505 Main Street PO Box 249 Pineville, NC 28134 704-889-2291 Pineville wxlomolpineyilemesow NORTH CAROLINA WORK SESSION MINUTES MONDAY, APRIL 28, 2025 @ 6:00 PM TOWN HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS The Town Council of the Town of Pineville, NC, met in a Work Session on Monday, April 28, 2025 @ 6:00 p.m. ATTENDANCE: Mayor: David Phillips Mayor Pro Tem: Ed Samaha Council Members: Chris McDonough, Danielle Moore Town Manager: Ryan Spitzer Town Clerk: Lisa Snyder Asst. Manager/Finance Director: Chris Tucker Planning Director: Travis Morgan Town Attorney: Janelle Lyons Absent: Amelia Stinson-Wesley CALL TO ORDER: Mayor David Phillips called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. DISCUSSION ITEMS: Parking at Highline (Mark Miller, Owner/Developer of Highline). Mr. Miller provided an update on the downtown parking for this development. He indicated that they are past halfway through the construction drawings and shared the updated site plan with Council. As it relates to parking, he wanted to be clear, the zoning documents mandate that Buildings 2 and 3, that are north of College, the developer noted an area that will be conveyed to Highline by the Town, and it is slightly less than what was originally anticipated. The zoning documents state that if the town is conveying less than what was conceptually agreed upon, this is what the developer must do. The goal is 2 parking spaces per unit. If we get less, the developer must provide as many spaces as possible but no less than 1.65 spaces per unit. They are at 1.65 spaces. per unit plus one. This does not include the 23 on-street spaces that are on the north side of College Street. There's an additional 3 spaces on the south side of College Street. It does not include the 10 spaces on the west side of Church Street that are adjacent to Building 1. This comes to 36 additional on-street spaces, in addition to the ratio he provided. It does include the 98 spaçes that they have to meet. Mr. Spitzer asked Council if they are ok with 1.6 spaces instead of the 2 parking spaces they asked for. Mr. Miller added that he understands that parking is a priority. Mr. Miller added that they have to sign a lease with Norfolk Southern for the parking by the right-of-way. This is not a problem, but he feels that since the right-of-way is on the property of the Town and he thinks it's best if the Town signs the lease with Norfolk Southern and Highline has agreed to pay any rents for the lease. There won't be any cost to the Town. All council members agreed on 1.5 plus one parking spaces. Text Amendment Request for indoor sports center (Travis Morgan). Mr. Morgan reviewed the continuation of a proposed text amendment to be added as a permitted use by right in the General Industrial area. He advised that ar new parking count has been added. He shared the proposed layout and added that he has not received any comments from the adjacent property owners. All council members were good with this update. Acceptance of Huntley Glen (Travis Morgan). Mr. Morgan advised that Council approval is needed to formally accept the planned public streets in Huntley Glen. Denise Nichols, on behalf of True Homes, requests the Town to accept the public roads as shown on the final plat maps. This acceptance would add 7 roads into the Town road network and would total 7,464 linear feet of roadway. The road guarantee bonds totaling $1,838,000 would also be released. There is currently a disagreement over the maintenance bond requirement and the County has placed this under legal review, particularly due to storm water management facilities. Mr. Morgan recommends completion of the landscape installation and resolution of the bond requirements and that bonds be released prior to scheduling a public hearing date. Council wants to wait to hear from the county. Solicitation presentation (Janelle Lyons). Attorney Lyons advised that she received a letter from Moxie Pest Control's attorneys challenging our solicitation ordinance. He is threatening that if council does not repeal the ordinance, or at least make changes that are more narrow, he will file a lawsuit for a court to determine constitutionality of our no solicitation ordinance. He feels we are making content-based decisions, meaning that we allow nonprofits to go door-to-door, but we don't allow commercial businesses. He feels this is keeping him from telling people about the services he provides. Attorney Lyons shared some options to consider to address this, including changing the hours of solicitation, creating a no-knock list, etc.) There was a general discussion and noted that most people do not want solicitation at their residences. Mr. Spitzer suggested banning all solicitations at this time. He also added that we can have a public hearing to receive comments and public input. Voluntary. Agricultural District (Ryan Spitzer). Mr. Spitzer said that the County approached the each of the towns and the city, wanting them to agree to a voluntary agricultural district. What this would do is give property owners that own over an acre and have a farming-related business, a tax break with the county taxes, for as long as they perform farm-related duties. The person would first have to apply to be eligible by the county. No revenue would be taken from the town. These do not have to be in an agricultural district. There will be a county board that will review these applications. Council will vote on the MOU at the next council meeting in May. Finance Report (Chris Tucker). Mr. Tucker shared the Third Quarter Finance Report and presented no concerns. This is informational only. He added that revenues are exceeding the expenditures. He does not have any concerns for the fourth quarter. Manager's Recommended Budget (Ryan Spitzer). Mr. Spitzer began the presentation by reviewing Council's priorities: support of downtown businesses, transit accessibility, work with State and Federal legislatures, College Street and Cone Mill developments, traffic, competitive salaries, Public Safety staffing, and Downtown investment. The manager's budgetary goals include: Advance Compensation Study done in FY25, Public Safety, follow the financial model, offer a high level of serviçe and amenities, and staffing. Mr. Spitzer outlines Pressures, which include: Fire Department debt, meals and sales tax will be flat (this is a big part of our revenue that we won't see growth in), competitive salaries in the market, health insurance (up 22% this year as we've seen more claims this year and the workforce is getting older), Expenditure mix, Electric fund, and the PCS fund. He continued reviewing the General Fund Overview. This year it's a $23,125,000 budget, which is a 14.6% increase from last year). Debt service has increased by 85% due to the purchase of the new Fire Department. This means that it's a $0.030 tax rate. This increase will go toward the Fire Department. Fees will remain the same. The Town will continue to pay for all trash service (this equals about $800,000). COLA will be 3.5% and merit will be an average of 2.5%. Public Safety will add a co-responder and the Fire Department will have added personnel. This year they will give our Communications Specialist $25,000 for marketing. Sponsorships should remain the same. General Fund Operations were reviewed and include PD staffing restructuring), the addition of a Co-Responder for the PD, Asset Forfeiture in the amount of $450,000, Fire Department staffing (2 positions will allow for 4 people on each apparatus), Salaries (COLA), Non-profit contributions will remain the same, and dedicated allotment to marketing and downtown. General Fund Capital was reviewed and includes the Fire Department building debt, an ADA playground, vehicles fori the Police Department and Public Works, paving on Cone, Eden, Marine, etc., paving lower lots at Lake Park, the concession stand roof, mobility (sidewalks), and a message board to be shared between the PD and Tourism and Culture). Other funds reviewed were the Electric Fund, Electric Fund Capital, and PCS. Mr. Spitzer provided a Recap and announced that there will be a $0.015 tax rate increase (30 cents). This increase will go toward the Fire Department debt payment, two Fire Department employees, Command structure, Co- Responder, and a restructuring of the PD staff from 46 to 41. There is $1.4 million in Capital. The salary study includes a 3% COLA and a 2.5% merit. An Electric rate increase will cover wholesale increases and approval for debt for the substation. There are no changes from FY25 for PCS. The next steps are to post the recommended budget for 10 days prior to the public hearing; schedule the public hearing in May with a final vote in June. Council Member Moore moved to adjourn the Work Session followed by a second made by Mayor Pro em Samaha. All ayes. The Mayor adjourned the meeting at 8:15 pm. David Phillips, Mayor ATTEST: SbOhhuyda Lisa Snyder, Town Clerk