2026-09-08 - City Council Workshop

00:23We'll now call this regular workshop

00:25meeting of the Jacksonville City Council

00:26to order. Uh council, uh you have a copy

00:29of the proposed agenda for tonight and

00:31we would like to add a an item. Uh and

00:35we'll put it down at uh we put

00:4110 A and this is a U

00:45annexation

00:47for Veritus Retail Partners.

00:51With that, I would entertain a motion.

00:54>> Second.

00:56>> Any further discussion? All in favor

00:58signify by saying I.

01:00>> I.

01:00>> All opposed.

01:03Next, we have the uh adoption of the

01:06minutes from the August 18th, 2026

01:08regular meeting and also the adoption of

01:10the consent items listed.

01:13>> Move approval of the minutes and consent

01:14items as presented.

01:15>> Second.

01:20>> So, that brings us down to discussion

01:22topics for the night and first one will

01:25be number 11. Oh, I'm sorry. I guess we

01:27ought to do do some voting, haven't we?

01:30Thank you. That's what you're here for.

01:32to remind me. All right. All those in

01:35favor signify by saying I. All opposed.

01:38Okay. Now we'll move on to the

01:39discussion. I was just ripping ready to

01:42go here. Uh this is number 11.

01:45Resolution to redistricting the city of

01:47Jacksonville's electoral vote awards.

01:50And

01:51Caroline.

01:54>> Good evening everybody. Good evening. My

01:58name is Caroline Mackey. I'm an attorney

02:00with pointers for rule. Uh my colleague

02:02Nick Tusco and I will be working with

02:04you as we go through this process,

02:07assuming you all uh desire to go through

02:10this process.

02:12Am I in control here?

02:15There we go. Okay. Um so, uh like I

02:19said, I'm an attorney, so my job is to

02:21advise you about the legal process and

02:24procedures that govern redistricting.

02:27Tonight's discussion is going to be on

02:29council's consideration and potential

02:32approval of a resolution to redistrict.

02:38And let me just give just a brief

02:40background to get us started. So the um

02:45city of Jacksonville charter contains

02:48the structure of city council and and

02:50how you all are elected. And so, as you

02:53all know, you've got two council members

02:55who are elected at large from the city

02:57as a whole, and you've got four council

03:00members who are elected from wards. And

03:02those are considered electoral

03:04districts. So, the candidate has to

03:07reside in the district. And only the

03:09voters who live in that district can

03:11vote for those seats.

03:18And let me talk just a minute about the

03:20authority that you all have to

03:22redistrict. As you all know, the

03:24legislature can come in and redistrict,

03:26can change your structure at any point

03:28in time, but that doesn't mean that you

03:30also don't have the authority to

03:33redistrict. The applicable statute is

03:36general statute 168-23b.

03:39and it says council shall have authority

03:41to revise electoral district boundaries

03:44from time to time. Then it talks about

03:46if the boundaries are in the city

03:48charter yours are not. So that sentence

03:52does not apply. And then the next

03:56sentence says that when you have

03:58established districts in conformity with

04:00the constitution. So that's generally

04:02your redistricting after each census or

04:05territory is annexed to or excluded from

04:08the city. Whichever event occurs first,

04:12then you can redistrict. And in in

04:15redistricting, you may use the data from

04:18the most recent federal census, which

04:21would be 2020. Um, and you're not

04:23required to use any other population

04:25estimates. So even though we know

04:27population changes over the decade,

04:29you're allowed to use census data.

04:32So um as I said, you're the boundaries

04:36are not set out in your city charter and

04:38you have recent annex territory. So it

04:42is perhaps a good time to be considering

04:45redistricting.

04:48So what council has before it tonight is

04:51a proposed resolution to redistrict.

04:55It recognizes the change that has

04:57occurred in your municipal corporate

04:59boundaries with that recent annexation

05:01session law 2026-56.

05:04It preserves the board system as it

05:06currently exists. So four electoral

05:09districts to members at large. It it

05:12recognizes that the charter language

05:14that was added in 2006 relative to two

05:18of your wards cannot be removed without

05:20making changes to your structure. So

05:23again, it preserves the word structure

05:25as it currently exists and it recognizes

05:29an intent to redistrict to account for

05:31that new territory and in compliance

05:33with the law and it generally describes

05:35the process that you would use to

05:37redistrict.

05:44So um that's what's before council

05:46tonight. The next time that we meet

05:48would be just a discussion of the

05:50criteria that's going to govern the

05:52process. Some of those are required by

05:55law, some of them are optional. And

05:57likely following that would be a

06:00resolution that actually establishes the

06:02criteria to govern.

06:06So if there are questions, I will be

06:09happy to answer those.

06:10>> I have a question for you.

06:11>> Yes, sir.

06:11>> Right. you were talking about using the

06:13census about typically using census for

06:17this. How do you figure on the uh

06:20population in between if you could

06:24explain that to

06:25>> if you were to use something other than

06:27the census? Um so there are there's

06:29something called American Community

06:31Survey which is comes between census.

06:34It's not an official count. It's more of

06:37an estimate. You can use that data. Um

06:40you can also rely just internally on

06:42staff who who know sort of the planning

06:45and how population has changed where the

06:48growth has been um that sort of thing.

06:54So I I have one question. So, the

06:58process of how this is going to go,

07:02we're going to solicit community input.

07:06Um, that'll be that'll be discussed at a

07:09later date, right?

07:10>> That that will be. Yes. So, when I come

07:12back next time, we'll talk about

07:14criteria and it's up to council whether

07:17and when you want to have a public

07:19hearing and solicit public comment. if

07:21you want that at the point of selecting

07:23criteria. U you do need a public hearing

07:26at some point in the process, but um how

07:30you receive that public comment is is up

07:32to council

07:33>> and the criteria would also include

07:35whether we have a citizens committee

07:37that advises us or not.

07:39>> That's right. That's right. And that's

07:41part of the process that the council

07:44will decide.

07:45>> Okay. So really no decisions other than

07:48the resolution.

07:49>> That's right. tonight is just simply

07:51this resolution to start the process.

07:55>> You mentioned uh the population from the

07:57census. What was the other group or

07:59other data?

08:00>> American Community Survey.

08:02>> Community survey.

08:06>> That's something that we initiate.

08:08>> No, that's that's data that is

08:11>> already it's already

08:16somewhere else.

08:17>> The Census Bureau does that.

08:23Anybody other questions?

08:39>> So, you're asking for some some action

08:41approval. The the request tonight is a

08:44decision on the the resolution to

08:46redistrict to initiate the process.

08:49>> Mr. Mayor, I move we approve the

08:50resolution as presented to begin the

08:52process.

08:53>> We have a motion and a second by Mr.

08:55Willingham. Any other discussion

08:58here? None. All in favor signify by

09:00saying I.

09:01>> All opposed. Motion carries. We go down

09:04to number 12.

09:06>> Our council doesn't need her further.

09:08We're going to go ahead and

09:09>> Oh, absolutely.

09:10>> Thank you. Thank you. I'll see you in a

09:12few weeks.

09:24>> All right.

09:26Good evening, Mayor Council. Um, it's

09:28been a while since we talked about the

09:30ERP. So, uh, what I'm coming here

09:32tonight to do is provide you an update

09:34of of where we at, where we need to,

09:36where we're going to be at, and, uh,

09:38where we're headed. So, uh, right now

09:40we'll get started with,

09:43um, like I said, where we at the this is

09:47our update and what I'm here to do is

09:48provide you with a current status of our

09:50phase one and phase two of the EP

09:53implementation. And then we're just

09:55going to discuss some of the challenges

09:57and successes that we have during this

09:59process and then probably provide you an

10:01update with the schedule remaining um,

10:04as we go through this implementation

10:05process.

10:08All right. So, um, so why the need for

10:10an ERP? Uh, for some of the council

10:13members who haven't been here, uh, when

10:14we first started this back in 2022,

10:18um, we, uh, we we needed one to replace

10:22the aging legacy system that we had.

10:24This system is 30 years old. It's, um,

10:27outdated. Uh, there's a lot of work

10:30around in place um, to make the system

10:33work. Um there's probably only a handful

10:36of people who's been here when we first

10:37implemented the system back in 1996.

10:41Um but we also needed to modernize our

10:43technology and a lot of ERP these days

10:45are are um cloud-based system. They're

10:49no longer done on premises. Um and we

10:53make sure that we wanted to integrate

10:55our financial system with our other

10:57departmental systems that we have

10:59throughout the city. Uh, one of the

11:01things that we don't have with our

11:03current ERP is we don't have a test

11:05environment. So, having that ability to

11:07have a test environment, but we can go

11:09into the system uh, test workflows and

11:13um, configurations prior to putting in

11:15production um, helps us to better have a

11:19better system than what we currently

11:20have. And like I said, we talked about

11:22integration. you know, having that

11:24seamless integration between multiple

11:27systems uh is what we're looking for

11:29instead of the uh manual processes that

11:32we were doing prior to um going live

11:35with our systems. And then also improve

11:38internal business processes. Um we

11:41wanted to to go through automation

11:43instead of like I said manual processes.

11:45You know, it reduced some of the

11:46redundancy that we was having in a

11:49number of processes that we were used to

11:51complete a task whether it was in

11:53finance or utility billing or community

11:55development or what other system that we

11:57had with our ERP. And then improvement

12:00customer service. Uh we wanted to

12:02provide a modern tool for our uh

12:05customers and for our staff to use um as

12:07we went through this ERP process.

12:12So right now I'll give you kind of a

12:14timeline of where we where we were um

12:16when we first started. So in April of

12:192022 uh we contracted with Barry Dunn

12:22who was a consultant for us to help us

12:24go through our business need assessment

12:26uh for phase one and phase two. When we

12:29first did this we were just looking at

12:30one big process. Uh but as we were

12:33started talking to the consultant they

12:35decided it was best for us to break this

12:37down into two phases. Uh the first phase

12:40was our financial utility billing system

12:43uh payroll and human resources and then

12:46our second phase was our work order

12:48system um our assets and fleet and our

12:52community development system. So um with

12:56the the con the consultant we they

12:59worked with us to uh determine what our

13:01needs were or needs requirements um help

13:03us do our RFP um do vendor uh vendor

13:08demonstrations

13:09uh scoring uh help us with our

13:11selections uh but ultimately we had a

13:14committee uh within the staff um that

13:18did the selection of of what vendor that

13:20we chose and then they uh helped us

13:22through the contract review. So in

13:24December of 2023,

13:26uh we contracted with Universe and uh

13:29NEOGV for our financial utility

13:31building, payroll and human resources

13:33for our first uh phase of the project.

13:37And then in August of 2024, we went

13:39through the same process again with the

13:41uh with our consultant to go through the

13:43needs requirement. And then we uh made a

13:46determination as a selection committee

13:49uh to choose Universe again for a work

13:52order system assets and a fleet and then

13:56uh to have City View to do our community

13:59development system for our phase 2

14:00project.

14:03So what have we completed so far in

14:05implementation? So in February of 2025,

14:08we uh we did a go live with our human

14:11resources and our payroll. Um, in July

14:14of 2025, we did go live with our work

14:17order system and our assets and that was

14:19pretty much our public services uh

14:21service department. Um, we've put

14:24through three but three divisions of

14:26that and we're currently working also to

14:28get the rest of those divisions in place

14:30and also to include our parks

14:32department. Um,

14:34in July of this year, we went live with

14:37our financial system. uh at the end of

14:40September, as of last week on 1st, uh we

14:44had a go live with our utility billing

14:46system.

14:48>> That sure got some people's attention.

14:50>> Yes. Yes, sir. It did. Yeah. Um

14:54so I'll talk more about that one here in

14:57a second.

14:58So, uh what was our challenges? You

15:01know, we talked like like I said, we'll

15:02talk about our challenges and our

15:04success doing this, but what were our

15:05challenges? You know, some of the

15:06challenges was our business process

15:08changes. Um, there was a difference of

15:11how we did business based off of new

15:13system. So, you know, we wasn't

15:15expecting to still do the same business

15:17with the new system. So, we had to adapt

15:20and uh change to those those business

15:22process whether it was a process that we

15:26had to change or how we do business with

15:28the system itself. Um and also

15:32departments had to internally look at

15:34how they do business and adjust their

15:36business processes as well. So we also

15:40had to do user adaption and change

15:41management. A lot of people had like I

15:44said most of the city had been using the

15:45same system for years. So it took some

15:48time to get them trained to get them

15:50understand and to communicate with them

15:52that this was coming and then what the

15:54effects of it when it did finally um go

15:57online. Um so that was always a

16:00challenge and it will always be a

16:02challenge to any uh major uh software

16:05system that you do. Um but we worked

16:08through it and we like I said but

16:09through communication training and and

16:12testing we was able to be uh successful

16:15with that. um operating a Lexi system

16:19and a new system simultaneously. Uh that

16:22becomes became a challenge because one

16:24you're have to do your daily business

16:26that you do do on a on a daily basis and

16:29also work in the system to test it and

16:32validate it and make sure that it works

16:34for you when you go live. So that was

16:37manpower intensive um a lot of overtime

16:40for certain staff members. Um but it was

16:43something that we had to do to make sure

16:44that the system was ready to go. Um and

16:47then we also had delays on our go live

16:49dates. Um there was times when we

16:52supposedly went live on certain systems

16:54at you know last year or earlier this

16:57year but we just felt at the time that

16:59we weren't ready or the the vendor

17:01wasn't ready to bring the product to

17:04where we needed to be. So we uh pushed

17:06our go live dates back um until we were

17:10decided that we were ready to go.

17:12And then um some system configuration

17:14improvement. So as we went along, we

17:16realized there was things that we could

17:17change that would make the product even

17:19better, make it better for our our staff

17:22and also for our citizens.

17:27Um

17:29so what did we accomplish? This was just

17:32doing the ERP was a major accomplishment

17:34itself. You know, this was a citywide

17:36transformation. Um, and this is has

17:39some, like I said, something that hasn't

17:40been done in over 30 years. So, the fact

17:43that we've done an ERP and got got to

17:45this point, you it's not something that

17:46you do every two, three, five, even 10

17:50years. It's something that's that's, you

17:52know, you put it in place and then you

17:54you wait around probably for another few

17:56decades before you change it to another

17:58one. Um, but we also saw some

18:00efficiencies when we when we did this

18:02ERP. Uh, we saw manual process become

18:05automated process. Um we saw better

18:08integration between systems. We talked

18:10about even on you know being our HR

18:12system been online for over a year and a

18:14half. We've seen where we've had our HR

18:17system uh our HRS system can talk with

18:20our NEO gov which is our um application

18:24system you know onboard the system where

18:26that process is now where they weren't

18:28even the system wasn't even talking to

18:29each other uh or integrating with each

18:32other where now you can go from you know

18:34a applicant to a candidate to an

18:37employee all in in one step you know so

18:40that that was a a a huge um advantage

18:43over that and then also just better in

18:46integration between departments. We have

18:48seen that with the new system that we're

18:50now be able to talk better uh with each

18:53other. We've also seen that even like

18:55with HR in the IT department and um with

19:00finance you know it was you know was

19:03controlling a lot of the the the systems

19:05but we went from a centralized system

19:07where we kind of decentralized it and

19:09gave the departments the ability to kind

19:12of be system administrators of their own

19:15software system and us supporting them

19:17when when when needed.

19:22So, what do we have left for our

19:24remaining implementations? So, we we're

19:26going to go live with our fleet work

19:28order system in November of 2026. Uh

19:32right now, we're doing some validation,

19:34some testing and training. And that's

19:35the same thing that we're doing with our

19:37uh community development system, which

19:39is our permitting, planning, inspection,

19:42code enforcement, and business license,

19:44which we plan on going live in February

19:461st of 2027. So, again, we're going

19:48through that validation, that testing,

19:50and training. You know, and one of the

19:51things with our community development

19:53system we're looking for is, you know,

19:56um trans transparency and easy access

19:59for our citizens so that they can go

20:01through our portal that we're going to

20:03have and they can view those permits,

20:06those planning documents, you know,

20:08anything that's dealing with code

20:09enforcement. So they they will have that

20:11ability with that we don't currently

20:13have now. So,

20:17with that, that's all I have for this,

20:19but I do want to kind of thank uh our

20:22staff. Like I said, this has been a

20:23truly of a four-year process. Uh we've

20:26had multiple departments or every

20:28department has been a part of this this

20:30process. Um so, the department heads and

20:34that staff have been working hard to get

20:36this done. We have had some issues, you

20:39know, as the mayor said, um, with our

20:42utility billing system, but the issues

20:44that we had wasn't wasn't related to the

20:47upgrade. We had some network issues last

20:49week that caused the utility bill system

20:53to um have some delays in payments, but

20:58that's something that's not on them.

20:59That was on us, but really was on us. It

21:02was on really on our internet service

21:03provider. So, but we we're working

21:05through that. um citizen citizens can

21:09pay um you know as they normally pay

21:12minus right now we don't have the

21:14ability to do telephone payments but

21:16we're working with that and hopefully by

21:18the end of the week we'll have that

21:19resolved so um the system's only 8 days

21:23old so we're we we'll see how it goes

21:25from there and same as our financial

21:27system it's only you know a little over

21:2960 days so

21:30>> since I can't do it on the phone can I

21:32get a coupon

21:33>> you know I we print one out for

21:39So any questions?

21:40>> Not a question, just a compliment. This

21:42kind of process is massive undertaking,

21:45very labor intensive and a high stress

21:47process for every department when it's

21:48involved now that you're getting out of

21:50the sandbox into the live environment.

21:52I'm glad to hear you're seeing more sun,

21:54you know, the light at the end of the

21:55tunnel is more sunshine than train. So

21:58that's good. Please commend your staff

22:00and everyone who's been supportive in

22:01that role. It is a if anybody's ever

22:03been through a software migration, it's

22:06it's not easy when it's a small one and

22:08this was massive.

22:09>> Good job.

22:10>> And I I too would uh echo that. But I do

22:14have a couple questions. I'm I'm

22:16assuming that this system will make us

22:18more secure as far as cyber security and

22:21somebody hijacking our system. And and I

22:24know that you have some plans for uh to

22:27be redundant in case we had a hurricane

22:29or things like that. Could you kind of

22:31elaborate on that just a little bit?

22:33>> Well, I I I could would probably want to

22:36talk to you offline or we could talk um

22:38in a closed session when we start

22:40talking about security. So, I would um

22:42really kind of defer that to you know

22:45later discussion if you would council.

22:47>> And but but it's it's going to be much

22:49much more secure.

22:50>> Yes, it should. Yes.

22:51>> Yeah. The software's got modern

22:53securities to build into it compared to

22:56the older systems.

22:58>> Yeah. And what about performance data?

23:01Is there going to be a are we going to

23:03be able to, you know, especially, you

23:05know, we've taken a lot of heat about

23:06our our planning department and being

23:09able to to look at a lot of the data as

23:12far as timelines and things like that.

23:14Uh that's one of the the the benefits of

23:17with the system. there's a lot of uh a

23:20availability for analytics to be done so

23:23that as we put more data into the

23:25system, we'll be able to come out um and

23:27provide that information. We'll be able

23:29to have even information for our

23:31directors and for our uh city management

23:34office to have uh dashboard so they can

23:37review and see what uh where we at with

23:40certain processes or where we at with uh

23:43you know permits or planning

23:45information. So,

23:49You spoke a little bit about the

23:50transparency with citizens accessibility

23:53to what what is it that they would have

23:54accessibility to?

23:56>> Well, and they they would have the

23:57ability to go into uh the portal and

24:00they would able to see where their

24:01parameters are at.

24:02>> Okay. So, it's a track.

24:04>> Yes. Exactly.

24:07>> And one of the major issues, mayor, that

24:09we've seen in the state for the last

24:10decade has been the shot clock. And

24:13that's back to Mr. O's comment about how

24:15do you track the time it takes to

24:17process through a government entity. And

24:20so with the software, one of the things

24:22that we continuously want to watch is uh

24:24the amount of time that we have a permit

24:27request or an application as compared to

24:29the amount of time that an applicant has

24:31it because we want to return that back

24:33to them as soon as possible so that they

24:35can move forward with their project. So

24:37hopefully as we continue to grow our

24:39systems, we'll have better analytics and

24:41better data, but the user will have the

24:44ability to track on their own without

24:45having to call and say, "Where am I at

24:47right now?" A lot of times we see it so

24:49that the dialogue is there between

24:50consultants, whether that's an engineer

24:52or an architect, and then our planning

24:54team or our engineer on our side. So

24:56everybody can look at the same data at

24:58the same time without having to call in

24:59and ask the question.

25:03>> Anybody else?

25:04>> I have a question.

25:06Who you said transparency? Who can look

25:08at the permits? Is it only the applicant

25:10or the general public?

25:12>> Uh the general public can look at it

25:14only based off of what how we want the

25:17system to be available to the public. We

25:19can restrict it or we can open it up as

25:21much as we want. So that's something

25:23that's going to be have to be determined

25:25by staff.

25:27>> Sounds like policy.

25:28>> Well, a lot of that goes back to open

25:30records laws. And so if there's a permit

25:32out and then it's it's accessible

25:35through open records law, then we can

25:37have that accessible to people and it

25:39may make it more convenient. Then again,

25:41we may want that to go through a records

25:44request process still. So back to Mayor

25:46Pro Tim's comment of reviewing a policy.

25:49I mean that's where it comes down into

25:52the analysis of what are customers

25:54looking for? What are citizens looking

25:56for in terms of transparency? What is

25:58information that should be readily

26:00available? and then what goes through

26:01the clerk's office in terms of that

26:03request. We've already changed the open

26:05records request process so that that's

26:08completely online.

26:10Before this, we've had a process where

26:12you send the email in or you call the

26:14clerk and you ask for information and

26:16then there's forms that go back and

26:18forth. Now, you submit all your forms

26:20online and then we track it. So for Miss

26:23Marshburn, she can track those dates,

26:25the date that you've submitted it in,

26:26the dates it's been reviewed, and then

26:28the date to get the information back out

26:30to individuals. That's already a new

26:32system that increases their

26:34transparency, and it makes the process

26:36more efficient for both the city and for

26:40the user.

26:42>> Reduces human error opportunities, too,

26:44when you've got everything in a system.

26:47>> Yeah. And people come through the same

26:48door. You know, a lot of our challenges

26:49are people come through different doors

26:51and they may not uh they may send

26:53something to the manager, to the

26:54attorney or to the clerk. Our goal is we

26:57send everyone through uh for this. They

26:59go to the clerk, they get the

27:00information. It doesn't matter if

27:01there's other staff members that can

27:02review it. Uh we have one centralized

27:05portal and that's back to what Terrence

27:07was talking about in terms of the

27:08efficiency and effectiveness of the

27:10system. Uh we just want to get better.

27:11We want to make sure we're performing

27:13better and any of the challenges that we

27:15have now, we're very confident that the

27:16system we have in place will allow us to

27:19update those systems a lot more

27:22efficiently than the previous systems.

27:27>> Thank you, church. Thanks

27:31gave that that update. uh he gives

27:33credit to a lot of people but Terrence

27:35has led this process for the four years

27:37and that's something that uh that's

27:39another duty that he took upon himself

27:42but it's his knowledge and skills and

27:43experience that allowed us to have this

27:45opportunity uh working with our finance

27:48director and then multiple department

27:49heads they've been extremely efficient

27:52in making sure that we're coming out

27:54with a system that's not rushed and is

27:57incredibly efficient. So, I just say

27:59again kudos to uh to Terrence for taking

28:02on this process and helping us navigate

28:04a difficult transition. Very good. Next,

28:08we got number 13 here. This is 21st

28:11Century Road to Housing Act.

28:15Tracy Jackson, please.

28:21>> Good evening, Mayor, City Council

28:23members. Thank you for the opportunity

28:24to come before you to answer some

28:27questions that some council members and

28:30some community leaders have had about

28:33the new 21st Century Road to Housing

28:36Act. This act came out in July 11th of

28:422026

28:44and just wanted to just share that this

28:47is a policy bill but not a new funding

28:50bill. So this is just a blueprint, not a

28:53mandate. And the purpose is to design to

28:56address the national housing affordable

28:59shortage by cutting some regulatory red

29:02tape and expanding funding

29:04opportunities. It also gives us

29:07opportunity to develop actions to

29:09facilitate and improve our processes

29:12within the existing law in anticipation

29:15of any additional authorization coming

29:18through federal government and

29:19guidelines.

29:24So we have the national environmental

29:26policy act which governs and directs all

29:29of our environmental review processes.

29:32we have to do our environmental review

29:35reviews prior to spending one dime of

29:38federal funds. So that could take that

29:41process could take up to 30 days. So

29:43this is designed to streamline that

29:47process and it can take about 36 months

29:51for a developer to get through that

29:52process. So, this gives HUD more

29:55authority to designate funds for housing

29:58development such as special project

30:00funds to help our multifamily developers

30:04um expand some private capital. And

30:07hopefully we'll get more partnerships

30:09with that streamlining of the

30:11environmental review process on a small

30:15scale such as our projects that we do

30:17including the infield development. those

30:20projects may be exempted from the NEPA

30:23requirements. So, this hopefully will

30:26reduce unnecessary delays and also help

30:29our projects move faster in the process

30:31while maintaining the protections such

30:34as flood areas.

30:38We also want to expand our community

30:41development block grant program to

30:43explore our neighborhood renewal

30:45initiatives. Uh we want to seek to

30:48acquire foreclosures through a

30:51partnership with the Enslo County Tax

30:52Office for our infield construction and

30:56any existing home renovations. There's

30:59an opportunity within the bill for

31:02funding for a whole whole home repair

31:05program. That is a HUD pilot program and

31:08it is the only provision in the in the

31:11act that comes with some funding.

31:15the landlords can apply for those funds

31:18and also local governments can apply for

31:21those funds.

31:25This also allows our CDBG programs to

31:31have new construction of our single

31:33family affordable housing as a eligible

31:37activity. Currently, we can only do

31:39reconstruction on existing lots, but now

31:42there's an opportunity for us to pursue

31:45new construction on undeveloped lots.

31:48So, this moderniz federal housing

31:51programs, it expands our housing supply

31:54tools and hopefully it will reduce

31:57barriers to development.

32:03We also have an opportunity to explore

32:05new cost-saving architectural designs

32:08for multifamily apartments and

32:10condominiums.

32:12So, we're talking about a structure that

32:16use a single centralized vertical

32:19circulation core, one staircase and one

32:23elevator to access all the units on each

32:26floor. So, this directs HUD to establish

32:29some federal guidelines and award the

32:31grants for point access block buildings.

32:35And what is that? It's going to allow us

32:38to tap into some innovation funding, but

32:42I wondered what a point access block

32:45building look like. So, this is what the

32:49concept of rendering from the test

32:51warrant architects. This is what the new

32:55modern modern mo modernized

32:58um housing multif family housing is

33:01going to look like. You'll see the

33:03staircase and behind the staircase you

33:06have the elevators and you can access

33:08all of the floors using this concept.

33:11There are many more designs out there,

33:13but I just wanted to share with council

33:15that this is what a point access block

33:18building looks like.

33:22So, what's next? Local governments can

33:25start discussions to take advantage uh

33:28of the new programs and resources

33:31and to incorporate long range housing

33:35plans.

33:36So, HUD will be developing policies,

33:40programs, and resources over time, may

33:44take up to 24 months, but also they can

33:48offer us incentives.

33:50We can also share with HUD our proactive

33:53efforts such as our plan unit

33:56development ordinance or our putts to

33:59help them incentivize us and gives and

34:02give us additional funding to help us

34:04along.

34:09So many new programs are incentivizing

34:11and assisting local governments. Of

34:14course, discussions to reform to reform

34:17local land use ordinances produce with

34:19to produce more housing more quickly.

34:22New ordinance for affordable housing.

34:25Right now, CDBG have a new requirement

34:28to produce and maintain a database of

34:30available land.

34:33And because we have that database, we

34:36may see some annual grant funds increase

34:38based on documented outcomes.

34:42So over the horizon in the very near

34:44future, every grantee must maintain a

34:48certification of public searchable

34:50database of undeveloped land for

34:52affordable housing. And that's going to

34:54become effective October the 1st, 2026.

34:58And we have to include that database in

35:00our upcoming annual action plan.

35:04That's all I have. If you have any

35:06questions,

35:08>> questions.

35:09>> I have a question for you, Miss Jackson.

35:11Um,

35:13just recently it came out in the news

35:15that the city of Fagatville,

35:21military city just like Jacksonville was

35:23awarded a $25.1 million HUD grant as

35:28well as the city of Newurn, North

35:32Carolina. Um,

35:35was Newurn I think like 15 million. They

35:39got about $25 million if it's the

35:41housing um neighborhoods, the choice

35:46neighborhood grant.

35:47>> Okay.

35:47>> That Yes.

35:48>> So, what was that that allowed those two

35:51municipalities to receive that type of

35:54funding? And is that something that the

35:57city of Jacksonville might be able to

36:00receive in the near future?

36:03Usually that grant is awarded to cities

36:06who have some distressed

36:10neighborhoods, some some distress

36:12housing in a specific neighborhood, but

36:15also the city has site control over

36:20those properties. So, if you're talking

36:22about, let's take for example, Newburn.

36:25Um, Trent Trent Court is a public

36:28housing facilities that that's just the

36:31public housing, the local public

36:33housing. They have a housing authority

36:35and a redevelopment commission. So, with

36:38that, they have site control to be able

36:40to apply for that grant. money is going

36:42to come through the city of Newburn so

36:44that they can implement improving that

36:47those areas that are designated in their

36:50application. So as far as Jacksonville

36:53is concerned, uh we we don't have a

36:58distressed neighborhood that we have

37:00site control over in that manner. So

37:03that would not be applicable for us to

37:07be able to do that. um the owner of the

37:11those type of units, they would need to

37:13come to the city of Jacksonville and

37:15then ask for that um application to be

37:19um submitted. But they also have to make

37:22sure that their rents serve low income

37:26folks. So, as far as uh the public

37:28housing in Newburn, those those units

37:31are going to serve the the low mod

37:33benefit.

37:35>> Okay. that population.

37:39>> Miss Jackson, help me with this one

37:40because I may not know all the

37:42information for the housing authority.

37:45Now, we do have public housing um an

37:48area where there is public housing, but

37:49we don't have public housing authority

37:52over, right?

37:54We if you're if you're referring to

37:57Dudley Court, that is that is the only

37:5921 unit public housing

38:03um area that we have, but that falls

38:05under the Goldboro

38:08>> Regional Housing Authority

38:12and

38:13>> they built those units years ago.

38:15>> Okay. Now, what funding can they put in

38:19since they're in Jacksonville? Can they

38:21put funding in for those units?

38:24>> They can put in funding to improve those

38:27units

38:28>> but not expand

38:28>> but not expand.

38:32>> Okay. And um I I guess at one time we

38:35had housing authority um that hadn't

38:39been introduced or talked about

38:41recently. I don't know if council has

38:43talked about um us gaining our housing

38:46authority back or applying for it. I'm

38:49not saying we get projects y'all, okay?

38:51I'm just saying.

38:53>> So, we do not have a housing authority.

38:55We have East Carolina human res human

39:00service agency that manage vouchers,

39:02right?

39:03>> They are a designated housing authority,

39:05but they do not

39:08develop housing. Uh they're dependent on

39:11realators running

39:14the vouchers.

39:14>> They they handle the section 8 vouchers.

39:17So the city council, they designated

39:21themselves as a housing authority so

39:24that they have that housing authority

39:26ability to develop and expand our

39:30efforts in producing houses throughout

39:34the city of Jacksonville. So they did

39:35that in January or February. I think

39:39that it was introduced in January or

39:41February. But um Mr. black man came and

39:46he got the designation.

39:48>> So, uh, if I may, mayor, uh, so we have

39:53the powers and authorities to be able to

39:56buy and sell properties,

39:58uh, in the capacity, you all have the

40:00capacity or powers of a housing

40:02authority, but we're not housing

40:04developers. So, we probably won't we

40:06wouldn't be the ones that would develop

40:07the housing, but uh we may be able to

40:10secure future funding or do some

40:13strategic acquisitions where we could

40:15bring in a private developer to develop

40:17more affordable housing um here in

40:19Jacksonville. So, you all have those

40:22housing authority powers to be able to

40:25acquire disposal property. uh but we're

40:29not a housing authority in the terms of

40:32uh uh going back to the grant that uh

40:35Dr. Washington talked about the common

40:38denominator with those communities where

40:40they had p public housing authorities or

40:42redevelopment commissions that's why

40:43they were eligible for those dollars.

40:48>> Thank you sir.

40:49>> Yeah.

40:50>> Any other questions Jackson?

40:52>> I have just one more. with our current I

40:54don't know if you can speak to this.

40:56With our current UDO,

40:58do we have anything within

41:02um the UDO that allows for

41:06um

41:09for this special type of housing

41:11projects to go in within the city of

41:13Jacksonville?

41:15There's a but one of the things that

41:18this bill also

41:21um expresses is it it it does not

41:24mandate. So this is only suggestion. So

41:27they're not going to preempt any local

41:30your current ordinances that we

41:33currently have. So if we want to be

41:36proactive, you can start having those

41:38discussions. Um, but right now they're

41:42not as as far as a mandate to change, to

41:45conform or anything like that.

41:48>> But in theory, we could uh we could find

41:51some of those things and as we go

41:53through our UDO, we could change some

41:56things that help to help us do that.

41:58>> That is correct. It's always an

42:00opportunity and encouragement to do

42:02that. As far as establishing new

42:04ordinance for affordable housing, other

42:06cities have done so. the process that

42:09we're doing with the UDO dovetales

42:10nicely with this opportunity. I think

42:12it's important to reiterate what you

42:14said at the beginning, Miss Tracy, that

42:16the uh this is policy, you know,

42:19widening and opportunities and

42:21recommendations with no additional

42:23funding yet. So,

42:26it's help in a way, but we still have to

42:28come up with some funding.

42:29>> Yeah, but the technical there's a tech I

42:32read in there about a you know, giving

42:34you technical advice. So in theory, we

42:37could send our UDO and say what what are

42:40the

42:40>> that is correct

42:42>> and we probably should send it to the to

42:45to them and say what are our obstacles

42:48for affordable housing and what do we

42:51need to change in our UDL?

42:53>> Yeah. And you can also look at other

42:55cities and and get a guide on

42:57establishing some ordinances

43:00for affordable housing and see what they

43:02have done. It seemed to me that that

43:04would be the first step with this to uh

43:07to kind of take advantage of that

43:10technical assistance because uh I know

43:13Mikey we're we've used technical

43:15assistance from DOJ and uh

43:18>> yes

43:18>> economic development to help high crime

43:21areas reduce that was the weed and seed

43:24program and things like that. So, um, I

43:27think this is a good opportunity for us

43:29to take our UDO,

43:32use some of that technical assistance,

43:35and see where we can streamline our

43:38processes to get more affordable

43:39housing.

43:40>> Yes. And it'll probably also benefit our

43:44nonprofit developers that we have here

43:46in the city of Jacksonville to help to

43:49help them and also foster some more

43:51partnerships

43:53because of the environmental review

43:55process. that clearing house will help

43:58streamline and those competitive

44:02projects will turn into a special

44:05project for housing project that HUD can

44:09um go ahead and directly award some

44:11funds to.

44:12>> I think what you'll see too is the state

44:14will have to change the way that they're

44:16doing business in terms of processing.

44:18This council and the previous council

44:20knows that for a state housing project

44:22that process once approved can take four

44:24years before we're breaking ground. We

44:25see that right now in Jacksonville

44:27waiting for the project in the commons

44:29that that the council work through

44:31procedurally and that's just one

44:33project. We've seen another project on

44:35Gum Branch that takes a while to get

44:37through the process. So for the state to

44:40streamline their funding mechanism and

44:42their approval process back to Tracy's

44:44comments and then for us to be ready

44:47that's the partnership that we have to

44:48have. We want to be ready once the state

44:50says yes that the the Keith Walkers and

44:52the James Maids and the Taft and these

44:54individuals that are going to do

44:56projects, they can come to Jacksonville

44:58and possibly move projects a little bit

45:01faster. So, uh hopefully the state will

45:03be very aggressive in reviewing their

45:05plans and then we'll do the same uh side

45:07by side with them so that we're ready to

45:09to rock and roll when they're ready.

45:12>> So, what do we do to get that process

45:13started?

45:14>> For us, well, Mr.

45:16point's great in terms of reviewing. The

45:18challenge right now is to see where the

45:20hiccup comes. I would tell you that the

45:22the main hiccup in a state funded

45:24program is that the state process takes

45:27a very long time. One to get approved

45:30and selected and two to reach that

45:32point. So, back to Tracy's points that

45:36this could streamline the state approval

45:38process and then for allowing us, we

45:41just have to see what what would slow

45:43them down on a project. what we're

45:45seeing on those two projects that we

45:46talked about, both Taft and James Maids,

45:50we we don't have we've not slowed them

45:52up in the process. They're all going

45:53through the state approval and the

45:56environmental review and things they

45:58have to do at that level. So, we just

46:00need to look at our development

46:01ordinance to make sure that we a have

46:03multiple areas within the city where

46:06development can happen and b that we're

46:09moving people from the start of the

46:11application approval process through the

46:13final co to make sure it's it's in a

46:17reasonable amount of time. So, I think

46:18we just have to look for holes of of

46:21back to Terrence's comments when we're

46:24looking at those development standards.

46:26if someone is slowing, if something's

46:28being slowed up, we need to find out why

46:30it's why it's bottlenecking and and some

46:33of that's private review, but some of

46:36those things goes back to what council

46:38has already approved at the retreat in

46:40terms of the UDO review that's

46:43happening, I believe, at the next

46:45meeting, at the next council meeting if

46:47I'm right. Looking for Anthony there.

46:49Um, so council's already said we need to

46:51move this forward. You're going to see

46:52some things there that hopefully will

46:53open up development. Uh, I'm I I think

46:56we really do need to take care of that,

46:59take advantage of that technical

47:01assistance cuz I think that would be

47:02very helpful cuz my experience with

47:06those folks is that they have broad

47:08experience because they've been to many,

47:10many communities and I think that will

47:12be beneficial for us to take advantage

47:15of those experiences and they're

47:16interested in what we're doing currently

47:19so that they can assist us to move

47:21forward.

47:23Other

47:26questions, comments?

47:29>> Thanks, TRACY.

47:34MR. CRAIG, why don't you

47:37one city?

47:38>> Thanks, Mayor. Uh, want to reiterate for

47:41those three presentations to the

47:42council. Thanks for allowing us the

47:44opportunity to have these discussions.

47:46You see multiple things happening at the

47:48staff level. Uh, just like on the last

47:50item there, for for Tracy's team to be

47:53able to to build more houses, to put

47:55more people into home ownership, we got

47:57to have the support of council to move

47:59things forward. If we want to build four

48:00a year, if we want to build six, 8, 9,

48:0210, a lot of these things are playing

48:04into the toolbox and they have to happen

48:06systematically. So, uh, so we're very

48:08excited to see these things happen and

48:10to see things moving forward. Do have a

48:12couple items, mayor, that'll roll right

48:14into that concept for our one city. Uh

48:16we just had this last uh weekend we had

48:19Rock the Block. This is our second event

48:21on uh on Newbridge Street which is

48:24downtown Jacksonville. You're going to

48:26see uh people all over the place. And

48:28what I would say is there's food, music,

48:32fellowship, and it looks like a lot of

48:34fun. Um we see this as a culmination of

48:38multiple things happening inside of our

48:40community. whereas people are coming

48:43together in a downtown district just to

48:46have a good time. Uh we systematically

48:48plan this on some of the hottest days of

48:51the year cuz we want people to come out

48:52and really really deal with it. But what

48:55we're showcasing here is we have

48:57multiple areas within the city that are

49:01suitable for bringing in people for

49:03quality fellowship. You see the car show

49:05which was located, this was an ad this

49:07year. This is something new. You see

49:09additional tables and covered areas so

49:12that people could have uh food out in a

49:15an open environment, not be inside the

49:17buildings. We also had the food truck

49:20rodeo for the first time. We've talked

49:22about this area downtown which is owned

49:24by a local business owner, but we

49:26brought all the food trucks into one

49:28area. This down here in the bottom left

49:30hand corner, this is what we know as a

49:32silent disco. So what for some people

49:35looks like a bunch of kids wearing

49:37headphones and dancing to their own

49:40beat. It's actually they're listening to

49:42music together without everyone else

49:44having to hear the music. So you hear it

49:46on headphones and you dance and you

49:48celebrate. I think we could try that at

49:50a council meeting just to see how that

49:51works out. But

49:53>> they're not listening to the same song

49:55either, mayor, which happens at some of

49:57our meetings. Sometimes we're not

49:58listening to the same music, but we

49:59still have our own dance. And so uh to

50:02bring this group together, year number

50:04two, I think this is phenomenal. We have

50:07uh this is our stage. If you recall that

50:09the TDA purchased this stage and we're

50:12able to bring live local acts and make

50:14people uh overwhelmingly happy to have

50:17uh a good time on a Friday night in

50:20downtown Jacksonville. This is this is

50:22once again just the taste of what's

50:24going to happen. If you go up and down

50:25New Brbridge Street, you see signs of

50:28new businesses coming soon. You see

50:29signs and activities with current

50:31businesses. You see building owners who

50:33are putting money into their buildings.

50:35So this is all the culmination of

50:36efforts by the city council, not just

50:38for the last four years, but for the

50:40last 30 or 40 years. It's revitalization

50:43of downtown, not just in terms of

50:45buildings, but in terms of activity and

50:47the environment to do something amazing.

50:51Uh exciting for the group and then

50:53exciting to see what we do next in

50:55downtown. for everyone that worked on

50:58the committee, for the downtown

50:59businesses who stayed open, and for

51:02those people who are partners with us in

51:04downtown, I just say a job well done and

51:07an excellent event. Can't wait to see

51:08more activity in our downtown. Uh these

51:11are all the people that did the work

51:12behind the scenes and out and about that

51:15on Friday night. You see our parks crew,

51:17you see our recreation crew, you see our

51:19police and fire. Um our there was a

51:22picture somewhere out there that had

51:24Michael Lori standing around. He wasn't

51:26doing anything.

51:28>> You saw him, Dr. Washington. I

51:29appreciate that.

51:30>> Black t-shirt, khaki pants.

51:32>> He was standing there, but these people

51:34were all working that night. So, uh, for

51:38for these individuals, uh, thank you.

51:40The events do require the city to be

51:42active, but that's why we're here. We're

51:44here for 73,494 citizens every every

51:46single day, and this was an excellent

51:49event to uh to make sure we could give

51:51our citizens a good time. Uh the other

51:54thing we had uh the week before we had

51:55the Montre Marine Medal ceremony. Uh the

51:58rain chose to bring this event indoors,

52:02but it didn't impact the event. This is

52:04one of those events where we're were

52:05given the opportunity to recognize the

52:09uh at one point the Montre Point Marines

52:11and another point the families of those

52:13Montford Point Marines. You'll see that

52:16from the looks on the faces here. didn't

52:18matter if we were outside at the at the

52:20memorial area or if we were indoors. Uh

52:23everybody was still present and able to

52:26um to to be active here. Uh these two

52:29are not speaking at the same time in

52:31dueling microphones. The mayor gave the

52:34welcome as you do every year, mayor.

52:35Thank you so much. And then the county

52:37uh chairman, Mr. Tim Foster, was there

52:40as well to uh to provide remarks. But it

52:43shows this is another one of those

52:45things that's our community. This is

52:47Jacksonville. The Montford Point Marines

52:49are Jacksonville. And so to have the

52:52city and the county together was uh

52:55phenomenal. You're going to see General

52:57Ingram here. He's just arrived into

53:00Jacksonville as the commanding general

53:02and he is recognizing the families of

53:04our Montre point Marines. And you'll see

53:07in our in our next picture here, you

53:10have the uh president Johnson. He is

53:13that's Major Capers there in the center.

53:15And we also had Mr. Hoops, gunnery

53:18sergeant FM Hooper, an original Montford

53:21Point Marine that was here for the

53:23ceremony as well. That's just added

53:24benefit to to have him here in the

53:27group, but for President Johnson to

53:30there's always a main stay here to

53:32recognize the families. I say this

53:35collectively, there are certain things

53:37that that are Jacksonville and there are

53:39certain things that we join in everybody

53:40else's celebration. This is ours. These

53:43are these are our people. These are our

53:44community members and the families are

53:46going to be our families forever. So no

53:48matter where they came from at one point

53:50in history, they're our families now. So

53:52um if there's annually if there's ever a

53:54one city moment, it's right here. You

53:56see the cameras and and you see our

53:58people there to uh to appreciate all

54:00that is one city.

54:02>> Thanks. Mayor Sergeant Hooper turned 98

54:06years old. Wow. 98 and Major Capers had

54:09just turned 89. 89.

54:14Okay. Entertain a motion to go into

54:17close session for the purpose of

54:18consulting with our attorney

54:23by our public body in order to preserve

54:26the attorney client privilege pursuant

54:28to session 43318 letter uh regarding

54:33economic development update and again a

54:36couple items on there attorney attorney.

54:40Okay. So move second. Anybody second?

54:45Okay. Any further discussion? All in

54:48favor signify by saying I. Oh,

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