2026-10-13 - Town Council Meeting

14:43uh challenging doing all these things

14:45right before the meeting.

14:46>> Yeah.

14:48>> Oh my god. Yes.

20:33All right, good evening. I would now

20:34call the meeting to order. Thank you to

20:36everyone who's here this evening. Thank

20:39you to those who joined us by live

20:41stream via YouTube. We'll start the

20:43meeting off tonight with a actually uh

20:47the pledge of allegiance. We have

20:49special guests in the house. We have

20:51Girl Scout Troop 1631.

20:54And I would like for you to come up and

20:57lead us in the pledge of allegiance.

21:00You would please stand.

21:11All

21:20right, y'all lead us all. You ready?

21:26>> I aliance to the flag of the United

21:30States of America and to the republic

21:34for it stands. One nation under God,

21:38indivisible, with liberty and justice

21:42for all.

21:42>> YEAH. [applause and cheering]

21:57All

22:01right, I want to read a diversity

22:03statement. The town of Apex values and

22:05celebrates diversity and inclusion. We

22:07see diversity as a strength that binds

22:09our community together, inviting members

22:11from different faith communities to

22:13deliver the invocation at the beginning

22:14of our council meetings supports this

22:16unity. Recognizing that not everyone

22:19practices the same traditions, we

22:21welcome you to have a private moment of

22:23silence during the invocation. I would

22:25like to call up Pastor Cara Matthews to

22:29deliver the invocation this evening.

22:32Thank you, pastor, for being here.

22:35[clears throat]

22:36>> Good evening.

22:38Um,

22:41I did want to start with um by saying

22:44thank you to Mayor Gilbert um for this

22:47honor and this opportunity um to give

22:50this invocation.

22:51Um, as an advocate, I also wanted to say

22:55thank you to the council for faithfully

22:57walking beside the marginalized.

23:00I know no one's perfect, and I know but

23:03I know that I can pick up the phone and

23:05count on you guys to do your best to

23:08create safe space for those whose voices

23:11have been absconded. And as an advocate

23:14of survivors of human trafficking and

23:16domestic violence, that makes a

23:18difference to me. So, thank you.

23:21Um, I had the opportunity to be with um,

23:26an amazing organization, Shining a Light

23:29in the Darkness, the other evening, and

23:31I had the opportunity to share this

23:34invocation with them, and Mayor Gilbert

23:36said it was okay to share the same

23:38invocation. So, let us pray.

23:41[clears throat]

23:43And this is in honor of domestic

23:45violence month.

23:47Oh gracious and merciful God, we come to

23:50you this evening and we give thanks to

23:53all who have come to gather and

23:55acknowledge domestic violence in a world

23:58where we are plagued with SNL skits that

24:01dignify misogyny. The Cornell 7 and

24:05women who are having to fight each and

24:07every day or a place where their voices

24:10are heard and believed. We come to you,

24:13oh God, as we know that you are the

24:15great equalizer when it comes to

24:17establishing

24:19establishing social justice. We pause

24:22and we recognize all of the Jane Does.

24:25And we collectively say we believe you.

24:29It never mattered what you wore, what

24:31you happened to drink, where you

24:33happened to be walking, or what you were

24:35simply that you were simply trying to be

24:38an individual. the perpetrator of

24:40violence was the rapist and you did

24:43nothing wrong.

24:45For the partners, the mothers, the

24:47fathers, for those who on this evening

24:50are praying that their breath will not

24:51be too loud, that the food will be

24:54prepared just right and that the

24:56children will not be too demanding.

24:59For all of those who are praying that

25:01time after time that on this night all

25:04will be well. Lord, we be please be

25:07present in those spaces.

25:09God, be with the little ones who hide

25:12under beds or in closets and pray not to

25:14be seen. Hold them close and remind them

25:17that they are not alone as they pray for

25:20the storms to pass.

25:22God be with the older ones who are

25:24praying for courage to step in and offer

25:26protection between the abusers and their

25:29parents or their younger siblings.

25:33We also lift up the ones whose abusers

25:35do not leave an external mark, yet the

25:37mental games and the tortures are vast

25:39and deep.

25:41Holy and gracious God, we know that you

25:44hear each and every prayer. Offer

25:47protection for the ones who are leading

25:49tonight and for the ones who are looking

25:52up into the night sky and saying,

25:54"Please give me strength for one more

25:56day."

25:58Be the bomb of Gilead on this night. May

26:01you show up like a cool drink of

26:03refreshing water that quenches a thirst

26:05on a hot summer day. Or the most

26:08embracing of hugs that says, "You are

26:10not alone."

26:12Holy God, show up in ways that provide

26:15kindness through strangers, resilience,

26:18and courage that they did not think they

26:21had, and sustaining love and protection.

26:25Above all, as some apply makeup to cover

26:28bruises, some draw in mental resilience

26:31for one more day to prot portray

26:34normaly. As they go out into the world

26:37tomorrow, as they look into the mirrors,

26:39remind them that they are your sons and

26:41daughters and they are made in your

26:43image. That makes them extraordinary in

26:47every single way. And this is not their

26:50fault. and they deserve to be treated

26:52with love, kindness, gentleness, for you

26:56do not call us into toxicity.

26:59Amen.

27:00>> Amen. Thank you so much, pastor.

27:06>> All right. I would also like to

27:07recognize officer Christensen Police

27:10Department for being here providing

27:11security tonight. Thank you for being

27:12here. All right, we move now to

27:14announcements and petitions about the

27:15governing body. We'll start with Mayor

27:17Pro. I have

27:19>> uh Thank you, mayor. A couple things I

27:20want to mention tonight. Um, we had our

27:22retreat last Thursday where we uh worked

27:24on refreshing game plan APEX which

27:26involves the councils and the town's

27:28mission statement and and that sort of

27:30stuff. So, um, you know, and updating

27:32our our strategic plan is be important

27:33going forward, which leads into our our

27:35budget priority survey, uh, which may be

27:37mentioned later. Uh, but we're kicking

27:39off the next budget season with a

27:41survey. Uh, that'll be, I believe, uh, I

27:43think it's open to December 1st. I I

27:45believe our first hearing on the budget,

27:46next year's budget, uh will be in

27:48January. Um

27:51oh, also uh the election for those of

27:54you who are uh you know going to be

27:55around downtown or rather uh the campus

27:58starting Thursday's early voting is

28:00going to run till the 31st. It may be a

28:02little busy down here. Uh but you're

28:03welcome down to to early vote. And uh

28:05finally, I wanted to mention we were all

28:07at Indigenous People's Day last night.

28:09It's a great time. We all danced.

28:11>> Yep.

28:11>> Pretty awesome. Uh, and I think it was

28:14the biggest was the sixth annual

28:16indigenous people's day and it was the

28:18the biggest one yet. Maybe pretty

28:19packed. So, uh, when you hear about that

28:21next year, come down and join us.

28:23Thanks, man.

28:24>> Thank you so much. All right, Council

28:25Member Gray.

28:27>> A few things I want to mention. Uh,

28:28first want to say thank you to uh, Post

28:31124 of Apex American Legion for the

28:34October Fest activities that took place

28:36this weekend. um always like to

28:38highlight the the Legion because they

28:39are an organization that is not only

28:42dedicated to serving veterans but an

28:44organization that is dedicated to

28:45serving uh the community. Um it's part

28:48of their charity uh community, state,

28:49and nation. So, uh thanks to all of

28:52those who assisted in making an event uh

28:55as safe but uh a fun event in spite of

28:58the rain. Um, with that, I'll turn uh to

29:01one other matter that I wanted to bring

29:03up, which is that um 251 years ago

29:07today, Congress created a petition for

29:10six frigots, creating our United States

29:12Navy. Um, meaning that the United States

29:16Navy today celebrates its 251st

29:18birthday, meaning it is one year older

29:20than the nation. But what is important

29:23to understand is that for 251 years,

29:26someone has stood the watch. Congress

29:29understood very early on that in order

29:31to maintain safety at home, you have to

29:33be able to provide that security abroad.

29:36And right now,

29:39whether it's in the Persian Gulf,

29:41whether it's in the Pacific Ocean,

29:43whether it's in the Atlantic Ocean, or

29:46whether it's just in our backyards,

29:49there are members of the United States

29:50Navy that are serving honorably and

29:53proudly in defense of this nation. and

29:55today is their birthday and it's

29:56appropriate that we remember that. The

29:59last thing I wanted to bring up is um as

30:02many of you know we had our public

30:03safety committee uh meeting uh week ago

30:06or a little bit more and I know the

30:08mayor is going to be making

30:09announcements as to that with regard to

30:11our committee reports but I will

30:12announce that uh just to remind we on

30:15October 22nd I'm going to have a town

30:16hall uh talking about uh ALPR block and

30:20other things like that. Um, it'll be at

30:225 o'clock. It'll be right upstairs in

30:24this building on the third floor. Um,

30:27it's got a start time much like uh,

30:29Black Baptist Church. There's no end

30:31time. We'll just finish when we get

30:32done. [laughter]

30:34Um, but I I do want to just bring about

30:37uh, bring to attention a couple of

30:38ground rules I'd like to make sure

30:40people are following, which is this is a

30:42dialogue. I'd like to get people to be

30:44able to talk um, share their ideas. uh

30:47you'll get a chance to hear a little bit

30:48about my thought process on this. You

30:51you know contrary to what you may have

30:53heard on the internet, I haven't made up

30:54my mind. Um which is important. Um but I

30:57also want to get more input and get a

30:59chance to have that conversation. So

31:00I'll ask that it be uh you know a polite

31:03conversation. Uh no need to belittle

31:05anybody, nobody to yell at anybody, but

31:07it's a good idea to get everybody an

31:08opportunity to share their thoughts and

31:11um hopefully you know we'll synthesize

31:12some ideas. Uh, so that'll be uh October

31:1522nd. That's next Thursday. Uh, 5:00 pm

31:18until y'all get tired of hearing from me

31:20or

31:23Yeah, I don't know. The lights get

31:24turned off, I guess.

31:26That's all I have, Mayor. Thank you.

31:28>> All right. Thank you so much for that.

31:30Council member Ziggger.

31:31>> Thank you, Mayor. A couple quick

31:33updates. Uh, this past weekend was a

31:36busy weekend. Starting with domestic

31:39violence awareness ceremony on Friday

31:41night. uh glad we're going to do a

31:43proclamation tonight for for that. Uh we

31:46had a number of cultural events on on

31:48Saturday, not only in Apex but but also

31:50in the immediate area. I had the

31:53opportunity to attend the Diwali

31:55celebration in Escobut. It's an annual

31:58celebration of the uh of the Diwali

32:01festival uh for our South Asian

32:03residents. Always good fun, lots of good

32:06food and good dancing and um you know,

32:08good to experience that culture. And

32:11then uh the same evening um was also the

32:14uh annual recurring Desane Cup which is

32:17an annual soccer tournament you know

32:19organized and played by a lot of our

32:22Nepalese residents and you know they've

32:25kindly invited us for the last couple

32:26years to help them with the awards reach

32:29out but you know celebrating that

32:31diversity that we have in in town uh

32:33which is what makes us unique. Um I do

32:37have two um petitions to make tonight as

32:40well. Um both I think are for the um

32:44responsible development committee. Um I

32:47would like for the uh development

32:49committee to pick up uh or review the

32:52the current facade grants that that we

32:54have in place. Last year we made some

32:56updates to that to that grant which I

32:58don't think have really reached their

33:00full potential or really were utilized

33:02in the way that we had anticipated. I

33:04would like to revise that policy and see

33:07if that's that tier three especially

33:09that we added is still something that we

33:11want to keep going forward also

33:12considering the uh the potential expense

33:15associated with with that that grant.

33:17And the second item I'd like the uh the

33:20committee to pick up is a review of the

33:22affordable housing incentive policy um

33:25where we set incentives for

33:28developers to provide affordable

33:30housing. Uh right now we set uh

33:32incentives based on the area median

33:35income. I think that the targets

33:38outlined in the policy are still too

33:40high and we're not really reaching our

33:41goal of really developing affordable

33:44housing and extracting some concessions

33:47from the developing community to help us

33:49get there. I still think that uh you

33:51know the way that those levels are set

33:53um it you know we're we're still above

33:55the you know what is achievable for most

33:58people in that uh in that category that

34:01that we're trying to target. So those

34:03two I'd like to for the committee to

34:05pick up and bring back you know some

34:07some recommendations to council further

34:09consideration.

34:13>> Good. All right. Thank you so much

34:14Council Ziggman. Council member Moo.

34:16What's on your mind? Um, good evening

34:19everyone. I have several important

34:23things

34:24to mention. uh 1st October 17th 2 pm. I

34:29know so many of you already saw you know

34:32uh from the social media Facebook and

34:34the town website that uh we have that

34:37peak resilience well-being task force

34:40workshop called a convers uh a

34:43conversation

34:45um for regarding uh suicide prevention

34:48in the community. Uh I talked to our uh

34:52chief Johansson uh and learned our the

34:56suicide rate in impacts actually is

34:58increasing. I also learned about that um

35:02that we lost four lives uh from you know

35:05in the WCPSS

35:09this school year and this school year

35:11only started at end of the August not

35:15long ago. It's alarming. So I encourage

35:20everyone if you have time, if you need

35:23help, we have providers on site. You can

35:26go there to find resources you need or

35:29if you want to learn about the knowledge

35:32and become the ambassador.

35:35So you can go into the community to to

35:38bring awareness and reduce stigma. And

35:42you never know when you can uh help

35:45someone with the knowledge you've gained

35:47at our workshop. So everyone is welcome.

35:51Uh another thing is um like councilman

35:55uh Zagman said a busy weekend lots of

35:59you know uh events cultural activities.

36:02I uh actually I went to

36:06we all went to that um Diwali you know

36:09celebration and I actually danced on the

36:13stage with our with our you know team

36:17Apex our employees on behalf of the

36:20council because these guys wouldn't do

36:23it. Okay.

36:24>> Thank you. Thank you for your service.

36:26>> I was busy. [laughter]

36:28>> I had to Okay. Someone had to do it.

36:31That's me. Okay. [laughter]

36:33>> Okay. Yes. It's a you know it's such a

36:37pleasant event and a great day

36:40>> if sorry I'm just kidding. [laughter]

36:43I'm kidding.

36:44>> Yes.

36:45But I want to mention something

36:48unpleasant

36:50you know because I was so happy and I

36:54posted on social media about you know

36:56made a social media post said happy

36:59Diwali and it's such an amazing event

37:05and somebody

37:08was hiding behind a fake ID made a

37:13comment. Forgive

37:16my language. I'm just uh going to quote

37:18the original wording. The comment said,

37:22"Go back to your shito country."

37:27That was the moment I was shocked and

37:30the foodie happiness suddenly gone.

37:34I called, you know, uh our town manager

37:36talked about this. Um, you know, as a

37:39council member and a resident, it's my

37:43duty and responsibility

37:45to fight against any kind of

37:48discrimination.

37:50No matter this person is uh meant for

37:54the Indian community or me, it doesn't

37:57matter. Any dis any discrimination is

38:00unacceptable.

38:02It's shameful.

38:04That's why I urge each one of us, we all

38:09put love over hate, put equality over

38:13discrimination

38:14and work together to make Apex a much

38:17better, you know, uh, place for

38:21everyone, a welcoming and lovely,

38:25friendly place. Um,

38:28in terms of this, our APD just posted,

38:32you know, I just received the email

38:33today. APD is doing some event at Apex

38:37Nature Park on October 21st, Wednesday.

38:41That's next week from a from 5 to 8:00

38:45PM. It's called It's called Apex Stand

38:50United Against

38:53Hate. Apex stands united against hate.

38:56So everyone, if you have time, please

38:59go. Let's all work together to make Apex

39:02a more friendly and welcoming place.

39:05Thank you all.

39:07>> Thank you so much. Thank you.

39:13>> Ree,

39:15>> thank you, Mayor. Uh, I just first want

39:17to say that um,

39:22thank you for your words, Council Member

39:24Moo. That is absolutely unacceptable and

39:27um, puts a slight damper on what

39:29otherwise was an incredible performance.

39:31I want you to know that uh your uh

39:35council member Moo was um incredible on

39:38the stage and we also had other um I

39:40believe planning uh uh staff who took

39:42their own lunch to go and train um for

39:45this event and uh what a great event and

39:49um so proud that we have so many

39:51welcoming inclusive uh uh events

39:55especially this past weekend but

39:56throughout the rest of this fall. I'll

39:58be brief with the rest of my update. I

40:00just wanted to first um uh uh

40:03acknowledge Council Member Moose's

40:05comment um and in support. I also want

40:08to say that I'm submitting uh a petition

40:11to the Environmental Leadership

40:13Committee um to explore plug-in solar,

40:18otherwise known as balcony solar, and

40:20what regulations we might be able to uh

40:23implement here in Apex. um that is

40:26unregulated here um in North Carolina,

40:29which means you may have it or you may

40:31not have it. And either way, um it I

40:34would think that not only would we need

40:36some rules around it, but um this is a

40:38great opportunity um to empower people.

40:41That's a pun, sorry. um uh when it comes

40:45to reducing your utility bills um even

40:49if it's um a slight bit uh and I just

40:52want to give a quick explanation the

40:54difference between the soul rooftop

40:56solar that you regularly see um driving

40:59around Apex um versus uh balcony or

41:02otherwise known as plug-in solar. Uh

41:04what makes it different is uh how the

41:07electricity gets into your home. Instead

41:08of wiring into your breaker panel, a

41:10plug-in system back feeds through a

41:12regular outlet. Electricity it generates

41:14is consumed immediately by whatever is

41:16running in your home, reducing how much

41:18utility has to supply and lowering your

41:21bill in real time. And I submit it to

41:23that committee without objection.

41:26>> I said environmental leadership early.

41:29>> Yep. Thank you. Uh that completes my

41:31update.

41:31>> Thank you, Councilman.

41:33>> All right. On to me. So, one thing I

41:35want to say is I promise our Apex

41:38Friendship High School soccer team that

41:39I will continue to shout them out

41:41because they're doing an amazing job.

41:42They're still number one in the nation.

41:44They're just crushing every other high

41:46school. So, you guys, I did it. Okay.

41:50[applause]

41:54I also It's like the night of petitions.

41:56I'm sorry, Mr. Manager, but I have one

41:57as well. So, um I would like to explore.

42:01It doesn't mean we have to do it because

42:03I know there's some staff time and maybe

42:05some logistics that might not provide us

42:07the opportunity. But with regard to any

42:09council committee meetings, can we

42:11explore any type of um broadcast live

42:15stream or maybe recording of those

42:17meetings to assist us with the

42:19transparency

42:21that we

42:23are such important to us. I know

42:26community members have expressed

42:28interest in that as well and I just want

42:29to make sure we're getting all the

42:30information out to the community

42:31members.

42:33Again, just explore and like to see how

42:36that turns out.

42:38>> Council member Mood, thank you for your

42:40words as well.

42:41>> Thank you.

42:41>> Very much needed. Thank you for sharing

42:43that. Those are all of my petitions. I

42:47want to move on now to

42:51my next item. um resident advisory board

42:54appointment clarification. Reason I put

42:56this on the agenda.

42:59I um I just wanted to basically say

43:02we've been going through this process

43:04now for many months and we all have a

43:07stake in this as far as delaying and um

43:10I just want to say at this point in the

43:12meeting, I know we moved the business

43:13from the town clerk's report to the end

43:17of the meeting. What I want to say is

43:20mayor, we have to work together. Um, we

43:22may have different opinions. We may not

43:24agree on the names tonight, but my

43:26intent as mayor is to have every single

43:29resident advisory board position filled

43:30tonight, no matter what that looks like.

43:33So, we're going to get it done together.

43:35Um, I expressed that the planning board

43:36meeting last night. I do want to

43:38apologize to staff for being in the

43:41middle of this. Um, it's up to us as

43:43leaders to figure this out and we will.

43:45And so, if you're a resident advisory

43:47board member, thank you for your

43:48service. Um, you do this on your own

43:50time and as council member Moo said, we

43:53have to work together. We will. So

43:55that's it. Moving on. Adoption of the

43:58meeting agenda.

44:01Town clerk Alan Coleman, if you would

44:03share the information.

44:04>> Okay. Uh, yes. I've received the

44:07following changes. Consent six,

44:09construction contract award to J.

44:11Cummley construction big branch 2 pump

44:14station. recommended removing from the

44:17consent agenda and adding under the town

44:19manager report TM1. Public hearing item

44:22number one, annexation number 797, Apex

44:26Medical Center on Zeno Road is being

44:29withdrawn due to property ownership

44:31discrepancy.

44:32Public hearing number three, economic

44:34development incentive is requested to be

44:36continued until December 17th.

44:50So December 17th, 2026, public hearing

44:53number five, reszoning case number 25

44:56CZ24 North Salem Street mixeduse PUD

44:59continuing until November 10th and then

45:02the addition of a close session pursuant

45:04to North Carolina General Statutes 143

45:06318 11 A6 to consider a personnel

45:10matter.

45:12Okay.

45:13Thank you for that. Any other additions

45:16or changes?

45:18>> Motion to approve with the adopted

45:20changes.

45:20>> Motion gray.

45:21>> Second.

45:21>> Second. Zment. All in favor say I.

45:23Oppos. Motion carries. Move on. Now

45:26consent agenda. Mr.

45:27>> Coleman.

45:28>> As a reminder, consent six construction

45:30contract award related to the big branch

45:332 pump station recommending removing

45:35from consent and adding under the town

45:36manager report. No other changes have

45:39been submitted for the consent agenda.

45:40Motion to approve it as chang.

45:46Yeah. All in favor say I.

45:48>> I.

45:48>> Oppos. Motion carries.

45:51>> All right. Moving on to town council

45:52committee reports. I have one report

45:54tonight. Public safety council

45:55committee. First of all, I just want to

45:57say this is our first meeting as a

46:00committee with Councilman Gray. It's

46:02productive meeting. We had several

46:04important topics related to public

46:06safety and I appreciate the

46:07participation of our town staff and

46:09community members who were present. It

46:11was a large turnout. So I just want to

46:14thank everybody for coming out. I have

46:16several items to briefly highlight.

46:18We'll start with emergency management.

46:20Received an update on the town's

46:21emergency management program including

46:23ongoing efforts to strengthen emergency

46:25preparedness response capabilities and

46:27interdep departmental coordination and

46:29community communications. So Taylor

46:31Sanchez, our emergency management

46:33coordinator provided that report and

46:36update. So, we look more um

46:38opportunities to hear from him in the

46:40future. I also asked a question about

46:43emergency preparedness with regard to

46:45elected officials. I want to make sure

46:47that in the event of an emergency, we

46:49look at tabletop exercises

46:52um and not waiting for the emergency to

46:54tie us in because we may have to make

46:56decisions. So, I was happy to hear from

46:58Mr. Sanchez, there could be some

47:00additional training um in that regard.

47:03So, thank you for that. Let's talk about

47:05ebikes. Um we all have been talking

47:08about ebikes and we've discussed the

47:10community concerns surrounding ebike

47:11safety, particularly the new regulations

47:14that take effect December 1st. Uh we

47:17asked staff to further evaluate

47:18potential ordinance amendments,

47:19enforcement considerations, and then

47:22educational opportunities. I've been

47:24doing a lot of that education awareness

47:26in the community. I think it's

47:27important, but now we have to look at

47:28the enforcement piece for sure. Um

47:31there's a lot of community members

47:34presenting those concerns. So we will

47:36continue to work toward the safety um in

47:39that regard. So we anticipate revisiting

47:41this topic in our November committee

47:43meeting.

47:45Automated license plate readers AOPR

47:47program. We had an extensive discussion

47:49regarding the town's ALPR program,

47:52particularly the importance of balancing

47:53public safety with individual privacy,

47:56transparency, and public trust. This is

47:59an ongoing conversation that Councilman

48:01Gray's point. I appreciate you holding

48:04the forum and allowing community members

48:05to continue to present their concerns.

48:08Uh we asked staff to provide additional

48:10information regarding the program's

48:12effectiveness, data access, retention,

48:15internal safeguards, and potential

48:17policy considerations.

48:19But that was not the end. No

48:22recommendation was made regarding the

48:24continuation or discontinuation of the

48:26program. So there's still more work

48:28ahead and we anticipate continuing that

48:31discussion in December ahead of the

48:33current contract expiration in January

48:352027.

48:38Axon agreement. We the committee

48:41reviewed the proposed Axon agreement

48:43involving drone flight management

48:44software and interview room recording

48:47technology. We made the decision that

48:49this had no relationship with the AOPr

48:52discussion. Um although there were

48:54concerns expressed by the community.

48:57I agree with Councilman Gray to

48:59recommend approval of this agreement

49:01which will be before for council for

49:03consideration this evening. Um you'll

49:05see that item listed on the agenda next.

49:09And then finally, legislative updates.

49:11We heard from our amazing town clerk on

49:13recent state legislative changes

49:15affecting public safety operations,

49:17including law enforcement, ebike

49:19regulations, and other matters with

49:20potential operational or financial

49:23implications for the town. So, Mr.

49:27Clerk, we look more forward to more

49:29information with that as well. So,

49:30moving forward, the committee plans to

49:32meet on the first Thursday of each month

49:34at 3 pm um at least while we work

49:37through several of these time-sensitive

49:39matters. So, Council Gray, I appreciate

49:42your support and partnership um in the

49:44committee and our goal is to take a

49:46thoughtful approach to these

49:47discussions, thoroughly evaluate the

49:49information and perspectives presented,

49:51and bring well-informed recommendations

49:53back to the four council for

49:55consideration. So, if any members of the

49:57town council have any items they would

49:59like to see the committee review, please

50:01pass that on accord.

50:04Any questions?

50:05>> Yeah, may I have a question?

50:07>> Uh, regarding ebikes, was there any

50:10discussion in the committee about

50:11potential regulations that Apex may or

50:14may not want to explore? I know I've

50:15heard a lot from the community about

50:18Holly Springs recently adopted an

50:19ordinance and uh my understanding of the

50:22December changes so that it it adds some

50:25definitions and gives town some more

50:27tools to potentially regulate the

50:29different classes of ebikes. So is there

50:30any any consideration is that

50:32discussion?

50:33>> Yeah, absolutely. We heard from Chief

50:34Johansson on that there there several

50:37things that we can consider. I think

50:39part of that discussion was looking at

50:40other models from other towns and cities

50:42to uh to explore what's best for Apex,

50:45but it is an ongoing conversation. I

50:47like the mix of education awareness and

50:49then we have to move to enforcement if

50:51we have to. So, Councilman Gray, did

50:53that sum it up? Yeah, I mean we we it

50:56was a pretty good discussion on the idea

50:58of what we want to do is because of the

51:00because of the regulation change in

51:03December.

51:04We had a discussion about what should be

51:08some of these changes, what should be

51:10some of the things we need to

51:11essentially address. But we began with

51:15this analysis by saying, let's take a

51:17look at our local municipalities, see

51:20what they have on place, and then take a

51:22look and see what is nationwide as the

51:24model as well. That way, we can make

51:27sure that we're addressing that safety

51:29aspect. Um, you know, knowing that we've

51:31got three different classes of of of

51:34ebike that are coming up. um the

51:36operation by age, the operation in terms

51:39of road surface, whether it's, you know,

51:42the road itself or side paths or

51:45sidewalks.

51:47Those are all the things that we said we

51:49need to kind of get a handle on. But the

51:51best way of doing it and the way that we

51:53uh asked the staff to start this

51:54analysis is give us a a listing of what

51:58we can see with our local

51:59municipalities, those within other parts

52:01of the state, and then taking a look

52:03nationwide and seeing what the best

52:04models are going to be.

52:06>> I think it's um thank you for that. I

52:09think it's an interesting question

52:10because when I when I hear feedback from

52:12the community that there's there's two

52:14separate uh conflicting buckets. There's

52:17people who are extremely concerned about

52:19uh pedestrian ebike interactions. You

52:22know, I walk on the greenway and they're

52:24zooming by me. I walk on the side path,

52:25they're zooming by me. Get them off the

52:27side path and greenways and there's

52:29another set of people who are concerned

52:30about ebike car interactions, which is

52:33where, you know, tragedies occur. And

52:35it's like, you know, they they shouldn't

52:36be on the streets. They should be be off

52:39there. And obviously, it can't be both

52:40or we don't have ebikes at all. So, it's

52:42it's a it's a tough problem. And the

52:44growing popularity of these devices

52:46it seems like it's just exploded in the

52:48past couple years. It's something we're

52:49going to have to deal with one way or

52:50another. So, thank you for your work and

52:52I I look forward to hearing more from

52:54you.

52:54>> Yeah. Just one one addition to that on

52:56the enforcement piece. I think we also

52:58and I communicate this at the meeting

53:01when you look at those interactions is

53:03there are youth involved and so they're

53:05under the age of 16 and and how do we

53:08carry that out with you know I don't

53:10even want to use the word but

53:11prosecution with the DA's office and

53:13then juvenile petitions all that. We

53:16have all that information. That's good

53:18points you make. Thank you for your

53:19question. Any other questions?

53:23All right. Hearing none. All right.

53:24Let's move to TR2 public safety

53:27committee recommendation which I just

53:29presented approval of agreement

53:31multi-year Axon incorporated for air

53:33drone sense program and interview room

53:36camera system through June 30th, 2030.

53:39This item was deferred on August 11,

53:412026. And just for sake of clarity for

53:44those who may not watch the meeting or

53:46may not be as um kind of tuned in on

53:50this issue, essentially two different

53:53aspects of the contract. Um, the drone

53:55aspect of the contract is a way that

53:58gives us the ability to essentially if

54:00someone is saying, I'm just going to use

54:02this hypothetical, somebody's on their

54:04back porch and they look out and they

54:05see a drone flying and they want to ask,

54:08hey, is that an APD drone or is that

54:10just some random person who's flying a

54:12drone, they'll be able to look at a at a

54:14database to be able to figure out

54:16whether or not that's an APD drone. This

54:18gives a a lot more transparency as to

54:20how we're operating it, who can get

54:22access to it, and how quickly we can get

54:24it. So, that was behind our our thought

54:27process on making the recommendation for

54:29that. The other contract, which is for

54:32uh Axom and its uh interview room

54:35recording, just to understand this,

54:37North Carolina requires that if you've

54:39ga if you're going to have an interview

54:40room, that interview needs to be

54:43recorded. as a as a criminal defense

54:45attorney, I will tell you I want that

54:47recording. Um, it's a safety matter for

54:50everybody in there, for the officers and

54:52for those who are being interrogated or

54:54even being just held there temporarily.

54:56Um, these are critical items that I know

54:58that we've got to get through because

55:00these are contracts that are expiring

55:02soon. Um, so hence why a little bit of

55:04the urgency behind why we brought this

55:06so quickly afterwards. This is not about

55:09an ALPR. It's not about that sort of

55:12stuff. It's literally can someone who

55:15wants to know about whether or not our

55:18our drones are being flown over their

55:20house or where those drones are being

55:21flown, can they get access to it? And if

55:24somebody's being interrogated in one of

55:25our rooms or held in one of our rooms,

55:27is that going to be recorded? Right now,

55:29we're about to encounter a critical gap,

55:31which is why we really need to make sure

55:33we get this passed today.

55:36>> Thanks, Councilman.

55:39I think it's also worth calling out that

55:42this is not introducing a drone program

55:45to the town of Apex. You know, the our

55:47law enforcement has been using drones

55:49for uh for various reasons for a number

55:52of years. This is really just helping us

55:54to automate what is currently done

55:56manually like reporting these flight

55:58paths and things like that. Right. So,

56:00it's it's an efficiency tool uh not a

56:04new drone or surveillance program.

56:07When is the contract expired?

56:13>> It's a five-year contract. Uh they

56:15actually submitted a new quote today to

56:17start November 1st instead of originally

56:19is June, but if that's already dates

56:20already passed, so they submitted a new

56:22quote, it'll be for five years beginning

56:24November 1st.

56:24>> November 1st.

56:26>> Okay. So, um I know uh some residents

56:31they are, you know, they have concerns

56:34that the drones

56:37may be used for surveillance. So I mean

56:42um can we make sure I mean uh for from

56:45your you know the public safety

56:48committee are you fully aware that this

56:51drones are not used for surveillance at

56:55all?

56:57>> I think the question is what do you mean

56:59by surveillance? So like during

57:02>> living privacy,

57:03>> right? Right. Because the the the thing

57:05to understand is like what are they

57:06using these things for and this is not

57:09what's actually in this contract because

57:11this is a program that we've already had

57:12up and running isn't being terminated at

57:15this point in time. Best way of thinking

57:17of how we utilize our drone program is

57:19to think of it in this way. We can't

57:21afford a helicopter.

57:24We can't afford a helicopter. Um, so

57:26what we're doing is when there's a need

57:28to provide for safety of the community

57:32during Fourth of July, we have a drone

57:34flying overhead to make sure that, you

57:37know, if there's trouble, our officers

57:39know how to get to it and how to get to

57:40it quickly. Um, when there is a uh an

57:45event such as, you know, when there's an

57:48an event uh such as when we had at Apex

57:50Friendship, there was a response by

57:52fire. uh that drone can be utilized in

57:54order to make sure and identify safety,

57:57you know, safety egress, ingress points

57:59and other things for those officers and

58:02fireh fire personnel that are going into

58:04that area. The purposes of these drones

58:07is not to fly into your window and stare

58:10into your window, but this contract

58:13actually will let you know if somebody

58:15did.

58:17>> And that's where this transparency

58:18aspect is so important.

58:21to ask you a question.

58:23>> Um, yes. Thank you.

58:26>> Any other concerns?

58:27>> Yeah, I mean, um, so you're looking for

58:30a motion at some point.

58:32>> So, we're having discussion at this

58:34juncture. Um, like to ask, um, our town

58:37attorney, thanks for being here. Um,

58:40question about that five-year contract.

58:42When is that end date? Uh,

58:44>> so we'll begin November 1st, so it would

58:46be 2030. November 2031.

58:57Thank you.

59:00>> Any other questions?

59:01>> Yeah. Uh when I look at this contract

59:04and look at what happened here, I think

59:07I mean on the merits of it, um what we

59:11have here is drone software which tracks

59:13existing drones, provides an audit log,

59:17shows who and when. And that all was

59:19great. I think what I realized is uh

59:22really the concerns out here wasn't

59:24really about the contract. I think it

59:25was a proxy for the larger issues um

59:29privacy issues that might be raised with

59:31the drone. So, I guess my my first

59:33question is um I'm just curious like do

59:36we have a policy at APD around when

59:39these drones can be flown or where or um

59:44that might provide the outline of of

59:47when they're allowed? that could be

59:49checked against the log that the

59:50software would provide.

59:54>> So I I don't have anyone here from APD,

59:57but I know that we've had this

59:59discussion. I don't want to get the

1:00:00wrong terminology whether it's policy,

1:00:02procedure, general orders. There are

1:00:04governing documents that speak to when

1:00:06drones are deployed and utilized. But

1:00:10not giving you the exact wording, but

1:00:11there are policies in place or

1:00:12procedures or general orders.

1:00:16>> Are those public? Yeah, that's that'd be

1:00:20good to know.

1:00:22>> Uh, some of them could be. It have to go

1:00:24back and look. Some are public, some are

1:00:26not, of the general orders in the

1:00:27policies, but yeah, we'd have to look

1:00:29through to see what are public.

1:00:32>> When is the current contract? I'm sorry,

1:00:34uh, Mayor BM, go ahead.

1:00:37>> Uh, I was I was going to the final point

1:00:39is, uh, again, I think these questions

1:00:41aren't really about this contract. We

1:00:43have a drone program. This allows, my

1:00:45understanding is software that would

1:00:46track the drones and and more

1:00:48transparency is good. Um, and it just

1:00:51opens the can of worms for what

1:00:53happened. And, uh, to the policy

1:00:57question, I I bring that up because I

1:00:58think that may address what the real

1:01:00concerns are, what the most important

1:01:02concerns are is what how are they being

1:01:04used? You know, without being able to

1:01:06read that policy, I think, you know,

1:01:09imaginations run wild that people think

1:01:10they're flying the windows. Obviously,

1:01:12I'm sure whatever the policy says would

1:01:14prohibit flying in someone's window, but

1:01:16you know, without the document, it's

1:01:18>> and I think those are really valid

1:01:20concerns. I I worry about the conflation

1:01:24of the two issues. Why we keep talking

1:01:26about in this way, talking about the

1:01:28left hand and the right hand at the same

1:01:30time when we're really just talking

1:01:30about a left-hand issue. If this is and

1:01:33I I think these are valid concerns with

1:01:35regard to you know what's the policy and

1:01:36things of that nature. You know we have

1:01:39a meeting every month and the first

1:01:41Thursday of the month with public safety

1:01:43maybe referring that down so that we can

1:01:45ask our uh our uh town staff to you know

1:01:48basically present that issue at the

1:01:51public safety and then we can come back

1:01:52and report that to you guys. Would that

1:01:54be an amendable? Because my concern is

1:01:56that as we

1:01:58the issue is the contract. We're talking

1:02:00about another separate issue and I

1:02:03really worry that we're conflating the

1:02:05two.

1:02:05>> I agree.

1:02:06>> Um

1:02:09I I actually agree with you on that. Uh

1:02:12Councilman, my my concern that I share

1:02:15with Mayor Cotm Mafy is the optics

1:02:20perception and perception is reality.

1:02:23And so when the people right now are

1:02:25concerned about trust,

1:02:28I think the um to whom much is given,

1:02:32much is required and we must have an

1:02:35airtight

1:02:37um uh case here and I've already we have

1:02:42threads that are with unknowns um and

1:02:45yet we're expected to vote on this this

1:02:48evening. My question um to our town

1:02:51attorney was what when does our current

1:02:53contract end? Because go ahead and

1:02:56actually finish that. Thank you.

1:02:58>> Yeah. So so this this includes because

1:03:00this is for new software. You already

1:03:01have

1:03:01>> whatever whatever would receive a motion

1:03:04this evening.

1:03:05>> This would contracts

1:03:07>> when do they conclude the ones we've

1:03:09already signed?

1:03:11>> Yeah, I'll try and look that up real

1:03:12quick. But this would extend that as

1:03:13well. So that's what part of what this

1:03:15is doing is adding the software and

1:03:17extending it. So it would be extending

1:03:18the existing contract as well.

1:03:19>> Yes sir. What I want to emphasize is I

1:03:23would at no juncture want our law

1:03:25enforcement, fire, public safety in any

1:03:28capacity to be compromised in some sort

1:03:31of gap. That is not my goal. However,

1:03:33there seems to be an urgency. Quite a

1:03:37few of these things are landing in front

1:03:39of us all quickly and they're to sign

1:03:41multi-year contracts. Um and so I think

1:03:44the urgency should be matched with

1:03:46comprehensive reporting.

1:03:49>> But this is my concern.

1:03:51We are conflating these two issues that

1:03:53are very different and distinct.

1:03:55>> Yeah.

1:03:55>> And not to say that there isn't a

1:03:57genuine concern about what these drones

1:04:00are doing and what they're doing and how

1:04:01they're doing it.

1:04:03But I think it's very important that we

1:04:05address the issue before us on the

1:04:06table, which is the issue with regard to

1:04:11how do we deal with a software that

1:04:13shows somebody where it's been used and

1:04:17where we can record and maintain the

1:04:20relevant documents for interviews.

1:04:24How as we start to and this is my real

1:04:27concern and understand I'm not saying

1:04:29anyone's concern about this is not

1:04:31valid. Do not mistake my concern about

1:04:33that. But I am trying to make sure that

1:04:35we stay singularly focused on the real

1:04:37issue in front of us. Because the reason

1:04:39why, as my colleague said, we have

1:04:41threads is because we're looking at a

1:04:43blanket instead of actually looking at

1:04:45the actual sheet. And that's the

1:04:47problem. We've got the sheet in front of

1:04:49us. Deal with the sheet. If we want to

1:04:51deal with the rest of the blanket, we

1:04:53want to deal with the blanket. Let's

1:04:55present that on a different course. I

1:04:57don't see these as being intertwined. I

1:04:59don't see them as being related. What I

1:05:02do see them as is two issues that if you

1:05:04talk about them at the same time, we

1:05:06create confusion and that confusion

1:05:08creates panic, paranoia, and unnecessary

1:05:12uh unnecessary stress. So that my

1:05:14concern is that we are losing our eye on

1:05:17the ball on this one

1:05:21and we're doing it because we're chasing

1:05:23our tails about something that isn't

1:05:24before us right now.

1:05:28We are being asked to confirm a

1:05:31multi-year contract which is standard

1:05:33routine practice for this board. Right?

1:05:35And the reason that it comes in front of

1:05:37us at all is because it is multi-year.

1:05:40It's past multiple fiscal years. We are

1:05:43not here tonight to debate the use of

1:05:46the drone program and how it's being

1:05:48used and so forth. Right? So I agree we

1:05:51need to keep those two issues separated.

1:05:53Uh I also agree with the recommendation

1:05:55that if there are concerns that we want

1:05:58to bring forward about the use with

1:06:00drone program whether our policies are

1:06:02strong enough or not that is a separate

1:06:04conversation that can be had through the

1:06:06means of the public safety committee and

1:06:09subsequent reviews and meetings but that

1:06:12is not what is in front of us here

1:06:14tonight. So that say that I'll make a

1:06:17motion to approve the contract.

1:06:20>> Motion Ziggger

1:06:22Just for the record, we're going to

1:06:25amend the motion that's in the agenda to

1:06:27a motion to approve the contract and

1:06:29authorize the town manager to sign an

1:06:31updated quote with the new start date,

1:06:33which the attorney mentioned, and allow

1:06:34the manager to make minor modifications

1:06:36that do not impact the cost.

1:06:42>> That's that's fine.

1:06:43>> Repeat that again. And as a minor

1:06:45modification minor modification if it is

1:06:47at all possible uh if it's not already

1:06:49in there maybe a termination for

1:06:51convenience if we do decide for whatever

1:06:53reason to permit the drone program that

1:06:54we're not beholden to a 5-year contract.

1:06:57I'm not sure if it's already in the

1:06:58paperwork or not but I would like to see

1:07:01something to that effect if that can be

1:07:04woven but

1:07:06um I will make the motion as suggested.

1:07:09>> So is this I just want to be clear. So,

1:07:11we have the drone sense program and

1:07:13interview room camera system. So, we're

1:07:16tying these two together for the motion.

1:07:19Same contract.

1:07:20>> Contract.

1:07:21>> Okay.

1:07:21>> All right. Just want to make sure

1:07:22everybody's clear.

1:07:23>> The main concern is what's on the public

1:07:25agenda packet is being updated to

1:07:27reflect the new date.

1:07:28>> Sure.

1:07:29>> All right. So, motion

1:07:32council second council. Any further

1:07:34discussion?

1:07:35>> Yes. Thank you, mayor. Uh just wanted to

1:07:37say that um this should be quick

1:07:41uh clear and especially when we're

1:07:44dealing with issues of complexity

1:07:48when we're dealing with this particular

1:07:51vendor that we already have questions. I

1:07:54understand they're well integrated. They

1:07:55are they have woven their tentacles

1:07:58throughout uh our telecommunications and

1:08:01other uh uh apparatus. But when we're

1:08:05dealing with what might um seem like

1:08:09conflation, but that should be airtight

1:08:11when it comes to communicating to the

1:08:14public and that is what I seek before I

1:08:16vote to approve anything. Thank you,

1:08:17mayor.

1:08:18>> Any other discussion? Thank you.

1:08:21>> All right. All in favor say I.

1:08:23>> I.

1:08:23>> Oppos?

1:08:24>> No.

1:08:24>> Motion passes 4 to one.

1:08:27>> All right. Moving on to

1:08:30town manager report.

1:08:33Mr. Boss Bird.

1:08:35>> Thank you, mayor. Good evening. Would

1:08:37like to start with the item that we

1:08:39pulled from consent to the town

1:08:41manager's report. So, I'm going to ask

1:08:43our water resources director, Jonathan

1:08:45Jacobs, to come up. Uh, nothing. We

1:08:48didn't anticipate any problems with this

1:08:49item. We just wanted to give it a little

1:08:51more visibility and pull it to a brief

1:08:54presentation. I think four slides or

1:08:56less. Jonathan, is that right?

1:08:58>> We'll round down.

1:08:59>> Okay. All right. Just given the

1:09:01magnitude of the project, we wanted to

1:09:03put this before you and not on consent.

1:09:06>> All right. Good evening, Mayor, town

1:09:07council. As uh Mayor Bossberg said, my

1:09:10name is Jonathan Jacobs. I'm the water

1:09:11resources director.

1:09:12>> Bossberg.

1:09:13>> Mayor, what happened here?

1:09:14>> Town manager. I'm sorry. [laughter]

1:09:16>> Only only one mayor allowed.

1:09:21>> Somebody's looking for a raise in the

1:09:22budget.

1:09:23>> I'm serious. I did wait I did wait till

1:09:25today when he was out.

1:09:26>> You got everybody's attention, man. Keep

1:09:27going.

1:09:28>> All right. So, just a brief background.

1:09:30Um most of you are very full fully aware

1:09:32of this information, but back in 2021,

1:09:34uh water resources started a a sewer

1:09:37regional study to study the 37 um 100

1:09:41plus acre big branch basin um which is

1:09:44currently served by uh four pump

1:09:46stations uh to look at a regional sewer

1:09:49solution and add additional capacity to

1:09:51the basin. Um that study focused on

1:09:53providing uh the most cost-effective

1:09:55solution, but the the number one key

1:09:57part of that was the 2015 Kerry Apex

1:10:00interbasin transfer IBT certificate. Um

1:10:03that requires us to return a certain

1:10:05amount of water back to the Cape Pier

1:10:08River Basin. And the Big Branch uh

1:10:10regional solution will allow us to do

1:10:11that. And so that study uh concluded and

1:10:14it recommended two regional pump

1:10:16stations. um the big branch one pump

1:10:18station which is currently under

1:10:19construction by the developer of Vidia

1:10:23and the big branch two pump station

1:10:24which is proposed to be a 1.44 million

1:10:27gallon per day average daily flow uh

1:10:29pump station uh that is before you

1:10:32tonight. Um and that uh would allow the

1:10:34town to immediately abandon three of the

1:10:36four pump stations

1:10:39um that are in that basin um that is

1:10:42with additional infrastructure that's

1:10:44currently uh under pl under plan review

1:10:47or under construction today.

1:10:50Um and then here's an overall map. Um

1:10:52this is a modified version of the map

1:10:54that's on our website. This is on the

1:10:55project page for the website, but I

1:10:57circled the score pump stations that um

1:10:59can be decommissioned. Uh and three of

1:11:02the four are prepared to be

1:11:03decommissioned um pretty pretty soon

1:11:05after that pump station's brought

1:11:07online. Um so the anticipated contract

1:11:10and construction timeline uh if council

1:11:12moves forward with the motion tonight to

1:11:13award the contract uh it would take some

1:11:16time to execute the contract with the

1:11:17contractor uh which we anticipate would

1:11:19be in November of this year. Uh we would

1:11:21issue a notice to proceed which would

1:11:23allow the contractor to begin work uh in

1:11:25December. December is not an ideal time

1:11:27to start construction. So, we anticipate

1:11:29construction uh to begin uh in February

1:11:32of next year and then it's about an

1:11:3518-month time frame. So, that would be

1:11:37August of 28 uh completion.

1:11:40Uh we received nine responsive bids for

1:11:42the project spanning of about $6.6

1:11:45million between the nine. Um so, the the

1:11:48bid in bold at the top Jumby

1:11:50Construction is the recommendation of

1:11:52staff uh as the uh responsive bidder,

1:11:55the responsible lowest bidder. Um the

1:11:58original bid that they provided was

1:11:59$18,696,000.

1:12:02Um and since that bid opening on July

1:12:0529th, staff has worked with the

1:12:07contractor to negotiate and do some

1:12:09value engineering exercises. Um and of

1:12:12that, uh we are proposing to remove a

1:12:14paved access road. Um we'll be able to

1:12:17access the pump station in an interim

1:12:19basis through a a gravel a gravel road.

1:12:22And then when that parcel surrounding

1:12:23the pump station is developed, which is

1:12:25currently under site plan review or it's

1:12:27come in for a preapp, um that developer

1:12:29would be responsible for paving that

1:12:31access uh and and allowing us to get

1:12:33there, which saves the town

1:12:35approximately $876,000.

1:12:38And then um that pump station was

1:12:40designed for the full buildout of that

1:12:42portion of the basin, uh which include

1:12:44four pumps. And as of right now, based

1:12:46on approved development, only two of

1:12:48those pumps are necessary. Okay. So, the

1:12:50pump station will be built for the full

1:12:51capacity or the full buildout of the of

1:12:54the pump station or the the sewer basin,

1:12:56I'm sorry. Um, and then we'll add

1:12:58additional pumps in the future or a

1:13:00future developer may add future pumps to

1:13:02add capacity to that pump station. Um,

1:13:04which saves us about $286,000.

1:13:06So that brings a total value engineering

1:13:09savings of $1.1 million, which would

1:13:12bring our revised bid down from that $18

1:13:14million to 17,533,984,

1:13:18which is what staff is recommending

1:13:21tonight. So tonight I am recommending a

1:13:24motion to award the construction

1:13:25contract to Jay Cumbie Construction for

1:13:2817,533,984

1:13:31for the construction of the big branch 2

1:13:33pump station uh and to authorize the

1:13:35town manager or his designate uh to

1:13:38execute the contract on behalf of the

1:13:40town. And then I'll um I'll go with

1:13:42there's no budget amendment or anything

1:13:44to go with that um because funding for

1:13:46this project was approved in the 2023

1:13:482024 CIP.

1:13:50>> Okay. Thank you, Mr. J. Any questions?

1:13:58>> Thank you for your hard work.

1:13:59>> Absolutely.

1:14:00>> Actually, just just for clarity, so the

1:14:02the four pump stations that were taking

1:14:04offline, can you shortly kind of

1:14:06describe why that's a good thing for the

1:14:08town?

1:14:08>> Sure. Yeah, that's a great a great

1:14:10point. So, um a pump station has what we

1:14:13call on&m cost, which stands for

1:14:14operation and maintenance cost. So,

1:14:16there's um electricity that is required

1:14:18to to operate a pump station. We have to

1:14:21use water. There's chemical for odor

1:14:22control. Um and so and then we have

1:14:24staff that have to inspect and maintain

1:14:26those those facilities. And it's quite a

1:14:29if you looked at our our line item

1:14:30budget and and utilities, that's a

1:14:32pretty high number on the pump station

1:14:34side. And so um replacing four smaller

1:14:37aging pump stations that have components

1:14:39that we have deferred replacement of in

1:14:42anticipation of decommissioning, such as

1:14:43a generator. A generator has a useful

1:14:45life. Um and so Feltonville pump

1:14:47station, which is one of the four that

1:14:49can be um decommissioned, needed a

1:14:51generator, but instead of putting that

1:14:52in our budget, we deferred that um with

1:14:55the anticipation of in the next few

1:14:57years that pump station will be taken

1:14:58offline. So that's a savings to the

1:15:00utility. Um so there will be a a cost to

1:15:03operate the two pump stations but um it

1:15:05will it will be a net different a net

1:15:08difference because the the other four

1:15:10will be coming offline at some point um

1:15:13or three of the four in the in the near

1:15:15future. So the the other piece of that

1:15:17outside of operation and maintenance

1:15:18costs is um every pump station comes

1:15:20with a level of risk because we are

1:15:22pumping we're we're moving water in a in

1:15:25an unnatural form, right? We're pumping

1:15:27that that water or that waste water. Um

1:15:29and so there's always a risk of a

1:15:31malfunction or a failure at a facility

1:15:33which increases the risk of a sanitary

1:15:35sewer overflow which is literally

1:15:38sanitary sewer on the ground.

1:15:40>> Last question. Uh you refer to the

1:15:42interbasin transfer agreement. Uh what's

1:15:45the benefit of uh big branch in in

1:15:48context of the interbasin transfer

1:15:50agreement?

1:15:51>> Sure. So, I don't have the specific um

1:15:54required transfer numbers uh prepared to

1:15:56present tonight, but um we have an

1:16:00existing facility, the Apex water

1:16:01reclamation facility um that we own in

1:16:04um outside on 55 in Apex, and that's in

1:16:07the Noose River basin. So, all 100% of

1:16:10our drinking water comes out of the Cape

1:16:11Pier River Basin. Um and so that's a

1:16:13transfer from one basin to the other.

1:16:15And so, um, the three pump stations that

1:16:18are proposed to take offline are

1:16:20currently pumping across that imaginary

1:16:22basin line. And so, allowing us to take

1:16:25those to Western Wake, which is in the

1:16:27Capefir River Basin, would allow us to

1:16:29remain compliant and be good stewards of

1:16:31the water and our downstream users

1:16:32within the Cape Pure River Basin. Thank

1:16:34you.

1:16:36>> Any other questions for Mr. Sers?

1:16:39>> All right. Thank you so much.

1:16:42[clears throat]

1:16:45Okay. All right. So, you need a motion.

1:16:48>> All right.

1:16:50Second approach.

1:16:51>> Motion second. Council member. All

1:16:53right. Cool. All in favor say I. I.

1:16:55>> Oppos. Motion carries unanimously. Thank

1:16:57you.

1:16:58>> Awesome. Thank you. I'll continue now

1:17:00with the routine report. I'll start with

1:17:02our utility billing update. Uh, as you

1:17:05know, we've recently returned back to

1:17:07normal operations in terms of

1:17:09disconnects and late fees. So I want to

1:17:12kind of give you some summary statistics

1:17:14from those efforts. Cycle one and staff

1:17:17worked extremely hard on this. Uh we had

1:17:20extended hours, worked with residents.

1:17:22Many residents went online, filled out

1:17:24the application for payment plans. Uh

1:17:26cycle one, we were well over 500 slated

1:17:30for disconnects when we started.

1:17:32Ultimately, it came uh I'm happy to

1:17:33report that all but two of those are

1:17:35back online. Uh, and we did also process

1:17:39some wellness checks on those accounts

1:17:41that are still out. Many of the

1:17:43properties were vacant, but all but two

1:17:45on the first cycle were turned back on.

1:17:47Uh, cycle two, we had 150 accounts that

1:17:51were slated out of 17,000 on cycle two.

1:17:55So, when you add those together, it's

1:17:56329 accounts out of 32,000. Roughly 1%

1:18:01of accounts that were disconnected. And

1:18:04we are the numbers change daily. you can

1:18:06imagine. So we had two from cycle one,

1:18:09there were 37 from cycle two. So I can

1:18:12tell you it's probably right around 30

1:18:14that still remain disconnected out of

1:18:16all of the uh disconnects that we

1:18:18processed. Uh so tremendous lift by

1:18:20staff again partnering with NeighborUp

1:18:23and getting assistance in place where

1:18:25possible. Uh we do also have a number of

1:18:28payment plans now in place. So we have

1:18:31150 payment plans that are in place. uh

1:18:35and that dollar amount under payment

1:18:38plans and this dollar amount goes back

1:18:40to the end of September. So it's a

1:18:42couple weeks old on the dollar amount,

1:18:43but it's roughly $3.5 million under

1:18:47payment plan.

1:18:49So also reporting in conjunction with

1:18:51that to to qualify for disconnects,

1:18:55there was a certain threshold. It was

1:18:56over $1,000 and greater than 90 days. So

1:18:59we have some that were not in jeopardy

1:19:01of disconnect uh and are not under

1:19:04payment plans and that amount is around

1:19:061.5 million. So a total of $5 million in

1:19:10outstanding utility debt. 3.5 of that is

1:19:13under payment plan 1.5 is not under

1:19:18that makes sense. Any questions on those

1:19:19numbers? Uh yeah. Is there a plan to um

1:19:22to restore our disconnect either

1:19:27on time in a rears or the total amount

1:19:28to the old levels at some point?

1:19:32>> Uh I I believe long-term yes. Uh and so

1:19:35we're trying to get through the the

1:19:37larger wave now, get the payment plans

1:19:38in place because the the next piece that

1:19:40we will be working through is we are and

1:19:43we're starting to see it in small

1:19:44numbers uh but people not following

1:19:47through with their payment plans. And so

1:19:48we're trying to work all of those pieces

1:19:50before we look at that full return back

1:19:52to the original threshold. But there

1:19:54also could be some debate on that too as

1:19:57um inflationary pressures over the

1:19:58number of years. Um so what that exact

1:20:00number should be, I think that's

1:20:01something that we will bring back to to

1:20:03council to talk through. Um but right

1:20:05now it's at $1,000 and greater than 90

1:20:08days and it used to be $500.

1:20:12So somewhere in between there might be

1:20:14the the spot, but right now it's at

1:20:16>> how many businesses?

1:20:25I don't know off the top of my head, but

1:20:27it's a small number compared to the the

1:20:29total. Um, and when you say business,

1:20:31are you talking about on payment plans

1:20:33or on like that were on the disconnect?

1:20:36>> On on the disconnect um that actually

1:20:39ended up being connected, we're talking

1:20:40like less than 20. So, um, we had a lot

1:20:44of uh outreach with the with everybody.

1:20:48But with the businesses when we got our

1:20:50accounts back in each uh each cycle we

1:20:53were between 20 and 30 on each one and

1:20:56we personally went to their door with

1:20:58our letter not all them were there some

1:21:00were closed like good closed and so um

1:21:03and so the end result of that was less

1:21:06than 20 I don't give you exactly maybe

1:21:09digits but um I know we were at least

1:21:11less than 20

1:21:13>> great thank you

1:21:15>> I have a question before we to make this

1:21:18connection.

1:21:20Did we give any warnings?

1:21:24>> Absolutely. Uh so we did letters, we did

1:21:27phone calls, uh in some cases there were

1:21:29inerson visits as Sean just mentioned,

1:21:32especially the businesses. We had a

1:21:33doctor's office on the list and I think

1:21:35it was an administrative issue, but uh

1:21:37we didn't want them to be in the middle

1:21:39of some kind of procedure and and

1:21:40something happened. So, we had staff go

1:21:43to all of those businesses direct and

1:21:45there were some other outreach efforts

1:21:47in there as well, social media, but each

1:21:50customer should have received letter,

1:21:52phone call,

1:21:54potentially additional efforts beyond

1:21:56that as well.

1:22:00>> Any other questions?

1:22:03>> Okay, I will move to a couple of other

1:22:05updates. Salem Streetscape project. If

1:22:08you have been downtown recently, you've

1:22:10seen uh pretty good progress on the

1:22:13other second side of the roadway. And

1:22:16the contractor took a little bit

1:22:18different approach where in the first

1:22:20half of the roadway, they would do a

1:22:22step and kind of carry that all the way

1:22:24through um such as pulling up the

1:22:26concrete, then putting in soil cells,

1:22:28then starting with pavers. The approach

1:22:31on this phase is to work down the road

1:22:34and help those businesses get their

1:22:37front walkway squared away sooner. So,

1:22:39you'll see that the pavers are now in

1:22:41place, but we're still working, they're

1:22:43working on soil cells on the the top

1:22:45half of the roadway. So, uh the

1:22:47businesses, the feedback that I've heard

1:22:48that they've extremely they've

1:22:50appreciated that change and we're making

1:22:53continue to make great progress on the

1:22:54project. Uh you also may have seen if

1:22:57you've been downtown, we've started to

1:22:58receive the fixtures. So, we've got the

1:23:01benches, uh, the countertops, the

1:23:03planter boxes. Those pieces are starting

1:23:05to come in for installation on the side

1:23:07that's been completed. We anticipate

1:23:10that the light poles and street trees,

1:23:12we should be looking end of October,

1:23:14beginning of November for those items to

1:23:16come in. So, a lot of progress being

1:23:20made there. And we still are on track

1:23:23for our December date as of now. Then we

1:23:26talked about it January like a full

1:23:28turnover in January but hopefully

1:23:30substantial completion in December but

1:23:32again great progress on that project and

1:23:35see changes every day they keep adding

1:23:38those papers in.

1:23:39>> Quick question on that. Thank you. Um

1:23:41what is the best way to get feedback

1:23:45to transportation? I don't know if it's

1:23:48transportation or or the contractor

1:23:51coming driving southbound obviously

1:23:54because you can't come northbound

1:23:55>> southbound um there's signs and I

1:23:59understand obviously with what legally

1:24:01needs to be there um in terms of uh uh

1:24:04transportation protocol but there's

1:24:06signs that say detour this way um

1:24:10there's the crosswalk seems unclear to

1:24:12some of the businesses and then there's

1:24:14very little knowledge that you could

1:24:17take a right on Saunders to go to our

1:24:20beautiful parking lot. Um

1:24:23it what is the best way for businesses

1:24:25to get that um so that it becomes more

1:24:28intuitive especially when two out of

1:24:31three of our retail shoppers are not

1:24:33from Apex.

1:24:35>> Uh thank you for the question. We

1:24:36actually did get some feedback from some

1:24:38of the businesses and contractor and our

1:24:40staff went down and tweaked some of the

1:24:42signage, not the exact signage you're

1:24:43talking about, but some sidewalk

1:24:44signage. Uh so they can contact Chad,

1:24:47Amir, myself, get us get us the email.

1:24:51I've talked to many in person and also

1:24:53gave me some feedback. I took some

1:24:54pictures when I'm down there. So we

1:24:55we've got staff that once we hear it,

1:24:57we're responsive. We're going down there

1:24:58and working with contractors. So they

1:25:00can uh shoot us an email. They can send

1:25:02it there. Many avenues. Ask Apex, they

1:25:04can send it directly to me. We've got

1:25:05our project contact information which is

1:25:07on the website. So we've got phone

1:25:09numbers, emails listed there as well.

1:25:13Any way that they can get it to us.

1:25:16But we will based on what you've said,

1:25:19we've got notes and we'll go take a look

1:25:20at

1:25:20>> Thanks. Just pretend you haven't been to

1:25:23Salem Street before,

1:25:25>> sir.

1:25:27>> Any other questions on that project?

1:25:29Okay, just got a couple more. The next

1:25:32is the Peekquway extension. Uh

1:25:34originally we were talking about the

1:25:35project concluding uh in fall, late

1:25:38fall, and right now that timeline is I'm

1:25:42going to I'm going to call it a

1:25:43December, January or a winter completion

1:25:45date. Uh there are a few issues we've

1:25:47been working with. There were some

1:25:49challenges recently with weather and and

1:25:51it did a little little number on a

1:25:52couple things. Uh but working with that

1:25:54contractor, they're well within their

1:25:56limits on the contract and they've got

1:25:58some other projects that we believe come

1:26:00up that they're having to balance that

1:26:01out. But we hope December, January for a

1:26:04completion on that project. But more to

1:26:06come on that because we hope to have

1:26:08some kind of ribbon cutting or some

1:26:10event there. But we'll continue to plan

1:26:12on that and update you as we know more.

1:26:15And the last thing I have is also back

1:26:17to downtown. We have an event this

1:26:19Friday and this is part of the new

1:26:20series that we've been working on with

1:26:23some of our business owners in downtown.

1:26:25Uh, and this was courtesy of the

1:26:27decision you all made that gave us some

1:26:29resources to hold some events downtown.

1:26:32So, it's our love local fall into

1:26:34downtown series. And it'll be this

1:26:37Friday. It's fall harvest night. So,

1:26:39October 16th from 5 to 8 and it's kind

1:26:42of a mashup with October Fest and

1:26:45October month. So, we'll have a PCO band

1:26:47will be there. There'll be a pumpkin

1:26:49patch. farmers market will be there with

1:26:52I think there are five or six vendors

1:26:54from the farmers market. There'll be

1:26:56photo opportunities at [clears throat]

1:26:58the church on the other end of downtown

1:27:00across from Ruby Duck. They'll have hay

1:27:03bales set up with pumpkins and there'll

1:27:05be a picture scene there so you can kind

1:27:06of do stuff at both ends of downtown.

1:27:09And in between hopefully you'll decide

1:27:12to stop at some of the restaurants and

1:27:13stores. It's also a part of our tour of

1:27:16Frights which is underway. We've got

1:27:18that through our parks and recreation

1:27:20department and many of the businesses

1:27:22downtown have participated in the tour

1:27:23of rights. So you can stop and see their

1:27:25windows that should be decorated along

1:27:27that as well. And I'm also told that

1:27:29many of the businesses will have

1:27:30specials related to the event. So should

1:27:33be a good event. And again next month

1:27:35it'll be November 20th from 5 to 8 and

1:27:37that'll be the jazz and jive night. So

1:27:40this Friday on the 16th and then

1:27:42November 20th as well. and all from 5 to

1:27:458:00 p.m. That's all that happened.

1:27:49>> Counc, do you know when the witches are

1:27:51supposed to show up on Salem Street?

1:27:53>> October. Yeah, because my wife was um

1:27:56not pleased with my delivery of the

1:27:59correct date.

1:28:00>> Later, buddy.

1:28:01>> Let's [laughter] Let's segue.

1:28:04>> Let's put some gap.

1:28:07>> Wait, what are we talking about?

1:28:08>> Which is Salem?

1:28:09>> Which is on Salem? I said

1:28:10>> on Salem. Yeah.

1:28:13>> No, no, no, no, no. My goodness. Honey,

1:28:15I love you. [laughter] If you can hear

1:28:18me.

1:28:20I'm on the couch. Uh,

1:28:24>> my beloved wife was asking about this

1:28:26particular event in the downtown area.

1:28:29Uh, and I believe it is on the 24th.

1:28:32>> 24th. Is on.

1:28:34>> Okay, perfect.

1:28:34>> Oh, boy.

1:28:35>> Thank [laughter] you for that report.

1:28:40Oh boy, that's a lot to recover from.

1:28:42Okay,

1:28:43>> forgive me.

1:28:44>> All right, [laughter]

1:28:46Mr. Coleman,

1:28:47>> just to be clear, I'm on Savannah's side

1:28:49on this one.

1:28:51>> Sound clerk report.

1:28:52>> Yes. Thank you, mayor. Uh, just a couple

1:28:54items. Uh, as a reminder to the public,

1:28:56we have a governance, fiscal

1:28:57stewardship, and internal support

1:28:59committee meeting this coming Thursday

1:29:00at 5:00. That'll be on training room 3B

1:29:04upstairs. We also have um of the 11

1:29:07positions on the environmental advisory

1:29:09board, we have eight expiring in

1:29:11December. So, just wanted to bring that

1:29:13to everyone's attention. Um we have been

1:29:16making efforts to stagger those terms so

1:29:18that we don't run into this in the

1:29:19future, but this is part of that next

1:29:21batch of ones that are coming up to be

1:29:24due due for action. Um and then that

1:29:28concludes my report. Thank you.

1:29:29>> Quick report. Thank you so much.

1:29:30>> Appreciate all you do and your team. All

1:29:33right, moving on. It's time for

1:29:35proclamations. We have three

1:29:36proclamations tonight. We're excited to

1:29:39present those together as usual and

1:29:41reading together. So, I would ask my

1:29:43colleagues to join me up front for the

1:29:45reading of proclamations.

1:30:12All right. Our first proclamation this

1:30:14evening is breast cancer awareness

1:30:16month, October 2026.

1:30:19And starting us off with the

1:30:21proclamation reading will be Council

1:30:23Member Ziggger.

1:30:27Good evening. This is a proclamation for

1:30:28the breast cancer awareness month 2026.

1:30:31Whereas breast cancer is one of the most

1:30:33commonly diagnosed cancers amongst women

1:30:35in the United States with approximately

1:30:37one in eight women expected to develop

1:30:40the disease during their lifetime

1:30:42affecting countless individuals,

1:30:44families, communities nationwide. hands.

1:30:50>> Whereas the American Cancer Society

1:30:53estimates that more than three

1:30:57and 21,000 women will be diagnosed with

1:31:01invasive breast cancer in the United

1:31:03States in 2026,

1:31:06underscoring the importance of continued

1:31:08awareness, education, research, and

1:31:12access to quality healthcare. hand.

1:31:19>> Whereas breast cancer awareness month

1:31:22recognized annually in October serves as

1:31:27an opportunity to promote the importance

1:31:30of early detection. Encourage re

1:31:34recommended screenings. support advance

1:31:38advancement in research and treatment

1:31:41and honor the courage and resilience of

1:31:45those whose lives have been impacted by

1:31:49the disease. And

1:31:54whereas behind every diagnosis is a

1:31:57personal journey of strength,

1:31:58perseverance, and hope. And the town of

1:32:01Apex recognizes the vital role that

1:32:03families, friends, caregivers, health

1:32:06care professionals, and community

1:32:08organizations play and providing

1:32:10compassion, encouragement, and support

1:32:12to individuals navigating breast cancer.

1:32:20Whereas the town of Apex proudly

1:32:21recognizes Kathle Sug, Stacy Burrell,

1:32:26Katie Whitaker,

1:32:28Anne Miller, and Karen Lee, whose

1:32:31personal experiences with breast cancer

1:32:34reflect the strength and resilience of

1:32:36those who have faced or continue to face

1:32:39this disease, and honors their

1:32:41willingness to stand alongside others in

1:32:43raising awareness

1:32:45inspiring hope and reminding our

1:32:48community that no one should face breast

1:32:51cancer alone.

1:32:56Now therefore, I Jacques K. Gilbert,

1:32:59mayor of Apex, North Carolina, do hereby

1:33:02proclaim the month of October 2026,

1:33:05breast cancer awareness month in the

1:33:07town of Apex, and encourage all

1:33:09residents to increase awareness,

1:33:11prioritize their health through

1:33:13appropriate screenings and early

1:33:15detection, support those impacted by

1:33:17breast cancer, and join together in

1:33:20fostering a community of compassion,

1:33:23encouragement, and hope.

1:33:26I would like to call up Cale Sugg, Stacy

1:33:30Burrell, Katie Whitaker, otherwise known

1:33:33as Mrs. Weekly, Karen Lee, and Annne

1:33:36Miller. Please come up and accept the

1:33:38proclamation.

1:33:39[applause]

1:34:08Thank you.

1:34:18[laughter]

1:34:59This one.

1:34:59>> Oh, no. No.

1:35:02>> [laughter]

1:35:18>> Um well, you know, it's just an honor to

1:35:21um be here. I am a 13-year survivor, and

1:35:25first of all, I have to give glory and

1:35:27honor to God. There's nothing special

1:35:29about me, but his grow his grace and

1:35:31mercy. And then I want to remember uh my

1:35:34sisters and brothers that have um

1:35:37struggled and um were called on to go

1:35:40home with the Lord. Um so we just want

1:35:42to remember them, their struggles and

1:35:44then the women and men that are right

1:35:47now currently fighting. Um so we just

1:35:49want to keep them in prayer and um the

1:35:52support of family and friends is

1:35:54important and we just thank you all for

1:35:56recognizing u the breast cancer and just

1:35:58encouraging everyone to early for early

1:36:01detection. I'm thankful for the doctors

1:36:02and the medicine and everything. So

1:36:05thank you all so much for recognizing

1:36:07this important uh program tonight. Thank

1:36:10you. [applause]

1:36:20Um, first I just want to say thank you

1:36:22so much to Mayor Gilbert and to council

1:36:24members. Um,

1:36:27uh, sorry, for opening your hearts to

1:36:29this very special cause. Um, I stand

1:36:31here today as a nurse, but I'm also a

1:36:35prevor. What a previvor is, for those

1:36:37that don't know, means I did genetic

1:36:40testing because my mother was diagnosed

1:36:43with cancer. She's no longer here, but

1:36:46my mom that gave me life is still saving

1:36:49my life because I was able to do genetic

1:36:51testing through my regular routine

1:36:54scheduling that I have to do. They found

1:36:57precancer cells in both of my breasts. I

1:37:00had a bilateral mastctomy

1:37:02prophylactically,

1:37:03which meant I chose to do it ahead of it

1:37:07so that cancer couldn't take me out. So,

1:37:10I appreciate every one of you. To every

1:37:13one of you that is a survivor, a prevor,

1:37:15and a caregiver, and just a supporter, I

1:37:19see you. The biggest thing in the

1:37:20proclamation mentioned it. You are never

1:37:23alone in this journey. There's always

1:37:25someone out there. And if nothing else,

1:37:28find me. My name is Stacy Burell, and I

1:37:30will happily walk alongside you through

1:37:32any journey. So, just thank you again so

1:37:35much to everybody for being here, and

1:37:37thank you for this incredible

1:37:38recognition.

1:37:41>> [applause]

1:37:46>> Anybody else?

1:37:49>> Speak. She want to talk about her mom

1:37:51cancer survival.

1:37:52>> You want to talk really quick? Okay. All

1:37:54right. And after

1:37:57>> anyone else. Okay. All right.

1:38:00>> Right here.

1:38:04>> Go ahead.

1:38:05>> Now, my mother was diagnosed in 1980. So

1:38:08at that time you know that you only had

1:38:11maybe four tools at that time and that

1:38:13was uh radical mastctomy maybe modified

1:38:19radical uh chemo and um radiation. Well

1:38:24she had a radical mastctomy which meant

1:38:26that all her lymph nodes uh were taken

1:38:29and then there was some uh muscle

1:38:31issues. Fortunately she was a left she

1:38:34was left-handed and that was the side

1:38:36that was affected. So

1:38:39uh she used that side that not because

1:38:42of anyone recommended it but as a result

1:38:45uh she lost no strength. She never had

1:38:47any lympadeema uh and uh she had equal

1:38:51strength on both sides but the uh story

1:38:54that I want to share with you is that uh

1:38:57throughout this journey she would see

1:39:00her surgeons and you know follow up and

1:39:03yearly and things like that. So the when

1:39:06she was in her 80s, her last the surgeon

1:39:09and this is a beautiful young lady uh

1:39:12young children and she was saying well

1:39:16you know Miss Morrison

1:39:18uh I'm not going to follow you. So that

1:39:21was kind of we took that was that that

1:39:24was kind of like why what's wrong? And

1:39:26she said, "Well, you know, Miss

1:39:27Morrison, uh, I looked through your

1:39:29chart and what I realized was that, you

1:39:34know, I have young children. You have

1:39:36outlived all of your surgeons. I am not

1:39:38going to follow you cuz I don't plan on

1:39:41you outliving me." Uh, and she did. My

1:39:44mother died at the age of 94.

1:39:48[applause]

1:39:52>> Thank you so much for that. And I do

1:39:54want to share um along with what Mr.

1:39:56Burrell said is we're walking this with

1:39:59you. We will be there to support you

1:40:03every day. Thank you so much. Give them

1:40:05a round of applause and standing

1:40:06ovation, please. Please [applause]

1:40:09survivors.

1:40:14[applause]

1:40:19Thank you.

1:40:31Okay. Our next proclamation is domestic

1:40:34violence awareness month.

1:40:38Council member move.

1:40:43>> Domestic violence awareness month 2026.

1:40:48Whereas domestic violence is a serious

1:40:52and pervasive issue affecting millions

1:40:55of individuals and families nationwide,

1:41:00including members of our apex community

1:41:04regardless of age and gender, race, or

1:41:08socioeconomic backgrounds. And

1:41:14>> whereas domestic violence awareness

1:41:16month serves as an opportunity to raise

1:41:18awareness, honor the strength and

1:41:20resilience of survivors,

1:41:23remember those whose lives have been

1:41:25lost, and reaffirm our collective

1:41:28responsibility to foster safe,

1:41:30supportive, and compassionate

1:41:32communities. And

1:41:38whereas the 2026 national theme with

1:41:41survivors always calls upon individuals,

1:41:45organizations, and communities to move

1:41:48beyond awareness and take meaningful

1:41:51action by listening to survivors,

1:41:53removing barriers to assistance, and

1:41:56promoting safety, healing, and hope. And

1:42:04Whereas Shining Light in Darkness, a

1:42:07nonprofit organization serving survivors

1:42:10of domestic violence, sexual assault,

1:42:12and human trafficking, provides

1:42:14compassionate, traumainformed,

1:42:18survivor centered services and resources

1:42:21that empower individuals and families to

1:42:24rebuild their lives with dignity,

1:42:27strength, and hope.

1:42:32And whereas the town of Apex recognizes

1:42:34and commends shining light in darkness,

1:42:37the Apex Police Department, and the many

1:42:40dedicated advocates, service providers

1:42:42and community partners whose unwavering

1:42:45commitment to supporting survivors,

1:42:47providing critical resources, and

1:42:48promoting prevention helps create a

1:42:51safer and more resilient community.

1:42:57>> Now, therefore, Ajac K. Gilbert, mayor

1:42:59of Apex, North Carolina, do hereby

1:43:01proclaim the month of October 2026 as

1:43:04domestic violence awareness month in the

1:43:07town of Apex and encourage all residents

1:43:09to stand with survivors always by

1:43:12raising awareness, supporting those

1:43:14impacted by domestic violence, and

1:43:16taking meaningful action to foster a

1:43:18community where every individual is

1:43:21treated with dignity, compassion, and

1:43:23respect.

1:43:26I would like to call up shining light

1:43:29and darkness team Flo Deval Dudley and

1:43:32Ed Dudley please come up and accept the

1:43:34proclamation. [applause]

1:43:52All

1:44:13right, y'all. Stand.

1:44:17[clears throat]

1:44:46>> [laughter]

1:44:50>> Okay. Um,

1:44:54let me breathe. Let me take my glasses

1:44:57off because I was already teeyed.

1:45:00Not because of domestic violence as a

1:45:02whole. Shining light in darkness exists

1:45:05from my personal experience with both

1:45:08domestic violence and sexual assault.

1:45:11But

1:45:13Apex is home.

1:45:16Durham is where we reside.

1:45:19But when we first moved here,

1:45:23Apex

1:45:24the PE welcome us with open arms

1:45:29and that's when my father was like, "I

1:45:30didn't know you had an organization."

1:45:34He saw it on Facebook.

1:45:37Long story short, my father passed away

1:45:40tragically

1:45:42in August

1:45:45and

1:45:46he's a diehard

1:45:49Brave fan. Alorn State University.

1:45:53Hence is why I have his jersey and his

1:45:56shirt on today.

1:45:58For domestic violence awareness month,

1:46:00the color is purple.

1:46:03And so, not only

1:46:06do I grieve for my father and his

1:46:11absence of witness to me this

1:46:15proclamation, our second home.

1:46:19But I also grieve

1:46:22with the survivors

1:46:24and to those that have lost their lives

1:46:27to domestic violence.

1:46:30Every year we honor survivors of

1:46:33domestic violence

1:46:35and for those that have succumbed,

1:46:38we honor them through the glow of grace.

1:46:42The glow of grace happened this past

1:46:44Friday

1:46:45and I want to thank the mayor and the

1:46:48whole team for coming out supporting us

1:46:52on that day. It was very meaningful,

1:46:57very touching.

1:46:59the reading of the names

1:47:01to show you how domestic violence does

1:47:04not discriminate

1:47:05for anyone,

1:47:08person, religion, or creed. The youngest

1:47:12person went unnamed.

1:47:15The youngest person that was named was

1:47:1918 years old.

1:47:21And the oldest one that really had me to

1:47:26try to keep my composure was 93

1:47:30years old that lost their lives to

1:47:35domestic violence.

1:47:38Domestic violence is something serious.

1:47:42It does not discriminate.

1:47:45You can leave out of this place today.

1:47:49As good as you think your life is, it

1:47:53can change just like that.

1:47:56Not just you, but your family as a

1:48:00whole.

1:48:01Because this year, I'm grateful for what

1:48:04they did and honoring the name.

1:48:08Every year they would do the victim

1:48:15as well as the person that killed them.

1:48:19They had dual names.

1:48:21Even when it was mass suicide and took

1:48:24out the whole family, but this year, for

1:48:27the first time ever in North Carolina

1:48:30history, they honored the victim and the

1:48:34victim only. And today, we thank you

1:48:37guys. Thank you the city and town of

1:48:41Apex for this proclamation. We love you

1:48:45and when our bandwidth expand, we will

1:48:47be here in the peak for our second home.

1:48:52And [snorts] we love you guys and we

1:48:54thank you for supporting us in all of

1:48:57our endeavors when it comes to helping

1:49:00the community and citizens of Apex.

1:49:05[applause]

1:49:15We just want to thank you for all the

1:49:16work that you do. Um, partner with the

1:49:19police department, our town, and we're

1:49:21going to walk this with you. Also,

1:49:23please stand up and give. They're doing

1:49:25amazing work for our town. Appreciate

1:49:27[applause] you what you do.

1:49:38All right. Proclamation three, Down

1:49:40Syndrome Awareness Month.

1:49:44Council member Gray,

1:49:51Down Syndrome Awareness Month 2026.

1:49:54Whereas down syndrome, also known as

1:49:57tricomeme 21, is a genetic condition

1:50:00caused by the presence of an additional

1:50:03full or partial copy of chromosome 21

1:50:08and is the most common chromosomeal

1:50:10condition diagnosed in the United

1:50:12States, affecting approximately

1:50:15one in every 640 babies born annually.

1:50:20And

1:50:24Whereas Down Syndrome Awareness Month,

1:50:26recognized annually in October, provides

1:50:28an opportunity to celebrate the unique

1:50:30abilities, accomplishments, and

1:50:32contributions of individuals with Down

1:50:33syndrome while promoting greater

1:50:36understanding, acceptance, and inclusion

1:50:38throughout our communities. And

1:50:44>> whereas individuals with Down syndrome

1:50:46enrich our schools, workplaces,

1:50:48neighborhoods, and communities through

1:50:51their talents, perspectives, and

1:50:53achievements and deserve equitable

1:50:56opportunities to pursue their goals,

1:50:59develop meaningful relationships, and

1:51:01lead fulfilling self-directed lives.

1:51:04hand.

1:51:08Whereas the town of Apex through its

1:51:12parks, recreation and cultural resources

1:51:15department demonstrates its commitment

1:51:19to inclusion through specialized

1:51:22recreation programs that provide

1:51:25accessible opportunities for individuals

1:51:28of all abilities to participate in arts,

1:51:32fitness, recreation, sports, and social

1:51:36activities. activities while fostering

1:51:38connection and belonging. And

1:51:44whereas the town of Apex recognizes the

1:51:47importance of continued education,

1:51:50advocacy, and community partnerships in

1:51:53removing barriers, challenging

1:51:55misconceptions, and creating a welcoming

1:51:58environment where individuals with Down

1:52:00syndrome and their families are valued,

1:52:02supported, and empowered to thrive.

1:52:09Now therefore, I, Jacqu K. Gilbert,

1:52:11mayor of Apex, North Carolina, do hereby

1:52:13proclaim the month of October 2026. Down

1:52:17Syndrome Awareness Month in the town of

1:52:19Apex, and encourage all residents to

1:52:21celebrate the abilities and

1:52:23contributions of individuals with Down

1:52:25Syndrome. Promote understanding and

1:52:27acceptance and reaffirm our shared

1:52:30commitment to building an inclusive

1:52:32community where everyone has the

1:52:34opportunity to belong and succeed. I

1:52:37would like to call up Miss Cheryl Burn

1:52:40and Jack

1:52:42Joseph. Please come up and accept the

1:52:44proclamation.

1:52:46[applause]

1:52:54[applause]

1:53:01All

1:53:21right, Mrs. Cheryl Burn.

1:53:30>> [laughter]

1:53:48>> This is Jack. And Jack loves his Down

1:53:52syndrome. So, we hope that you love it

1:53:54as much as he does. He is so proud of

1:53:56himself and people who have Down

1:53:59syndrome. And we recently started our

1:54:01not for-p profofit. We renamed it to you

1:54:03don't know Jack about Down syndrome

1:54:06because we wanted you to know about

1:54:09Jack. The these proclamations are

1:54:11amazing and we are blessed to be here in

1:54:14Apex. We are blessed to have a community

1:54:17who values Jack. But overarchingly this

1:54:21is just a generalization. But Jack is

1:54:24Jack. Jack loves Roy Moore in the back.

1:54:28Jack loves the mayor. Jack loves the

1:54:30Hurricanes. And Jack is a big NC State

1:54:33fan.

1:54:35>> Go Pack.

1:54:37>> Even though he's got a brother at UNC.

1:54:39He's a Go Pack guy. [laughter]

1:54:41But Jack also has things he doesn't

1:54:43like. He doesn't like carrots. He

1:54:46doesn't like homework. He doesn't like

1:54:49when people disregard him. He knows when

1:54:52you're talking over him, around him,

1:54:56beside him, and not to him. So, the one

1:54:59thing I can say to you from tonight and

1:55:01to share from here until you can't share

1:55:04it anymore is Jack. People like Jack and

1:55:07people who have special needs just want

1:55:10to be seen for who they are. We have a

1:55:12hashtag. We are share what makes you

1:55:14special. We all have something. Some

1:55:17people don't like heights. I don't like

1:55:19heights. I don't like to fly, but I do

1:55:21it. Jack has a lot of things he does and

1:55:25doesn't like, just like you do. So, when

1:55:26you see someone or you see Jack, feel

1:55:29free to ask him. Don't ask about him to

1:55:32his sister, his family, his father. You

1:55:34could just ask him. You can ask anyone.

1:55:37So, we're happy to be part of this

1:55:38community. We love that you guys are all

1:55:41here. We love that we could share this.

1:55:43And this is the kid. If anyone loves

1:55:45Down syndrome, it's this guy RIGHT HERE.

1:55:47SO,

1:55:48>> [cheering and applause]

1:55:53[applause]

1:55:54>> CAN WE STAND UP FOR JACK, PLEASE?

1:55:55[cheering] Thank you.

1:56:02[applause]

1:56:06[cheering]

1:56:09Oh, good. Okay.

1:56:18>> All right. Good to see you, Jack. All

1:56:19right.

1:56:20>> We love you, Jack.

1:56:21>> Yes, we love you, Jack. [laughter]

1:56:25>> Thank you all so much.

1:56:27[clears throat]

1:56:44Where is it?

1:56:57>> All right. Thank you colleagues for

1:56:59joining me with the proclamation

1:57:00reading. We'll move now to public forum.

1:57:03This is opportunity for community

1:57:04members to speak, share their concerns,

1:57:08suggestions, recommendations, all those

1:57:09things. Um, just I'm have the town clerk

1:57:13to read the process

1:57:15process, please.

1:57:17>> Uh, beginning in June of 2026, the

1:57:20current public participation policy

1:57:22states individual comments are limited

1:57:24to three minutes. The public forum and

1:57:26comment period shall not exceed 36

1:57:28minutes or 12 individual speakers,

1:57:31whichever comes first. If the list

1:57:33exceeds 12 individual speakers or 36

1:57:35minutes per the adopted policy, the town

1:57:38clerk will prioritize the list of

1:57:40speakers by those who have not spoken in

1:57:42the last 30 days. After those

1:57:44individuals have spoken, the list will

1:57:46continue in the order an individual

1:57:49signed up until the 12 individual

1:57:51speakers or 36 minutes is reached.

1:57:54Individuals who still wish to speak will

1:57:57still be given an opportunity to do so

1:57:59at the conclusion of the business

1:58:01portion of the meeting immediately

1:58:03before close session. When introducing

1:58:06yourself, please state your name and

1:58:08address for the record. Speakers will

1:58:10see a series of lights and timer in

1:58:12front of them. At the 45se second mark,

1:58:14the light will change colors to yellow.

1:58:16And when your time is up, you will hear

1:58:18a buzzer and see the red light flash. We

1:58:20have eight speakers for public forum.

1:58:23>> Thank you, Mr. clerk. All right, we'll

1:58:25go ahead and get started. George Hogan.

1:58:33>> Uh, first off, great proclamations

1:58:35tonight. Really good. Um, all right. Uh,

1:58:40George Hogan, Apex President, uh, 2140

1:58:43Victoria Lane. Um, I want to talk first

1:58:46about the Axom conversation we had. Um,

1:58:49there are some concerning things that I

1:58:50heard up here. Um, Ed,

1:58:53uh, Council Member Gray, try not to

1:58:55complate these things.

1:58:58Seems like you just want to get this

1:58:59contract in when things were brought up

1:59:01about policy. Ah, we'll figure that out

1:59:03later. This is the same company, Axom,

1:59:06the same company that people are moving

1:59:08from Flock to and going to. The same

1:59:10company that the entire board of

1:59:12directors resigned over ethics and

1:59:15privacy concerns. I see an easy fix

1:59:18here. The law states that you need to

1:59:21have recording in the interview room.

1:59:23Great. Do that. Carve out the drones

1:59:26until we have a policy. Because what

1:59:28we've seen on the flock policy, we've

1:59:31heard about it. The police chief says he

1:59:33has one. Doesn't have any teeth to it.

1:59:35We know that because he said here or up

1:59:38in the uh room in the end of January

1:59:41that there's no federal sharing. That

1:59:44wasn't true. It happened. It happened

1:59:47more than once. What was the policy for?

1:59:50They're just going to let it go, but I

1:59:51want to talk about October 1st. I'm

1:59:53going to have to do it brief. Um, so you

1:59:57guys came up here and you had a real

1:59:58good time talking about flock cameras.

2:00:01Of course, you recommended nothing and

2:00:03you only heard pretty much from the

2:00:05chief. So, by my count, after hundreds

2:00:08of people have come up here, I haven't

2:00:10even been here the last few times. Every

2:00:12single speaker is talking about ALPR.

2:00:15Every single speaker is talking about

2:00:16it. What do you guys do? Let's roll the

2:00:18chief back out for a fourth time and

2:00:21he's going to give us information. Oh,

2:00:22well, we don't have enough information.

2:00:24Let's send him back. Let's send the town

2:00:27staff back. You have the data. You know

2:00:30what the policy is. You know what the

2:00:33retention is. I don't understand why you

2:00:35guys are putting your head in the sand

2:00:37and just pretending you don't know,

2:00:39buying time, kicking the can. That is

2:00:42all this council has done every single

2:00:46month. Every single two weeks, people

2:00:48are coming up here and you guys just

2:00:50want to buy more time. Well, in the same

2:00:52time as October 1st, a federal judge in

2:00:54Oklahoma threw out an entire drug case

2:00:56because a deputy ran a plate through

2:00:58flock without a warrant. Every single

2:01:01thing was gone. We hear often times that

2:01:04there's a policy. Hard stop, no federal

2:01:07sharing. What you guys don't clearly

2:01:09understand about Flock is even though

2:01:12two federal agencies came in and were

2:01:15given permission to search through our

2:01:17records, if one police department in

2:01:20Georgia has access or is given access to

2:01:22the feds, that gives access to us. None

2:01:27of you are protecting us. And one of you

2:01:29is going to be the swing vote on here.

2:01:30One of you is going to approve spying on

2:01:33citizens or you're going to stand up for

2:01:36citizens. I have not seen it yet.

2:01:39>> Thank you.

2:01:40>> Thank you for speaking,

2:01:42>> Robert Warham.

2:01:51>> How you doing? Um, Robert Worm, 1060 W

2:01:54Street Drive. Um, it was about a little

2:01:57over a month ago. I I'm speaking for

2:01:59four people, so I don't know if that

2:02:01affects the time or not.

2:02:02>> You got Yeah. Where's your four? Raise

2:02:05your hand. raise your hand.

2:02:09>> Yeah, you got you got

2:02:10>> Thank you. I appreciate that.

2:02:12>> Yeah, sure.

2:02:13>> Um it was over a month ago that we had

2:02:15talked about the um

2:02:18crosswalk over at Apex Peakway and then

2:02:22having the necessary to have a traffic

2:02:25light there for the safety purposes. Um

2:02:29that's that's needed uh with the Well,

2:02:33I'll get into a minute. Um,

2:02:35but I I did want to before I start

2:02:37anything out is just to to thank the

2:02:39board because shortly after that

2:02:42meeting, there was new signs that were

2:02:44put up in front of the the crosswalk. It

2:02:47was freshly painted and literally within

2:02:49few days after, you know, we appeared in

2:02:51and presented the problem, we had people

2:02:53on it and took care of it and we thank

2:02:56you for that. Okay. Um, I'm just going

2:03:00to go ahead and start. Good evening,

2:03:01members of Apex Town Council. Thank you

2:03:03for the opportunity to address you once

2:03:05again on a critical safety issue, the

2:03:07urgent need for an enhanced pedestrian

2:03:10traffic controls at the intersection of

2:03:12Apex Peekway and Brian Drive. Says,

2:03:15"I've lived in our Apex community since

2:03:182010. Uh Amherst is our home to over 215

2:03:22homes and over 600 residents.

2:03:25Uh being in our community is physically

2:03:27split in half by the Peekway. Our

2:03:30amenity center is located on the Bryant

2:03:33Drive section

2:03:35um with the other residents on the other

2:03:36half of the Apex Peakway.

2:03:39Uh which means that residents on the

2:03:42White Dogwood side, including young

2:03:43children and seniors, must cross the

2:03:45peakway every day just to access their

2:03:48own neighborhood amenities.

2:03:50Beyond that, our neighbors use this

2:03:52crosswalk constantly for evening walks,

2:03:54exercise, visiting each other. It's a

2:03:57vital and heavily used arterial

2:04:00connection for our community.

2:04:03Unfortunately, over my 16 years, I and

2:04:05many of my neighbors have witnessed a

2:04:07dangerous and persistent disregard by

2:04:10motorists toward pedestrians using this

2:04:12crosswalk. We have seen pedestrians

2:04:14nearly struck by vehicles speeding

2:04:16through the crosswalk,

2:04:18drivers refusing to yield to the

2:04:20rightway.

2:04:22an instance where drivers have actually

2:04:24slowed down and started to yell and

2:04:26swear at

2:04:28people trying to get across the

2:04:29crosswalk walking in front of their

2:04:32cars. Says, "We want to again express

2:04:35our gratitude for the town's prompt

2:04:37action at our last meeting with the

2:04:39freshly painted crosswalk lines, updated

2:04:42signage, and we're a welcome step in the

2:04:44right direction. So, we do appreciate

2:04:46that. However, the visual lines on the

2:04:49payment are simply not enough to stop a

2:04:51speeding vehicle. What we have,

2:04:53particularly with the upcoming opening

2:04:55of the Apex Peakway Bridge, which we're

2:04:57all excited about having, it's going to

2:04:58be a great um arterial, you know, for

2:05:02for Apex. Um that's also going to

2:05:05increase the traffic considerably down

2:05:07the Apex Peakway.

2:05:09um without proper signals crossing here

2:05:13um will shift from a daily hazard to an

2:05:15extreme risk.

2:05:17Uh Mr. Dalton, the town's traffic

2:05:20engineer, kindly responded to our

2:05:21inquiry, stating that prior reviews did

2:05:24not indicate the need for a full traffic

2:05:26signal, but the town would con conduct

2:05:30further evaluations once the bridge

2:05:32opens to observe changing traffic

2:05:34patterns. Now this is important for us

2:05:37as we understand and respect this

2:05:38process. However, the Amherst at HOA and

2:05:41our residents are not looking solely for

2:05:44vehicular traffic counts. That's not our

2:05:46concern. What is our concern is human

2:05:48safety and given the the fact of what

2:05:51has happened prior to with um the

2:05:56current traffic with uh safety with our

2:05:58pedestrians using that crosswalk. Um we

2:06:02fear that with the increased traffic

2:06:05volume um that it may very well cause an

2:06:09accident to happen. Um

2:06:13this is that to be forewarned is to be

2:06:16foremed.

2:06:18I think with the increased traffic

2:06:20volume, unless a light is put there,

2:06:25um whether it's a regular traffic light

2:06:27or a hawk system or something along

2:06:29those lines, there's going to be there's

2:06:32going to be an injury accident or

2:06:35whatever. It's just

2:06:37too busy and people don't pay attention.

2:06:41says, "We are asking the the town to go

2:06:43just one step further um for the safe

2:06:46safe way of our peakway to ensure

2:06:49longterm safety. Our community strongly

2:06:51requests the installation of full

2:06:53traffic light or at a minimum a

2:06:55pedestrian activated system such as a

2:06:57hawk pedestrian hybrid signal at this

2:06:59intersection.

2:07:02Um, also second, we ask for an

2:07:04opportunity for a representative of our

2:07:06uh Amherst HOA to take part directly in

2:07:09the meetings or discussions uh where

2:07:11these traffic eval safety evaluations

2:07:14are reviewed. Our 600 residents stand

2:07:17behind united behind this request. We

2:07:20ask you to prioritize the lives and

2:07:22safety of our community before the

2:07:25traffic volume increases.

2:07:27And folks, I just I want to thank you

2:07:30again for your your cooperation, your

2:07:32leadership, and your super quick

2:07:35response after the first one.

2:07:37>> Thank you.

2:07:37>> So, I thank you.

2:07:38>> Thank you so much. Speaking

2:07:41>> Ken Misillo.

2:07:47>> Hi, good evening. Ken Misillo. I live at

2:07:50602 Len Hall Court, Apex in the

2:07:53community of Amherst. I'm also on the

2:07:55homeowners uh association board of

2:07:57directors. Um and once again uh I want

2:08:01to just piggyback on what Bob said and

2:08:04uh he's the president of our

2:08:06association. Uh and thank you all

2:08:09because the last time that we came to

2:08:11speak here about a month ago within a

2:08:13few days we had signs up there. We had

2:08:16the crosswalk uh repainted. They one of

2:08:20the the lines kind of got messed up, but

2:08:22it was a it was a great response. And

2:08:25we've even seen uh police officers on

2:08:27the Peekway just uh

2:08:31out there to let people know that they

2:08:33were should be uh watching what their

2:08:36speed is and to be a little bit more

2:08:39careful on that road. So, that's that's

2:08:41been a a big help. Uh a little while

2:08:43back, I took a walk to go see how that

2:08:45bridge was coming along. And I don't

2:08:48know if any of you have seen it, but I

2:08:50mean it's it's it's impressive. It's a

2:08:53nice big well wellbuilt it looks and

2:08:56exits and entries onto it. So, uh,

2:08:59congratulations on getting that done.

2:09:01But you could also see how this is going

2:09:04to affect the volume and how the traffic

2:09:06is going to bypass the congestion that

2:09:09occurs at the uh, train station or the

2:09:12train track uh, trestle. How everything

2:09:15goes down to two. people are going to

2:09:18find out that that road is there and

2:09:20it'll be a nice by bypass for them to

2:09:23circumvent all of that traffic. So, we

2:09:25are definitely going to see a lot of

2:09:28increased traffic. And it's not only the

2:09:31pedestrians that are crossing that

2:09:33street, but people that are turning left

2:09:35or right from Brian Drive or White

2:09:38Dogwood will have uh it's it's tough now

2:09:42and there's a lot of distraction and

2:09:44there's people walking and there's cars

2:09:46coming this way and that way. They're

2:09:47coming down the hill increasing speed

2:09:49from over where Salem Street is and it's

2:09:52just uh confusing for a lot of people.

2:09:56So, a traffic light would be so good uh

2:10:00to help really keep the traffic flowing

2:10:04safely, protect the people in the cars,

2:10:06and protect the uh pedestrians. So,

2:10:09that's really what would be uh what we

2:10:13are looking for. while back when we had

2:10:16uh I was able to address the town

2:10:19council when they were looking to do a

2:10:21large building uh the LLE building on

2:10:25that acreage and we came here and it was

2:10:30put to a vote and what we'd like to see

2:10:34is it actually get to the town council

2:10:37to be put to a vote so you could go on

2:10:39record and say hey I support this or I

2:10:41don't. I don't know if that's possible

2:10:43to do, but it sure would be good to see

2:10:45if we had that support from the council.

2:10:49And uh like you had said one time,

2:10:52mayor, if we all work together, you can

2:10:55accomplish anything. And uh I believe

2:10:58that that would be uh that would be

2:11:00something we could accomplish.

2:11:02>> Thank you all. Thank you for what you

2:11:04do.

2:11:05>> Appreciate it, sir.

2:11:05>> Thank you for speaking.

2:11:08>> Michelle Heather Okconor.

2:11:11Excuse

2:11:13me. You have a group here, right?

2:11:15>> I do not. Okay. I think I checked the

2:11:17wrong box tonight. So,

2:11:18>> okay.

2:11:20>> Minutes, please.

2:11:20>> Good evening, everyone. Dr. Michelle

2:11:21Hoffner Okconor, 2664 Jordan Point

2:11:24Boulevard. So, we're six months into a

2:11:27data center moratorum, and I'm starting

2:11:30to get a bit concerned. I'm wondering if

2:11:32you all are too. Uh, does council

2:11:34consider the presentations for to the

2:11:36EAB subcommittee to date to be

2:11:38acceptable? Members of the subcommittee

2:11:40have asked for update updated

2:11:42projections for water use beyond what

2:11:44was created in 2023 and last I heard

2:11:46that still has not been received. The

2:11:49tax benefit white paper from Michael

2:11:50Nutelli has been touted as fact from

2:11:53another presentation when we all know it

2:11:54was created to be attractive to an

2:11:56economic development department and

2:11:58lacks realistic objectivity like tax

2:12:00depreciation of data centers. Members

2:12:03Mason and Garrison's term limits on the

2:12:05EAB were known at the time of the

2:12:08subcommittee conception in March. So why

2:12:11is it that UDO draft language is only

2:12:14just starting to be given for review now

2:12:15in peacemail? Why did the plan not

2:12:18account for members rolling off and not

2:12:21being eligible to return? What happens

2:12:24when they are no longer able to give

2:12:26comment and their questions from prior

2:12:28presentations go unanswered? Why is it

2:12:30acceptable that exactly one member of

2:12:33the fiveperson subcommittee is projected

2:12:35to be present for the entirety of this

2:12:37moratorum? Why is it acceptable that the

2:12:40frequency of public meetings from the

2:12:42town has rapidly decreased? What was

2:12:45once promised as a call every other week

2:12:48on Wednesdays at noon has diminished to

2:12:50once per month. Does any of this align

2:12:53with the meaningful input this council

2:12:55envisioned from the p from the public?

2:12:59Meanwhile, as while the town deliberates

2:13:01the UDO, the suffering of communities

2:13:03around the US continues continues. You

2:13:06may have heard earlier this week that a

2:13:08data center in Sterling had to run its

2:13:09generators for 24 hours and people

2:13:12literally fled the area. But that's the

2:13:14second insult from that data center,

2:13:15which is only 96 megawws, by the way.

2:13:17The first was literally when they turned

2:13:19it on because they had to use backup

2:13:21power because Domingan Energy wasn't

2:13:23able to support them when they went

2:13:25live. So, shouldn't we be doing as much

2:13:28as possible? Not only with respect to

2:13:30our UDO and conditional zoning or zoning

2:13:32conditions, but with regard to the land

2:13:34itself. Our ETJ is listed on the 2045

2:13:38map, but is not actually zoned as

2:13:39industrial. Since downzoning is illegal,

2:13:42it seems the best way to protect

2:13:43citizens is to ensure that our 2055 plan

2:13:46does not propose major industrial areas

2:13:48near residents when the land is already

2:13:50appropriately marked as residential. My

2:13:52suggestion, the town should buy the

2:13:54land. Make it a park or community

2:13:56farming project or something that

2:13:57preserves the area rather than risking

2:13:59harm data centers will inevitably cause.

2:14:02Also extend the morator moratorium to

2:14:04ensure we get this right and add voices

2:14:05from elsewhere in the community who can

2:14:07make the commitment without term limit

2:14:09or whatever else is standing in their

2:14:10way. Also keep in mind people like Jack

2:14:13with Down syndrome have also have

2:14:14cardiac conditions. typically they would

2:14:16suffer more than I would because their

2:14:19they would they their health would be

2:14:20exacerbated by the noise and

2:14:22environmental pollution. Thank you.

2:14:24>> Thank you for speaking

2:14:28>> Joseph Perkins. Mr. Perkins

2:14:54Take your time, sir.

2:14:59>> I'll leave an iron gate.

2:15:01>> You can stand. You can stand right near

2:15:02the microphone.

2:15:03>> Okay.

2:15:04>> I leave an iron gate.

2:15:05>> There you go.

2:15:07>> I kind of like want to stand just a

2:15:09little bit. I want everybody to hear

2:15:11exactly what I'm saying. Okay.

2:15:13>> All right.

2:15:13>> I live in Iron Gate subdivision. Been

2:15:15living there for probably 40 years. And

2:15:17they're going to put a school behind me,

2:15:21a multi-billion dollar school. Okay. And

2:15:24just look at Iron Gate subdivision. All

2:15:28right. And it's a circle. It goes around

2:15:31like this coming down. Okay. And over

2:15:35here they're going to put the school.

2:15:37And right down here is seven houses in

2:15:41the subdivision. Okay, so here's what

2:15:44they said. [clears throat]

2:15:47We'll uh give these seven houses

2:15:50sewer,

2:15:52right? But we won't give the rest of the

2:15:54subdivision sewer. Okay? Just only the

2:15:57seven houses can get it. And that's what

2:16:00I'm up here. Now, I was uh I met with a

2:16:04young fellow back here this morning. I

2:16:05met with him. is a fantastic guy and he

2:16:08grew up drew up stuff for me to give to

2:16:10my neighbors. Okay.

2:16:13But the point that I want to get to is

2:16:15that

2:16:18they're going to put the the sewer

2:16:20this uh the company uh the school is

2:16:25putting in the sewer and after they get

2:16:27the sewer put in they're going to give

2:16:28it to the town of Apex. Okay. So, what

2:16:32we're going to have to do and they they

2:16:34got it fixed for only seven people in

2:16:37there can get the sewer. The rest of the

2:16:40neighbor, they can't get it. Well,

2:16:41they're having a fit about that cuz they

2:16:44can't get sewer. So, I car a petition to

2:16:46him, give him a petition uh to file

2:16:50claims on it, right? Let's see what we

2:16:53can do about it. Okay.

2:16:56So, what's going to happen there is that

2:17:00once they get this this the thing uh

2:17:03connected, they're going to give it

2:17:06uh give it to the uh the other people,

2:17:10you know, give it to the town of Apex,

2:17:14the the the company, the school going to

2:17:17give it to the town of Apex.

2:17:19So, what I'm trying to do is figure out

2:17:21a way

2:17:24we when we we're going to have to run

2:17:27our little line from the house all the

2:17:29way to the tank. Okay? And we got to pay

2:17:33for that. All right? And we're Oh, we

2:17:36don't have the money to pay for that.

2:17:38So, I asked him this morning about the

2:17:42price

2:17:44to attach. He said $4,000.

2:17:48The people in that community,

2:17:51they're 70 and 80 years old, they don't

2:17:53have $4,000

2:17:55to attach to a sewer. Okay.

2:18:00That was given to Apex.

2:18:03These people, they're building it and

2:18:05they're going to give it to Apex. Apex

2:18:07going to take it and they're going to

2:18:08charge us $4,000 to attach to it. So

2:18:11what I'm what I come here to tonight to

2:18:13ask you is there any way that you can

2:18:17figure out a way that you can give the

2:18:19seven people that that that told that

2:18:23can attach to it can free well or we can

2:18:26attach to it free and see if you can

2:18:29give the rest of the people in the whole

2:18:32uh circle sewer

2:18:34>> because they need it too.

2:18:35>> Yes sir. I will connect with you after

2:18:37maybe tomorrow

2:18:38>> but your time is up but

2:18:40>> thank you. We heard you. Thank you so

2:18:41much. All right,

2:18:44>> Michael Rusher.

2:18:54>> Okay.

2:18:56Uh, Mayor Gilbert, members of the

2:18:57council, thank you for listening

2:18:58tonight. Mike Rusher. I'm at 914 Britley

2:19:01Way and representing a large group of

2:19:03concerned residents around the proposed

2:19:05North Salem Street mixeduse resoning

2:19:07project. They're not here tonight

2:19:09because the applicant has requested

2:19:10additional time and we're taking that as

2:19:13good news because the public hearing is

2:19:15coming up November 10th and we'll

2:19:17hopefully all of us together use that

2:19:19additional time uh to rely on you all to

2:19:23resolve some key questions before a vote

2:19:25comes up. I know your time's valuable

2:19:28tonight. This isn't on the hearing. I

2:19:30get it. But we hope you can understand

2:19:32with us how valuable um our quality of

2:19:36life is around Haden Hall and how

2:19:38serious our residents take this. So the

2:19:40handout that you have, I'll walk you

2:19:42through it real quick in my uh short

2:19:44time. Not a new set of requests. It's

2:19:46fully consistent with the October 8th

2:19:49set of comments that I sent in. This is

2:19:51a condensed version of that. We do

2:19:54appreciate the town staff's guidance on

2:19:56this process, but we have learned that

2:19:58damage is occurring in our neighborhood

2:20:00from past approved developments that are

2:20:03encroaching both on property uh and our

2:20:06um uh structures. So on page one,

2:20:09there's eight requests outlined there. I

2:20:11won't read all of them. They're simple

2:20:13and straightforward. On page two, the

2:20:16first concern that's listed is a land

2:20:18use map. There's a request to increase

2:20:22highdensity residential, amending your

2:20:24land use map that we need to take very

2:20:26seriously, but that change warrants our

2:20:30requested transition concessions among

2:20:33other things. That [clears throat] same

2:20:35page shows traffic concerns.

2:20:37If the connections, two of them into

2:20:39Haden Hall are going to occur, we need

2:20:42actual analysis of the cut through

2:20:43traffic, baseline data, postoping

2:20:46monitoring, and a written funded

2:20:48commitment for mitigation once those

2:20:50impacts occur. Their definition of a

2:20:52shortcut is on that graphic, and I do

2:20:55not buy for one second, neither does

2:20:56Haden Hall, that people are going to

2:20:58choose a series of left-hand turns to

2:21:00navigate around a very large area

2:21:03instead of cutting through less a half

2:21:05less than half a mile through Haden

2:21:06Hall. Page three and four, those are the

2:21:09most important pages in the handout. The

2:21:12storm water problems, not hypothetical.

2:21:14You've got actual photos of structural

2:21:16damage and property damage. The central

2:21:19question here before grading begins, can

2:21:21our downstream areas within Haden Hall

2:21:24actually handle the controlled and

2:21:26uncontrolled discharge from this

2:21:27development? Your town of Apex 2025

2:21:31storm water condition assessment says

2:21:33the answer to that question is no. And

2:21:36don't wait until development occurs to

2:21:38put fixes in place. You've got another

2:21:40picture. There's a famous saying on page

2:21:42four. Post development runoff cannot

2:21:45exceed pre-development runoff rates.

2:21:48Look at what's happening in that

2:21:49backyard. [clears throat] That is not

2:21:52the same amount of runoff. So, I'll skip

2:21:55the other things because I'm out of

2:21:56time. But I do thank each one of you for

2:21:58your service to Apex, honoring your

2:22:00campaign commitments to our residents.

2:22:02You all are united on this. So help us

2:22:05think through solutions ahead of time.

2:22:06Thank you.

2:22:07>> Thank you for speaking.

2:22:09>> Richard Longo.

2:22:15>> Marcy Longo. That's me.

2:22:17>> Okay. It says Richard.

2:22:19>> Oh,

2:22:21is there Richard Longo here?

2:22:26>> I'm pretty sure I did not type Richard

2:22:28for sure.

2:22:30>> Um, Mr. Mayor, members of the town

2:22:32council, my name is Marcy Longo. I live

2:22:35at 1114 Blackburn Road. I'm on the

2:22:37Hatenhal HOA board of directors. I'm a

2:22:39longtime resident and a representative

2:22:42for the families who call Haden Hall

2:22:43home. For Haten Hall residents, the

2:22:45Goodacres Farm proposed development on

2:22:47North Salem Street and application for

2:22:49resoning are not abstract concerns. They

2:22:54are substantiated risks that we need the

2:22:56town to take seriously

2:22:59prior to consideration of this

2:23:00application for resoning. I trust each

2:23:03of you took the time to read my comments

2:23:04that I emailed last week. Let me just

2:23:06remind you. Uh the town of Apex February

2:23:092025 storm water condition assessment

2:23:12identified 48 infrastructure upgrade

2:23:15projects to be completed in phase two.

2:23:1822 of those are in Haden Hall and 10 of

2:23:21those projects rank among the top 18

2:23:25priority sites. These are not

2:23:27hypothetical problems. These

2:23:29deficiencies have been identified by

2:23:32town staff and engineers. Our

2:23:34neighborhood has an aging storm water

2:23:36system with documented deficiencies. And

2:23:38if you'll recall during the September

2:23:41planning board meeting, the applicant

2:23:43acknowledged that the project site

2:23:45already drains naturally toward pipes

2:23:47south of the property in Haden Hall. The

2:23:50connection already exists and the

2:23:53infrastructure concerns already exist.

2:23:55The consequences of getting this wrong

2:23:57will fall on our residents. So, I'm

2:24:00willing to go on record with my bet that

2:24:03when Haden Hall residents began to speak

2:24:05up and demanded the applicant be held

2:24:06accountable, that's when a one-mon time

2:24:09a one-mon continuence on this resoning

2:24:11application was requested. We're not

2:24:14asking the town to ignore growth. We're

2:24:16asking that you don't put existing

2:24:17homeowners at risk by approving

2:24:19development before the following.

2:24:22require a complete and thorough

2:24:24downstream drainage and capacity

2:24:26analysis, including the drainage routes

2:24:28and the impacts of major storms. Require

2:24:31the applicant demonstrate that the

2:24:33existing downstream system can handle

2:24:35the additional discharge and require a

2:24:37binding commitment to inspect, clean,

2:24:39stabilize, and repair the identified

2:24:42high priority covers and related

2:24:44infrastructure before grading begins. Uh

2:24:48please um do not make Haden Hall

2:24:50residents pay the price for a

2:24:51construction problem that could have

2:24:53been a problem that could have been

2:24:54addressed before construction next

2:24:57month. When this comes back to the

2:24:59table, I respectfully urge you to deny

2:25:02the reasonzoning application until these

2:25:04storm water concerns are fully addressed

2:25:06and our neighborhood is protected. Our

2:25:08homes are not a testing ground and our

2:25:12neighborhood is not an acceptable

2:25:14gamble. Thank you. Thank you for

2:25:17>> appreciate your time.

2:25:18>> All right,

2:25:19>> Andrew Gluck.

2:25:29Hi, named Andrew named Andrew Gluck.

2:25:31Live in Walden Creek. I'd like to first

2:25:34thank the officials here for all the

2:25:35time they put in for the residents of

2:25:36Apex. Here to talk about the advisory

2:25:39board nominations and the changes the

2:25:41council might want to make. Uh, this

2:25:45basically seems like a power play to be

2:25:47able to put anyone on a board you want

2:25:49that's qualified or unqualified. We have

2:25:52to remember there's supposed to be a

2:25:53balance of power and people working

2:25:55together. Like you, this mayor was

2:25:58elected by the people of this town and

2:25:59they do not want someone's authority

2:26:01changed. If you want to change authority

2:26:03like this, put it to a vote. Let the

2:26:06people decide about this, not the

2:26:07council to give themselves more power.

2:26:10And uh the other thing I'd like to talk

2:26:12about what was said about the domestic

2:26:14violence earlier just want people to

2:26:16realize there's a domestic violence

2:26:18shelter in Raleigh. There's a place

2:26:20where women can go and donate their

2:26:22clothes for the people over there. I've

2:26:24done that before for from after my wife

2:26:26passed away donated all her clothes to

2:26:28the women's shelter and other people can

2:26:30do that also. And that would be a very

2:26:33good thing. And I found out they're

2:26:34always in need of uh additional clothing

2:26:36because some people some of these women

2:26:38flee their homes and not able to take

2:26:40the clothes with them or go back and get

2:26:42it without a police escort. And the

2:26:44other thing just about civil discourse

2:26:47a time well last time I was here I had a

2:26:49handout given to you by a news

2:26:51organization talking about who is

2:26:53sponsoring and paying for the flock

2:26:56camera protests. Just strange things

2:26:59after I left that I was approached by

2:27:02somebody and because he disagreed he

2:27:05called me a Nazi and a racist and then

2:27:08he announces he is DSA and those are

2:27:10some of the people who were mentioned.

2:27:12I'd like you to thank you and just to

2:27:14think about some things need to be put

2:27:15to a vote to the president's not to be

2:27:17decided unilary. Thank you very much for

2:27:19your time.

2:27:20>> Thank you for speaking.

2:27:23>> All right. Uh clerk just handed me a

2:27:25note. We have one addition for speaker

2:27:28Richard W.

2:27:40Hi. Please bear with me as I uh I'm not

2:27:43generally a public speaker. Um not a

2:27:47great orator, but I'll do the best I can

2:27:50here tonight. My name is Rich Pomerance,

2:27:522025 Catskill Court, and I'm here to

2:27:56talk to you tonight about the 50%

2:27:59reduction in yard waste service to the

2:28:03residents of Apex. [clears throat]

2:28:05Uh last Thursday, this past Thursday, uh

2:28:09in the mailbox, I received this card

2:28:12which announced that there has been a

2:28:15change in the U procedure in uh yard

2:28:21waste pickup that they weren't going to

2:28:24be coming every week. They were going to

2:28:25be coming every two weeks, which is a

2:28:2850% reduction in our services.

2:28:31So,

2:28:33um, on Friday, I called the Apex

2:28:36operator and they really couldn't help

2:28:39me. So, I went to the big man. I called

2:28:43the mayor's office and I received a

2:28:46voicemail and um, I was expecting a call

2:28:50back on Monday, but I received a call on

2:28:53Saturday. I figured it was going to be

2:28:55an assistant to the mayor, but it was

2:28:57the mayor.

2:28:59And I discussed my concerns with the

2:29:01reduction in yard waste and I also

2:29:05discussed my concerns with how the

2:29:09notification was given to the residents

2:29:12of Apex.

2:29:14So the mayor very graciously told me

2:29:18that he was against

2:29:21the reduction in services as well. he

2:29:25was strongly against it and that

2:29:28residents have been calling him

2:29:32complaining about the reduction.

2:29:36So I asked the mayor, I said, "Well, I I

2:29:40received no notification that you were

2:29:42contemplating reducing services."

2:29:45And he said, "Well, it was put on the

2:29:47apexnc.org

2:29:49website."

2:29:51And I said, "Well, that's not

2:29:53appropriate."

2:29:54uh notification to the residents. I

2:29:57would say probably 95% of the people

2:29:59only go on that website to pay their

2:30:01utility bills and then they're on to the

2:30:03next bill that they have to pay. They're

2:30:05not sitting there looking for reduction

2:30:07in services. So, nobody reads that. In

2:30:12reality, nobody reads that. Um, and he

2:30:16agreed with me, but he said that the

2:30:18city council, I'm sorry, the the town

2:30:20council

2:30:22um thought that that was an appropriate

2:30:25way for notification. It isn't.

2:30:28And the evidence that I have that it

2:30:31isn't is this postcard that I received

2:30:34in the mail on Thursday because if the

2:30:37town council felt that it was proper

2:30:41notification

2:30:42then

2:30:44then they would have

2:30:46uh at that time they would have uh just

2:30:50put it on the website but they sent a

2:30:52mailing out and the reason that they

2:30:54sent the mailing out is because they

2:30:56know that no one was going to follow

2:30:58polic policy unless they did that.

2:31:00>> Thanks for your time. You're out of

2:31:02time.

2:31:02>> I know. I know. Is there any way I could

2:31:04get any additional time?

2:31:07Because

2:31:07>> we can talk we can talk after the

2:31:09meeting for sure. Well, we've already

2:31:10talked and you know, but um what I very

2:31:15quickly what I'm asking for is that

2:31:17since there wasn't proper notification

2:31:19given and there wasn't uh a proper

2:31:22discussion because people didn't know

2:31:24about it that this policy would put in

2:31:27obeyance until such time as proper

2:31:29notification is given.

2:31:30>> Thank you so much. Thank you so much.

2:31:32All right, that concludes our public

2:31:34forum time. So, public forum is closed.

2:31:37Thanks to everyone who came out to

2:31:39speak.

2:31:40We're moving on. Does anyone want to

2:31:42take a break before we move on to the

2:31:43other business?

2:31:44>> Five minutes.

2:31:45>> Yes. Okay. All right. We're

2:31:48[laughter]

2:31:50>> all right. Recess 820.

2:43:00You remember the

2:43:33Councilman Gray

2:43:35is on the way. All right, we'll move to

2:43:38public hearing one. Annexation number

2:43:40797, Apex Medical Center, 1405 and 1407

2:43:43Zeno Road.

2:43:44>> That's withdrawn. Withdrawn. Okay.

2:43:48>> Public hearing

2:43:48>> number two.

2:43:49>> Number two. All right. Take us away.

2:43:51>> All right. So, this is annexation 837

2:43:54Ivy Glenn subdivision. It's located on

2:43:56Camp Branch Lane. It's 22.19 acres. Uh

2:44:00it is kind of in our western middle part

2:44:02of the jurisdiction. Uh you can see the

2:44:05property here. This one uh did have uh

2:44:08resoning approved and they're going

2:44:10through subdivision plan approval. Um

2:44:12and they do need to have their

2:44:14annexation approved in order to get uh

2:44:16public water and sewer and mute uh

2:44:20services. So staff recommends approval.

2:44:23>> Any questions for Miss K?

2:44:25All right. Hearing none, open up the

2:44:27public hearing for comment. No one is

2:44:28signed to speak. Public hearing is

2:44:30closed. Is there a motion?

2:44:31>> Motion to approve.

2:44:32>> Motion Ziggler second.

2:44:33>> Second. Mayor Proham. All in favor say

2:44:35I.

2:44:35>> I.

2:44:36>> Motion carries.

2:44:40>> Public hearing three like to have a

2:44:41motion and a second to continue to

2:44:43December.

2:44:44>> Move to continue to December

2:44:46>> 17th.

2:44:47>> 17th. Second.

2:44:48>> Pro Tim. Second is Reese.

2:44:52>> All right. All in favor say I.

2:44:54>> Oppos. Motion carries.

2:44:57Next is public hearing four.

2:45:10>> Uh good evening, mayor and council. Um

2:45:12I'm here on behalf of the Chapel Ridge

2:45:14North project, which is nearing the end

2:45:16of construction now. um this came before

2:45:18you several years ago for resoning and

2:45:21part of that reszoning was an extension

2:45:23of Chapel Ridge Road up to Beaver Creek

2:45:26Commons Drive. Um there's some project

2:45:29summary information here if we need to

2:45:31go back to it. But what we're really

2:45:32here for is this image on the bottom,

2:45:34this swath of rideway that was left over

2:45:37from the abandonment of the previous

2:45:39culde-sac, an extension of the road. Um

2:45:42and that right ofway is now to be

2:45:44redistributed between the Jordan

2:45:45Lutheran Church property and the um

2:45:48residential apartment properties.

2:45:51Any questions I can answer regarding

2:45:53this?

2:45:59Any questions?

2:46:01>> No.

2:46:02[laughter]

2:46:05We don't have any questions.

2:46:16All right, we'll open up a public

2:46:18hearing for comment. No one can speak.

2:46:20Public hearing is closed.

2:46:22>> Motion to approve.

2:46:23>> Motion. Second. Move. All in favor say

2:46:26I.

2:46:26>> I.

2:46:27>> Motion carries.

2:46:29>> Thank you.

2:46:32>> So hearing five. We'd also like a

2:46:34motion.

2:46:34>> Okay.

2:46:35>> To continue until November 10th. Make a

2:46:38motion to approve public hearing five to

2:46:40November.

2:46:41>> Continue.

2:46:41>> Continue. Sorry.

2:46:44>> I wasn't done yet. [laughter]

2:46:48>> I'll make a motion to continue public

2:46:50hearing five on November 10th.

2:46:53>> Until until

2:46:54>> Okay, now come on.

2:46:56>> I'm all off my game. [laughter]

2:47:00>> Until November 10th.

2:47:01>> All right. We have a motion for

2:47:02ziggment. Second.

2:47:03>> Second. Council member move. Any

2:47:05discussion? All in favor say I.

2:47:07>> I.

2:47:08>> Motion carries.

2:47:10>> Public hearing six. This Amanda Bucks.

2:47:18[clears throat]

2:47:34>> [laughter]

2:47:37>> Okay.

2:47:38Uh so these are the proposed uh UDO

2:47:41amendments that were requested by town

2:47:43council amending um the planning board

2:47:46and board of adjustment uh sections uh

2:47:50to change the method for how advisory

2:47:52board members are appointed. Uh the

2:47:54proposed language adds some

2:47:56clarification to earlier sections um as

2:47:59you can see in strike through and

2:48:00underlined here. But the primary changes

2:48:03in both sections, the language is the

2:48:04same. Um is in SE subsection E for the

2:48:08planning board uh

2:48:11rules is that membership recommendations

2:48:13made by the mayor shall be provided to

2:48:14the town court no less than 30 calendar

2:48:16days prior to the expiration of a

2:48:17membership turn. In the event of a

2:48:19vacancy not resulting from the scheduled

2:48:21expiration of a membership term, the

2:48:23mayor uh mayor recommendation shall be

2:48:26provided to the town clerk no later than

2:48:2830 calendar days after receipt of

2:48:29written notice of the vacancy from the

2:48:31town clerk. And then subsection F, which

2:48:34is new. Notwithstanding anything to the

2:48:36contrary, in subsections A through D,

2:48:39the town council may elect not to

2:48:41appoint an applicant recommended by the

2:48:43mayor, in which case the town council

2:48:44shall appoint another qualified

2:48:46applicant without further recommendation

2:48:48from the mayor. If no recommendation is

2:48:50provided by the mayor within the

2:48:51applicable time frame established in

2:48:53subsection E, the town council may

2:48:55appoint a qualified applicant without a

2:48:57recommendation from the mayor. um is

2:49:00language is the same for the board of

2:49:01adjustment. The planning board heard

2:49:03these amendments in September and

2:49:05continued the their recommendation till

2:49:08their meeting yesterday to get more

2:49:10information um from the town clerk. Um

2:49:12Alan came to a meeting and um gave some

2:49:16more background to the planning board.

2:49:18the planning board made um a suggestion

2:49:21in their recommendation that the

2:49:23subsection F in the planning board um

2:49:26section and then E in the board of

2:49:28adjustment section be amended with the

2:49:30text um that's in yellow that

2:49:32essentially keeps the shot clock so to

2:49:35say of the 30 calendar day period but

2:49:37gives the mayor one additional 30-day

2:49:40calendar period from the town council

2:49:42vote to recommend another applicant if

2:49:44the town council does not vote to

2:49:45appoint the initial applicant uh

2:49:48recommend commended by the mayor and

2:49:49then if the town council elects not to

2:49:51appoint the second recommendation then

2:49:53the council can appoint uh another

2:49:55qualified applicant without further

2:49:57recommendation. Um and that

2:50:00recommendation from the planning board

2:50:02um was passed by an 8 to1 vote

2:50:06>> and that's um that was the planning

2:50:08board's recommendation for you.

2:50:10>> Thank you so much. Any questions for

2:50:13response?

2:50:16Any questions for Mr. Any

2:50:25discussion?

2:50:29Yeah, I had an opportunity to watch the

2:50:31uh planning board meeting

2:50:35last night or the meeting last night.

2:50:38Watched it this morning. Um, and

2:50:43I appreciate the work and the questions

2:50:45that they were asking on that. And I do

2:50:47think

2:50:50I'll call the highlighted section the um

2:50:55the proposed amendment. Um, I see where

2:50:58they were I I see what they were trying

2:51:00to I think ultimately trying to

2:51:03accomplish with that language in there.

2:51:06um essentially kind of resetting the

2:51:09clock uh for another 30 days. And I

2:51:12think the question that I have is

2:51:15looking at that language that it appears

2:51:19as though we could have another

2:51:23essentially an extra 60day period if I'm

2:51:27reading that right. Maybe I'm being

2:51:30wrong.

2:51:31Okay. And but it seems as though that

2:51:33could also be kind of Essentially that

2:51:36could be a reset as well.

2:51:40>> So you could do 60 but then another 60

2:51:42on top of that.

2:51:43>> No. So it's 30 days,

2:51:46>> right?

2:51:46>> What they mentioned was the it initially

2:51:48be 30 days.

2:51:50>> If [clears throat] council

2:51:51>> does not appoint the individual that the

2:51:54mayor has recommended, right?

2:51:55>> Council sends it back to the mayor. He

2:51:57has an additional 30 days to provide a

2:51:59different name. Right?

2:52:00>> If council rejects that name, then they

2:52:02can submit

2:52:04is was their intent,

2:52:06>> right? And I and that because the part

2:52:08that Right. Because the part that kind

2:52:10of creates confusion is if the same name

2:52:12is again put forth.

2:52:15>> But that would based on language you

2:52:17could not.

2:52:18>> Well, I Well, I I know based on that I

2:52:20mean I think that is in this language. I

2:52:24think the intent from yesterday's

2:52:25conversation was that you couldn't do

2:52:27it. But

2:52:30where's the prohibition?

2:52:33says a different name of it,

2:52:35>> right? But it it but the language is not

2:52:38it's it's not proscriptive

2:52:44and and perhaps I'm overing this that

2:52:48would not be the first time, but to me

2:52:50that seems like

2:52:53a a

2:52:55pretty fl fatal gap in this which could

2:52:58essentially just kind of create the

2:53:00perpetual problem.

2:53:02I I kind of want to go back to the

2:53:04original intent here.

2:53:08Um

2:53:11we or previous councils

2:53:14have honored a long-standing tradition

2:53:17in front of April that the mayor makes

2:53:19the recommendation before the council

2:53:23appoints.

2:53:25Um, according to

2:53:27state law, the council needs to appoint,

2:53:30right, and a mayor recommendation is

2:53:32something that Apex has done for a long

2:53:34time. We appreciate that. We honor that

2:53:37and and ultimately that was encoded in

2:53:40language in the UDO.

2:53:43um that

2:53:45depending on you know the legal

2:53:48interpretation you know has resulted in

2:53:50in a place where we cannot move forward

2:53:54unless the mayor makes a recommendation.

2:53:56Right? So if there's ever a situation

2:53:59where the mayor is either

2:54:01incapacitated or is not not able to make

2:54:04a recommendation in a timely fashion or

2:54:08um simply does not want to do that, you

2:54:12know, these positions are now stuck,

2:54:15right?

2:54:15>> And so our intent here is not to take

2:54:19that that

2:54:20tradition and and practice away. Our

2:54:24intent here is to put a shot clock there

2:54:27so that we get more into a cadence and

2:54:30routine around appointing these uh

2:54:33members to res resident advisory boards.

2:54:37We have over the last four years that

2:54:39I've been here several times in

2:54:42situations where terms have expired.

2:54:46We the council have not done our jobs of

2:54:48appointing a new uh member to that

2:54:51council or to to that board. Forcing

2:54:54somebody to continue to serve in a

2:54:56position while their term has expired,

2:54:58right? Or you know if they don't want to

2:55:01forcing that member to resign from that

2:55:04board that you know they obviously have

2:55:06a commitment to otherwise they wouldn't

2:55:08have volunteered for it in the first

2:55:09place. So I think that's [clears throat]

2:55:11you know our inability

2:55:13to

2:55:16approve members board members at a you

2:55:18know at a you know in a timely fashion

2:55:22you know has resulted in in those

2:55:23situations where you know we're not

2:55:25really respecting the time of the

2:55:26members that are reserved. We're also

2:55:28not really respecting the people that

2:55:30apply for these positions and then we

2:55:32never get to a point of actually

2:55:34appointing those those positions. Right.

2:55:37And I think we're doing ourselves a

2:55:38disservice by maintaining that that kind

2:55:42of loose practice. And so all this

2:55:44language is is really to kind of, you

2:55:45know, clear clear up kind of a a current

2:55:48procedural backlog because of some of

2:55:50the wording that was chosen in the

2:55:52original language, right? Um I think

2:55:55we're still honoring the the time

2:55:58uh tradition of of the mayor making

2:56:00recommendations. Uh but we're putting a

2:56:02little bit of a a clock on that so that

2:56:04these these recommendations come timely

2:56:07in front of council. We have some time

2:56:08to debate them, you know, and and

2:56:10appoint another uh board member, you

2:56:13know, before the term expires, right?

2:56:15And so we could do a more orderly roll

2:56:18over of these advisory board positions.

2:56:20So I think that's the original intent

2:56:23that we were going for here. Um, and so,

2:56:28you know, having this amended language

2:56:30as proposed by the planning boards, I

2:56:32think, you know, still puts it in a

2:56:34position that, you know, we had 30 days,

2:56:36another 30 days, now we're now we're

2:56:38past the the date of that position

2:56:41terminating, right? And and therefore is

2:56:43is not really in line with what I

2:56:46believe we're trying to achieve.

2:56:48So, I'd like to, you know, go back or

2:56:51stick with the the original language

2:56:53that that was proposed without the fine

2:56:55boards operating.

2:56:58>> That's good information. I just want to

2:57:00add a few things as as [clears throat] I

2:57:01shared at the beginning of the meeting.

2:57:05I kind of like what was done here. It

2:57:06may not be the best language. Um I I

2:57:10think what I heard from the meeting, who

2:57:12was it? Um Jeff, I think

2:57:16>> Yeah. Hence.

2:57:17>> Yeah. He was trying to find a middle

2:57:18ground.

2:57:18>> Yeah.

2:57:19>> So, and I appreciated that. The one

2:57:21thing I do want to ask the clerk at this

2:57:24time

2:57:25because I think sometimes it looks like

2:57:27okay there's an intent to just stall an

2:57:29appointment. So from what I can recall

2:57:32in my time as mayor I can't speak for

2:57:34any mayors previously.

2:57:36I think there's been one time to where I

2:57:40brought back the same name and that was

2:57:43with Tracy Taylor uh because there were

2:57:46no other names. We reopened the process.

2:57:50She was the only one who reapplied. It

2:57:53was closed. There was only one

2:57:55candidate. That was the only name I had.

2:57:58Fast forward to 2026.

2:58:00[clears throat] We just I think there

2:58:02are many variables in this concern. It's

2:58:06not just me

2:58:09providing a name. It could be that the

2:58:11clerk didn't give me names in time and

2:58:13in terms that has happened as well. So,

2:58:16there's a lot of things involved in the

2:58:17process. And I'm not saying he's done

2:58:19anything wrong. was just the way things

2:58:20work. I'm I'm just ready to move forward

2:58:23and get these appointments made. I don't

2:58:25I don't want to sit here and hash this

2:58:26out. Whatever y'all decide to do, let's

2:58:28just get it done and let's get out of

2:58:31here. If if that's what you want to

2:58:33pass, pass it. Um but I'm I'm just ready

2:58:37to make appointments.

2:58:40>> I would remind the council just remind

2:58:41you you do have to open a public hearing

2:58:43for this before you

2:58:44>> I got it. Yeah. I'm just just trying to

2:58:46comment right now about where I stand.

2:58:49And this this is not about me. This is

2:58:51about the mayor's office. Um and I think

2:58:53me not presenting that information

2:58:57is not the best thing for the office of

2:58:58mayor, whoever wants to come after me.

2:59:01Um so I'm just making sure that is

2:59:03noted. One time we we disagreed and it

2:59:06and it got to an elevated point, but we

2:59:09moved past it. Um and I just I just want

2:59:13to make sure

2:59:15I go back to what what problem are we

2:59:17trying to solve? Um if there was one

2:59:19disagreement or that thought that what's

2:59:22coming up next is going to be a

2:59:24potential stall why we're changing the

2:59:28ordinance [clears throat] based on what

2:59:30we think could happen. Um and I get what

2:59:33you're trying to say council trying to

2:59:35you know look at everything but

2:59:38that's where I stand.

2:59:44>> [clears throat]

2:59:46>> So yeah, I mean I I would I think I mean

2:59:49the Taylor thing that's I'm calling that

2:59:53past history. I mean that's I I don't I

2:59:55don't know if that Well, I can say

2:59:57that's not driving I think the the the

3:00:00the impetus behind the change. I think

3:00:02the impetus behind the change is how do

3:00:04we get these things moving as quickly as

3:00:07possible? You know, I sat there watched

3:00:10Jeff and the rest of the planning board

3:00:12because I think the the yellow I'll call

3:00:14it the Hastings amendment. The Hastings

3:00:16amendment was a I think a very good

3:00:19faith effort to try to come to a middle

3:00:21ground.

3:00:23I my reading is that I don't think we

3:00:26created a middle ground with this. I

3:00:28think it was an attempt to get to a

3:00:30middle ground. I think the language

3:00:31unfortunately places us into a position

3:00:33where we're right back to the concern

3:00:34and I think it's a valid concern of

3:00:37we'll you know we can move 60 days and

3:00:40another 60 days and another 60 days

3:00:42because of how the language is just

3:00:43happens to be written and not to not to

3:00:45blame anybody about that. I think this

3:00:47was just you know I you my hats off to

3:00:51Jeff and I you know and everybody who

3:00:52was on the deis yesterday because they

3:00:54were trying to figure out all right how

3:00:55do we get to a middle ground? I think,

3:00:57you know, the the real focus is, and I

3:00:59agree with the mayor on this one, you

3:01:01know, let's just come up with the

3:01:03process and let's just kind of go

3:01:04forward with this at this point in time.

3:01:06You know, let's let's get the

3:01:08appointments moving. Let's get the folks

3:01:09on there. We've got boards that are uh

3:01:12going to start to lapse and we want to

3:01:14we want to get them all taken care of.

3:01:16>> So, I'll just mention because this is

3:01:20for for you all to discuss the current

3:01:22rules and the ordinance do not

3:01:24>> right match up. There has to be an

3:01:26ordinance amendment

3:01:28>> regardless because the rules that you

3:01:30all have adopted

3:01:31>> dictate that there's ballot voting that

3:01:33council can submit nominees,

3:01:35>> the ordinance does not. And so

3:01:38>> whichever direction you choose, just

3:01:40know that there's inconsistency between

3:01:42both.

3:01:44>> Yeah. No, no, no. And I think it's, you

3:01:46know, we can clear up the the

3:01:48inconsistencies. We'll get that done and

3:01:50then we'll see how this works out and if

3:01:52we need to make adjustments later, we

3:01:53can.

3:01:55I just I just want to be in a position

3:01:57whatever whatever decisions made this

3:01:59evening is that it puts us in a position

3:02:02as mayor council working together like

3:02:04we got to have those discussions whether

3:02:05it's in open session or we talk to each

3:02:08other um to kind of share why I would

3:02:12like to go with this candidate versus a

3:02:13candidate you may be interested in I

3:02:15think that's something we really got to

3:02:16approve on I know that's a part

3:02:18>> I don't think it's separate part I think

3:02:20it's actually kind of from the

3:02:21conversation yesterday that was kind of

3:02:24the you know the I think the impetus

3:02:26behind the Hastings amendment was was to

3:02:29basically create a position where there

3:02:32has to be that communication if there's

3:02:35a a stalemate. I think fully recognizing

3:02:37that the number of stalemates over the

3:02:40you know 150 plus years of Apex actually

3:02:43being a municipality is just one. So, I

3:02:45mean, I I don't want to say that we're

3:02:47over planning for for one, but I do

3:02:49think that right now our rules are not

3:02:51incon are inconsistent with the

3:02:53ordinance. Just bring the ordinance in.

3:02:55I'm willing to make a motion that we

3:02:57adopt it the language as it was

3:02:58originally presented and then we can

3:03:00move forward from there.

3:03:08>> That was anybody want to discuss any

3:03:10further go and open up public hearing.

3:03:13All [clears throat] right, we'll open up

3:03:14public hearing for the item. Um, no one

3:03:18no one understand. Okay. All right.

3:03:21Public hearing is closed. Comments. Go

3:03:23ahead. [clears throat]

3:03:24>> Thank you, mayor. Um,

3:03:27so, uh, I I do want to clarify and

3:03:30affirm that state law unamiguously gives

3:03:32the town council, uh, the role to make

3:03:35appointments. Um 160D-310

3:03:39says the appointments to these boards

3:03:40shall be made by the governor board. Uh

3:03:45um our ordinances as council member

3:03:47Zigman said provides the mayor mix

3:03:49recommendation that's not changing. Uh

3:03:53the goal here asked what the point is

3:03:56and this is again discussed earlier.

3:03:58It's about reliability. I want to get to

3:04:00the point we do dozens of these a year.

3:04:04I use a point where they come up,

3:04:05they're due, and uh we have a vote on

3:04:08it, something happens, we move on, and

3:04:11then there'll be more votes in the

3:04:13wants. Um the change here, the so-called

3:04:16shot clock that's in the original

3:04:17ordinance accomplishes that by changing

3:04:20the focus from this process that we have

3:04:23about recommendations and there and

3:04:25whatever to just the calendar. The

3:04:28calendar now drives it with the change.

3:04:29Nothing else changed except there's a

3:04:31due date. Now, that's the first thing.

3:04:33There's a second thing I want to mention

3:04:34that wasn't wasn't uh discussed and it

3:04:37had to do with the the ballot thing that

3:04:38the

3:04:40uh the clerk mentioned earlier.

3:04:42[clears throat]

3:04:43Um when a governing board when any board

3:04:46or any uh governing body makes

3:04:50appointments, the recommendation or our

3:04:51patrols is to use ballots. Um the UNCC

3:04:54school of government has a manual for

3:04:56recommended procedures for town councils

3:04:58and it says to use ballots. The reason

3:05:01it says to use ballots has to do with

3:05:02respect for the applicants because the

3:05:05alternative which you went through a

3:05:07couple weeks ago is you go vote up or

3:05:08down each person one after another

3:05:11and that person has to observe their

3:05:14town council until you get to the one

3:05:15you want potentially voting them down

3:05:17and I I think no matter how you try to

3:05:19phrase that is going to be taken with a

3:05:21negative connotation even if you have

3:05:23the two best people in the world one's

3:05:25number one's number two they have to

3:05:27watch you vote down the second best or

3:05:28whatever that's why the recommend

3:05:30procedure is to use these ballots

3:05:32because you're not voting against

3:05:33someone, you're voting for who you want

3:05:36and that's important to me and that's

3:05:37the way everybody does it. Um you you go

3:05:40through you do a ballot or you do it by

3:05:42unanimous consent that you all agree. Um

3:05:44this this issue about uh voting against

3:05:48someone it bugs me. It bugs me when I

3:05:50when we do it and I think it's uh sends

3:05:52a wrong message to these applicants.

3:05:54That's the purpose there is you want to

3:05:55vote who you want, not against who you

3:05:58don't. Um, so I would I would phrase it

3:06:01that way and and keep that in mind and

3:06:03just consider that point. This is how

3:06:05the recommended procedure involves

3:06:07ballots due to respect for the

3:06:09applicants. Not any other reason to do

3:06:11with us or whatever or or authority.

3:06:13It's just about the applicants. Um,

3:06:17and uh, yeah, that's about it. And I

3:06:19want to get to the place where we're

3:06:21just doing this routinely. And that's

3:06:22why I uh, support this language.

3:06:27>> Good information. I I'll just add one

3:06:28thing to that. Um you're right. No one

3:06:31wants to vote down anyone with the

3:06:33president being in a meeting or or

3:06:35watching. I just

3:06:38we don't have any type of information

3:06:40when

3:06:42why why are you choosing this person,

3:06:44you know, we never have those

3:06:46discussions. I think that's important.

3:06:47And and the reason I say that we just

3:06:49had one recently where we did an

3:06:51interview process and we didn't have all

3:06:53members present for the interviews and

3:06:54then we still went to a decision. Um,

3:06:58it's just things like that. I think we

3:06:59got to have those open discussions and

3:07:01[clears throat]

3:07:02give reasons why we support a candidate

3:07:06um as as we make these decisions.

3:07:09>> Anyway, points points heard,

3:07:11>> but none of this language would stop us

3:07:14from having

3:07:15>> Absolutely. I'm just saying yeah, as we

3:07:16move forward, for sure,

3:07:18>> definitely we should have those

3:07:19conversations. And to be clear, I mean,

3:07:21our process, we we needed clarification

3:07:23on this process. I mean, just think

3:07:25about how many boards we've added in the

3:07:27last year and think about how many

3:07:30positions we've added in the last year.

3:07:33Youth, senior, I mean, we've,

3:07:37you know, we just needed [clears throat]

3:07:38to clean this up. I, you know, I my my

3:07:41my hats off to my colleagues for this

3:07:43because this is, I mean, you've all

3:07:45heard my acrimony on the entire subject

3:07:48of the board selections. uh you guys

3:07:50take these with much more uh you know

3:07:55much more gusto than I do because I I

3:07:58mean I I feel as though if somebody

3:07:59wants to serve they can. Um, you know, I

3:08:02feel like, you know, we could expand

3:08:04these boards, bring everybody on, but

3:08:06you guys take this, you know, you take

3:08:07this seriously and you guys put a lot of

3:08:09work into this, and I commend you all

3:08:11for, you know, for for basically taking

3:08:14this process seriously and this step.

3:08:17You know, it's it's really easy to say

3:08:19it's a talking point to say that

3:08:20something's being taken away or

3:08:22something's being given away. And I

3:08:23think quite frankly, that's a missed

3:08:26opportunity to look at what we're trying

3:08:27to do, which is we got a lot of people

3:08:29who really want to serve. We got a lot

3:08:31of people who want to contribute to

3:08:32their community.

3:08:35Let's figure out how do we give everyone

3:08:37that opportunity to do so. You may not

3:08:39get it this time. You may get it next

3:08:41time. If you don't get it this time,

3:08:42it's not because you aren't good enough.

3:08:44It may be because there may be somebody

3:08:45else who may have a skill or a talent or

3:08:48a viewpoint that needs to be reflected

3:08:49at that point in time. And this process

3:08:52gives us the ability to make sure that

3:08:54we're doing so in a timely manner. So, I

3:08:56congratulate my my colleagues out here

3:08:58for putting in the work on this. Lord

3:09:00knows I didn't want to [laughter]

3:09:05>> was out loud.

3:09:05>> All right.

3:09:05>> I know.

3:09:07>> All right. So, we'll go back to um the

3:09:09original language.

3:09:12>> I'll make a motion to approve the

3:09:14amendment as originally proposed.

3:09:17>> A second.

3:09:18>> We have a motion to second. Any further

3:09:20discussion?

3:09:24Hearing none. All in favor say I.

3:09:26>> I.

3:09:26>> Oppos. All right. Motion carries

3:09:27unanimously.

3:09:29>> All right. Move now to

3:09:32um

3:09:35>> we still need to do RA1

3:09:38>> which is the town code.

3:09:40>> Oh yeah.

3:09:40>> Canyon amendments.

3:09:42>> Okay.

3:09:43>> So we have the which you just approved

3:09:45was the UDO.

3:09:47>> We also have the town code that

3:09:49>> Okay.

3:09:51>> Maybe can can you explain why there's a

3:09:53difference?

3:09:54So the boards that have development

3:09:56related roles are in the UDO. All the

3:09:59other boards are in the town code.

3:10:02There's been discussions over the years

3:10:04on whether you know all the appointment

3:10:07procedures and and process should be in

3:10:09the town code but it was recommended

3:10:11that planning board and board of

3:10:12adjustment remain in the UDO. So the of

3:10:15the six boards, four of them are in the

3:10:18town code and two of them that are

3:10:20development related board of adjustment

3:10:22and plan board.

3:10:24And is it correct that this language is

3:10:25exactly the same what we just approved

3:10:27for the other two just for the other

3:10:28boards?

3:10:28>> Correct.

3:10:30>> Unless you all want to change it.

3:10:33[laughter]

3:10:34[clears throat]

3:10:34>> I'll just correct part of that. Substit.

3:10:37It's not exacting because it's a little

3:10:38different just the way it's placed in

3:10:40the town code. So it kind of comes in

3:10:41different areas. So it's not precisely

3:10:43word for word, but it's substantially

3:10:45the same.

3:10:46>> Materially the same. Yes.

3:10:48[clears throat]

3:10:54>> All right. What's the next step?

3:10:55>> I'll make a motion to approve the or

3:10:58motion to update the town code uh

3:11:01according to the language as proposed.

3:11:04>> All right. Motion Z.

3:11:05>> Okay, I'll second.

3:11:06>> Second. Great. Any further discussion?

3:11:10>> Hearing none. All in favor say I. I

3:11:12>> this motion carries.

3:11:15>> All right. Now we do appointments,

3:11:16right?

3:11:22>> So this is the first time that you all

3:11:24are doing the appointments now. Um so I

3:11:28will distribute the ballots. I have

3:11:31everybody you have in front of you.

3:11:33Everybody that received at least one

3:11:35nomination from the that were submitted

3:11:38were included on the ballot. If you want

3:11:41to add any names,

3:11:43there's a writing spot for you to add a

3:11:45name. I'll distribute the ballots.

3:11:48>> We start with cab first.

3:11:50>> We we'll do all of them on the ballot.

3:11:56>> Is there any questions before I

3:11:57distribute the

3:11:58>> Yeah. So all So all on the ballot.

3:12:00>> They're they're all on the ballots.

3:12:01everybody that got at least one vote or

3:12:03a nomination from all six of you, which

3:12:07the mayor, you've not submitted a a

3:12:09recommendation. So, if you wanted to put

3:12:11that out there, there's a space on here

3:12:13for them to write in should they so

3:12:15choose.

3:12:16>> Okay.

3:12:17>> So, do you want to give your

3:12:18recommendations?

3:12:20>> Yeah,

3:12:21>> we have three.

3:12:23>> We have four fours.

3:12:26>> And at the top of each category on your

3:12:28ballot, you've got the number of

3:12:29positions.

3:12:32Okay. So, before we distribute the

3:12:34ballots, I want to make sure that is

3:12:35there any other names that we need to

3:12:36add.

3:12:39>> Can we have the ballots and then when

3:12:41the mayor makes his recommendation, I

3:12:43can write it down.

3:12:49>> Thank you.

3:12:51>> Thank you. But it won't be sure.

3:12:56>> So for cal there's one position

3:13:00>> for multimodal there's one position for

3:13:03park and wreck the senior category

3:13:05there's one position and for planning

3:13:08board there's one position and the names

3:13:10that you see listed are those that have

3:13:11been interviewed.

3:13:13>> Okay.

3:13:17Well, I in in the spirit of what the

3:13:20mayor previously said with regard to um

3:13:24explaining our votes because I I do want

3:13:26to explain at least with regard to parks

3:13:28recy

3:13:30senior position. Um you know I know that

3:13:32we have uh Jim Herbs and uh Adriana. I

3:13:36think my my vote was for Adriana because

3:13:39as I was looking at the composition of

3:13:41that board as a whole,

3:13:44I felt that there was at least a missing

3:13:47voice from the

3:13:50women who utilized that senior center a

3:13:53lot. Um, you know, not to say that Jim

3:13:56wasn't a a qualified candidate. I think

3:13:58he's a great candidate. We've all talked

3:13:59to him. I think he's he's got a great uh

3:14:02a great sense and a great desire to

3:14:04serve this community. Um, But as I was

3:14:07looking at the board as a whole, I think

3:14:10it's important that we at least account

3:14:13for voices that may not be as loud or as

3:14:17vocal but need to be heard and need to

3:14:19be at the table. So, um just to put some

3:14:22explanation as to why I put down Adriana

3:14:26um particularly in that board because it

3:14:28looks as though we are uh we're kind of

3:14:31short um women on that pan on on that

3:14:34board and that was that just the

3:14:37understand my explanation behind why on

3:14:40your grid sheet I'm kind of the lone

3:14:43voice out there but hopefully um placing

3:14:46that as a future as an additional

3:14:48consideration for that board um u and

3:14:51and the things that that board does

3:14:54particularly in that space. Maybe you

3:14:56guys will consider that as an additional

3:14:58factor as you're making your votes.

3:15:00>> So, I'll just say I mean the last time I

3:15:02I thought I was working with y'all.

3:15:04Y'all y'all had four and then I put them

3:15:06up there and y'all voted down.

3:15:08But it's all good. Um so I that would be

3:15:11my recommendation if I could start there

3:15:13for that one. A um based on what council

3:15:16member Gray said. So we'll that' be my

3:15:19recommendation.

3:15:20>> Your recommendation who sir

3:15:21>> Adriana

3:15:24Yeah.

3:15:25>> Do you have any other recommendations?

3:15:26>> Yeah. Yeah. Um so for CAB I would like

3:15:29to recommend Aaron Scholes. I think she

3:15:32would serve well on CAB

3:15:36and

3:15:39the Multimoto. Who was the staff? Um

3:15:42>> Christopher Sheiley.

3:15:44>> Christopher Sheiley. Yeah, that that

3:15:46pronounc

3:15:47>> that'd be my recommendation there.

3:15:51>> They were the reason they recommended

3:15:53him just for those that may be watching

3:15:54is because they felt like there needed

3:15:56to be a bicycle advocate.

3:15:57>> Yeah, I was going to include it on the

3:15:59board.

3:16:00>> So, we typically don't receive staff

3:16:02recommendations, but that was one voice

3:16:03that they felt like was missing.

3:16:05>> Thank you. Yeah, I was that that was

3:16:07also going to be my explanation behind U

3:16:10Mr. Jay because I realized we didn't we

3:16:12didn't have an a cycling advocate and uh

3:16:15that's a that's that that's a voice that

3:16:17needs to be heard.

3:16:20>> All right. Um any else? Okay. So, we

3:16:23need one more, right? Planning board.

3:16:25Okay. So, this one I would just say I

3:16:27mean I know I I presented Chyon Neville

3:16:31earlier or the last council meeting. Um,

3:16:34we did vote that up and down and he

3:16:37didn't get enough votes to move forward.

3:16:39Although, I will say I thought he

3:16:41interviewed very well. He showed up on

3:16:43time and he's really committed a lot to

3:16:47this community already. However, I do

3:16:49understand we need to move forward. So,

3:16:51my recommendation tonight would be uh

3:16:53Tandu Zay.

3:16:58kind of in the spirit of what council

3:17:00member Craig just just mentioned um my

3:17:02code for Miss Sang is uh similar

3:17:06rationale um you know looking at our

3:17:09board composition overall uh we see very

3:17:12little participation from our Asian

3:17:14community which is you know 15 16 17% of

3:17:18of our total community in Apex right and

3:17:20so you know you would kind of think

3:17:22that's that's their you know

3:17:24participation from that community on our

3:17:26boards kind of mirrors that and we I

3:17:28don't really see that. So I I have a

3:17:29strong preference to to bring um you

3:17:33know some different voices uh plus you

3:17:35know female participation because you

3:17:37know we're still very heavily male

3:17:39dominated. That's just you know we'll

3:17:41show you right uh so those were really

3:17:44my motivations for um you know nothing

3:17:47against the Chyon right I think you know

3:17:49qualified but that was kind of did it

3:17:52for me in terms of choosing one over the

3:17:54other.

3:17:54>> Yeah. And and I while you said that with

3:17:56the makeup of board. Um, another reason

3:17:59why I wanted to move Kyum Ford, if you

3:18:01look at the planning board, we have no

3:18:02African-American representation on the

3:18:04planning board currently. And I know we

3:18:06had discussed that and how important it

3:18:07was to make sure our boards are diverse.

3:18:10But what I will say is uh I would hope

3:18:12this council will support me and the

3:18:15next time Kyone applies that we try to

3:18:17find him a place to serve.

3:18:20He's really

3:18:21>> Thank you.

3:18:23>> Yeah.

3:18:27>> Thank you.

3:18:40For what it's worth, I had a

3:18:41conversation with uh with the mayor

3:18:43promp earlier and he had mentioned we

3:18:45could we should probably think about

3:18:47expanding the board just so that we can

3:18:49accommodate two good applicants.

3:18:52>> Yeah,

3:18:53I'm going to start with the announcement

3:18:55of the results. Go ahead

3:18:56>> and I'll go by board.

3:18:58So for the culture and arts board

3:19:01there's one position vacant. Uh

3:19:03nomination for mayor promappy for Aaron

3:19:06Schultz.

3:19:08Nomination from council member moo.

3:19:11Aaron Schultz

3:19:15nomination from council member Zigerman.

3:19:18Aaron Schultz.

3:19:21Nomination from council member Reese.

3:19:24Aaron Schultz.

3:19:29Nomination from council member Gray

3:19:31Aaron Schultz. It passes five to zero.

3:19:35And Schultz is appointed for the

3:19:38multimodal position. There is one

3:19:40position vacant. AR Pro Tim Mafy

3:19:43recommends appointment of Christopher

3:19:45Shaye.

3:19:47Council member Moo recommends the

3:19:49appointment of Christopher Shaye.

3:19:52Council member Zigerman recommends the

3:19:54appointment of Christopher Shaye.

3:19:57Council member Reese recommends the

3:19:59appointment of Christopher Shaye.

3:20:02Council member Gray recommends the

3:20:04appointment of Christopher Shaye.

3:20:07That passes five to zero.

3:20:10The next is parks and wreck for the

3:20:12senior position.

3:20:16Mayor Pro Tim recommend Adriana.

3:20:22Council member Moo recommends Adriana

3:20:25Stano.

3:20:26Council member Zigerman recommends

3:20:29Adriana Stano. Council member Reese

3:20:32recommends Adriana Stano. Council member

3:20:36Gray recommends Adriana Stano. It passes

3:20:40five to zero. Adriana is appointed.

3:20:44The last board for planning board.

3:20:46There's one position vacant. Mayor Pro

3:20:49Tim Mahappy recommends Tien Duo Aang.

3:20:54Council member Moo recommends Tienu

3:20:57Aang.

3:20:59Council member Zigerman recommends

3:21:01Tiandu Zang.

3:21:03Council member Reese recommends Chyon

3:21:06Neville.

3:21:08Council member Gray recommends Chyon

3:21:11Nebles. It passes 3 to two.

3:21:17All right, we're good.

3:21:19>> All positions are filled.

3:21:21>> All right, positions are filled.

3:21:22Celebrate.

3:21:24>> Yay.

3:21:25>> We got eight coming up in December.

3:21:26Let's go.

3:21:28>> And we do this again 30 days.

3:21:30>> Well, for the for you know, just for we

3:21:33did receive this week um as of yesterday

3:21:36and Gary's resignation. So, I passed

3:21:38that along to you all. So there is

3:21:41immediate vacancy on the environmental

3:21:43advisor board that will wait and come

3:21:44back in December

3:21:46>> with the other ones unless there's a

3:21:49priority to move it forward.

3:21:51>> All right. All right. Thank you

3:21:53everyone. Uh what do we have here?

3:21:56>> Close session.

3:21:57>> Go to close session.

3:21:58>> All right. We make a motion going to

3:21:59close second. Move. All in favor say I.

3:22:02>> I motion carries. Move to close session.

3:22:04We have no other business out. So, the

3:22:06Lone Ranger, thanks for chilling with us

3:22:09tonight. [laughter]

3:22:14>> Um, we don't

3:22:25we don't

3:32:49Okay. Okay.

3:32:52>> Second.

3:32:54[laughter]

3:32:59>> I'm ready to leave.

3:33:01>> All right. See you guys later. Get home.