to bring attention to um there was um the Sea Ward Road, which is being used kind of as a a bypass to the one-way street on Salem. Um, I park there. I'm an employee of that side of the of the road. And the employee parking has basically disappeared, especially on weekends, because of the fact that we have no parking or not no parking, but there's limited street parking. Um, in addition to that, I know that you've probably seen there was a um a speed um device that was placed up to try and deter people from speeding through that road. Um but even with it, we've still had at least one accident that I know of um and multiple close um encounters because of the bottleneck that it it's creating. Um in addition to the bottleneck itself, where that device was placed, um creating a very difficult kind of corner to bypass. Um Yeah, um I think that kind of covers everything that I wanted to say, but thank you for your time.

Sawyer, thank you so much for speaking.

Can you give your full name for the record?

Uh Sawyer Karnick, yeah.

Okay. All right.

Yeah, thank you.

George Hogan.

[clears throat]

George Hogan, uh Mayor and Council. I've been here many times talking about the same thing and I'm going to continue talking about it with you. Um we're talking about Flock cameras and Flock surveillance and this is not theoretical. Almost everybody in this room was recorded by Flock surveillance cameras on their way here tonight. The data is now sitting in a searchable networked surveillance system linked to your plate, your vehicle, and your movement patterns. You didn't consent to a private company retaining that. You weren't notified and you had no way of knowing who accessed it and why. Since the beginning of 2025, 65 cities, counties, and jurisdictions have rejected or canceled their Flock contracts. Denver most recently, Mountain View, Eugene, Cambridge this month alone, Shoreline, El Cerrito, Appleton. It's not a fringe pattern. This is a national reckoning. And here's why. Came out yesterday, a former Milwaukee officer abused Flock 179 times to stalk a woman that he was dating and her ex. That is exactly what I talked about in a former meeting, what we audit our self looks like in practice. The chief at the end of the January working session described Flock simply as a tool that takes a picture of a license plate. Of course, Flock's own materials tell a very, very different story. Plate readers, live video, audio detection, cross-agency data sharing, and a network surveillance ecosystem spanning thousands of jurisdictions. So, either the chief doesn't know what he bought, or he does, and he's not telling you guys clearly what he has bought. 10 cameras is how much we have right now

deployed in Apex. But, that's not the product. 10 cameras is the entry point. And back in February when we were talking about this, I said this very clearly that it's going to start with 10. And guess what happened? APD put in for another $150,000 for Flock cameras. That would be 50 cameras in the little town of Apex. So, it starts with a limited deployment, maybe a pilot, then a budgeted line, and then an expansion request. It's exactly what happens every single time. Recently, you guys approved a moratorium on data centers so the town could study the issue and build a policy first. I credit that. That was the right play here. But, why pause data centers, but move faster or just be unfettered when it comes to police surveillance that are collecting searchable location data on every resident who drives? This isn't about trusting the current chief or even the current council. It's about whether you're willing to build a permanent surveillance infrastructure that a future department, a future council, or a future vendor, or outside agency may use in ways that you cannot control. If you believe that this type of tool is appropriate for Apex, great. Write a policy, go to bid, and let the residents be part of that conversation. You're looking at your budget right now, $40,000 you can get back right now by canceling this contract. Thank you.

Thanks for speaking.

[applause]

Elizabeth Stid.

All right. Elizabeth Raced It, 3113 Mary Town Council. Good evening. At the last town council member, I spoke about um where were our audited financials? And obviously, we heard a

presentation tonight. Um I want to put this in context for the public. There is a statutory requirement for the town to submit its audited financials by a certain date. In 2022, 2023, and 2024 that were late, that date was December 1st. So, let's keep in mind the close of our fiscal year is June 30th, and you had from June 30th to December 1st. The letters of explanations that went to the Local Government Commission primarily blamed staffing issues for being late for those years. So, we fast forward to fiscal year 2025 that ended June 30th, 2025. And the state moved the deadline from December 1st all the way to March 31st because there were some new requirements that you heard mentioned earlier. So, here we are sitting in May. The financials were June 30th and we're going to maybe have them ready by May 28th. That is 11 months. 11 months. So, it raises the question, is it time to outsource this? If staffing issues continues to be the problem and we can't meet the basic minimum statutory requirement, it is your responsibility. You know, every year I'm going to look for the audited financials. Every year I'm going to stand up here and say, "How can we trust you with taxpayer dollars if you can't ensure that the town has enough staff or outsource it to somebody?" This is a basic fundamental government requirement. So, the one topic that was not shared in the presentation earlier that was in the

agenda packet, I would like to read it. As an additional reason as to why it was late. It says, "From September 2025 to date, the town received four additional external reviews of the town's financial records, which requires staff time and effort to prepare and transmit records and respond to inquiries." That is in the meeting a packet tonight. That means other people are concerned as well. What is happening is what I would like to know. You know, what you've done is there's been a late public disclosure of all the utility bills that are late. The financials are late. The cyber attack on personal information was disclosed late. Why? If we have the peak of good living, why is everything late? I don't think this is high-performing government. Thank you.

Thanks for speaking.

[applause]

Don Casalino.

Don Casalino, 3632 Bosque Road. Um so I'm going to go back in time a little bit and talk about a subject that I talk about a lot, consent agenda items. So as for the public, it's probably something you don't really recognize, but consent agenda items are supposed to be very routine and um they're supposed to be like approving meeting minutes or kind of like personnel issues. They're not supposed to be anything major, but what um town of Apex tends to do is put a lot of heavy-duty capital um projects in their consent agenda or other things and um there's no public hearing on it. So I'm going to go back to January uh 27th, 2026. There was a town

um council meeting. Instead of being in person um the same night Holly Springs had one, so they were able to make it with the weather. For some reason, it was conducted virtual and electronic. So it eliminated this whole in person forum. It eliminated real-time comment, anything, no obstacles, right? And when you guys all do consent agenda, cuz I've been in town town of Holly Springs, they do it in about 10 15 seconds. They approve all the stuff. One vote, boom, done and approved. So what was this meeting about? And I'm going to go um it was about 221 million dollars in capital appropriations, pretty interesting number. I kind of saw the slide before and I was like, where are the numbers coming from? They're not really described, but I will talk about this consent agenda item specifically and read off what it is, cuz it was a motion to approve capital project ordinances and it goes through the There's about four numbers appropriating interest earnings funds for projects in transportation, ARPA, which is the COVID money, folks, water, sewer, and electric capital funds. And so it goes on to say, "Okay, this interest and that sounds, you know, pretty standard." Shortly after the town went live in the Infor ERP, an accounting error related to the town's use of inventory caused an error to occur that left three multi-year capital projects with understated expenditures. Due to staffing turnover and vacancies, this error was not detected until October 2025 and corrected. Interest is earned within the project funds as in being allocated. So, in other words, and I only have 30 seconds, in other words, more excuses, more turnover, more excuses, more things. And we're talking about multi-million dollars transferring from the general fund, like $32 million into transportation,

um like 6 7 million into ARPA, uh Oh, water was 65 million. And um 13 million into electronic electric fund. So, in other words, consent agenda vote done. Thank you.

Thanks for speaking. Final speaker tonight will be Nick Vosper.

Good evening. My name is Nick Vosper. My address is 1148 Triggum Court. Mayor, council members, town manager, and staff, I'm here tonight simply to say, "Thank you." It's easy for public meetings to become a scoreboard of frustrations, complaints, and criticism. That comes with the territory of leadership. But I think it's as equally important that we pause and recognize the incredible amount of work, thought, and care that goes into the guiding a town like Apex through growth, change, and opportunity. Apex is not standing still. It is growing, evolving, and becoming a place that more and more people want to call home. That kind of success does not happen by accident. It happens because of long hours from town staff, difficult decisions, careful planning, and elected leaders willing to make tough decisions even when they are not always the most popular in the moment. And while not everyone will always agree on every decision, I believe there's a large group of residents who are optimistic about where Apex is headed. Many of us see the investment in infrastructure, parks, public safety, small businesses, and community spaces. We see a town trying to balance preserving its character while preparing responsibly for the future. That's not an easy tightrope to walk. Frankly, it's like trying to renovate a house while hosting Thanksgiving dinner at the same time. Somebody is always unhappy about the noise. But I think sometimes the loudest voices

can create the impression that they speak for everybody, and they don't. There is also a silent majority of residents who love this town, appreciate the work being done, and believe Apex continues to move in a positive direction. I love that my son is growing up in Apex. I love seeing the diversity of people, the perspectives that make this community vibrant and welcoming. I love our proximity to everything while still maintaining the charm and character that make Apex feel like home. I love the amenities that this town offers, our parks and greenways, the extensive parks and recreation programs for all ages that include seasonal athletics, art, and education classes, our excellent schools, amazing police and fire departments, our friendly neighbors, and a sense of community that still exists even as we continue to grow. Apex has found a way to embrace the future without losing the heart that makes people want to live here in the first place. So tonight, I want to encourage those residents speak up and show up. Let our staff and council know when you appreciate their efforts, not just when you disagree. Public service can be a thankless job, and positivity deserves a microphone, too. To staff and council, thank you for your commitment to Apex, for the difficult decisions that you make, and for continuing to invest in the future of this community. While I may not always agree with every decision, I appreciate and respect you all for your work every day. I'm excited about where Apex is going, and I know many of others are, too. So thank you.

THANK YOU FOR SPEAKING.

[applause] [applause]

ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR SPEAKING TONIGHT. WE'LL GO AHEAD and close the public forum and move now into public hearings. So we'll start with the first one, public hearing one. Annexation number 829, 3501 US Highway 64 West.

Diane Kenn will be presenting.

All right. Good evening. This property is located in the northwest portion of our jurisdictional along US 64. It is a non-residential property. They are requesting annexation in order to get town services. Staff recommends approval. Happy to answer any questions.

Thank you. Questions? All right. Hearing none, we'll open up the public hearing for this item. No one signed up to speak. Public hearing is closed. Is there a motion?

Motion to approve.

Motion by Mayor Pro Tem.

Second.

Second. Is there a comment? Discussion? Hearing none, all in favor say I.

I.

Opposed. All right, motion carries. Move to the next item. Public hearing two, annual operating budget public hearing. Council member Gray.

And this is the opportunity for those who didn't talk earlier or you want to talk again. More than happy to hear the comments. Once again, we are taking note. We are listening. Um we may not get a chance to respond to each piece and unfortunately, when we do have a budget, not every side wins, but understand that every side is considered. So.

Okay. Thank you, Council member. All right, first speaker tonight, Beth Bourdeau.

Thank you. Good evening. I'm Beth Bourdeau. I live at 1044 Branchline Lane in Apex. Um my Apex-based company is Partners for Impact and we work towards building capacity for community change. Thank you. Thank you for all that you do. Um thank you for this opportunity to speak on behalf of the budget for 2026-27. As a housing choice advocate, um we we appreciate your continued commitment um to housing choice for all and your proposal to preserve the 1 cent tax

dedicated to the affordable housing fund. Based on the 25 update and the 2021 affordable housing plan, we urge you not to only keep this penny tax, but to consider increasing it to at least a penny and a half as quickly as possible um in order to close Apex's affordable housing gap. We ask that this fund remain fully dedicated to putting new affordable units on the ground and keeping existing units safe and affordable. We have four things for you to consider. First, please consider the approximately 542,000 in housing staff salaries that are being charged to the affordable housing fund instead of the general fund. Ensure that these funds do not cover expenses unrelated to increasing affordability. If staff expenses must be covered through this fund, then staff should be dedicating 100% of their time strictly to affordable housing efforts. Second, for significant investments like the 10.6 million Hues Street mixed-use development, please ensure that affordable housing funds are exclusively used to increase affordable units in conjunction with leveraged funds like tax credits um and not broadly subsidizing the full property development. Third, in light of the hardships like the Chad Myer States manufactured community redevelopment in Cary, it is critical that we prioritize the stability and protection of families in manufactured home communities in our community as a part of our housing strategy. And don't misunderstand me because I am still an advocate for fully preserving these communities. And finally, we ask that you consider this full and whole use of this set-aside these set-aside dollars, thinking of it from a balance sheet perspective rather than a P&L. Right? Think about um the expected fund

balance at the end of this year around 8.6 million. And then we would like to see a specific action plan regarding how these funds will be used to quickly and purposefully um implement the recommendations outlined in the 21 housing affordable housing plan and the 25 update to that plan. How will funds be earmarked? How would they be set aside for specific projects and so forth? Thank you so much. I appreciate you and all that you do.

Good to see you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. All right, Elizabeth Racetrack.

Elizabeth Racetrack, 3113 Friendship Road, Mayor and Town Council. Um I'd like to start by saying the reason why I keep showing up is because obviously there are still things to be worked on. It is not necessarily that we don't appreciate the town as some people will suggest, but we have people in our community who are really hurting, okay? So, I have people who reach out to me on a regular basis. I've been around since 1991. I've gotten a reputation of being willing to stand up here and take the bullets that come my way, the nasty grams because I may have said something that people don't like. Well, guess what? That's okay, you know? We still come I still have hope that maybe one of these days somebody might actually listen cuz I'm not advocating just for me. I'm advocating for the community that's been here a long time. So, in terms of the budget, I really do not understand how you can formulate a budget without understanding the foundation. If you do not have audited financials, how do you really have confidence in the numbers that you're working with? Just don't Just don't understand it. Number two, when people come up here and they talk about how they are impacted by

certain projects, the downtown project being delayed, maybe part of what we do to close the budget gap is take a look at that project and say, "What can we streamline to save money, but also to pull the timeline back?" It's not fair that these businesses are being impacted the way they're being impacted. And then thirdly, when I go and look at the documents from the past, there's certain information not available. I'll bring up Pleasant Park for instance, the splash water service park um piece. I don't have young children, so I'm not out there splashing. Um but the park uses water. We have droughts. What is the town's policy? How do we reduce the cost of running the park? Maybe we don't have the splash pad for the kids. Maybe that's where we save money and reduce operating cost. The public doesn't have enough details in order to make some of these suggestions. I only know some of these things cuz I've been around the block a while and showing up at all these meetings and hearing people talk about things. It takes a lot of time and effort and it's not a criticism necessarily, but this is the only forum that we have to be able to bring suggestions. So the notion that because we have a criticism that we don't love the area is just really unfounded. So I want to thank you for listening to me once again. I will keep showing up and maybe one these days I won't have a reason to. Thank you.

Thank you for speaking. Jim Jim Herbs Thank you very much. I appreciate being here. Alan has a copy of everything I'm about to say and you have plenty of information for me already, I'm sure. First of all, I want to start by saying

thank you to the council. This is a really difficult job and you're getting bullets all the time, so I appreciate uh that you're you're listening and you're taking some of our comments. I wanted to tell you that I'm not going to try to ever give you anecdotal information. I I really want to give you facts. I don't want to just throw out stuff, and that's why I've given you that. I've given you a lot of material beforehand. I'm not going to go over that, okay? But what I would ask you to do as you're considering the budget, okay? To take a look at some things um before you make any decision. And one And maybe you have this information and I don't. So, you might just check this off your box, but uh the first thing you should have is the actual numbers. Uh comparing it to last year's budget is better than not, okay? But I think you need the actual numbers from this year. Now, of course you don't have it, the year's not done, but unless you have that an estimated actual, I don't think you have the full picture. So, I think you need that. Secondly, any positions um I would want to have KPIs and standards. You know, if you wanted a certain head count of police or staff or whatever. Uh it maybe you do. But I don't see that in the budget. So, um and I've given you some KPIs and stuff that I've researched, and I'll tell you they're probably better than nothing, okay? But you have to go back to departments and challenge those, but I think you need those standards and make sure you have those before you make any staffing decisions. Um there's a couple other things here that I want to make sure that I get in in my 2 minutes. Um One is the the raises of I think it's 3 and 2%. I don't know. The general national raise is 3%, and I think that's really where you should hone in on. Uh I want to make sure too that you look at some of the data that I gave you. The

one that stands out is um the population in the last 5 years, when you were kind enough to give me that 5-year data, says that our population goes up 18%. So, what would you think staffing went up in that time? It went up 22%. I would think 18 would be the highest it would go up cuz some things are fixed. What do you think salaries and compensation went? These are your numbers, by the way. 47% in that 5-year period. Something doesn't make sense to me. Um now, these are your data. I'd be happy to go through the numbers, but that doesn't that doesn't sound right. But, but they're your numbers. I spent hours going through the numbers that I was given. So, I want to just finish by saying this. Um whatever you come up with, I'm not going to agree with it. And nobody should. You should have Everybody should have their own opinion. That's okay. But, as long as you're taking input from us, and you're getting the I do think I will respect what you do today, and I appreciate that.

Thank you, Mr. Hurt, for your speaking.

[applause]

Don Casalino

[clears throat]

Don Casalino, 3632 Bosco Road. I know there's been a lot of communication tonight about opposition, people having opinions, criticism. I think some really strong words. Um I've been coming, I don't know, 3 and 1/2 years. I really wasn't paying much mind because I don't live in Apex. I live in New Hill. I live in Wake County. I live in the country. I have well water, and I have septic. And um you would think that would be fine. I would just go do my thing, and live my life out. But, unfortunately, um because [clears throat] of the town here, you do things that impact me all the time, and you harm my community all the

time. You um utilize eminent domain, which is a very very strict power um on land use. You plan things for our area that are in not in your jurisdiction. You move money around to make it you able to do land purchases. In fact, I think for for affordable housing, if I recall in the ARPA, there was $4 million, but I don't know where that went. Um a lot of people talk about affordable housing. And some of the uh projects that have come before you rather take the money for fee and Lou than actually build affordable housing, so it's kind of a conflicting message for me. Um but that's why I come because I love my area. I love our community. I think we should be at peace. I think we have constitutional rights and nobody should be able to take those away from us, including government officials. And while you're looking at the budget, I mean, you have substantial amount of employees. You have four different town managers. You have four different uh town attorneys. You have duplicates of everything. And your salaries are way above normal average. So, if you want to cut line items, No, I I think they are. Yeah. I know you disagree, but I'm coming from a state that's up north and they're very high. And those are line items. Um why do you need 29 planners? Are Are we doing all this residential? No, I think it's working for one private developer, RXR Veridia. So, I know there's probably these commercials up here, too. So, maybe you're looking down at that, but I would appreciate it, like Councilwoman Sumu, if we can just have some attention. I only have a minute here, but the reason

I come here is not to criticize, not to deliberate, is to talk about the truth here and agenda items that are in consent, voting on massive capital improvement projects that always relate to water, sewer, and roadways. Taking right-of-ways, taking people's property to succeed in that for private development is not a public use. And so, why you continue to do it, I don't understand. And I will just add this, that the community is growing, but you're you're growing it by mass density. And it's really not becoming the Apex it was. It It is coming It is morphing into a community that is an urban city that looks like it was drawn from a rendering. And I I'm sorry about that, but I hope wish you the best in this budget and thank you for your time.

All right, that's the end of that item public hearing. Uh we'll move now to regular meeting agenda, um rezoning case number 25 CZ 19, Camp Branch Lane. And just note that this public hearing was closed on March the 24th and the item was continued, so Mr. Killian.

Good evening, everyone. So, this evening we have updates to rezoning case 25 CZ 19. As was stated, public hearing has been closed on this item. For the sake of brevity, I'm going to simply go over summary of changes. Um So, this was uh the original um summary

of changes, but there were a few changes made earlier today that did not make the um PowerPoint, but you should have a copy of four pages of zoning conditions from this rezoning case in front of you. Uh I'm going to draw your attention for the public um First condition was changed from a density maximum of four units per acre. Uh the applicant has changed that to just limiting to 58 total units as a cap for the residential uh build-out of this project. Next, I'll draw your attention to zoning condition number nine, which replaces the second bullet point of a stub street. And read this for the public, so they are aware that no more than 50 units shall be permitted with one point of access to the public street system. If more than 50 units are developed, the project shall have a minimum of two points of access to the public street system. Um the next change, this Holland Road emergency access condition has been removed. That was condition number 12. Again, that has been removed. And then, a few other changes that have occurred to this rezoning case. Um I believe at the last meeting the applicant had agreed to at that time, but has not put it on the record that the affordable housing commitment will be 10% of the total units, which matches the um the the public housing I mean, the affordable housing incentive zoning policy that the town of Apex has. And then, if I can draw your attention to zoning conditions 14 through 22. Um all of those conditions with the exception of number 14, I believe, um were added as added or

amended as part of the revision to the Environmental Advisory Board zoning condition suggestions. If you have any questions, I'll be happy to answer, but the applicant is also here and has a presentation if you'd like to

Okay, any questions for Mr. Killing?

Yeah, I was just going to ask really quickly how many um provision or uh demands from the EAB and how many were met?

Nine were suggested at the original meeting and six have been either added as full stop with what they suggested language be and a few about some of them um have been amended to just be a little bit more enforceable and to meet the the demands of the project. So, um I'll let I can let the applicant speak to exactly

probably talk about that. Thanks.

Any other questions for myself?

Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

Evening, Mayor, members of Council. Matthew Carpenter with Parker Poe, 301 Fayetteville Street in Raleigh, here on behalf of the applicant, Lenore. Got a couple folks with Lenore with me from tonight, Tucker Innis, Chris Boley, um and also Don Curry is here with Curry Engineering, our our civil engineer. Um as Joshua mentioned, this case was continued on March 24th, um and and we took sort of three main issues away from that meeting, um affordable housing, the EAB recommendations, and then site access. And so, um I I think that time has been well spent over the last month and and some change. We've worked on conditions to address uh each of these issues and those are reflected in the revised conditions that that Joshua just went through. Um the the first change is the affordable housing change. When we came into the March 24th meeting, um we were proposing

5% of units as affordable at 80% AMI um with an an additional donation to the affordable housing fund. We had we had discussed some of those conditions with DHIC um and we're trying to do something, you know, a little more tailored to the site. What we heard from staff uh and council was that, you know, we're really looking for compliance with the affordable housing policy um and so that's what we've done. We've we've upped the the percentage to 10% of units um at a 80% AMI for rental and 120% AMI for for sale units. So, the project is still um is now squarely consistent with with the town's affordable policy and and what I think is impactful about the affordable units on this project, even though it's a smaller project, the entire project is single family. So, those will be single family detached uh affordable units. I know the town has seen a lot of uh town home affordable units, which obviously are good, but I think it's good to have a a mix of of unit types. Um the EAB recommendations, appreciate Joshua going through these. Um we we heard loud and clear from council that these recommendations are priority and so we went through each of those um to understand what we could commit to and and what we could change. Um so, in total, we we've we've added eight of the nine recommendations um and there were a couple that we that we already had included in the case coming into the March 24th meeting um but they weren't completely consistent with the recommendation. For example, the the native plantings, I think before we were offering 60%. We've upped that to 75%, which is consistent with the recommendation. Um, and so I'm I'm happy to answer questions on any of these, uh, but we we've tried to add as many as we can and um, we have committed to 10% of units as as solar, pre-configured with solar, um, which I think is a

significant commitment for a project of this size. Um, and then all units will have, uh, 240-V uh, And then, uh, several of the other EAB commitments that you've seen. Um, one that I I thought was was interesting, we had a lot of discussions with Lennar's HOA community managers about the leaf, um, the the condition that the covenants won't restrict won't require picking up of leaves. That that was one that, you know, I've heard from the EAB, but I didn't really understand the significance. Um, and we talked through that with Lennar's community HOA community managers so that they understand why we're we're asking for that, um, and and what it means. So so we did that to make sure we can commit to it. Not only can we commit to it, but that the people that will be handling that down the line when the community's actually built that they're aware of that, um, to to make sure that it's complied with. Um, the the next area, uh, that of concern that we've tried to address is site access. Um, so we we've known throughout this project, uh, that we weren't squarely consistent with the requirement in the UDO that says, um, that a a maximum of 50 units are allowed with one point of access. Um, and so we started those conversations early with staff, uh, before we filed the case. Uh, staff was generally supportive, uh, just from a transportation, uh, perspective of having 58 units on one access uh because we were we're trying to avoid stream crossings. Um but we were requesting to modify that that requirement. Um and so we had done some other things to to try to to speak to access. We'd added the emergency access. Um we we had added stub streets. We we took a step back and said, you know, let's just be consistent with the UDO um and and add a condition that's consistent with the the current UDO requirement. And and so that's what we've done um hopefully to make this much more simple where, you know, we're

we're complying with the current UDO so that no more than 50 units can be built um unless there are are are two points of access. So, the the case still would allow 58 units, but if we want to build that out, um we've got to find an additional access on on Holland Road with with this condition.

[snorts]

Um and so the those are the bulk of the changes. I I think um we we took a case that had recommendation of approval from the planning board, and I think we've made it much better. And and so I'd appreciate um you know, council pushing us to do that and and really highlighting that the EAB recommendations. And I I think that the developer has has responded to that here. And so um we respectfully request your approval. Happy to answer any questions. Thanks.

All right. Thank you, Mr. Carpenter. Questions for Mr. Carpenter?

I have one question, Mr. Carpenter. Uh can you remind us why the um the uh stream zone buffering was excluded from the uh

Yes. Um so so we we did look at that and we we talked with our engineering team about whether we could commit to that. Um because we don't have we we obviously have sketches of the layout that we've done, but they're not fully engineered. And so uh we we just don't feel comfortable enough with the layout yet um to commit to know buffer averaging of the is three buffer. So, obviously we we have to completely stay out of uh the zone one, zone two riparian buffer. But, the Apex code, which which applies the, as I understand it, zone three buffer, in addition to the state buffer rules, allows some averaging where, you know, you have a stormwater pond that that backs up to the buffer or or something similar. And so, uh we we just wanted to to keep the design flexibility there. Um it may be that we get to subdivision and and we say now that we've fully laid it out, you know, we we could have committed to that, but we just don't have the information yet. And so, so that was the concern.

Okay. Thank you.

Yep.

Other questions?

Can you remind us, sorry, Matthew.

No, that's okay.

Um what the RCA commitment is here?

Um sure. I I believe it's 30%. Is that right? Joshua, with the the 5% mass grading penalty?

That is correct.

Yeah. So, it would be 35% if this is mass mass graded.

Thank you.

Yep.

All right. Any other questions? Hearing none, we'll move to discussion.

I'll start by saying, uh I appreciate uh the applicant um listening to the concerns of council. And I I know it's been tough. It's been a lot of work going back and forth, but um at this point, you have uh uh met all the requests that that we've put in and and addressed all my concerns. And so, I'm supportive of the project at this point.

I appreciate the applicant making the um doing the heavy lifting on the affordable housing aspect, as well as um I think understanding that, as a council, we are viewing the role of the uh environmental advisory board uh with a lot more gravitas. Um and it's uh and and and you recognize that. So, we appreciate that. And uh it seems as though this is a project that I can continue to support.

Just to kind of you know supplement that it's like you know units on the ground is is much more interesting than donations to uh our affordable housing fund, right? And so um I think you know as a general comment not just for this development but in in broad strokes, right? Uh we'd be looking for that 10% commitment before any um you know fee in lieu type of type payments. So I do appreciate that uh that addition or that that's uh up-leveling of the plan to meet our policies.

My original uh concerns were the affordable housing and the access points. And tonight you addressed

both of them. Thank you. Yeah.

I'll say that I was prepared on the 24th to um vote not in support of this with the responsiveness of the applicant um especially as what's been said from my colleagues about um heating the the council from the environmental advisory board um this will receive my support.

Who's making a motion?

Make a motion to approve.

Is there a motion to approve?

Second.

Second, Mayor Pro Tem.

Any further discussion? Hearing none, all in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? Motion carries unanimously. All right, move now to the next item, closed session. Is there a motion to go into closed session?

So moved.

Second.

Motion to a motion.

Second, is there a comment? All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed? Motion carries. We're moving into closed session. Thank you, everyone. Thank you.

The last item.

Mhm.

Okay, all right. All right. Any further business? Hearing none, meeting adjourned. Thank you all for everything.

Thank you.

See you in the next one.

All right.

Hope you all have a good evening.

Have a good one, Gloria.

Oh, no, I was coming faster. What is What's going on?