[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] did they get it Studio we ready to go live there we go thank you very much good afternoon everyone I want to say that I've watched almost all of the council committee meetings that was of value and and helping us move where we're talking about where we want to go with our community um so this is our um special meeting in this room today we're going to start with our consent agenda and we want to go over um anything that we have following that and I just lost my temp so um thank you very much all right so um our first item any questions from you have a document in front of you I think with Miss Mayfield asked several questions but any additional questions or Miss Mayfield do you want to review any of these that you submitted Madam May I'm pulling all these for separate vote okay we'll have these all for a separate vote want to pull item 23 23 got it okay anyone else that would like to make any comments about the consent agenda moving forward any other items to be voted on separately okay hearing none do may I have a motion to approve the consent agenda items 13- 52 with the following exceptions 33 34 35 38 that have been deferred by staff and there will be coming back in February and as well 44 45 and 47 that that have been settled by staff so again the motion and then we would have a separate motion on 23 and then if you'll follow Miss Mayfield's list um that's before you 14 15 17 19 25 40 and 10 is 10 is a business item ma'am so we'll is a business it so that'll have a separate vote of itself all right so before we move for that V vote you said a number are settled I didn't receive that update so which ones were settled 44 45 46 and 47 so I'm going to add 48 to M Mr Paul at 48 so all right so the motion is to State again items 13 through 52 with with the exceptions of 33 I'm 23 33 34 35 38 44 45 46 and 48 do I have a motion so moved do I have a second all in favor of the motion if there is no discussion all in favor of the motion please raise your hands I'm sorry what's the motion okay all right so that is a majority all right anyone oppose all right let's go ahead and start with the very first ones we'll go in the numerical order the first one is item 14 item 14 is tree TR pruning and arborist Services Miss Mayfield I'll recognize you thank you madam mayor Maria sent the question for this as far as what is the breakdown of how many additional trees yes ma'am and and to your point this is you had also asked when it expires I believe they the um time frame of the contract is through December 31st 2025 and we've conducted a pilot and based on the initial work from the pilot we're expecting to do roughly uh 1,560 but it depends on the type of tree the size of the project so that's an estimate based on the what we've done so far with the pilot so for clarification this additional request for $1 million is 38 is not approved adding only one year and hopefully an additional 1500 trees but we don't know if it's going to be correct ma'am it could be more or less so does that mean out of this request for a million if it is less then we should expect to see a refund at the end of this well so we pay them it's a it's we'll and um let me look at this one right quick but I believe this one's based on the work order so if we don't use all the money then we don't spend it I we don't pay them in advance so thank you for that clarification what I'm trying this proposal that went out we ident Council identified and approved a contract amount but what we have in front of us it's just the first of possibly many additional amendments but just this first one for an additional million and we're saying for possibly for them to mitigate an additional 1,500 trees but we don't have a definitive number for this amount correct because it's based on how much work they do how do they take the whole tree down do they just PR prune some low hanging or do they have to climb up it and top it things like that so we don't know until we actually um call them in to work on trees thank you for the clarification based on bullet on the last bullet on this item that potential price adjustments may be considered based on legitimate and Justified increases I don't really see a Justified increase in this additional 1 million for a one-year extended term I am going to be a no on this but okay move to we have a motion and do we have a second we have a motion and a second any further discussion hearing none all in favor of the motion please raise your hand 1 two 3 four five six anyone opposed Miss Mayfield thank you the next item that we have is item 23 if we go in the order of the agenda I'm sorry we'll go in 15 heating ventilation and air conditioning preventive maintenance and Service Repairs item 15 Miss Mayfield thank you Madame mayor this one which is listed but for the those in attendance who do not have a copy of this my question was was SE for heating ventilation air conditioning preventive maintenance and repair services what we have in front of us is that we received three proposals we are expecting an expend expenditure to be estimated around 2 million what we have in regards to Charlotte business conclusions that contract goals were not established for these contracts well for those who don't know contract grows are for that sub not for the actual Prime so my specific question was was CBI partnered with for this project and are there no minority businesses owned businesses available for this RFP not to be a sub to break it out but to actually since this is just preventive maintenance for hbac and there are a number of HVAC companies including ones that we help fund through Goodwill that that possibly could have participated what was stated for this project that 12 CBI certified firms who identifi who could potentially perform the needed Services they received a notice of the RFP encouraging participation for the solicitation two CBI certified firms submitted their intent to be it but did not submit a proposal not this is a rebid because they didn't have enough biders the first time one of our challenges that we know within CBI and the fact that we have created opportunities with bonding is a disconnect and that disconnect seemed like if this has already gone out for a rebid that we there would have been a different conversation to try to understand that if we identified two out of the 12 certified firms that were identified that could have potentially performed for these needed Services why are they not applying because this again is the estimated $2 million contract there's a reason why small business enterprises and minority own businesses are not applying for certain rfps so there's a disconnect there do we have I know we have a motion do I have a second we've had the discussion any further comments all in favor of the motion please raise your hand anyone opposed all right the next item is item 17 construction Administration inspection and Management Services Miss Mayfield thank you Madame mayor this is also a question that I was asked that I asked regarding specifically how are we utilizing CBI and are we using CBI Beyond just as a sub on a contract and are we given opportunities for primes to be created Marie thank you for getting the responses to all of my questions for me so it was noted in here that one of our vendors the gavl and Dorne engineering is a CBI certified s firm so I appreciate you identifying that because for whatever reason what I received online did not have any of the attachments that we normally have for me to look at any of the breakdown for the bids all I have is the legislation text so for this one I will move to approve I have a motion to approve we have a second all in favor of the motion please raise your hands motion anyone oppos all right the next item that we have is 19 Airport concourse a expansion phase two change order all right so Madame mayor the question that I sent to Marie for this Airport concourse a expansion phase this change order is already change order number two from a project that was originally approved on March 28th of 2022 that approval was for over for almost 173 million that was in March in August on the 28th in 20123 we are we had approved the first amendment that am amendment was for 3, $550,000 part of the joint venture now what we have noted in here is that this cap 2 was designed in a manner that could be expanded when the airlines required more baggage makeup space passenger numbers now requir that the added capacity this project will provide we just approved this in 20122 it was built with the intention of being able to expand we've already have one amendment that was almost $3.6 million now they're in front of us again with another amendment which is only amendment number two at $4.8 million making the new value of this contract just under $200 million this question is actually for the manager do we have or and we anticipating a cap on these amendments for this total cost cuz if you're building out project management 101 which you know I need to give you the strongest proposal but if we go back and if we were to actually look at the other bids that came in and look at the scope that we presented to them have we matched or exceeded one of those higher bids with the idea of going with the lowest responsive bid so thank you council member Mayfield I'll take the first shot at this and um Mar can help me out if I missed it uh in this case we knew expansion would occur uh it just occurred faster than we expected and thus that's why you have the change orders not that it's something that's out of scope correct but this and and to miss Mayfield's point it's not like this vendor's coming back and say oh I need more money to do the same scope this is something that was planned for a future date so it's a different scope it's to add another part of a facility so they could get one more um baggage processing facility in there for the baggage and so it wasn't part of the original scope so the other vendors to your point though they would have had to bid more too because it wasn't in that part ask a little different question Mr manager if we built this with the intention of there being the capacity to add to this project that we not have conversations of if we were I need you to build this big enough so that when we grow it was never an expectation or a conversation that you very well may be the one that's going to continue this project so just give me an idea of what that can look like well I I or at least say we get three amendments and that's it sure I I see Jack jumping at the bit to come in to to to help explain where we are I'd like to invite him up thank you Mr manager good evening M mayor and uh Council um my name is Jack Christine Chief infrastructure officer for the airport so um Miss Mayfield the way that this worked we had a project that we initiated in the middle of co uh or coming in out of Co to add 10 gates to the Concourse we had a demonstrated need for the gate capacity we had always identified an area for additional square footage to allow for an additional baggage makeup unit when the need arose we didn't want last year we've had an extreme amount of growth in our baggage system 18% more bags last year than the year before which is unprecedented for us so we initiated this change at the request of the airlines to add an additional bag makeup unit to accommodate what we're seeing already without that being in place we've done this in a way where we are bringing multiple amendments because were trying to FASTT track the process of getting it built so the First Amendment you saw and approved the other a couple months ago was for the foundations and the steel structure this amendment is for upfitting the actual part of the building and then the the next Amendment will be for the uh the actual baggage makeup um equipment itself and then that'll that'll complete everything and we'll finish out the project so we do already know that there is going to be additional amendments so moving forward I think it would just be helpful when it's identified [Music] to provide that information ahead of time versus having these multiple amendments if we know that additional work or capacity is going to be needed and we already have an idea and have already reached out to say send me the proposal of how much this additional work would cost share that that information ahead of time versus on the night of or over the weekend we're going to be voting on this amendment versus like you just shared we know that there's going to be an additional so the Amendment Three is coming because this is going to be the additional work because I'm still going to ask this question otherwise that for a almost $200 million project it is actually going to be at or over 200 million by the time we get this third amendment in without having the full scope of everything because you're breaking it down little by little and saying well we'll just add do an additional Amendment versus saying okay we know what this build out is going to be and what the needs are even though it may have come earlier than we anticipated we still knew that that was going to be a need so it would have been helpful so that we're having a true conversation budget wise when we're approving all of this I wish that might not be a concern for some people this 200 million all right do we have a motion on The Concourse extension we have a motion second any discussion hearing none all in favor please raise your hand anyone opposed all right the next item is um stay up here Jack um Delta airport Consultants or maybe Haley um it's item 25 15year lease agreement with Delta airport consultants for office SP correct this breakdown for this office space one for those again who don't have access to this Delta airport Consultants are looking to lease property off of West Boulevard uh 7371 squ foot office space for 15 years that rent is $ 4,429 a month which breaks down to less than $9 a square foot for this lease for 15 years so it will generate some cost but when we have of which we all should have received an email earlier today from a small business owner I'm trying to understand if one if we have consistency in our Contracting and why does it seem we have a different price range for a corporation than we do for small businesses and not in the positive for that small business so what I reached out to ask Marie is what is the price per square foot in that area and how is that and how is the price identified so breaking this down at less than $9 a square foot for this area you can't no business small business owner that's looking for retail space cuz we receed the emails and the phone calls daily are able to find any rent for less than $9 a square foot in the city our rents are our square footage is $25 or more depending on the area so help me understand how this was negotiated how this is to the benefit of the residents of the city when we have small businesses that do not have access to these type of Contracting terms all right we're going to have the aviation director to the podium good evening Council manager and mayor um council member Mayfield I would remind you that this is in the aviation Enterprise fund this is not part of the general fund and I would also Al allow me to explain to you that this particular facility is uh matched with um appraiser reviews for other real estate um for other real estate in the earport area I would also tell you that this particular space is what I would call c space at best it is not a class space and the company that is coming into that space will make improvements to the space to make it as they will utilize it I heard you say retail this is not retail space this is as I said back of the house um c space at best and it is comparable to other rental rates on the airport I can assure you that every time we rent a space it is uh in comparison to the other space that is in our Market to ensure that we are consistent so you're saying that this space so that and I was just using that as an example I do my challenge is access to office space for less than $9 a square foot you're telling me that other businesses that may be doing business or sub business with the airport that they will have access to office space at this R rate that this we don't Corporation has we don't typically rent office space that is offsite from the airport this is Warehouse industrial space where they will use it for offices they are making the improvements thems and this is the standard rental rate for the office space as it is as they are taking it okay thank you so the standard rental rate for Office Space within the airport is around $9 a squ foot yes ma'am so that's consistent so we will be able to see that in other spaces that we are renting for businesses whether they are a franchise or some other type of business we do everything based on appraisal and quality of the space thank you to approve have a motion second and all in favor of the motion please raise your hand hands anyone opposed Miss Mayfield opposes um I think this is um now the next one is item 40 um which is property transactions Monroe Road multi-use Pass Property and um so we have that before us I think Mr Miss Mayfield ask what the counter offers of was because what we have noted on here mayor is that the city's response to the property owner's concerns is the property owners concerns Property Owners concerned about the amount of the compensation offered the city's response to that is of course that they can obtain their own appraisal or provide supporting documentation to justify the counter offer but what's not listed is any information of what or maybe I missed it when I was reading through Maria and I was going through this earlier and I identified that there was some information that wasn't showing for me on the iPad but what is that counter offer since that's what we have noted is is that the item that's on the one for yes ma'am and to miss Mayfield's Point um it didn't specify in the um request for action the amount of the counter offer and it is ongoing negotiation but the property owner's counter offer is currently 1,4 100,000 147,000 sorry of which U for me that followup on that also which I was going to ask on one of the others but thankfully they settled on that is even though this is Sam's SM a business want to ensure that the amount of easement that we are looking to have access to is not going to create a hindrance based on the fact that we just had a property reevaluation and that new rate is the rate for the next four years not one year so are we identifying an amount that is fair and Equitable yes ma'am we take we do a external appraisal for the properties and then we also have an external review of the appraisal so it's not based on tax it's based on Market thank you thank you approve second thank you Madame mayor so um to piggy back off of council member uh Mayfield did we allow time for that this this property owner to submit that appraisal yes ma'am and we before ever comes to you as a condemnation there's a a back and forth process for a long time sometimes they become nonresponsive some cases even they'd rather us condemn it because of different things um or they just we're still in the works and this by no means when you approve a condemnation it doesn't mean that we're going to move move forward a condemnation we still go ongoing negotiations with the property owner but it may lead to a condemnation so we're still in the negotiation process with this property owner correct so would it be appropriate to and the reason I my ears perked up on this one because I hear from residents in District 4 we do hear from residents with you know challenging the condemnation offer so would it be more appropriate for us to wait for that process is there is is there a reason that we need to do this right so we need to go ahead and start getting temporary easements and move forward with projects if we would hold you know it would create delay in projects some of them we have some room but usually when we bring them forward to you we're already at that point where if we don't because like for this one the next time to come for before you be February 12th and then there's a whole process after that so it may be helpful if the City attorney outlin finds for us the actual process of how it works and so we can say step one is identifying that there's land needed for the project and then we can go all the way through the steps that it goes to whether or not it's settled or condemnation so Mr Baker if I know that you do your you do reports to us maybe the next one could be like a chart that shows us how the condemnation process works and everybody would be able to understand how it goes because that's a good idea and what our policy is as far as the number are we accepting the highest and best or are we ensuring that our residents are receiving fair market value and I think part of it is also you know to make sure that we're using people to um appraisals correctly and get that list things out there like that so that we can be sure that we're doing exactly what Miss Johnson said yes ma'am and if I may part of the fair piece you mentioned Miss Johnson is that we do get external con um appraisals and reviews that take in consider consideration impact to the property and then we also have uh third party review the appraisals so it's double external but also if you want um more information while you're waiting in the further detail from the attorney's office there's reference as under your agenda item 54 and 55 that kind of outlines the process for you as well well I just I mean if we if the appraise value and we're offering them 304 $4,375 and they're countering with you say over 100,000 so ma'am this one is $95,000 and their off and their counter is 147,000 okay all right thank you anyone oppos all right M Mayfield opposed um 23 ma'am I what now what did you say uh Miss Johnson had pulled 23 for a separate vote I understand I have that but I also have another issue here you know that we have both the Jewish and the Palestinian people coming tonight there's been a little bit of information over the internet and what's going on right now we have a reasonable opportunity to provide everyone that's a speaker on the list to speak if we go down now if we don't go down now it is likely to be a little bit more um um um issues that might be raised as a result so I understand that we still have um some things to do but we're going to have um additional time at the dis so I would like to ask the council to consider going down and opening our public meeting to have the public forum in a way that I believe would serve us all best would that be exceptional yeah except would you do that thank you very much so right now we'll have the and when we go down we'll have the um public forum we have 15 speakers we also have four Clos session items bet remember we did vote on the item 40 the last item we had we voted on there's one there's one pending we will come back on the remaining items that we have pulled yes but we have I'm I'm just saying we would it would do us well if we got down and let the public form take place okay [Music] let's [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] um January 8th city council Charlotte city council meeting to order um we'll begin with introductions we'll start with our city clerk Stephanie Kelly city clerk good evening James Mitchell at large Marcus Jones city manager B LA mayor Dante Anderson mayor Pro 10 district one malcol GM District Two Ed Dre District sevenard district six Victoria watlington at large all right um with those introductions We Begin our meeting with an invocation which is followed by the Pledge of Allegiance it is something that we do to solize what we're doing up here at the dis and so feel free to participate or not to participate based upon your own values and so I'm going to ask coun mayor some words of wisdom tonight thank you Madame mayor I hope everyone had a great holiday season I just wanted to uh lift up and celebrate that we're in the season of epiphany as we move out the season of Christmas and Advent and it's the man the season that's the manifestation of Jesus Christ and as we celebrate that throughout the entire month of January I hope all of us take moments to reflect on um how we are as a community and how we can continue to work together to improve lives of every single citizen that lives in in the city of Charlotte thank you all right if you would stand choose to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance I pledge allegiance to flag of the United States of America to Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you all right the um first item on our agenda is a public our public forum and on behalf of the entire city council I ask that all speakers and audience members be civil and courteous in the use of language um we hope that we do not see insults profanity gestures or inappropriate behavior nor comments questions or jeers will be tolerated in our chamber and I think that we will go ahead and we will have our 15 speakers that we have signed up and where's my list again here we go and we're going to start with um David Scott Mr Scott see here if not miss Bryant Miss Bryant please come down and following Miss Bryant Mr laws I mean Mr Grabowski Mr Bowski are you here apologize I thought it was off all right and then followed by oh I'm sorry um thank you so much we're always glad to see you you have two minutes to speak tonight oh we got two okay well before my Suicide signs went up in March of 2019 the city C green parking deck according to the Washington Post had six suicides and four years in their parking deck after my Suicide Prevention signs were installed we were headed towards 2 years no incidents when a 16-year-old female drove up to the parking deck got out of her car took off her shoes her glasses laid down her cell phone and jump my signs weren't big enough so I went back to the parking deck and JT the manager walked me over to where she jumped and my legs were shaking and I told them we need to make these signs bigger and we need to make them more visible I'm proud to say that since my son she died December 23rd of 2020 since my signs have become more visible and bigger we have had no suicides in the center city parking deck in over 3 years that's the work of my signs see I can't be there and I know I know what that pain feels like firsthand that terrible pain that outweighs the love of our family the love of our friends but if someone can come along and say Let me let let us know you're not alone it can make a big difference so I can't be there to save that in the top of those parking decks but what I can do was put something up there that let someone know and as one of the city council members said in an interview with Chan 36 why not a complete solution these small gestures we can see lets you know we can see you we care and your life has value my Suicide signs may seem like a small gesture of love but they're making a big impact I have 12 parking decks in Charlotte including mecklinburg County and that came about after someone almost died by suicide in that parking deck so I'm asking city council for y'all to come up with an ordinance to make my Suicide Prevention signs put them in all Citywide parking decks in Charlotte thank you thank you very much Miss Bryant we will take that under consideration our next speaker is Noah Goldman Mr Goldman wasn't here I I asked for Mr Grabowski is Mr br in the room I I called his name earlier and did not get a response so we'll continue with Mr Goldman Mr Goldman you have two minutes good evening my name is Noah Goldman and I thank you for the opportunity to speak with you I'm here tonight as a member of the Charlotte Jewish Community with close family ties in Israel I stand before you today to condemn hatred hatred of anybody here in Charlotte every single resident deserves to feel safe and protected anti-Semitism islamophobia or any other hatred is intolerable at this time there are those who seek to utilize the Israel Hamas War to justify their prejudices and act on them that is unacceptable as we hope and pray for all innocent life to be protected we must also work to keep each other safe here in Charlotte having gone to East Mech High School in Queens University of Charlotte I know how diverse and amazing this city is as a Jewish American I have been given opportunities that my ancestors just 100 years ago would not have been able to imagine it is in the city's diversity that we should work to create cross-cultural dialogue and engagement not for the sake of agreement but for the sake of understanding I encourage everyone to reach out to those who are not like them to engage in critical dialogue some of my most meaningful experiences are with those who have a different background ethnicity religion and worldview than that of my own while our impact overseas is limited our impact in this community is great I have the great privilege of working at the Jewish Federation and in my job I see every day that federation's priorities are aligned with that of city councils in our shared desire to build and create a strong and Vibrant Community here in Charlotte it is incumbent upon all of us to create an environment that allows all citizens to advocate for their views with respect and without intimidation let us work to make the city a safe and incredible place for everyone thank you thank you Mr Gman our next speaker is Sharon Handelman thank you good evening my name is Sharon and Handelman I was scheduled to speak to you all a month ago however I did not get to due to the disruptions from a number of the attendees that evening my comments that day were going to be focused on sharing the ongoing shock and horror I have over the atrocities committed by Hamas on October 7th also the constant fear that I live with for the 100 family members I have living in Israel as well as the profound sadness I have for the loss of both Israeli and gazen life since October 7th however after listening to the number number of speakers recounting tragedies in Gaza which were Then followed by the scoffs chants and jeers leveled at the one speaker who actually tried to speak on behalf of the Charlotte Jewish community that evening I decided to change my comments firstly I think it's important for everyone in this room I know we all recognize that city council resolutions on International Affairs will not real realistically impact foreign policymaking however there is a direct impact on our local community here in Charlotte when such resolutions are introduced in a negative manner that is accompanied by hate speech and vitriol towards any eating chance of ceasefire and from The River To The Sea which implies the destruction of the Jews living in Israel that's really enough excuse me um I'm sorry wait a minute before before we begin let me tell you this if you cannot interrupt the speaker if you are going to choose to continue to do this I will have an officer escort you out of the building adop all right okay so let me just say this that I've asked you have interrupted the speaker if you are violating the rules that we have you are violating General statute GS 143 31817 and you are subject to being escorted out of the meeting chamber and charge with a misdemeanor if you do not cease talking over people so with that I would ask you to please stop and not interrupt you will have an opportunity to have from everyone if you don't interrupt but if this continues you will be escorted from the building thank you continue all right please continue Miss handleson sure these are efforts to try to intimidate and silence those those who do hold a different view these aggressive actions make community members feel unsafe and will not lead to understanding and civil discourse in our community if myself and others like me are given a chance to speak you might hear that many in the Jewish Community would Embrace a ceasefire I for one certainly do not want my family members to continue to be subjected to daily rocket fire and to see my young nieces and nephews called up to the reserves however I do not see how anyone can expect to talk about a ceasefire that does not start with unconditional release of hostages and disarmament of Hamas I would ask the following of city council and the community your your time is up thank you you can give the clerk your remaining remarks to to be included in the record okay the next speaker is Eric Willoughby to pause it for just give give him an addition of two minutes for every time is an outpost that's you from Outpost Mr Willoughby you have three two minutes thank you good evening my name is Eric Willoughby I'm 17 years old and a senior in high school some of you may recognize me from last month's rather hectic meeting today I'd like to get a few things straight I have worked in today's polarized political environment for about 3 years now not once in all that time have I ever been characterized as a Public Enemy due to my Jewish Heritage I never thought that in the 21st Century Jews or any group of people for that matter would have to live in fear due to an extremist ideology that attempts to weaponize the valid emotions and Collective grief of the Palestinian people and use it against Jews who may I add are also grieving our brothers and sisters who are injured dead or still held hostage by Hamas my friends I fear we may have forgotten an incredibly basic principle the recognition of each other's Humanity now I'm not going to sit here and tell y'all that I'm not guilty of being inflammatory or hotheaded at times but I have never characterized anyone who is not a Hamas terrorist of being an enemy of the Jewish people I have never come to this Council chamber and Proclaim so publicly that those who disagree with me are enemies because they are not as a matter of fact I believe that those who disagree with me can be the greatest source of friendship for instance I have many good friends who just happen to be Republicans do I disagree with them as a proud lifelong Democrat absolutely do I think they are any worthy of being shown basic decency due to our disagreements absolutely not I refuse to look at any of my Arab brothers and sisters and tell them they are any less reserv deserving of the basic respect that I expect of them because we are equal at the end of the day we are all Americans and we have a responsibility to Future generations to keep this train on the tracks and not derail it in the face of disagreement my friends there is no virtue in absolutism thank you thank you very much um our next speaker is Samuel dmer please two minutes I'm Sam zimon and I have lived in Charlotte for 42 years thank you for the opportunity to speak recently You' have heard heavily biased speeches about the Israeli Hamas conflict I feel that all sides of that conflict should be presented in this very public for I'm going to focus on three words the first word is Hamas which is a dictatorial Arab terrorist group in Gaza as I'm sorry that is not true I'm sorry madam you are going to be asked to leave the chamber you can laugh genocide going on in your name go I'm sorry ma'am you are no longer allowed to be in our I don't want to hear this anymore and I that's okay then you want to be escorted out thank you or you can take a leave on your own right I'm saying what are you'all doing y'all just waiting please thank you please time to go and please I hope that you ma'am you byee iism is a r ideology there is not equality in that you know I agree with her I understand that you agree with her but this is not the time he has the floor and if you would like to stay in the space this will be the last time before you will be asked to be escorted out thank you thank you whole tornado more um I'm I will focus on three words and the first word is Hamas which is a dictatorial Arab terrorist group in Gaza is declared in its founding Charter Hamas is dedicated to the destruction of Israel and killing of Jews on October 7th 2023 over 3,000 Hamas militants suddenly invaded Israel and shot burned raped mutilated and even beheaded Israeli citizens resulting in over 12200 deaths in addition 280 hostages were dragged back into Gaza Israel immediately went to war to prevent any such catastrophe in the future the second word is ceasefire I hope you know that a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was already in existence at the very time of the recent Hamas Invasion Hamas has publicly stated its goal is to invade and kill Israelis again as soon as they can in light of these realities another ceasefire is irrational at this time and the third word is genocide it means actions taken to eliminate an ethnic or religious group of people in the past 50 in the past 50 years the Palestinian population has grown from 2 million to 5 million that's not what genocide looks like it's very sad to see that thousands of civilians in Gaza have died during the Cur current War but the main reasons are number one Hamas intentionally started the war and two Hamas is RA is waging the war from schools hospitals apartment buildings and even mosques Israel's goal is to abolish Hamas it's not genocide against Palestinians thank you very much if you'd like to have any of the remaining part of your remarks you can provide it to the clerk thank you all right our next speaker is Lana shinika sh thank you please just I just turned it off you have two minutes thank you good evening mayor and City Council Members my name is Lana sha and I stand before you today with a plea for our city to promote peace with regard to the horrific events unfolding in Israel and Palestine as an American with Kurdish Roots the world's largest stateless nation I in a unique position to empathize with both sides as I understand the vulnerabilities not having a home to call your own puts not just a person but an entire population Kurds were never granted a land to call their own leaving us vulnerable in the lands we do inhabit as Kurds in Iraq my parents survived an environment where they were constantly subject to States sponsor trauma torture and death just for being Kurdish similar to what Jewish people were subject to in Europe which ultimately culminated in the devastating events that led to the Holocaust Kurds and Palestinians also share similarities when it comes to inequality displacement and mass atrocities starting from the NECA in 1948 all the way to what we see unfolding today the Gaza Strip is just 25 miles long which is about the distance from Huntersville to Pineville since the start of the besiegement Israel's military has dropped over 29,000 bombs in this area inhabited by 2.3 million people killing 22,000 let's not forget these weapons are being financed by American taxpayer dollars that is money that will not be used to educate our youth house the unhoused or get vulnerable North Carolinians the healthcare they need to live it is not radical to want my hard-earned tax dollars to help my fellow American citizen instead of slaughtering innocent children Halfway Around the World as a human being I implore all of us to acknowledge the human rights of all individuals affected by this conflict and to demand an immediate ceasefire let us draw inspiration from the teachings of a famous Palestinian Jew I'm sure you've heard of Jesus Christ who said blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God thank you thank you our next speaker is Coco love Miss love good our next speaker is hania Karam the next speaker is Rhonda elener reie reie our next speaker is d Jamal Gregory kinosi oh I'm sorry no he's not coming down all right please come down Mr kosi and I apologize for not being able to say your name correctly who's the person before I'm sorry one before you is this um 12 item TW number 12 will you come down at the podium and then we'll have the Mr kosi speak first and then you'll be able to speak following him yes please um uh good evening ladies Gentlemen of the council I am Gregory kovski I come here as a human being and as a son of two Holocaust Survivors uh what we witnessed last October 7th was literally a day out of Holocaust it was a day out of Holocaust in a typical number of Jews killed during the Holocaust in a single day and it was a day out of Holocaust in the manner in which they were killed children were knifed in front of their parents parents were knifed to death in front of their children and in infant was placed in an oven a living infant was placed in an oven and baked enormous number of women were raped uh killed people of all ages were killed taken hostage we know most of this not because of the investigations that followed but because the murderers who perpetrated it life streamed it using their GoPros people were watching the slashing of of infants the rape of women live on the feed on the internet this was this was Holocaust except streamed life it was Holocaust streamed Life by an organization which stated that it wants to kill not only all Jews of Israel but all Jews around the world and organization that following day said they will do it again and again in far greater numbers Israel went into Gaza to eliminate this horrific genocidal band they are doing it as humanely as physically possible about half of all people who have been killed in Gaza were actual terrorists this is unheard of in terms of accurate fight in a similar situation thank you very much um your time is up so we will have if you have written remarks please provide them to the clerk against Zionism by the way our next speaker it's taking Mr J yeah you have two minutes it's taken three months now 30,000 murdered by Israel take a look at our resolution in your email your party has claimed unwavering support for Israel throughout the genocide currently taking place as we speak against the innocent Palestinians our government is complicit these are our tax dollars which are being used to fund murder to fund genocide why do we as Americans pay for Israel sending billions from our tax dollars to Israeli military over night for a genocide on children anti-Semitism is thrown around carelessly I'm a semi by the way an Arab born in Palestine anti-Semitism is being hostile or prejudice against both Jews Arab and not being critical of the racist apartheid state of Israel who continues their blatant and humanitarian war crimes don't shut down conversation by labeling criticism of Israel's anti-semitic when there was 40 Israeli children and rapan accusations the world went wild and rightfully so but it was debunked Days Later by both the Israeli and American meaning it was not true now over 12,000 Palestinian CH children murder mured in 3 months where's the same energy it is is it not the same because they are Palestinian babies islamophobia is serious and contines affect continues to affect us here in the west our Senators are calling us terrorist supporters just because that just shows that you guys that just shows to you guys that we don't matter to you what about us the Palestinians and Muslims every day we are being called terrorists or go back to your home you're required to protect all your citizens a Jewish man threatening to hunt down Palestinians here in the states a six-year-old Palestinian child got stabbed to death three students got shot for being Arab the two the teacher who threatened to behead a student just because he was Muslim he didn't like the Israel FL where's our protection where so let us be very cautious with the words that we SP because they are not just words but meant to eradicate and push hate the same governments that would label Nelson Mandela and mlks as terrorists are the same governments label in Palestinians as terrorists are fighting for their rights I have only one question why could it be because the Israeli APAC APAC group Lobby the Democratic party countless billions over the years so we hear you and understand that it's is not our voices that are enough for you to listen but it is money you only give us your undivided attention when you are running in elections and ignore us when you are in a place of power we will not stop go away or shut up we will be relentless spreading the truth truth and you will hear us we will only get louder what you do today will be the history of tomorrow if you are still if you still support Israel's approach you should be ashamed I can't imagine how you could explain this to your children's down the line either you on the side of human Humanity or on the side of greed as elections happen this year we'll remember your hypocrisy and we will replace you with Mr Hammer thank you all right thank you the next speaker is Lena bar Lena bar iand Lena bar is our next speaker Lena if Lena bar is not available Linda bar bti that is our last speaker so I'm going to go back and ask is Mr Grabowski here Mr Scott is Mr Scott here thank you um I think then that ends our speakers our public forum for this evening one on the weight list I'm sorry you had one on the weight list here oh Mr Titus Elder Reeves Mr Reeves are you here I am oh thank you so much um come down you have two minutes okay uh hope all of you are doing well this evening um and I want to start on a positive note I want to congratulate on all of you on your um return to represent your constituents here in meinberg County um and I'm going to try to get through this quick um and I want to end on a positive note so if my two minutes is up um allow me to give you four Solutions rather than the problems that I come here for um so I um am a 42y old um with um that has had many trials and tribulations um and um with that being said I have uh I have been triumphant as as well um I have am I am a college graduate um I graduated with honors Pat Cannon was actually uh he spoke at my commencement um and I remember every last bit of it um I'm going to give a shout out to um Pat Canon for that um because he has also shown um that he is resilient and made it through many trials and tribulations um but I have um experienced some disheartening things here um hopefully that I can grab your heart and um I did not write this down because I am speaking from the heart um I have dealt with some police misconduct um I have not had any troubles um with the police department in almost 20 years so this is very foreign to me um so it uh prompted me to go into the Constitution and and I have an epis um that I have sealed everything that belongs to me from the government um the state and local government which is supposed to protect me from um you know um some Jim Crow what laws that some may seem Jim Crow um to some um and that um the police seem do not to to not understand um I have been arrested eight times and thrown in jail basically held hostage under um a the most AB abused charge in North Carolina um restrict um obstruct And Delay or RDO [Music] um and with no law attached to it um this this is what I consider a hostage situ yes ma'am Rees Mr Reeves I'm I'm going to ask you I I know that you say that you're speaking from the heart but do you have the ability to write down what you have a concern about or should we have someone contact you we can have someone call you or even talk to you this evening um about your concerns okay uh about my concerns okay yes um talk to me about thisan is going Sean Mr Heath is going to listen to your remarks and and your concerns here if you would meet with him over here and Mr Heath is who right here he's going to raise his hand okay and his position in government is he is an assistant city manager with the responsibility to help all of us get better oh to help all of you get better okay um and I will I will say this I want to end on a positive note time it's time to stop it's time to stop step down okay okay step down stay off phone please let me try this okay let him find Sean so that we can go ahead and get this done okay that is the end of our public forum for this evening so with that we'll now begin I want to do one other thing before we begin M okay before we begin I'd like to take a moment to honor Ed crutch who passed away last week at the age of 82 Ed was a pillar of the Charlotte banking sector and a key figure in shaping our City's growth and success he was a CEO of First Union now part of Wells Fargo he turned he helped turned Charlotte into a major banking center and helped our city grow especially in the southern part of Uptown what we would call South trian he's a true champion for Charlotte big supporter of the Arts the symphony he'd probably be grateful for the kind of things that we're doing with culture now he played a significant role in strengthening jcsu when there was a time thought that it would not be successful we're grateful for his contributions and just want to acknowledge that he will be missed so with that um we will now go to our public hearing um we oh we have to finish our consent agenda so the next consent agenda was item I Believe Miss Johnson was it 48 23 23 sorry I wrote down 48 all right Miss Johnson um yes um thank you madam mayor I just wanted to P 23 from the consent agenda because I received an email I'm a very engaged and informed uh reporter uh who's in the room Joe Bruno and he asked a question about this contract so this contract is for airport marking removal and repainting in 2021 we Council voted on a contract and it was uh a 55 vote because the it's number item number 23 okay and we approved Pride I think it was um Pride Industries I think MH is who we contracted with and one of the subsidiaries or a sister company of the company that we were Contracting with um was a um had a contract with prison labor so as a a principal I was me uh Ashira Newton watlington and Winston voted against it and our former mayor protim was really um engaged and lobbied against us taking a stance and really um looking at policies on not to support industries that were supporting or profiting from prison labor so the question by Joe Bruno today is this new company highlight um do they contract with the prisons for free labor essentially and the answer is no so the answer is no um and I know that the email that you received from Hannah Gentry um was that that highlight would subcontract with a company that that um use prison labor but that has since changed they're going to be working with PPG and PPG does not utilize prison labor so I just wanted to to put that on the record um that highlight does not use prison labor nor does the company they're subcontracting with as of today thank you do you have a motion motion to approve all right do we have a motion we have a motion and a second I'm all in favor please raise your hands anyone opposed all right so that's item 23 so now I think we're at item 40 did we do 48 no all right let's go to item 408 which is a property transaction for regional solid conveyance um Phase 1 a parcel 11 um who who asked for this to be separate a separate vote anyone want to ask for it to be a separate vote I can't recall I just wrote it down as 48 all right so do I have a motion to approve so moved we have a motion do we have a second all right any discussion hearing no discussion all in favor of item 48 please raise your hands all right anyone oppose Miss Mayfield is in opposition okay I think that covers our consent agenda items and now we will go to our public hearing and the next item on our public hearing we have a public hearing and a decision on Amendment to the ordinance that adopted the city of Charlotte unified development ordinance we're now going to open the public hearing Madam clerk do we have anyone that wishes to speak we have no speakers um we have a motion um to approve and a second we'll move to close the public hearing and adopt to close the public hearing move to close the public hearing and adopt the item and any discussion hearing none all in favor please raise your hand anyone opposed all right thank you that item passes the next item is the city manager's report thank you mayor members of council uh normally I give you a 30-day uh report U but outside of um the next business meeting is outside of that 30-day window as you do know we talked a little bit about the uh upcoming annual uh strategy meeting at the budget did an intergovernmental committee today but what I wanted to do is just inform you uh council tonight that we're expecting a strong a weather event tomorrow um thunderstorm several inches of rain strong winds and we'll likely see some down trees and power outages uh we have started today sending out information to you because you do a very good job of pushing that information out to the residents and we'll continue to do that as you know the city never stops so we have already activated the Emergency Operations Center uh City departments such as storm water services SE dot Landscape Management have been taking a proactive stance as it deals with the uh potential effects of the storm cleaning catch basins making sure that we fueled all of our equipment so team charlot there's a lot of folks that live for making sure that we are prepared doing these uh weather events um what I would say is that uh information on how to prepare the storm has been posted on the city's website and we encourage people to monitor the um emergency Management's Twitter and Instagram for updates and again we will continue to push information out to the mayor and the council so that you can continue to push information out to the residents and so that's just the update in terms of being prepared for the weather event any questions for the manager okay thank you Mr Jones the next item is item number seven is there a motion to adopt an budget ordinance appropriating $ 76,976 in a PRI in private development funds from polymer Center of EX Center of Excellence for the I85 Northbridge project to the general capital projects fund so move second we have a motion and a second is there any discussion hearing no discussion all in favor of the item please raise your hand anyone opposed no one opposed item eight is there a motion to authorize the city man manager to negotiate and execute a service agreement for solar energy generation with Duke Energy Corporation Cypress Creek Renewables South Davis and solar and their respective subsidiaries and Affiliates for the city's participation in the Duke Energy's green Source Advantage bridge program for a term of 20 years and authorize the manager to amend the agreement I know that it was in committee earlier today um so do I have a motion Miss Molina do I have a second second second Miss azir second any discussion Miss azir mayor there's also a speaker and we will have a speaker thank you oh Meg hello Meg sorry I thought I saw her when did you sneak in this chamber I didn't see you sorry all right Meg you want to go ahead and talk to us about this it's good to see you all this evening city council members and mayor ly's my name is Meg fenel and I'm speaking on behalf of sustained Charlotte and tonight I'm here asking you to be champions of transitioning Charlotte to a clean energy future for the health of our residents and the economic resilience of our region by approving the city's entry into Duke Energy's green Source Advantage bridge program to develop the South Davidson solar project alongside to First adopt a clean energy resolution followed by the adoption of the Strategic energy action plan or C app as we continue to advocate for investment in sustainable transportation choices and a more walkable City in which we don't need to be overly reliant on vehicles for our daily trips we also support Investments that support a healthy and economically vibrant built environment Council adoption of the CA and its subsequent implementation by dedicated City staff across departments has already elevated Charlotte's position as a national leader in piloting investing in and leveraging Partnerships to advance the use of renewable energy and reduce our Reliance on fos fossil fuels with continued investment in clean renewable energy we can move away from burning fossil fuels and prevent the estimated 350,000 premature deaths in the US each year that are caused or worse and or related to combustion related to air pollution our most vulnerable residents children the elderly low income residents in communities of color are disproportionately impacted by air pollution and are most vulnerable to health and E economic impacts of the climate crisis so I'm asking you to please support this project and additional Investments to put Charlotte on track to meet the seap 2030 zeroc carbon buildings goal thank you for your commitment to sustain sustainability thank you B now we'll ask Miss asir has asked to be recognized thank you Madame mayor this is a great start to 2024 this will be the single biggest action that will be taken by the city council in in meeting our cab goals so CF is our strategic energy action plan that was approved unanimously by this Council and this gets us within 19% of meeting our CA building goals so this is huge uh this is if I were to quantify this we are talking about 24,000 Vehicles equivalent to take Taking 24,000 cars off the road so when we talk about climate pollution you know when I talk about the climate change it's really just the climate pollution uh or carbon pollution I should say and that has a disproportionate impact on black and brown communities and when we talk about Equity everything that we do do to meet our CF goals addresses the equity issue um so I'm very passionate about this and I hope all of my colleagues will support this uh let this be another bold step that we take in addressing the climate crisis that our nation faces or the world faces thank you thank you any other comments so we have a motion on the floor for authorizing the manager to execute the service agreement and amend the agreement consistent with the purpose for which it's approved any further discussion hearing none all in favor please raise your hand anyone in oppose an opposition Mr barari is an opposition that that motion passes the next item is nine is there a motion to authorize the manager to accept the lead B paint Hazard reduction Grant in the amount of 3,573 37 from the Department of Hud and to adopt a budget ordinance from the to um to adopt a budget ordinance appropriating that amount to the lead hezard control and healthy homes neighborhood development grants fund for the program's activities do I have a motion so moved second second I have a motion and a second any further discussion all in favor please raise your hand anyone opposed no one is in opposition the next item is item 10 to approve a 10year lease with I'm not quite sure how to pronounce this but it's fi vf3 nc1 LLC for office and warehouse space located at 22 executive Street for use by Charlotte water authorizing the manager to execute documents necessary for the transaction and to seek approval from the local government commission for the lease do I have a motion so move I have a second second I have a motion and a second is there any discussion hearing no discussion everyone in favor please raise your hand anyone in opposition Miss Mayfield is in opposition the next item is an extension of option and ground lease for affordable housing um item 11 adopt a resolution approving an extension to the option for ground lease of city- owned property on Providence Road West and Valentine Parkway with SC SCS communities LLC through June 30th 2024 with an option to further extend up to six additional amounts as needed and extend the ground lease and affordability period to 75 years authorize the manager to execute the documents necessary do we have a motion so moved second second any discussion all in favor of the motion please raise your hand anyone in opposition no one is in opposition the next item is item 12 is there a motion to adopt a resolution approving an option to ground lease of a ground lease agreement and a 99-year ground lease of 1.73 Acres of city-owned property located ated at 76 University City Boulevard with Merit HC LLC and authorize the manager for or his designate to negotiate and execute the documents necessary your do I have a motion so move second a motion and a second and discussion hearing no discussion all in favor please raise your hands anyone oppose motion passes unanimously and now we have closed session Mr Baker would you please read our motion to go into closed session all right um the motion to go into closed session I'm sorry I wasn't quite thank you council member [Music] he we going upstair in the back upstair we're going to go in the room behind the chamber not back upstairs so we have we need a motion to go into close session uh for a attorney client communication pursuant to 143 31811 A3 also a motion to go into close session to discuss Economic Development uh matters including incentives that may be offered uh by the city uh pursuant to uh 143 3181 A4 and also to observe a um a video that's been ordered released by the court pursuant to gs43 38 11 810 sumary thank you very much when if we can get back side back into the um room then we can start those we have I think four items we needed a second and a vote on that I'm sorry do we have to vote on that yes we do do we have a motion to go in close session in a second all in favor please raise your hand anyone opposed hearing no one opposed then let's go back um going to close session I don't I don't want [Music] it