2026-09-09 - Public Safety Committee

00:13We're waiting until we're on video.

00:18>> I'd like to call to order our public

00:19safety meeting

00:21September 9th, 2026.

00:25Our first order is approval of minutes.

00:27Can I get approval of our minutes?

00:29Motion to approve and seconded.

00:34>> Next is our monthly update from the fire

00:37department. I'm going to let the report

00:39stand.

00:43Number three is our monthly update from

00:45our police department. I'm going to let

00:48their report stand.

00:51Now we are down to code enforcement

00:53report from Chuck George.

01:07>> [snorts]

01:08>> U so basically I sent out the report to

01:11you for the last uh 30 days uh which had

01:15approximately 100 101 uh open and closed

01:18cases. Um

01:22uh we uh

01:25on u the plan a site as you seen it's

01:28already been sewed installed and so

01:29forth. Uh we did reach out to yesterday

01:33uh to see what their plans are for the

01:35property. Uh they said they're not ready

01:37to disclose that information right now.

01:39Uh I think there was concerns about uh

01:42burying bricks out there and stuff. Uh

01:45based on what I have seen and read, the

01:47state allows for non-chemical painted

01:50bricks can be buried, but uh we try to

01:54reach out to contractor make sure he had

01:56appropriate uh approval from the state

01:58as well, but we haven't heard back from

02:00him. Um Oscar Mahia next door uh

02:04supposed to be signing a contract with

02:06that group to remove the bricks from

02:08that site at 177 here. Uh so hopefully

02:12that would be act they'd be acting on

02:14that very soon. Uh Taylor Street um

02:19everything seems fine there right now.

02:21Uh it's a lot of bricks on skids but

02:23owner can sell those off if he likes. Um

02:27so that site looks like it's been taken

02:29care of. Um

02:33>> what about Mr. Leak?

02:35>> Oh, Mr. Leak. Um, we have a schedule

02:38hearing for him in house next Wednesday

02:40at 10:00 a.m. uh to discuss.

02:45>> Well, that's a different department

02:47there. Uh, but I'm going at him from uh

02:50make sure he get provides the engineer

02:52letter, make sure it's stable inside.

02:55Uh, hopefully he'll get that provided to

02:56us uh and showing it is structurally

02:59sound. Uh, a roof was put on the

03:02building probably two weeks ago. We

03:04discussed when our inspector knows they

03:06put a new roof on there. So maybe he's

03:09making steps to improve the building

03:11right now. Uh but we'll find out more

03:14next week at our meeting with him.

03:17>> It's my understanding

03:19back to the plan.

03:21It's my understanding that demolition

03:24company.

03:26>> It's the different company that did the

03:28the finishing of the project. Yes.

03:30>> Okay. But but the the one that

03:33>> Yeah. I understand they went bankrupt.

03:35Yes.

03:36>> But I do believe that

03:38company

03:41>> what

03:42>> I heard that Mr.

03:46Suns

03:49and it's my understanding that they just

03:53opened it in a different name because

03:55it's the same.

03:58>> I don't know.

04:01>> As long as they're not

04:10They hauled off a lot and bury some in

04:12the low areas in the hole.

04:14>> Mhm. I've seen both

04:20>> any other questions, concerns.

04:23>> All right. Thank you.

04:25>> Okay.

04:28Moving on to discuss discussion of

04:31approval of regards

04:32control

04:35as our chief.

04:50Afternoon, mayor, council.

04:53Um so what we have here is uh bringing

04:55forward a um proposed amendment for

04:58council's consideration to section 1036

05:02of our domestic animals ordinance.

05:04Purpose of the amendment is to provide

05:06clearer standards regarding the keeping

05:07of livestock and poultry within the city

05:09limits. Existing ordinance addresses the

05:12number of dogs and other animals that

05:13may be kept on residential property, but

05:16it does not establish specific acreage

05:17and location requirements for livestock

05:19or limits on the number of poultry that

05:21may be kept. Proposed amendment makes

05:24several changes. First, uh for livestock

05:27other than chickens and or other

05:29poultry, the ordinance would require a

05:32maximum lot size of two acres. Livestock

05:35would be limited to one animal per two

05:37acres of pasture with a maximum of five

05:40animals. Any stable, barn, pen, shelter,

05:43enclosure used for livestock would also

05:46have to be at least 200 ft from a

05:48residential structure on another

05:50property and at least 20 ft from the

05:52property line.

05:54Second, uh the amendment establishes

05:56specific limits for chickens and other

05:58poultry. A maximum of five would be

06:01permitted per dwelling house and the

06:04keeping of poultry under this section

06:05would be limited to hens. Roosters and

06:07other male foul would be prohibited.

06:10Poultry would also uh not be permitted

06:12permit permitted at multifamily dwelling

06:16structures. Um we've also intentionally

06:20separated poultry from the livestock

06:22requirements because the city's existing

06:24definition of livestock includes

06:26chickens.

06:27This allows the ordinance to establish

06:29appropriate standards for larger

06:31livestock without unintentionally

06:33applying the two acre livestock

06:35requirement to someone keeping a small

06:37number of backyard hens. The city's

06:40existing requirements regarding poultry

06:41enclosure, sanitation, and location of

06:43poultry buildings would remain in

06:45effect.

06:46The amendment also removes not for

06:48breeding purposes from the title of

06:50section 1036

06:52and also clarifies that dog breeding

06:54continues to be governing governed

06:57separately by section 1037 and its

07:00existing permitting requirements.

07:03So overall, the intent of the amendment

07:04is to provide clearer and more

07:06enforceable standards for livestock and

07:08poultry within the city while still

07:10allowing residents to keep these animals

07:12when the property and circumstances are

07:14appropriate.

07:15Um and of course the police department

07:17would ask for council's consideration um

07:20in the proposed amendment

07:22>> to domestic animals.

07:23>> Was this grandfather anybody in?

07:25>> So I did not put any type of grandfather

07:28clause in there. Um I would defer that

07:30to the city attorney.

07:36>> True.

07:38>> Right.

07:43>> Yeah. Again, I did not place that in the

07:46proposed ordinance. I would um defer

07:49that to the city attorney uh for

07:50guidance as far as enforcement or future

07:54enforcement.

08:14Miss Williams

08:16is concerned [snorts]

08:17about this ordinance in regards to

08:23the fact that there are donkeys, horses,

08:25and personal pigs that people keep as

08:29animals as pets. Um, and how that would

08:33fit into this

08:35And our livestock ordinance as I

08:38understand it includes which would

08:40include donkeys and it includes swine.

08:44So that would mean that we unless there

08:47was a grandfather clause built into it

08:50or some sort of carve out um that

08:53allowed for one swine for instance or a

08:57size that this would apply to.

09:05Yeah.

09:17>> Well, I mean, that's some of the

09:18earliest ordinances on most city books

09:20are deal with the keeping of livestock

09:24on resial property.

09:25>> Yeah.

09:26>> So, that's what was first enforced was

09:29those types of laws.

09:33Yes.

09:35>> This was essentially partially generated

09:38by

09:40>> a trailer park,

09:41>> I believe. So, yes,

09:47>> Albertson, I think.

09:48>> Yeah.

09:49Wahoo trailer park, I believe.

09:56>> Yeah. So I guess my our question to

09:59council is um do you want there to be

10:03grandfathering and do we need so that we

10:06need to get Misty to to write up a

10:09clause on the grandfathering or do you

10:11want to address it from a number of

10:15animals or size of animal to address or

10:19all three types of things?

10:33uh

10:35>> Park.

10:36>> What is it? Yeah, Grimes Park. That's

10:38correct.

10:44>> That's probably uh you maybe an acre and

10:46a quarter, acre and a half. Just

10:51I mean, I'm sure

10:54[snorts]

10:54>> that'd be my estimate, you know, without

10:57GIS, obviously.

11:05>> I can look it up.

11:09First grandp

11:21our citizens. So I would like to call

11:23the people that are currently there and

11:26set that move forward.

11:40Well,

11:41I'm not sure if we'll be able to get the

11:44grand father clause written between now

11:46and

11:49>> agenda for

11:51it.

12:00>> All right. Thank council.

12:02Thank you.

12:08>> Police Department.

12:15>> I'm sorry, Jason.

12:17>> Consideration for the TFR to submit

12:22application to state emergency

12:23management operations. And that is our

12:30[snorts]

12:33Good afternoon.

12:35We're going to keep this short and sweet

12:37on behalf of time.

12:39[laughter]

12:42>> So, I do have a short video I want to

12:44show you. I know there's a couple new uh

12:47members on council uh since we discussed

12:50this in August of 25. Uh at the time,

12:53they put us uh they they quit taking

12:56applications on the state level for new

12:59teams. So, we actually had to uh back up

13:02and punt. They talked like it would be

13:04about 18 months. Here we are. They have

13:05a October 1st deadline now. And things

13:08have changed within tax funding and

13:11property values and everything since

13:12then. So, we'll hit on that just a

13:14second. But, I'm going to let this video

13:16to play uh while we are discussing. This

13:20is in Stanley County. This tells you how

13:23much the state is willing to invest in

13:25swiftwater teams. They have recently

13:27completed this swiftwater training

13:29facility uh at the tune of $87 million.

13:32Uh it's not just for the swiftwater.

13:35They also have a fuselage for training

13:37with uh aircraft firefighting. Uh and

13:40that is all in Stanley County at the

13:42airport and it's a combination of the

13:44National Guard and Office of State Fire

13:47Marshall. So this will play for a

13:48second. This gives you an idea.

13:50>> First responders have to train

13:51extensively

13:53volume or not. Even if I turn it on my

13:55computer. Let me back. Okay. How that?

13:58If not, I'll just let it let it play and

14:00narrate it

14:01>> for when the worst happens.

14:02>> So, it will swap over here in just a

14:04second. This is the facility uh for the

14:06swift water. You can see full size boats

14:09here at Stanley.

14:10>> They actually have flooded structures

14:13that no

14:13>> and underwater barriers. So this allows

14:16for everyone for the unthinkable and

14:19after performing these rescues teams to

14:21go train.

14:23This is one of the premier swift water

14:25training facilities on the east coast

14:27said that this would have prepared us

14:29for back in 99 with hurricane

14:33>> those needs I believe

14:36that cause so much that's when they

14:38started putting these teams to prep

14:41starts in the water and then hurricane

14:45conditions they'll face when a flood

14:46warning

14:47>> currently today emergency fast moving

14:49current submerged 30 teams across in

14:52split second decisions.

14:54>> So the intention of the facility is to

14:56recreate or have an environment of the

14:59reason they put a train on personel in a

15:03fastpac

15:06recreate flooding scenarios that they'll

15:09face on the street during a during a

15:11hurricane or a flooding environment.

15:13>> But training first responders is how

15:15they have to battle time and again flood

15:18warnings go. This gives you an example.

15:19>> Flooding is dangerous period. Whether

15:21it's slow rising flood waters or

15:24flooding that brings swift

15:25>> it does and that's the reason we have so

15:27much interest in the swift water team

15:29because there's about 19 there is 19

15:33certified swift water technicians

15:35complacency like you know that tends to

15:37always come out

15:40in they enjoy this it creates

15:43complacency but

15:44>> but we have the opportunity now you know

15:46not only several years you know the

15:49people that live are remember that they

15:52become a state deployable for our

15:54neighbors to the west and to the east.

15:56>> They're going to heed those warnings

15:59seriously deployable over to our

16:01neighboring counties as well. Just like

16:02Davy County, this is going to help them

16:04out because ignoring those warnings,

16:06they were brought

16:09to come save you and they are state

16:11deployable. We need to have our first

16:14responders.

16:20[music]

16:22You have to be uh on your own for 72

16:25hours

16:25>> in Stanley County. These first

16:26responders are training here so that

16:28when [music] the water

16:30>> because it's not a question of if but

16:32when

16:33>> they will be ready to help save. We did

16:36go back through the list again and look

16:38at absolutely

16:39>> Anthony and all the other first

16:40responders that I spoke to. Ask that you

16:42do your part. Next time a flash flood

16:44warning is issued in your area, make

16:46sure you take the correct

16:48>> to meet the and some things as long as

16:50we have it in the in our

16:53>> possession. Uh it we don't have to have

16:56our own and some of those will come into

16:59play uh later on as we if we get

17:03accepted to the team. So, what we're I'm

17:05asking for today is we were uh going

17:09going to go for this. I know I spoke to

17:11you all last year. That was some money

17:13that at the time was available for some

17:16purchasing equipment and the double

17:18stack boat trailer got pulled uh to help

17:21with some hiring with a hiring freeze.

17:23And that's perfectly fine. We can do

17:25without. We can make do without that.

17:27what we're looking to do and what we're

17:30funding right now is items that we are

17:32required to have to make the list. One

17:36of the things um we're having to

17:39purchase a spare outboard motor and

17:41anybody that knows outboard motors know

17:43those are expensive. Plus, they require

17:45some kind of prop or prop guard, pump

17:48jet, or jet drive in order not to cut

17:52somebody's foot or to hurt someone,

17:55injure someone when you're trying to

17:56rescue them. That's the last thing we

17:57want to do. [snorts] So, uh I am asking

18:01for blessing to go ahead and pursue this

18:04application. Uh we are not up here

18:06asking for any capital money at the

18:09time. This if we are state or become

18:12state deployable then if there is money

18:14that becomes available to the state.

18:16They devy it out amongst the teams. It

18:18allows us to possibly it says an

18:20application in bold print and

18:22underlined. Just because you're accepted

18:24doesn't mean that there's money. uh but

18:27they do tend to fund some of their state

18:30deployable assets versus we have been so

18:33totally self-funded so far but with us

18:35having such a great team such uh skill

18:38level we wanted to be assisting our

18:41neighbors as well so I'm looking for the

18:42blessing to proceed with this and we are

18:45purchasing those needed and required

18:47items out of our current budget by

18:50tightening the purse strings a little

18:51bit on other line items and we're we're

18:55good to go at had. I'm being very

18:56frugal. I'm going to talk to the

18:58inspectors that come out and make sure

19:00you have the equipment. There's no

19:01reason for us to buy a deployable

19:03shelter for six people and CS if we're

19:06not going to be accepted onto the team.

19:08I'll just be prepared to purchase if we

19:11get the acceptance. Uh so

19:14the other thing is if if you all do give

19:16your blessing uh also I'll a blessing

19:20for the administration um either staff

19:23or the mayor to sign a letter of support

19:26that is required for that application.

19:28But that's what I'm here for today is to

19:29ask for that continued support to move

19:31forward with this.

19:36>> Okay. Thank you.

19:38No, there's no

19:41>> Thank you.

19:46>> Number seven, discussion of

19:48recommendations by police department.

20:08So, um, at the request of council, uh,

20:11we conducted a speed study on Rosedale

20:12Drive, uh, between the period of June

20:149th, June 25th, uh, to determine whether

20:17the current 35 mile per hour speed limit

20:19should be reduced to 25. Um, also

20:22evaluate the road roadway

20:23characteristics. Uh, the study showed an

20:25average speed of approximately 25 miles

20:27per hour with an 85th percentile speed

20:30of approximately 30 miles per hour.

20:32Based on those results, we did not

20:33identify a significant speeding problem.

20:36Uh in fact, most motorists are already

20:38traveling well below the 35 uh current

20:41speed limit. Uh however, we also

20:43consider the residential nature of

20:45Rosdale Drive and the site distance uh

20:47concern near the Hill Crest. Based on

20:49the roadway characteristics and actual

20:52operating operating speeds, uh the

20:54police department believes that 25 miles

20:55per hour is an appropriate speed uh for

20:58this section of Rosedale Drive. Um,

21:01there is also a recent change in North

21:03Carolina law that affects our

21:05recommendation.

21:06Rosedale Drive is not marked with a

21:08center line and currently has no posted

21:10speed limit signs. Under current law,

21:13the default speed within municipal

21:14limits is 35 miles per hour. Effective

21:17December 1st, 2026, an amendment to

21:20North Carolina Journal Statute 20-141

21:24establishes a 25 mile per hour default

21:26speed on roadways that are unpaved or

21:30not marked with a center line.

21:33Therefore, uh although the police

21:35department supports a 25 mile per hour

21:36speed limit for Rosedale Drive, we do

21:39not anticipate that separate council

21:40action will be necessary to accomplish

21:42that change after December 1st. Uh we

21:45also recommend that the city attorney

21:47review the amended statute uh prior to

21:49its effective date just to confirm its

21:51applicability uh and also determine

21:53whether any additional ordinance or

21:55implementation considerations.

21:57Um so in summary, the study did not

21:59identify a significant speeding problem,

22:01but it did support 25 miles per hour as

22:04an appropriate speed for the roadway.

22:06With it uh with the change in state law

22:08taking effect December 1st, we believe

22:10the appropriate course is is to allow

22:12that change to take effect. obviously

22:14subjective to the final review of the

22:17city attorney

22:20and we'll also uh be sure to work with

22:22uh public works uh because clearly we

22:24have a lot of roadways in Thomasville

22:27that are not marked with center lines.

22:29So uh that can be certainly an impact uh

22:33for roadways in

22:35>> Thomasville

22:41that is coming from the state. Yeah.

22:43>> Do you have a method of what you're

22:45going to do to help kind of put that

22:46information out there?

22:47>> Sure. We'll have a um public safety

22:51announcement um you know, social media,

22:55educating the public before the date

22:56gets here. Um and then obviously we

22:58we'll run an educational campaign uh

23:00just to educate our our citizenry. Hey,

23:03this this is a a new change in law. Um

23:06and we're out here to try to educate uh

23:08before enforcement takes place. So,

23:11>> I appreciate that.

23:15Absolutely. All right. Thank you all.

23:17>> Thank you.

23:20>> I have to admit I did not realize that

23:22law had had taken effect. As we

23:24discussed, there's a lot of laws out

23:26there that that are going taking effect.

23:29And of all the things that the

23:31legislature did, this is probably the

23:34best one that they could have done

23:36because I long felt that 35 was too fast

23:39for most neighborhoods. And so,

23:46But it will mean that we'll have to

23:48decide there are probably some roads

23:50that still need to be 35 after this. So

23:53then we'll have to approve specific

23:56ordinance for those mark them as 35. So

24:01this will be a process we'll go through

24:03and take a look at the

24:07moving along. Number eight, road closure

24:10ordinances for light of the holiday and

24:13Christmas.

24:18These are recurring road closures for

24:20nothing.

24:38project and progress.

24:42Sam

24:46>> Sam is just fine.

24:49Sam is just fine. Um can y'all scroll to

24:52the documents for that?

24:56Uh so next week we are well we are not

24:59but contractors are going to be on the

25:00ground doing the work. Um, this has been

25:02a long time coming, but dealing with

25:03anything in a creek, EPA, um,

25:08Army Corps of Engineers, everybody had

25:10to put their blessing on it. So, we

25:11finally got all that, uh, through

25:12confirmation of no rise, which basically

25:14means that the work we're going to be

25:15doing is not going to make flooding

25:16worse. Um, obviously any work that we do

25:19that tries to assist in flood

25:22mitigation, um, has to confirm that it's

25:24not going to make it worse. The other

25:26thing everybody looks for also is to

25:28make flooding go away. That will never

25:30happen. Obviously, 100red-year flood

25:32planes, thousand-year flood events, it's

25:35just not going to happen. So, just as a

25:36review, uh this is the strap program um

25:40which is the string bank stabilization

25:42and creek cleanout for the Jimmy's Creek

25:45um along the East Meadow Road area. Um

25:48there's four partals that are going to

25:50be impacted by this. Um one of those is

25:54the um the 325 East Meadow Road. That is

25:58our NFIP, our National Flood Insurance

26:00Program, severe repetitive loss, which

26:03basically means it's had up to $20,000

26:06worth of damage multiple times. Um,

26:08that's the base my house with the pool.

26:10Yes, sir. Sure is. Um, so Michael, if

26:13you want to add any into this as far as

26:15the the concept of it or um this has

26:19been a long time coming. Um we the

26:22family that lived there reached out to

26:24us uh after storms a couple of years ago

26:28and uh we uh were able to identify a

26:32grant that we could apply for which we

26:35did which was a strap grant and we've

26:37been working through we taken vegetation

26:42along the stream corridor trying to

26:45clean it so it mov so the water moves.

26:48Uh and this is that last I you know I

26:51don't know I don't think that this will

26:53solve the flooding problem but it should

26:55at least

27:02>> probably

27:12hoping that this will certainly help

27:13their situations

27:15um moving forward but as Sam said you

27:19You can't you can't completely prepare

27:22against

27:23>> flood. This has been a long process.

27:27I'm glad we're getting to this end, but

27:31we'll hope that it does some good for

27:33them.

27:38>> So, there there are other grant

27:39opportunities. Um there's the uh swift

27:41flow grant opportunity where they can do

27:43some elevations of their houses and I've

27:45tried to give as much information to

27:47those land owners as I can but it's

27:48obviously their responsibility to apply

27:50for those. Um so this was a $364,000

27:54grant. Uh out of that we had $10,000 in

27:56like kind matching. So my my salary

27:59doing my time going out meeting with

28:01loaners um using dump trucks things like

28:03that. So that's what we're planning on

28:05using that for. So hopefully no true

28:07funding will come out of the budget for

28:08that. Um we've got about $218,000 left

28:11for the the actual physical work of the

28:13job which should take less than a month.

28:16Um but we just want to give y'all an

28:18update and let you know the boots are

28:19going to be on the ground hopefully in

28:20the next two weeks doing that work

28:28and backyard.

28:32I haven't been back in there in a while

28:33that we've done some riding, but it's

28:35mainly been on the rightway. Um,

28:46>> 4x4 that would be the police

28:51>> could have been Yeah.

29:00>> Yeah. That's probably they were probably

29:02checking the right way to make sure

29:05being maintained.

29:06>> Sam, thank you for the update.

29:08>> Yes, sir.

29:09>> And I remember when we were talking

29:10about this um now seeing how long this

29:13process is going down, have you thought

29:15about um know time as some of the other

29:19properties that are also being impacted

29:20by the creek

29:21>> and um are we thinking about when the

29:24process of trying to maybe reapply this

29:25grant even though we haven't got started

29:27this process but think about getting

29:29started that process to hopefully

29:31address some of these other properties

29:33that are also be impacted even though we

29:35>> Yeah. address.

29:36>> Yeah, absolutely. Um, strap

29:38unfortunately has been changed a little

29:41bit. It was a North Carolina

29:42agricultural grant now with North

29:44Carolina pulling back some funds and

29:46doing other things. Um, this is one

29:47that's pretty much been sunseted. Yeah,

29:51there are some federal grants that of

29:52course we'll try to apply for. Um, but a

29:54lot of times those federal grants comes

29:56down to the actual land owner

29:57themselves. Um, and I have been in

29:59contact with a couple of the other land

30:01owners. There there was a repetitive

30:02loss, not a severe repetitive loss, uh,

30:04a little bit further down the road

30:06towards the pilot drive or pilot school

30:08road. And I've given him some

30:09information about it as well. But yeah,

30:13>> uh, they're close. Yeah, I know the the

30:15severe repetitive loss. Yes, they have

30:16been cut off multiple times, but they

30:18still have to have it. Yep. Just because

30:20of that flood plane that they sit in.

30:23>> It's expensive.

30:24>> Yeah, it is. Flooding is expensive.

30:27Absolutely. Thank y'all. Thank you.

31:20Who is it?