383  Dunn City Council Work Session Tuesday, June 11,2024 6:30 p.m., Dunn) Municipall Building  Minutes  PRESENT: Mayor William P. Elmore Jr., Mayor Pro Tem J. Wesley Sills, Council Members Raquel McNeil, April Gaulden, Alan Hargis, and) Dr. DavidI L.I Bradham. ABSENT: Councill Member Billy N.Tart Also present: City Manager Steven Neuschafer, Assistant City Manager Billy R. Godwin, Finance Director Cary McNallan, Chief of Police Cary Jackson, Collections and Distribution Manager Billy Cottle, Water Plant Manager Ian Stroud, Administrative Support Specialist Amber Groves, City Attorney Tilghman Pope, and City Clerk Tammy  Williams.  CALLTOORDER. ANDI INVOCATION 6:30 and Mayor Elmore opened the meeting at p.m. Council Council Member Gaulden) ledi int thel Pledge of Allegiance. AGENDA ADJUSTMENT AND APPROVAL Forever Chemicals. Motion unanimously: approved.  Member Bradham  the invocation. Afterwards,  gave  Motion by Council Member Bradham and second by Council Member Gaulden to adopt the June 11,2024 meeting agenda as presented with the following addition: Legal Services Agreement Litigation Against Manufacturers of  PRESENTATIONS  Mayor Juneteenth Elmore Proclamation read the Proclamation declaring June 19, 2024 as Juneteenth int the City of Dunn. Council Member McNeil sharedi information: about the upcoming Juneteenth Celebration tob bel held at Codrington Park. A copy ofthe  Proclamation (P2024-05) isi incorporated. into these minutes as Attachment: #1. Mayor Elmore reada aj prepared statement from thel Mayor and Council asf follows:  PUBLICI HEARING- FY251 Budget  "Citizens of Dunn, tonight the City Council and Iarel happy tol hear and receive your comments on the proposed Fiscal) Year 2024-2025 budget fort the City of Dunn. The Council willi not vote ont thel budget tonight, the actual vote toa adoptt thel budget will take place att the) June 25th regular Council meeting. The proposed budget has been on file and available for review: since) June 1st. Under State law,t the budget must bel balanced and take effect on) July 1st. The proposed budget is the product of many months of hard work. Getting to this point isa daunting task and requires much discussion among the council, the city administration: and department heads on! how best tos spend The City has many competing needs that must be weighed and balanced against each otheri in the budget process. This ranges from state mandated improvements to the city's water and sewer infrastructure; to citizens reasonable demands for stormwater system improvements to alleviate flooding throughout the city. It also includes departmental funding requests for new equipment and for maintenance ofe existing equipment. Added to these ist the need tol keep our employee compensation package competitive so our hard-working employees and police officers stay with us and not take their knowledge, skills and experience to other communities. We are blessed to have such a dedicated workforce and this council is committed to ensuring our employees are taken Ultimately,ab budget must! be adopted that maintains thel level ofs service the citizens ofI Dunny want and deserve. We must find aj proper balancel between what the city should spend and what the city must: spend to meet the needs of the taxpayers. Obtaining that balance requires an honest analysis, frank discussion, much compromise, and tough Thus far, hundreds oft thousands of dollars of worthy requests have been removed from the proposed budget and what you have before you is the result of that process. Along with the monetary cuts, we also will use several hundred thousand dollars of funds recognized from savings in our current budget. These funds will be used to The budget includes aj property tax rate increase of $0.04 per $100 valuation of real property. Each penny of property tax generates $112,942 and the proposed increase will generate $451,768 annually. The city leadership realizes there's an immediate need for major street repairs throughout our city. It is our opinion that the opportunity tol borrow money fora a major paving project such as this can! be done by utilizingal USDA loan atal low interest rate. Therefore, the city plans tob borrow between 4 and! 51 million dollars, which would allow ust tol havea much larger impact onp paving: streets and other street relatedi repairs. The annual debt service ont that loan would ber repaid byt thef four-cent] property taxi increase, the entire amount of $451,768 generated by the increase will be used tor repayt thel loan. Without thisi increased revenue,t this significant paving project could not be done. This budget also eliminates all monetary contributions to the Dunn Police Athletic League. PAL is the only nonprofit organization receiving fundingf from the city." The city wasi instrumental in thes startup of PALi in1 1993a and has provided funding since itsi inception. In 2013, PAL separated from the City of Dunn and became a stand-alone  thej public's money.  careof.  decisionst tor maket thej process work. balance thej proposed budget.    384  501C3 nonprofit entity. Since 2013, the city has contributed $2,274,387.00 directly to the PAL program, even Ina addition to direct funding, one police officer has always been assigned full time to PAL. However, the officer assigned to that position recently took a job with another agency and is nol longer employed by the city. At this point, funded in the budget are plans to assign another officer to PAL once the staffing shortages in the Police The nonprofit status obtained by PALI has allowed them the opportunity tos successfully receive grants and other private funding. The organization appears to have done well with those efforts. PAL's budget last year was $884,615. Ift they received the revenues projectedi int that budget, that wouldi indicate that they were successful in raising $769,000, abovet the city's contribution of$115,000. We: asa city are proud oft the PAL organization and are thankful for the community support that they receive. Ultimately, it does not seem fair to raise property taxes and continue funding a self-sustaining nonprofit organization, even as service organization like PAL. There are many Inc conclusion, we believe that this proposed Fiscal year 2024-2025 budget strikes aj proper balance of what the City Manager Neuschafer reported ont the seven letters from the publict that were submitted tot the city clerk prior tot the meeting tonight with the last collection at 6:00 p.m. All letters were submitted to the Council by email and available att their desk. Letters were received from Dunn PALI Board of Directors, Emmett Aldredge III with ARC3 Gases,] J. Dal Snipes,] Janet) J. Doffermyre Ed.D, Dr PK Vyas MD of Eastern Carolina Medical Center, Kristina Harrell, EVP with thel Dunn Area Chamber of Commerce: and Emily McBryde-Wilson. All the letters encouraged the Council The following: spoke during thel Public Hearing: former Council Member Carnell Robinson, former Council Member Joey" Tart, Ronald Ross, Jesse Schmidlin, Nathan Williams, Shwana Cameron Williams, Shephard Massey, Regina Tew, Crystal Moore, Boris Ashford, James Berry, Janet Doffermyre, and Crystal McBryde spoke against the existing budget which does not provide funding for thel Dunn Police Athletic & Activities League, Inc. All spoke of the many positive influences oft the PALO organization int the community and askedt the Council tor reconsider PALI funding. Council Member McNeil commented that she appreciates and believes in PAL and realizes the wonderful things they do for the young people in her ward. She added that iti is a difficult decision for the Council to make and  thoughi it'st totally independent ofa and nota ac city department.  Department are resolved.  otherv worthy nonprofit service organizations whor receive no funding from this city. City must spend: and needs tos spend tor meet the goals oft this Board and the citizens wes serve."  Mayor Elmore opened thel Publicl Hearinga at6 6:42 p.m.  toc continuei funding thel Dunn! PAL organization.  encouraged community supporti inf funding and iny volunteering. Withr noa additional comments, thel Public Hearing was closed. ITEMS FORI DISCUSSION, AND/ORI DECISION Annexation. ANX-02-2024 Fairground Rd  City Manager Neuschafer presented a request to consider adoption of resolution fixing the date for a Public Hearing for June 25, 2024, for the voluntary contiguous annexation petition ANX-02-24. The Council adopted a Resolution Directing the Clerk to Investigate the Voluntary Annexation at the May 28 Council meeting and the Motion by Council Member Hargis and second by Mayor Pro" Tem Sills to adopt the Resolution Fixing Date ofa Public Hearing as June 25, 2024, at 6:30 p.m. for the Voluntary Contiguous Annexation Petition ANX-02-24. Motion unanimously approved. A copy of the Resolution (R2024-22) is incorporated into these minutes as City Manager Neuschafer presented a requestt toe extend the current landscape agreement with Old Mill Stream for 18r months. Itis difficult tot transition contractors in the middle of the grass cutting season and the end ofj June is when the contract expires. This change will allow for bidding and accepting bids, next summer and then transitioning, if there isat transition, during the winter and not growing season justt to make sure that wel have a seamless transition, ift there is one. Current Monthly Payments are $14,445 with proposed Monthly Payments at After discussion, motion by Mayor Pro" Tem Sills and second by Council Member Gaulden to approve the extension City Attorney Tilghman Pope presented request to engage the law firms of Baron & Budd, P.C., Cossich, Sumich, Parsiola & Taylor, LLC and the Hutchens Law Firm, to represent the City of Dunn in litigation against manufacturers of aqueous film forming foam ("AFFF"), perfluoroalkyl substances ("PFAS"), including perfluorooctanoic acid ("PFOA" or "C8") and perfluoro octane sulfonate ("PFOS") and other related compounds, collectively forever chemicals". The Environmental Protection. Agency has announced new regulations regarding the: amount of forever chemicals that can! be contained in drinking water, which when adopted, will require every producer of public drinking water throughout the country tos spend al lot ofr money on equipment and training and There aret three different law firms indicated, with thel local one beingt the Hutchins Law Firm out of Fayetteville, representing about 25 cities and counties throughout North Carolina against the manufacturers of forever chemicals to try and recoup some of the costs that the city will incur due to these mandatory upgrades. The  Certificate ofs Sufficiency has been completed by the Clerk: and provided to Council.  Attachment: #2.  Landscape Maintenance Contract Extension  $15,960.  ofthe Old Mill Stream contracti forf fiscaly year 2024-2025. Motion unanimously approved. Legal Services Agreement Litigation. Against Manufacturers of Forever Chemicals  stafft tor modify and furtherf filter these chemicals out oft the water.    385  proposed legals services agreement will authorize them to represent the City int this federal litigation. Itis all on a contingencyf fee, whichi means the city willi incur no attorney fee unless they make al recovery ont the city'sbehalf. In Motion by Council Member Bradham and second. by Council Member McNeil to approve the Legal Services Agreement with the law firms of Baron & Budd, P.C., Cossich, Sumich, Parsiola & Taylor, LLC, and the Hutchens Law Firm tor represent the City of Dunn inl litigation against the manufacturers of forever chemicals as presented.  which event, theys getr reimbursed: 25% oft the recovery.  Motion unanimously approved. ITEMSI FORI DISCUSSION  CZ-04-24- Conditional Rezoning; 1 parcel at 112SFayetteville Ave  Assistant City Manager Godwin introduced Haley Hogg, Planning Director with Mid-Carolina Regional Council of Governments and: shared! her experience with the Council. Haley presented CZ-04-24, whichi isa conditional zoning application for 112 S Fayetteville Ave. The property is. 52 acres and has an existing building, which has been vacant for some time. The applicant is requesting a conditional zoning to rezone from C3 highway commercial district to C1, which is the central commercial district with conditional zoning. The applicant was requesting to permit only multi-family, restaurant, banquet/event space; bar/avem/micobrewey, and general commercial. If approved, the multifamily use andt thel banquet and events space use would stilll bes subject toas special use permit in Staff finds the rezoning has been determined tol be reasonable and consistent with the: surrounding conditions and development pattern oft the area, as well ast the Future Land Use map. The parcel is designated as Downtown: and the Future Land Use Map, whichi includes a mixture of residential, retail, and entertainment uses. All of which include thej proposed uses by the applicant. At the June 41 Planning Board meeting, the Board did bring up some concerns regarding parking att thati meeting, especially asi it pertains tot the potential banquet or event space use of the site. Ultimately, though, they votedf four inf favor, and one opposed to recommending approval to the Council. Thel Public Hearing willl be held att the June 25 City Council meeting. After discussion on the location oft the multi- Haley presented: a request tor rezone three parcels located att the intersection of] Jernigan Road and US 301 North from R-20, Residential District to C-3, Highway Commercial District Conditional Zoning District: to permit only Self-Storage." The propertyi is located att the corner oft the gateway into Dunn, from the north into the town ori into the city and C3i isa compatible zoning district with what's out there currently along 301. Even though self-storage isr note entirely desirable sometimes atal high profile oral highly visible gateway into the community, itis consistent with that current development pattern occurring in that area. At the June 41 Planning Board meeting, there was some neighborhood opposition from the residential neighbors onj Jernigan Road and they felt that the use would bei incompatible potentially with their residential uses. The Planning Board voted three inf favor and two opposed The first condition recommended was limiting the use of self-storage facility as outlined int the application. They also recommendeda condition tor require at type Al landscapel buffera along the residential properties. They required orr recommended: a condition that no access be permitted off of] Jernigan Rds since thati is where the residential uses were located. They also recommended a condition that as six-foot-tall privacy fence be required in the Type A buffer to provide additional screening for those residential homes. The Public Hearing and Decision is scheduled fort the) June2 25 Council meeting. After questions related tol DOT requirements, the discussion was closed. This conditional rezoning request is for three parcels located off of North Powell Ave, with access to W Cumberland: St." There are two parcels included that are: zoned R20 and the third parcel is split zoned! between R20 and C2. The applicant is not proposing to modify the C2 zoning. They want to reserve that for potential future commercial development if anyone wants to develop that in the future, but they are requesting to rezone the R20 portions from R20 tol MXU mixed-use district conditional: zoning. They are requesting to limit the uses oft thes site to residential, which would be single family detached ands single family attached townhomes. They are also proposing the uses to allow recreational facilities, indoor and outdoor. The use oft townhomes, if the rezoning is approved, After reviewing the application, staff determined the request is consistent and reasonable with the development pattern int the area. The futurel land use map does designate the property as medium density residential, which includes a variety of uses or mixed uses of townhomes, single family. The applicant did also submit a master plan andt the plan does meet ther minimum requirements oft the UDO and: shows the generall location andl layout of where the single family and townhomes could bel located as well ast the amenity areai ins some open space. This isj just the preliminary master plan, so ar more detailed plan typically comes ina att the special use permit when you get to the townhome use. And then for the preliminary plat is when you would see the lots laid out after they do the engineering and design al little bit. Att thel Planning Board, there was no neighborhood opposition at the meeting. However, thel board did have concerns related tot the level of detail ont the master plan and requested the: applicant provide al little bit more detail and ultimately made a motion to table the item until the July 21 Planning Board City Manager Neuschafer updated the Council ont the wastewater: allocation program toi include reviewing the SOC projects tied tot the allocation program. He shared that the number ofg gallons for each bedroom was amended by the State of North Carolina on December 13, 2023 and that memo was included in the packet. The City has a certain amount ofs sewer allocation that is allowed tol be used for new development. Under the policy, the city manager is able tog grant allocation up to 10,000 gallons per day for non-residential allocation. The City's current  addition tot this rezoning.  family, whichi isp proposed for upstairs, discussion was closed. CZ-05-24- Conditional Rezoning; 3 parcels Jernigan Rd/US301 N  tor recommending: approval with the following conditions.  CZ-06-24- Conditional Rezoning; 3j parcels NF Powell Ave/W Cumberland  would: still! bes subject toa as special use permit as well.  meeting with thati request. Wastewater. Allocation Report    386  number of allocations is 332,000 gallons. That is what we havel been allowed to allocate since the SOC was agreed upon. So that 332,000 gallons is a gallons per day number. In addition to that, as we complete projects, that number willi increase by a specified amount that's in the SOC. As an example, our wastewater treatment plant projecti is windingo down: and getting readyt tol be completed in the next couple ofr months. He anticipates by the time we close outt the project later thiss summer, we'lll be: allowed to add that allocation whichi is valued in our quotes at 100,000 gallons per day. So later on, this summer, ift that number were to stay the same, we'd be looking at Rooms To Goi industrial development iss seekinga a 29,400-gallon: allocation in their application to develop 100 acres justi north of Rooms To Go. Sot that request willl be presented at the June 25 Council meeting. Currently, the city is sitting ata about 265,000-gallon allocation remaining. So, we have a lot of ability to add development and sewer He added that all the projects related to the SOC are to be completed at the end of 2026 and at that time they'll evaluate whether or not the work completed. is sufficient to eliminate our stormwater and our wastewater Mayor Pro" Tem Sills did ask City! Manager Neuschafer to explain the decline in funding to the Library system. He confirmed that all reductions in the Library system are related to the Library being absorbed by the county and Council Member McNeil requested that some amount be added to the budget for funding PAL and with no Mayor Elmore: announced upcoming events and activities. He also updated that the City ofI Dunn ist beinga awarded ag grant for stormwater repairs. The granti is $500,000 and that will got toward some projects that we are focused He reported that Congressman Wiley Nickel presented a grant of $1,466,000 to the 195/140 Economic Development Alliance. Thel Magnolia School buildingi is under construction now to be transformed into a state-of- the-artf facilityt that willl bea a workforce training center tot trainj peoplei in our area for neededi industry. There is also anewb building being! builti in Four Oaks for workforce training. The Dunn operation will dol biotech training as well as computer training and also have offices for new industry. The Four Oaks site will provide advanced With no additional business, Mayor Elmore adjourned the meeting at 8:30 p.m., with no objections.  432,000 gallons per day toa allocate.  tapst to thes system. overflow issues. Budget Discussion  becoming partoft the countywide Library system. additional comments the discussion was closed. Announcements/Imformation  on, butt the city still needst tof finda al large amount ofr money tof fund these stormwater projects.  manufacturing training.  Wa Btey William P.I Elmore]r. Mayor  Attest:  Tammy Williams, CMC, NCCMC  City Clerk