[Music] oh to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all next we have the consent agenda and I believe there was just one item pulled but do we have a motion move to approve the consent agenda less than one item pulled second okay any discussion not all in favor say I I all opposed all right and then the one item pulled was G2 which was the Tava Agora and I believe counselor silver just had a few questions about that well first let me say I'm very supportive of adding more of a downtown experience particular on Hillsboro Street um I had a question about the pavers uh there are some large trees there's currently mulch uh between a curb and a sidewalk just want to make sure those trees will remain quite healthy I'm sure the applicant would not want anything to happen to those trees and replace them so just wanted to know are there permeable pavers being used uh it wasn't noted on the application so I just had that one question sure Daniel King uh city Rally Transportation uh yes permeable paperss will be used uh they're also maintaining a 5-ft clear area around the trees and the platform itself will be elevated and all of the installation will be done by hand and carefully monitored by our urban forestry group as that occurs okay with that clarification I move for approval second uh any discussion if not all in favor of the motion say I I all oppose nay motion passes great thank you okay that concludes uh the consent agenda we now have public comment and I believe we have six people who have signed up to speak uh so first is Octavia Rainey good afternoon I would like to speak about what happened in North Hills I have already called baronnie gor and Mr Kain to wish them to offer them my condolence because as I told them that is a situation that they could not control it was UN controllable gun violence is an issue and it's a big issue the thing that bothers me it depends upon what side of town that it happens on that it gets more and more attention when the issue itself should be focused on gun violence gun violence is a issue I don't care where you live I don't care what color your skin is it's a serious issue anytime someone is killed my heart hurts because I know that is serious I don't think the City Raleigh is doing enough to address the issue of gun violence it's itself gun violence must be addressed now I don't know what the police department or anyone is doing about gun running buying guns that aren't yours I don't know what we're doing about mental illness in this city how do we address that but it is a problem and it bothers me that when it happens on my side of town it's a great big deal but if happens on another side of town well it's a safe neighborhood no neighborhood is safe guns are terrible they do kill people and I wish you would change your language when you talk about gun violence so you make it aware to everyone that I don't care where you at any place any time anywhere gun violence can happen to you and that's a serious problem so when it happens in my neighborhood don't go on this binge but you should be going on the binge when someone is killed in a city of Raleigh by a gun and that's what you really should be focusing on is that gun violence and it's a shame my heart goes out to the canes but it goes out to the North Hill Family it goes out to the other killing that found that was done with a gun in the shopping center but we have to begin to focus on gun violence itself and the causes and mental illness and this industry the hospitality industry they got to do better do they offer counseling to any of their clients free of charge free of charge so please when we look at gun violence let's really look at gun violence thank you next we have Stan [Music] Joseph okay do not see Mr Joseph um next we have maida lashani hello great job saying my name right first try uh I'm mid Lani I'm North Carolina native local resident and I own a dog um the downtown dog parks the Nash Square dog park and the one at Mo Square I think are really important people use them every day they help the dogs have a good quality of life they help people have good quality of life neighbors are happy because dogs are well exercised and not barking and all of those things so I think they're great I was so happy to see that we put those up um and I think they're essential to any downtown area that has residents right you want they're going to have dogs you want them to be well behaved um the issue is that the condition of the fencing is beginning to rapidly deteriorate it looks like temporary fencer fencing was installed when they were first put up um it's not holding up well the bottoms of it are rolling up and like it's going to create a safety issue over time we're next to a three-lane road like you guys see this it's next to the building and like any of these dogs that wants to can get out from there and run into traffic and cause like a major car accident um and so we need the parks but they need to be properly set up so that they're functioning in a safe way right um and so I'm just trying to understand like why haven't we installed a permanent Park what are the impediments to getting there what can we do as a community to like make that happen quickly um and I just I don't know if you're allowed to respond to me but like I just don't know how to ask and get an answer of like why isn't that happening and what can we do to get there because I think it'll benefit everybody and probably not cost that much so let me know thank you very much for bringing that up okay so you guys are just going to think about it or I don't know what the next step is this is my first time like engaging in this I think we can get a followup from our manager we get a memo every Friday with follow-up information so we can get some follow-up information from our manager on on in our Friday memo about like maintenance ongoing maintenance for those dog parks okay um and I just do want to be transparent that I live nearby and I'll be continuing to follow up on this sort of until it's resolved so I look forward to seeing you guys in the coming weeks more frequently into resolving this issue together and so we'll follow back with you um after this Friday's report goes out thank you appreciate that very much thank you okay next we have mamai Sanders good afternoon y'all it's another amazing day in paradise thank you guys for your service appreciate you being here um I'm back with more ideas um first of all I just like to share that I was the only citizen um that attended all well there was Doug too but I attended all five budget listening sessions that were held in the districts and I also attended one of the virtual ones um in December the only reason I didn't attend the other ones is because of the storm water meeting and something else that conflicted with um the scheduling for them in December um there was approximately um 100 citizens that participated in all and because most of the meetings bless you 25 to 35% I would say was staff that were at each of those meetings and I don't think any of those meetings extended exceeded 40 participants and so with that um I have my own ideas but I'm um one of the ideas is in addition to something that was said at one of the meetings and I also want to thank Christina and um tulip tulipe because they were the only people that ran for office that actually attended one of those sessions um of all the candidates and all of city council um who was elected but um I have three ideas one is that it would be um really helpful if the city could um put together like a four and a quarter by 11 city council like welcome to Raleigh card where city council was on one side who your elected officials are and then maybe major dep Department contact numbers on the other side so those can go to real estate agents and an apartment complexes because for a city with almost 500,000 people to have less than 100 people showing up for such important well from in my from what I saw for such an important engagement um period I think is unac unacceptable and so I think that would help to just let people know what's going on um the second thing is can we do a new study to determine an alternative to New Burn brt um I don't understand why we would put more impervious Serv services and I hope I'm getting these terms right in a flood plane or watershed area as well as in an area in a community that we know is a heat island um and also rip up all those trees that are there especially when we could just increase service when we don't have enough service operators so I'm not sure why that's um why we're pushing forward on that and this last idea has to do with um when I attended the um District B they made it um one of the comments was that there's no ENT mment venue out there and this is something that I've been really passionate about um wondering about is if we can move the expansion of the Raleigh convention center and and Red Hat Amphitheater to the Triangle Town Center where um where there's no entertainment venue so that there becomes another hub for entertainment and that's it for today thank you thank you next we have Athena wallum hi there everybody my name is Athena Wallen I've been acquainting you to the Brookside neighborhood while advocating for larger conversations uh like the Equitable use of our public roadways and how we can challenge car Centric metrics which determine how and when a corridor is considered for traffic calming improvements that would ultimately result in pedestrian or non-driver safety um and I'm also discussing a lot with you about the necessity for stormwater Creek Rehabilitation to be interwoven with our Urban Development strategies uh because we must help rebuild neighborhood resiliency um we have an unpredictable increase of runoff volumes with our in with our storms let's figure out a solution to equitably approach communities and help them there is much to say about the benefits of preemptively reducing car clutter along a neighborhood Corridor such as Brookside because it runs alongside a topological low point of an existing storm water creek ecosystem so much to say but today I really wanted to talk to you about one thing um happy squirrel Appreciation Day these little agents of chaos bring me just unconditional amusement and one of my favorite Raleigh moments is um standing in a a downtown apartment Court like courthous Courtyard sorry looking up into the giant limbs of beautifully aged oak trees watching a family of Southern Flying Squirrels just Glide from Darkness to Darkness these little Beautiful Creatures like wisps of Shadows within Shadows it was enchanting and that was here in downtown Raleigh around apartment complexes offering a little bit of honestly escapism in a downtown and urban environment we should be highlighting ways to bring this and access this along communities everywhere um it just reminds me how remarkable it is to be surprised by Nature um and how our storm water Creeks already provide a beautiful enriched environment where a lot of this potential already exists and those ecosystems are hurting right now if we have I guess I wanted to say that these ecosystems are also the canary and the coal mines um if we have a thriving wildlife habitat around our storm water Creeks we have the opportunity to cultivate thriving communities around those natural resources um it's really hard to stand up here and tell you that I take pride in the habitat I have cultivated for wildlife in my backyard uh because it's just a desperate mess of like dead things that are tied together with hope and just a shrug but that's what I have to defend the stream um I wish I could tell you about the storm water crew coming out helping me plant things it was great thanks for your time thank you okay final speaker Laura Harris Laura here is District D um right now we all know it's very cold this week it's what in the teens at night if you're out there for an hour or to you know your hands like your fingers your toes they they start to sting and eventually and hurt and eventually you just can't feel them anymore and they're numb and you can't move them your face stings you're shivering you can't stop and all you can think about is getting warm but if you're homeless and um if the white flag shelters are full or if it's not a white flag night you can't do anything until the morning and something opens up like a place at the table and you can go there and get warm um but like there are nights where um you know it's 36° and the white flags are not open because it's above the cut off you know um these conditions especially getting down to the teens and 20s these are conditions of death and you know basically the the white flags need to be open all winter you know and you know have more drop-ins I know there are two right now they're functioning as drop-ins but there need to be more cuz right now there's only you know those two and then a couple White Flags basically um you know you you may say there's not available spaces for another drop in or what have you but the City of Raleigh owns a lot of property there's the convention center there are you know Community spaces there are gymnasiums there are places where you could set it up for people to be able to go and I know righ is on the governing board of the Continuum of Care and you may you know say certain things are not directly in your power or what have you but you all have have things that are in your power and you all have influence you know you may say there's not staff for these drop-ins you know the um that they rely on volunteers well you can create in your budget you can create a staff and you can create a budget for this you know there are things that are within your power to do um you know and you all you know like to say when you want to velop a space that is underutilized while a lot of these public spaces that you all have again the convention center is an example are underutilized and y'all could be using those y'all need to step up and do more for the people of your city thank you thank you right that concludes uh the public comment and I guess the next voice pil public comments there were no voicemail public comments received okay all right um next on the agenda is special items and there was a resolution of support for uh naming of Interstate 440 interchange at US1 us 401 turn it over to staff or have Michael mois coming report planning we skip the report of Planning Commission and staff was going to speak to one of the questions that was lifted up as to why there's no agenda items okay okay yep so I had that there was no report but yes please that's right there is no report good afternoon vinam Walter planning and planning and development you'll remember at your last meeting we had a very robust report of Planning Commission and that was the items that Planning Commission discussed at their only meeting in December like you they only met once in December and so there are no items today they are meeting next week and we will certainly have items for you at the next meeting thank you okay next moving on to special items uh the resolution of support for the ncod do interchange Mr Michael Moore good afternoon uh uh mayor members of council at your last meeting uh you requested staff prepare a resolution and support to name the I 440 US1 us 401 interchange in honor of Mr Conan Morgan uh Mr Morgan was a native aale in Wake County he was a dynamic Community leader and he was a Trailblazer in North Carolina politics he unfortunately passed away in a boating accident in 20123 your resolution has a number of his accomplishments and achievements number of recognitions and awards um among them I'd just like to highlight his 30 years of service to the North Carolina Science Olympiad he was a huge advocate for Science Education having graduated from North Carolina State University with a degree in computer science he also led the campaigns of the first African-American female mayors of Charlotte Miss viles The Honorable v v miles and of Durham The Honorable uh Elan M O'Neal I almost got that wrong so he was also recipient of the order of the Longleaf Pine the president's volunteer service award and the Harry S Truman award once uh you uh act on this resolution today there are a few extra steps that we have to go through this is a North Carolina interchange so we'll work through their process um North Carolina Department of Transportation uh requires us to do a few things following up so we'll put together some additional information those will be supported to the chief Engineer's Office they will then go to the road bridge and Ferry naming committee uh and then they will pass a resolution which will then go to the board of transportation for Action that once that is complete uh they'll notify us we'll make payment to the department and ncdot will install the sign uh I would like to conclude I'd like to acknowledge uh Mr Morgan's uh mother uh Pamela and his sister are in the audience today just i' like to recognize them and with that I'd like to uh request your uh consideration of the resolution there's no discussion you want yeah so I so move to um adopt a resolution and move forward with the process with do and Miss Morgan please uh if you and your daughter would would stand up this is Conan's mom and his um and his sister so thank you all for being here today and his wife and his wife Raina is also here wife can't forget his wife I didn't y I didn't see her back there other Miss Morgan that's right that's right and I second the motion okay any other discussion uh if not all in favor of the motion say I I I'll oppose nay and the motion carries thank you thank you very much [Applause] okay um next we have the report and recommendations of the city manager good afternoon mayor and Council and to the Morgan Family thank you for being here today um the first item on the agenda is a long awaited report and update on the Raleigh cares program um many folks at the table I see council member Patton excited council member Harrison is over here pluging away at her computer she's excited as well um for Michelle Mallette in the city manager's office to present this item bless bless you all right so sorry about that looks like my slides are not loaded but as you all know this has been a passion project for me so I actually can speak from the heart um so I do want to provide you all with an update about the Raleigh car's program if uh the slides are able to get loaded you will see the wonderful branding that the communication team worked on so hard in order to deliver something that we thought would really speak to Raleigh cares and what does Raley care stand for Council remember Mitchell silver it stands for crisis alternative response for empathy and support and so this project again like I said means so much to me as well as this community and it's important to give you guys updates as we are along the process and one in particular is to talk about acorns and so I do want to distinguish between the two I know we get a couple of questions all the time about what is Raleigh cares what is acorns what do the police department what does that really mean and so it's important to establish that the Community came back to us and said we recognize that acorns is not going away and acorns does a lot of good work and I'm going show you a video shortly about some of that really good work but we thought it was important to answer the community's question around the separation of the two and so the community itself really wanted um some solutions and some options that did not involve the Riley Police Department so we thought it was important in particular we thought it also was make sure that we were specific in our titling to separate the Cho so so Raleigh cares itself is just Raleigh cares and that includes three components two I'm going to provide you an update with today which is the crisis call diversion line as well as the care navigation program the third component which I know you all are waiting for a bited breath I do have a small update for you and I we have more to come um as we come back to you all around the budget time but again the fourth component is at co-response which is our acorns unit and so if you recall several months ago we came to you all and asked you for a authorization for the city manager to enter into a contract with gelada and so galada is that database software and dashboard thank you that dashboarding software um that was really important to help build some trust and transparency in the community and so since then um acorns went through a little bit of a tough time as I talked to you all right before you went on your break about some hiring challenges but as of today and I don't see meline in the audience but I'm give her a lot of credit cuz she worked her butt off in recruitment she will be fully staffed by February 1st and so what that means is we can actually operationalize the system and so they've been working with Chelada the software company awesome thank you they've been working with the software company in order to look through work through some of the um databases and try to work on getting some of that system stood up they've been partnering with some mental health professionals as well as community members to help understand what does that actually mean and what do they want to hear when they get have interface with a acorn's employee as well as they've been working in particular with some of our veteran Community we know that sometimes they are some of our most vulnerable population and so I think this is most appropriate time to give the Raleigh Police Department specifically the acorns unit a shout out here and I have a short video to show city of Raley has many resources and we at the Raleigh Police Department are fortunate enough to have our acorns unit today hear one man's story about how this unit help him get back on track they worked hard they got me in a place that's safe that's Warn and like you said it's my room Nicholas who prefers to be called Mr Nick is now in a place he can finally call home after living on the streets of Raleigh for years that's all thanks to persistent work and referrals by members of rpd's acorns unit and a peer support representative from recovery communities of North Carolina once you've been unhoused or you have a significant criminal background a lot of times getting connected to the right Services can be a very challenging um issue Travis Compton says their primary goal at rcnc is to focus on the recovery of the individual however he understands recovery is different for everyone and in Mr Nick's case he is a disabled veteran who lost his right foot years back shortly after being diagnosed with diabetes Mr Nick came onto my case load um from a kind of referral that Travis made um they had seen Mr Nick in downtown Raleigh uh for a couple months and knew that he was unhoused and he was kind of falling into the cracks JS works as a social worker for the acorns unit acorns is an acronym for addressing crisis through Outreach referrals networking and service the specialized unit consists of a number of officers and social workers we receive referrals from our Patrol officers internally and externally um from Community Partners or citizens in the community basically letting us know of a need that an individual is facing it could be homelessness substance use or mental health Sergeant Horner supervises this unit our priority with the veteran services program is to take service members in need and connect them with their VA benefits or with other service providers in the event that they don't qualify for VA benefits their common goal was simply getting Mr Nick house in off of the streets you could tell when someone cares and someone don't and you Str you get emotional but it's it's really good after months of follow-ups and referrals Mr Nick could finally get the keys to his new apartment and to make the reward even sweeter it was given to him on a special day they said we're going to get you off the street they a put no time in they didn't put no restriction on my birthday that's when I came to have his reaction you know the day that he moved in um it was like Christmas morning we keep talking about it um it was just like Christmas morning for us but also for him um and to see him unlock his you know door for the first time after years of not being able to do that it's surreal oh it was such a great feeling it was like one of those Christmas miracles where not only did we get him housed and in a better place but it was also on his birthday Mr Nick is now resident at the Cornerstone Center which provides wraparound services to all of their residents who are trying to adapt back to society you got your own bathroom you got your own shower you got a microwave you got a TV I mean a refrigerator hey couldn't ask for no more however Sergeant Herer says the fight doesn't end here with Mr Nick we see so many people who have given up and they've just sort of lost hope and I really want everyone to understand that we're going to help you to meet those needs and we want to walk with you through this process and don't give up because we're going to help you fight Chase has a message for those looking to receive services from the acorns unit so I just stress so much just to be patient with the process um because it's going to happen we're going to figure out a way to make it work and that's the beauty of the social workers and um that are on our unit is that we're always trying to make things fit and make things work so that um we can get people to their end goal um but it's worth the wait I hope hearing this story has inspired you to seek help if you need it for more information on our acorns unit visit raleighnc.gov [Music] thank you all I don't see all the members or any actual members from acorn's Team I assume they are doing the work in particular with it being so cold outside but thank y'all for that Applause they truly um deserve it as they work really hard and they have definitely taken the mission to heart if you think about connecting people to resources that's what we've said this program is going to be from the beginning and that's what they've done when they are able to on board the gelada software you'll be able to see not just a video but you'll be able to see that data as well as people being connected to different services and where those gaps are directly so I do want to again take another Peak I don't see her here but do want to thank meline and the entire team around acorns in particular now that they are almost fully staffed I know they're going to continue to work in the community and do that wonderful work so wanted to provide that update on that program care navigation as part of the budget you all also authorized us hiring three positions under housing and neighborhoods and as of today um they are in the midst of trying to outline the program they have hired the manager itself so we are really excited about that and that manager will be starting sometime in February the coordinator and peer support positions are still in recruitment but we thought about really waiting to on board them with the manager in particular I'm going to have an ask for you towards the end of this presentation but they want to make sure they have coordinated effort around the training with acorns they want to make sure they have trauma informed care as well as doing a bunch of community um touch points around the spring in the summer and with the hopes of launching the program in May of 2025 the mobile crisis response pilot which I know you all are so excited to hear more about and I'm not going to tell you that I have a true update for you with the exception of I really do want to shout out our partners at Wake County they have come to the table and we are actually designing a pilot right now identifying additional Partners in order to get that over the edge and so you will be seeing something at the budget can't tell you what it is right now as we need to outline what the pilot looks like but I do want to take this time to thank Wake County and our additional partners for coming to the table and helping us design an informed pilot so our crisis call diversion line which is one of the things I'm going to ask you for at the end of this meeting and is on your agenda today we worked really hard again with those additional Partners including Wake County in order to design a crisis c a verion line that would be launched in Raleigh specifically and what does that mean that means that anyone that calls with Raleigh North Carolina who is in need of services they will be able to speak to someone from 9:00 to 5: 9:00 a.m. within our call center council member Harrison you charged us with what happens outside of 9 to-5 why choose that number and so we went back to our partners including Wake County do you want to give them a shout out here as long as working with our um partner Alliance and asked can we get 27 24/7 care and they came back to us and said okay we can do that with addition cost we can make that happen which is part of the ask in a little bit but what does that mean so I want to be really clear here from 9 to 5 they will speak with a licensed clinician that is in house with us at our 911 call center outside of that they will still speak to an alliance Health employee license clinician but they are not housed within our 911 call center what that means it might be slight delay we hope it will not but it might be a slight delay just based off trying to transfer calls and not necessarily being all aware of all the things that you need so our call takers might have to do a little more just to make sure they get the information to Alliance but they will get service and so thank you Council mayor Harrison for charging us with that and we're able to get to that along with a again small ask and just a little bit and through working with our partners and Alliance I do want to also take out the time to shout out our city attorney's office who really made sure that we were reducing our risk but also making sure we didn't lose the spirit of this program and so I really do want to thank them so much for their time and effort towards this as well as the department of emergency communications we really challenge them to think about mental health when again that's not their charge their charge is to connect people to resources again and so what that means of on boarding licensed clinicians and embedding them into our culture they're really have been working diligently on operational plan in order to make sure this is Success so again I want to shout out another department because I don't do this by myself I recognize I'm the one telling the story but I'm not the person that does the work so I do want to shout out the um Department of Emergency Communications in particular the director Dominic Nutter as well as the assistant director Jacob Butler so where's my ask I also have an additional ask outside of the contract is that expansion for 24-Hour CCD line and so that means that again we're going to fund those positions that will answer those calls within the Raleigh area and I'm going to get to what happens outside the Raleigh area in just a minute we also talked about the care navigation and I told you we wanted to wait to make sure we unboarded that team in order to help that manager and so they are asking for a program evaluation partner to make sure that we roll out this program with that is trauma informed works with all the partners in the area as well as other mental health professionals I talked about those call takers that are not trained mental health professionals they are trained to answer calls and connect people to resources and so it's really important to make sure they get the training they need so when they are asking taking those calls and getting those prompts they're actually getting people to the correct resources I know that was a concern of our former council member a black who asked about that as well as council member Jones and so we took a stab at kind of figure out what that looks like and so we've reached out to professionals and so we are asking for additional training it also was an ask about what happens when Raleigh Police Department department has a call and what that looks like when they're trying to connect people to resources and so we're also part of our ask is training for all Police Department employees who will interface with people that have different types of challenges now this will take time as we know whenever you're training someone it means you're taking them out of what their traditional role is so I'm not going to put a date on it I know you all want me to I cannot but we are going to ask for additional training in order to help them we also are going to ask for an enclos trailer you saw in the video that the Raleigh Police Department acorns program goes out and does direct services and so one of the things that they were asking for is when they have someone who's in need of resources is there an opportunity for them to kind of have all the things that someone may need in particular as you all are seeing all across the community people are in need of different types of things and they they have worked with Partners to identify some of those things whether it is temporary shelter different types of food needs as well as different types of things they may need for personal care so that is an encro trailer that we're asking for the police department so I did want to point that out as I know people will ask hold on how did the police get another resource but currently they are the only unit that actually goes out and responds so we felt that was most appropriate for that ask we will continue our community outreach as well as our partnership with different types of practitioners it's been really important for us to keep going back to those people that have asked for this program in the first place and so we've started those different types of touch points but we do want to make sure we have kind of a formal meeting where people can come provide feedback as well as join the team get updates on what's going on with the program and so we'll begin in June 2025 with the hope of a launch with our crisis uh call diversion line in July 1 as well as the May 2025 for the care navigation and so we think we'll strike a good balance to get feedback from both of those programs one month after launch as well as one month before launch so that's our goal there we've also been in contact with a police Advisory Board we recognized that that was one touch point that we needed to speak to directly in particular when they were charged with this effort years ago in order to help with some of that community outreach and connection with the police department and they have been a really good partner and we're going to make sure that we have regular check-ins with them and we also recognize that was a request from mayor um excuse me uh council member Lambert Milton last time we were here as well and then we want to do monthly Community Mental Health popups we recognize that not everyone is going to Dow the number not everyone is going to call not everyone is going to feel comfortable with reaching out to acorns or even just regular City RS employee but if we go directly to them where we know there are hot spots where we have found out from our partners that there are issues we feel like we could either educate you on the program itself and different resource we can connect you to or even just be a touch point and continuously make sure we're there with you so when we onboard that software of gelada 100% then anyone that's inside the program will see well okay I've made a touch point with Michelle she's in this type of need and this type of resources maybe today is the time to start with her maybe today is not the time to start with her but I'll be able to track that touch point and everyone can see it and we can also be dispatched to those different Community Partners excuse me those different Community popups if that person later wants to come back to us so I did want to take some time to talk about kind of what people will see out in the community so here are some of the different types of materials that you'll see um I really want to thank again Communications who worked really hard who took all the feedback whether they were frustrated with me or not they were very creative in particular thought were very thoughtful and they also came up with a tagline and I recognize you cannot not see it now with the menu down there so sorry but you'll see it on the left hand corner as well as in the center there what's kind of off center and so we challenge them to think about when somebody is thinking about what the Raleigh car's program is and so our new tagline officially is because every crisis deserves compassion and so what that embodies for me and at least for majority of the team is what no matter what you're going through no matter what you're facing you will be facing at least when you interface with the City of Raleigh compassion and we don't always know what someone is going through or how they're going to get through it but if we connect you to resources we can at least be the first point of contact to get you on that path so what is my request I kept hinting at it so one you'll see directly pulled out in your agenda item is to authorize a city manager to execute a contract with Alliance Health in the amount to not to exceed for the crisis call diversion line we also are asking you all to authorize a budget transfer to cover some program enhancements that I went through on the other slides I will pause now for questions before I get to um Miss Mallette will you clarify is that an annual ask the 54614 or is that that's for this pilot just for the pilot you anticipate that being a about I do not anticipate it being that high because a lot of this is startup training but once we get the program running which will be a full year then I think we'll know more because one we're only having three licensed clinicians so we may find that we don't necessarily have the calls from 9 to 5 they may come in after and we may not necessarily need three licensed Clin during the day as well as you don't have the startup cost it's also any uh software enhancements computers different things like that right thank you and I think before the mayor opens for questions we would be remiss if we did not think council member Lambert Melton from about five six years ago challenged us to rethink the way we engage and rethink the way we serve um with compassion and empathy to those who we might not want to make the 911 call for RPD and so he pushed us and he pushed us and Michelle took the ball and then Council came on in 22 and we've just worked really really hard and people have been really frustrated that it's taken a long time but I would much rather we do it and do it right than rush to bring something forward that we see some of our neighbors have done and it's not worked out too well um and so I feel really strongly and and we've been intentional and strategic about how the Raleigh cares program will function moving forward so thank you personally Miss Mallette for all of your attention and heartache at times and trying to stand this program up since we're thanking before you um get started mayor I do also want to thank Hannah who's worked diligently in the office as well she takes every crazy idea that I have the community has you all have the manager has and helps make it happen so I do also want to take this opportunity to thank her as well okay um thank you for that presentation video and do you have questions yes counselor Patton hi can you go back to a slide that has that one maybe not the one that talks about 247 oh crisis cersion yeah yes this one um June 2025 Program start date is later than so um as the manager talked about length of time so it what we are concerned about and we've just heard this um overall is it is difficult to hire licensed clinicians itself right now in particular social workers or people that do this work if you recall in the presentation that I gave back in November that was one of the challenges that they were facing the acorns unit with so many vacancies and so we just did that buffer to be um careful there but Alliance assures us that for them it's about a 30 to 60 day onboarding process for them and then we also wanted to put back in 30 days for them to be embedded into our call center so shouldn't take that long but again as we all know and I've said from the very beginning we get uh those snapshot moments where people are going to quote me so I'd rather you know under promise and overd deliver so we feel like June would be is safer got it so if if on the off chance it was we found some great clinicians would we are we able to move faster if things slow yeah as soon as you authorize this um the city attorney's office has helped me um let our partners know that we are not going to sit on this contract not that we ever do but we are going to make sure that this contract gets moved pretty fast um as well as on the Alliance side they've seen it at least a dozen times themselves so it shouldn't take long for them to sign as well and then they are authorized to do the Recruitment and I did I made a mistake I did not come back to you all to talk about what happens after um for a caller outside of Raleigh so Alliance as well as Wake County has said that they will take care of those calls Dominic um and I want to thank Dominic again we worked really hard with them but um they are able to make sure people are serviced in the community outside of Raleigh too recognizing that we can can only pay for our citizens it's not fair to pay for the county but the county and Alliance have stepped up to say that they will make sure people outside of Raley have those resources there other questions yeah councilor Harris I just want to thank you Michelle for again going above and beyond um getting this service you know 247 is huge and ensuring that it meets the needs of all of Wake County residents um it it just means a lot so again thank you for everything that you're doing um I'm prepared to make a motion um when folks are ready if you don't mind I would love to be able to please go ahead to second I just wanted to add thank you very much for all the work you're doing it's been a long time coming I also wanted to note I thought that video for acorns was fantastic during this process I have constantly felt like um there have been some tensions about it's acorns or I think acorns an is the right approach and there's been some confusions about what egg cors does and does not do and I think that video really helped put a real life story to their work and if you are not someone in the community who has had a need to interact with aorn you are very fortunate um because it is designed to be reaching out to folks who need the most assistance and so the more we can do to Daylight their work while we're also getting the Caris program up and running I think we will now have multitude of services to provide compassion to the community and so with that um I would like to move to authorize the C manager to execute the contract and to authorize the budget transfer as stated in the agenda second don't take that down Luke I have one thing just to say to council for next steps I wanted to make sure we got that authorized mayor I didn't mean to cut you off were you going to say no also just this was such an important issue throughout the whole campaign I think uh last Council and and everybody running I think uh understands the need for this so uh also appreciate the work um and just to be clear so if somebody calls 911 now we don't we don't even have the 9 to5 set up right so that that will be in the future and and that will launch the same time as the 247 and it will all go through 911 yes okay yes currently you actually can call Alliance and get Services right now what happens is it may take some time just because they don't have direct Personnel that are directed excuse me um for our calls but there is already a service um currently they already contracted by the state for these types of services what we're doing is giving you a direct Connection in particular for Raleigh residents having people inside our call center so we'll cut back on the delay but currently you do every single person has access to Alliance Health in the state yep that's fabulous Okay so we've had a motion and a second any further discussion or comment if not all in favor of the motion say I I all oppose nay and the motion passes thank you awesome thank you thank you guys I do just want to make for the public thank you mayor for actually being very clear on that implementation um we will continue to work on those Pilots themselves and we're calling them Pilots because we do want to spell out that where there's room for improvement and we will come back to give Council an update on those things as well as the acorns dasboard and client software thank you um council member Lambert Milton again for that shout out and that Clarity on the Raleigh Police Department acorns program because what they do is very critical but one thing to really note is that the police department themselves like this program they like that resources are pulled they AR pulled away from things that they are supposed to do so I think it's really helpful um for people to really see their work and thank you for highlighting that video um they did a wonderful job on that work but it's also important to know that once they get the dashboard up and running I think people will see their work more often and they'll be able to understand kind of the things that they're able to push out I do want to also remind you all that we'll continue to design that mobile crisis pilot with Wake County and we will come back to you all with an ask I'm sure as well as an update on all the perk rooms but I do want to take a time also to thank the full body of this Council for that action that you just took it means a lot to not just me but the community that we're going to serve but all of the uh staff that took all of their time because I know I've drove them crazy as well to get this over the edge so thank you guys so much okay awesome and so the next item on my report today um Miss mlet if you can stay at the podium um two weeks ago we promised a sneak peek of what um this weekend City Council planning Retreat would provide and Michelle mlet is here today to kind of walk us through um fast and dirty the agenda for Friday and Saturday yes and I apologize I brought the wrong paper up here but I know this by heart as well so we'll be good to go um so the council Retreat committee I do want to thank you all because you actually worked really hard fast and dirty as the manager said to really push past a really quick deadline and so we're going to start off on Friday I think the manager um mentioned to you all that we would announce the location it has been announced we'll be at method Road Community Center starting promptly at 9:00 a.m. I'm I'm going to say this again promptly at 9:00 a.m. not just for the public but for staff um as well make sure we're all in place um we are going to start with a ice breaker for you all that will be gently rolling you into your priorities and helping you communicate to not just the community and staff but as well as you all what are some of the things that are important that you all would like to accomplish over this year then we'll jump into an exercise by our strategic plan Group which they prompted you all and I think you had some homework and thank you for completing that homework and they're going to go over the Strategic plan and then we'll jump into the public comment you all had asked the city attorney's office to come back and kind of discuss with you the public comment options that were provided to you at The Last Retreat as well as to see if there's a snapshot of any Community member surrounding you all that have doing anything differently since you Ma your changes and to do one last gut check to see if there are any um changes that you all would like to make we will then go into a lunch I will allow you all to eat um you'll come back um we'll start right back into topics where we will have a panel discussion about your legislative priorities it has been a topic I think every single agenda at least that I've been here and so you all are going to have I think a really good panel this year you'll be joined by a representative from the league of municipalities as well as your state lobbyist and you'll also be joined by a representative from Wake County to talk about what are the things that they did in order to draft their legislative agenda and if anything has shifted since they've um put out that agenda so then we'll jump into after that we will go to um I just threw a blank I apologize um then we will go into legislative agenda just did let legislative agenda budget budget so then you go into a budget exercise see I do make mistakes um then we'll go into a wonderful budget um exercise where you'll go get your financial outlook for the first time and then you will have um some discussions to lay out your priorities to the budget and finance office about some things that are important to you all and then we'll end the day there public comment moved up it moved up she did it then we willum jump into the next day and then you all will kick off um starting off with a really strong robust conversation around Community engagement in particular calling out your boards and commissions um so we have were asked by the committee to look at what are the boards and commissions that we currently have are they right siiz for the organization excuse me of the community that you have do they still meet the community priorities as well as maybe some demographic background information um that the clerk's office works so closely with Community engagement in the Liaisons to present to you all so you'll have a robust conversation there you'll also go into a conversation around annexations in particular what does it mean as we start to grow so you have a presentation from the city attorney's office as well as our planning department then we'll jump into a conversation around affordable housing and I think specifically this conversation is around what are we doing in the way of what our zoning laws kind of limit us to and what are some of the housing goals objectives that you all have set before you then we'll take a break we'll come back the manager will give her traditional operational updates and we will walk you all through what we have accomplished over the last year which staff should be really impressed with themselves as they've done a wonderful job since our Last Retreat the um Retreat facilitator will also kind of take a snapshot to see if we've captured all the things that you all have asked us to cover make sure that that the two days have been fruitful for you and the community and then we'll wrap up the day did I leave off an agenda item I think that's it we do leave a little time we don't assign allotments of time for each item so that the conversations can be fluid and that they can be flexible and that we're not if we're in a robust conversation we don't cut you off in the middle of that conversation and if the conversation isn't as fruitful we don't make you stretch it and waste time either so um the facilitator will work with the mayor um as she will work with us to make sure that we're staying on target so that we do finish everything that we have for the day um Michelle didn't mention we will do light Refreshments at 8:30 so if you want the coffee and the juice you need to be there at 8:30 at 9:00 we starting work right we're going to work work work at 9: so um excited lots of great ideas staff always gets excited about the plan and Retreat because that kind of gives us our March and orders for the year and we have new members at the table this year so it allows us an opportunity to kind of hear from you as well and um so lots of work goes into planning this lots of work goes into following through on this so excited all right questions for Miss mlet on the retreat all right well we appreciate all the work that has gone into it and again that it will get us off to a good start for 2025 um and uh this Council and administration absolutely and next um I have the wonderful opportunity to present to some and introduce to others the newest member I I want to quit saying this but the newest member of the City of Raleigh family Mr Nikki Jones um as you all know we had a um ACM position assistant city manager position that was vacated um as Deputy manager Hayward moved on to to Colorado um we went through a national search and out of that search we found the candidate that we felt like best fit the portfolio that we were looking to reimagine through the reorg in the manager's office and that brings to us Nikki Jones Nikki Jones was here with the city where he worked in economic development but had more of a visibility in presence in housing and neighborhoods where he served as assistant director he left us to become the planning director of another municipality in Wake County and then he left Wake County to go serve in Athens Georgia and in that Consolidated form of government I think Nikki has held every role that there is to hold I think he has been the assistant city manager of about 25 departments some at the same time um and he served as the interim city manager um most recently so we're excited he has a wealth and you know of knowledge and experience in the field and in this work but also in this community um we welcome him back home to North Carolina as he has a young daughter who's about five or six six and so so he's excited to get her closer to grandparents so um introduce to some present to others Mr Nikki Jones Thank You Ma'am uh I'll be brief uh just want to say it's an honor and a privilege to be back home I look forward to working with friends colleagues uh a great staff here uh look forward to working with the Council on all the great initiatives that we have right before us and just want to say uh thank you and I'm very appreciative to the manager for giving me this opportunity so thank you you're welcome back and so miss Octavia he said this morning I get to work with Miss Octavia Rainey again so be nice be gentle be gentle Miss Rainey okay that's the commitment we have it on camera and the last thing I don't get to brag most um most times at the table but one of the things that um as a manager you get the opportunity to do is to see your people shine and to see the organization and the community evolve over time and so we always challenge ourselves to do bigger and to do better on an annual basis and in our office on a daily basis and so I am really really proud to announce that the esteemed milen Milan Institute announced just last week that the City of Raleigh is the best performing City in the nation and I would argue that is not by surprise that is not by accident we were number two last year and we said we don't settle for being number two we're going to aim for number one and dog on it we achieved it so to my staff thank you all for being in the trenches with me when I come up with all these hairbrain ideas that you look at me I'm like we're not going to be able to do that and we encourage and push each other to believe that we can for the community who backs us and supports us when we get it right and who holds us accountable when we don't thank you for that because that makes us a better organization to our Council mayor and Council thank you all for allowing us the space to carry out the work that is so meaningful that is often time goes under a radar it's not thanked it's you know it's that work that you just kind of do that is part of the calling that is each of us for public servants but just a hats off to my staff we are the best performing City in the nation for 2025 and that is a major achievement so I will close with that for my report today thing I would add which is an incredible recognition um and there actually we were the the largest city and there was the smallest was uh Ogden was the best performing small City but the fact that it measures not just economic Prosperity but also opportunity takes into account things like affordability and I know as much as we struggle here yes relative to other cities I mean the efforts that the council past councils have made uh staff um it it is impressive and I was just at the uh naal Conference of Mayors and it's just amazing the respect that Raleigh gets um and and how many people look to Raleigh as as a leader so um that was a great honor to get that so Cong thank you so I will close on that high note today and another short meeting so we get back today awesome we've got some matters scheduled for public hearing um and these were a number of um public nuisance abatement issues and I will turn it over to Bryce Abernathy good afternoon mayor councel uh Bryce Abernathy I'm the code enforcement administrator with the housing and neighborhood Department um quick refresher uh code enforcement we we enforced the health sanitation public nuisance uh code City of Raleigh um what that typically looks like is folks that don't take care of their yards High Grass trash in the yard those kind of things we'll send an inspector out uh they'll site the owner the owner of the property per weight County tax records what that looks like is they send them a first class letter laid out with the violations they post this information on the house um we go through um before we send a crew out there to actually clean the property up uh we usually try to find emails and phone numbers and make followup phone calls typically when you get to this point there's been a lot of non-action from the property owner um and that's kind of where that that falls under I know there were some questions about uh when we encounter homelessness or unhoused individuals out on Lots we typically don't do any enforcement action until acorns has been brought into the situation and they go out and provide resources to those that are on site before we do anything as far as cleaning it up so um with that being said if you guys don't have any questions I can kind of move forward with uh these properties um I know 809 Campanella was paid off of this list so should be admitted uh from first first property is 605 brag Street um you may recall that this one has quite a history on it um this is just another another abatement that we've completed on this property again no no no contact with the ownership and this was just High Grass and trash how much is their Total Lean amount at this time um it looks like we're a little over 11,000 at this point for this property uh 1338 cross link um this was just kind of junk all over the place there's a couple rental properties in it um we did talk to the property owner with this one and let them know what was going on and they did not they did not do anything about it um again it was trash car parts household items um you kind of name it that's what was out there and the last one is 619 Cumberland Street and this is another one that we've visited uh many times um we've actually had enforcement action on this property dating back to 2011 um we actually demolished the house in 2015 um again this was just extremely high grass on the property no no contact with any ownership after mailing out first class mail and trying to call them and everything um the total for that property since 2011 is about 40,000 okay thank you uh any questions on these items and I will open public hearings we do not have anyone signed up to speak um but for the record so um I'm opening the hearing on 605 brag Street for a public nuisance abatement I am closing the hearing I've see no one right okay closing the hearing on 605 brag um should I take all of I need to vote separately right okay all right so I'll open the hearing on uh 3 1338 cross Link Road anybody to speak seeing no one closing the hearing on 1338 cross Link Road and then opening the hearing on 619 Cumberland Street there's no one here uh closing the hearing on 619 Cumberland Street do I have a motion um to for approval second okay any other discussion if not all yes hello again thank you so much I just wanted I know that when they've come up before in previous councils we've asked about Mutual Aid organizations and I just wanted to highlight you guys do work with mutual Aid if they're uh willing and able to have you found any more connections that with those Mutual Aid organizations where they would want to help out in this so uh with the housing element we do refer uh Property Owners to the um homeowner repair programs um we also do uh we're starting in the spring we have similar Greensboro has a program it's a tool share program and we have purchased some mowers and some weed eaters and things like that that property owners will be able to rent for free if they need that kind of if they want wanted to take care of it themselves and just didn't have the equipment they could rent those for free need a machete yeah and some some of that's that's we've partnered with uh neighborhood enrichment on on doing that so awesome thank you so much for for looking into that and going deep on that so I appreciate it I have a question yep another question for the properties where we have these thousands dollars of leans um do we know if the taxes are being covered I don't think taxes have been p paid on either one of those properties um sta uh the city attorney's office is actually putting together kind of a uh a larger detailed memo about how to handle some of these properties that have exorbitant costs so she would maintain in them okay thank you I was a followup question I was going to ask about that and um because certainly like I don't want to still put leans on people's homes if they wish they could do the work but couldn't for lack of tools but for some of these we are just like essentially acting as landscapers paid for with public funds and that I I'll say that these two properties are kind of outliers it's usually not the case that we're maintaining our property for just endlessly yeah right right do you know or Madam City attorney do you know about when we might expect that report coming out of your office just a loose ballpark a month six months as council member Patton this had started off as a response to some more specific site specific questions and I had talked with the housing and neighborhoods director and with the city attorney about making that more comprehensive and making it a joint Memo from our office and from housing and neighborhoods so we can provide sort of the legal framework that the city has to work within but also to let housing and neighborhood staff speak to how they administer the program within the laws so roughly when like a month or six months within the next month okay Okay so we've had a motion in a second are we ready to vote on this right all in favor of the motion say I I all oppose nay and we appreciate the report and all the thoughtful comment from everybody on Council okay so we had uh z724 was withdrawn so we are now uh we have the report and recommendation of various committees but because we are coming off the holidays we do not have any uh report and recommendations which leads us to the mayor and city council reports and I will start with uh councelor Harrison great thank you I just wanted to note one item in the consent agenda um I did notice that a pollinator Garden uh was approved in a right of way which I thought was fabulous and I was curious um to get an update marshelle about how residents if they have an interest in that is there a um you know web page that they can go to to find out more information I've had other requests where neighbors want to take care of a right of way um and do additional landscaping and it seems like a a good opportunity to add some TLC to our public spaces absolutely we gave a snapshot of an answer right here but we can I'm sorry we gave a snapshot of an answer right before the meeting but we'll make sure that we have a um comprehensive response on Friday great and I also did want to thank um planning director Pat young um and then Hannah Reco with uh the planning department for coming out to our district D meeting on Saturday we had almost 40 residents there um super engaged they love hearing every detail going on with planning so it was a wonderful conversation and just want to thank you for taking your Saturday to be with us um thank you staff all the work that you're doing um I did receive an update about the DMV site um I know more information's coming in I just want to thank the community group that's working on pulling all the information together on that a couple things um ask one is related to just the website I know last year we pushed for um updates just status on that and the manager's update but also we passed some parks and Transit bonds some years ago I went on the website personally I tried to find the information it's there but you have to know the exact project so if we could just find a way to get a a simple page that Stakes where all the projects are on each um for each Bond what's completed what's in design what's in construction wherever it is in the stage for the bind so that know as we're having conversations about future projects and work we know where we've been and where we are um and lastly um question came up today about how and as far as addressing our UNH house um and our Convention Center if we could just get a report on the utilization of our Convention Center I know it happens like once a year but it's usually not until like August or so when we receive that information but if we can just receive something maybe the manager's update of where the convention center is how often is being used I know this past weekend um they had a big volleyball tournament um down town over the last 3 days um so if we can just share that information on utilization of all of our centers um at some point I'm going to ask about our community centers that's just early Stephen that's just early notification but I don't need that one quite yet thank you just a few things uh my next community meeting will be held back at La cusina Italian restaurant on February 12th from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. I stated last meeting that my new book club would start in January but our Council Retreat happened to be scheduled on the same day so our first meeting will now be on February 22nd from 9:30 to 11:30 uh you can sign up for both my monthly newsletter at Christina feral.com to learn about upcoming meetings and or to sign up for the book club uh just an update on the fivepoint streetscape study there will be an in-person meeting in March hosted by the city to finalize the study Community engagement strategy uh I appreciate staff for meeting with local groups like cac's to gain feedback that will strengthen the work being done on the ground I encourage everyone to stay tuned in for when a date is announced so we can put your wants and wishes down on paper for future action for accountability purposes I do have to highlight that the request uh highlight the request that any public meeting the city is holding especially when it's publicized as the final touch Point needs to be hosted by this city whether that is in person or virtual the back and forth that Five Points residents experience and learning of this most recent meeting was very confusing and could have ultimately led to people not participating and being frustrated so I appreciate everyone's work on that and then lastly I want to give a big shout out to Governor Mo head school for your interest in participating in public comments and making your voice heard the weather has prevented them from speaking at today's public comment section but they assure me that they will be back next month one item I will highlight from my conversation with high school students at this school is that the crosswalk voice that tells a person when to cross is not very loud can Transportation look into that around the city and report back if it's possible to possibly increase the volume and I'll send that to you uh city manager if that's possible to get an update on that okay and that's all thank you great uh during uh the whole election season we all heard a lot about wanting uh people wanting us to use city- owned land for housing development in an effort to create more affordable housing and uh I know the city has already taken a number of steps on existing uh sit so um would appreciate just a report on what the city has already done on City owned land upcoming projects and then um did appreciate some of the information that y'all have already provided here around other larger assemblages uh that could be uh potentially uh used in the future for housing I know one wake and particular has been interested in this topic and they are hoping to come to uh one of the either public comment or some of the sessions maybe in February so this will be um particularly timeful so I appreciate that information and then the second one I see Miss Rainey there fair housing um getting an update I already talked to uh assistant city manager Raleigh and emila Sutton this morning but just giving the entire Council a sort of Refresh on you know the state of fair housing like how many complaints are we getting how are those plaints being adjudicated um what is the role of a city council what's the role of the city the state obviously has a strong role so uh they have already shared a lot of information but they will be preparing uh more for all of us on uh an update on Fair Housing thank um I have two items and I'm sure being a new council member I'm getting emails you've all received and after what I'm about to share um I want to be very thankful to staff already I received quite a number of um emails and concerns about pan handling after seeing the presentations on both cares and acorn recognizing this is a very complex problem but I want to be responsive to constituents staff has already provided me with a a a memo explaining what the city can and cannot do uh which will allow me to respond to those constituents and I'm also getting a briefing so those that reached out expressing concern about panhandling particularly in my district on Capitol Boulevard they've also noted other locations just so I can get brief so we can share with the public what the city can and cannot do because I know for some this is a concern on a flip side we have uh people experiencing severe poverty so I'm very gratified by both the acorn acorns and the car's program uh in terms of other news uh I'll be attending the Midtown CAC uh on Monday I uh councelor Jones will be there as well uh so I'll be my first uh commun advisory meeting uh just to meet the residents and share at least uh some thoughts they like me to address so with that that's it and again I want to thank staff for already being uh very Swift at providing me kind of a breakdown of what the city can and cannot do as it relates to panhandling as well as the additional briefing so I can get all the answers I need so I could respond for those that Express concern awesome um I want to announce that my next Community office hours are February 8th from 10 a.m. to 12 uh location TVD um and big thanks to everyone who attended last week um also wanted to announced that the Forestville Road Park we've got we've secured funding for the master plan and the Community Action Group Community Advisory Group applications are open the deadline to apply is Friday February 21st so I hope that everyone who lives out in the Forestville Buffalo Road area will consider applying to that so they can help shape the future of that Park um and then I did receive a request from a constituent um some months back um several public commenters asked us about consideration for a an ALT Raleigh flag and I believe the mayor at the time asked for a manager's update on what the process would look like if that's been circulated I missed it so I'm just hoping it can be recirculated in the next manager's update thanks okay thanks I have two things I just wanted to follow up from the public comment about the uh two temporary dog parks uh I just want to go ahead and make that a formal request if we could find out um what would be the uh funding required to upgrade the fencing I know we had a discussion when we were talking about some additional funds for downtown about the dog park at Mo Square mayor Balwin was actually I think really advocating for um upfitting that space But we had limited funds and I'm not sure if it made it in or not maybe it did but I would just like to make that a formal request from the table to just bring that options to us I I do think they serve a need for the public and for the dogs and I would also hate for something to happen with that road being right there and then the second thing um this was just mentioned one wake which reminded me of it um one wake met with all of us when we were running for office and asked if we would be willing to attend a tour of the Nehemiah um Housing Development uh in New York they've reached out again and said they are scheduling that tour for February 20th I know that mayor Cowell is planning to attend I have confirmed my attendance and I just wanted to put that um on staff's radar um and make a request that perhaps staff can coordinate with them I know if more than four of us are planning to go we're have to figure that out I'm also not sure what is already allocated in our current Council budget for travel of that sort and what may need to be requested or not requested so I just would like to have someone from the uh manager's office reach out to them and coordinate those details for us and that's all I have uh I had an opportunity to go to the uh Kayo event at Bron high school that council member Jones and I think we split some funds on that and it was actually a great event and actually had an opportunity to talk to the teacher who was coordinating all that and she gave us a shout out for being so receptive to the students it was a great learning opportunity for them so I just wanted to lift that up and also thank everybody who participated in the uh Martin Luther King uh junior events over the weekend I think there was a lot going on across the city um but I think folks were able to get out and participate in a number of events so thank you and also thank you for the folks who supported the um resolution on behalf of uh Conan Morgan thank you okay so that concludes uh items from mayor city council uh next we have appointments good afternoon first is bicycle and pedestrian advisory commission one regular vacancy Michael Dunn received seven votes Shan Fernandez won so Mr Dunn would be appointed next is environmental Advisory Board one regular vacancy Robert Bennett received eight votes so would be appointed next is fair housing hearing board one regular vacancy for that tenant slot Daniel Lamar Grant King received six votes Kelsey Richard won so Mr Grant king would be appointed next is Hispanic and immigrant Affairs board one regular I'm sorry one alternate vacancy professional member category Anna Rios received seven votes so would be appointed and lastly under appointments we have human relations commission one alternate vacancy council member silver has nominated Dr Mary Ellen Kelly and council member Patton nominated Karma Allen so both names will be appearing on your next ballot and then next under nominations these are new announcements Arts commission one regular vacancy the term of Tony gadon is expiring and she would like to be considered for reappointment move for approval to reappoint second right uh any other discussion on Miss Gaston all in favor of the motion say I I all oppos nay motion passes historic cemeteries Advisory Board one regular vacancy the term of Allison cougal is expiring and she does not wish to be considered for reappointment per city code she will continue to serve until replaced this is one of the boards that has a formal nominating committee um but has not yet submitted a replacement once that is received we'll get that shared with the council but wanted to go ahead and get it on your Radars next is human relations commission to regular vacancies um resignation has been received from regular met member Payton glendining past practice has been to elevate the longest serving Alternate which in this case is Alicia Taylor who was just appointed during the last meeting so obviously no attendance to to report um so you do have the option to elevate her she's my nominee so I'll make the motion that we Elevate her second okay uh all in favor of that motion say I all oppos nay motion passes so that will now um create another alternate vacancy on the human relations commission that will be coming back um and then additionally as you may recall um term expiration was announced during the last meeting for regular member Gabriella magallanes um it was staff was directed to make additional attempts to contact her to determine reappointment desire we've done that and have not been able to get information back um so it is is up to you all as as to how you'd like to proceed um mayor PM Fort and I were the two who co- nominated um her I'm fine with just um creating an alternate vacancy on the um on there at this time since we've not been able to confirm whether she wants to be reappointed what quick question when that should be a reg we just moved up our one alternate so we had two alternates open so it's actually a regular position that's going to be open great yeah so I I thank you I meant um I'm fine with opening it up for nominations since she we've been unable to confirm um one option to just to make it simpler is the alternate vacancy that is already on the ballot you know instead of appointing someone to an alternate position and immediately elevating we can just change that those nominees that were made those nominations that were made today to a regular slot and then we'll additionally have the alternate vacancies that sounds good so moved in case you need a motion and not to muddy the waters but I have an additional nomination of Helen sporin and so I offer her name for what whatever type of open opening there is and to be on the next ballot um can you spell that name for me uh Helen Ag elen and then sporen s p o r k i n all right um we will bring those items back next is Parks Recreation and Greenway Advisory Board two regular vacancies there's the terms of two members are expiring two regular members Hugh Fuller and shangin L both would like to be considered for reappointment um per council's directive to include um an attendance explanation for members that have missed um 25% or more meetings information was included in your agenda for both of those individuals for your consideration I will also note here that um in addition to these two new announcements this board still has an outstanding vacancy for a member whose term expired at the end of last summer and the member has continued to serve until replaced and the board's nominated committee is still deliberating on a replacement um once we hear back from them we will share the information with the council move to reappoint the two members second okay all in favor of that motion say I I all oppose nay that motion passes and lastly Raleigh Transit Authority one regular vacancy a resignation has been been received from regular member Terren Ruth past practice has been to elevate the longest serving Alternate which in this case is Byron leak um again and per council's directive we included a an explanation of attendance for Mr leak in the agenda materials move to elevate um Byron leak second okay uh all in favor of the motion say I I all oppos nay U motion passes all right um so we will uh bring back that alternate RTA vacancy on your next ballot and that's it like to nominate Colin Beamer for that RTA vacancy that'll be on the next pallot you spell the last name for me uh Beamer b e a m e r Beamer okay thank you right thank you um next we have the report and recommendation of the City attorney no report okay and the report and recommendation of the city clerk good afternoon mayor and Council two items from the city clerk today first item is uh certain external agencies uh the Council designate to those agencies um ought to be an action of the council um so we have we had the list that was distributed and uh asking for formal council action to appoint those this is where you're either an official delegate of this body Andor serving as a member of the board of directors of that organization and then I would point out um the Campo organization the Metropolitan planning organization uh strongly would like to have a alternate uh member of council designated in case the primary member can't be there y understood that's uh good to know so should we uh go ahead and vote on the existing list and then I guess on the Campo I've heard from uh councelor uh Lambert Melton that he is interested um I don't you know if there's multiple people interested we can not vote on it today and we can bring that back yeah bring it back but if he's the only one interested we can go ahead and and similar situation although not required the central Pines Regional Council forly triangle J also prefers that there would be an alternate member designated but it's not mandated y okay well why don't we go ahead and just vote on the main uh things today that gives people time if they didn't see this ahead of time and then we can vote on the uh um alternates next meeting moved second right all in favor that motion say I all opposed nay and that passes okay and second item you have uh various sets of minutes uh from your uh first council meeting in January and last week for approval oh I have one edit um in the p on page 29 with of the regular session minutes um CA CAG can mean a lot of things in our acronym environment but so it's listed as Capital Area Greenway but I think in the context of that conversation it was Community Advisory Group so with that move I second the motion with the amendment all right any other Eagle eyed comments on the minutes okay uh if not all in favor of approving the minutes say I I all opposed council member silver there are so many acronyms even the city clerks office can get confused at I let Michelle go I saw a couple there although the video explained acorns so Michelle you got to pass on that one and so mayor if I if I may just briefly um as we are expecting some inclement weather this evening into tomorrow morning um staff is prepared we have started the brown process to get our streets passable and driveable um because you know we're not really fully prepared for snow in these parts but we're hopeful that we get um the anticipated amount of an inch maybe um so when we wake up in the morning it might be really pretty outside if we get a little over an inch but I just wanted you all to know that we will keep you all AB breast of any service delivery um changes I will um communicate with you all tonight but we're watching it and transportation staff is already in the process and I'm going to have a meeting set up for council member silver to understand that BR process um a little bit um more in detail um to show him the benefits of it but really no in all seriousness we are we are prepared and so bring it on we don't want a blizzard we want enough to be pretty yes yes and so we can go over to dicks park and go sledding okay uh so with that we will uh we need a motion to go into Clos session which I will read read uh uh motion is in order to inter close session pursuant to General statute 143 31811 A3 to consult with the city attorney in order to preserve the attorney client privilege and to consider and give instructions regarding the handling and or settlement of a potential claim in the following matters ws and construction and home Quest Builders versus the City of Raleigh second okay all in favor of the motion to go into close session I I all osed all right uh so we will leave and come back 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clerk in here it's interesting to see the [Music] interior so we met in closed session no actions were taken and there was nothing to report out and we stand adjourned than you