04252011SP131
MINUTES
CITY OF DUNN
DUNN, NORTH CAROLINA
The City Council of the City of Dunn held a Special Call Meeting on Monday, April 25, 2011, at 7:00
p.m. in the Dunn Municipal Building. Present was Mayor Oscar N. Harris, Mayor Pro Tern N.
Carnell Robinson, Council Members Buddy Maness, Bryan Galbreath, Billy Tart, Chuck Turnage
and Joey Tart. Also present was City Manager Ronnie Autry, Police Chief B.P. Jones, Chief
Building Inspector Mike Blackmon, City Attorney P. Tilghman Pope, City Clerk Debra West, and
Daily Record Reporter Brian Haney.
INVOCATION
Mayor Harris opened the meeting at 7:00 p.m. and asked Police Chaplain Reverend Roy Johnson to give
the invocation. Afterwards, the Pledge of Allegiance was repeated.
AGENDA ADJUSTMENT
Motion by Mayor Pro Tem Robinson and seconded by Council Member Joey Tart to adopt the April 25,
2011 meeting agenda with changes, if any, as listed below.
Items Added to the Agenda:
• Post Tornado Update Report by Harnett County Emergency Management Services Director Gary
Pope and Dunn Emergency Services Director Gary Whitman.
Agenda Items Removed.
• none
Motion unanimously approved.
Post Tornado Update by
Harnett County Emergency Management Services Director
Gary Pope and
Dunn Emergency Services Director
( Gary Whitman
Mayor Harris expressed appreciation to the various City departments, organizations and Council members
during the events of the tornado that hit Harnett County and the City of Dunn on Saturday, April 16, 2011.
He commended all those involved in the coordination of the rescue efforts, assessment phase, recovery and
assistant centers.
Mayor Harris stated that on behalf of the City Council, their hearts go out to those that lost loved ones and
friends in this tragedy and to those that lost their homes, possessions, or suffered any type of loss.
He yielded to Gary Whitman, Director of Dunn Emergency Services for comments. Mr. Whitman
summarized the events from April 16 as follows:
• Initial reports of tornados on the ground were received around 4:20 pm
• Responded to Sixteen (16) separate incidents within a couple of hours
• Tried to respond to every affected neighborhood as quickly as possible
• Two (2) major incidents:
• I" major incident was Camden Park MHP — one fatality and fourteen injuries - (out of 35
homes, 30 homes were either completely destroyed or destroyed beyond occupancy) —
extensive search of area until Sunday
• 2 "" major incident was Food Lion Warehouse which received major damage that caused an
ammonia leak and as a result, they had to evacuate several residents in the area until later that
night when it was confirmed the leak was stopped — haz mat team from Greensboro
responded.
• Due to the large area involved, assistance came from nine area fire departments, Harnett
County EMS, Harnett County Fire Marshall's office, hazardous materials team from
Greensboro, Dunn Police Department and Harnett County Sheriff s Department.
• Their goal was to make sure that every resident within the path of this tornado was contacted
. / and everyone was accounted for.
• Harnett County Emergency Management Services Director Gary Pope responded to assist and
t set up a command post in the Dunn Emergency Services building. A shelter was set up on
Saturday night with 100 residents at Triton High School and has since moved to the Dunn
Community Center where they had 21 displaced residents last night.
• Damage Assessment Teams were sent out on Sunday morning.
• He expressed appreciation to all personnel who responded to this tragedy.
Police Chief B.P. Jones provided the following comments:
• There were two (2) dispatchers in the communications center when he arrived immediately after
the tornado hit.
• Two (2) off -duty dispatchers walked in and assisted in answering calls.
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• Lt. Register came in to coordinate with the State Highway Patrol to get their infra red helicopter
and he also answered questions for dispatch.
• The City's Viper Radio system allowed direct communication between the dispatch system and
State Highway Patrol helicopter.
• MHP was walked through three times on Saturday and every piece of debris was checked.
• MHP area was guarded tight on Saturday night and Sunday — household items such as weapons,
money and household goods was strewn everywhere. Residents were transported back to the sight
on Sunday to allow them to salvage small items.
• He praised the team of Dunn Emergency Services and Harnett County Emergency Management
and their leadership in working together.
Gary Pope, Director of Harnett County Emergency Management provided the following comments:
• He praised the teamwork between the City of Dunn, Harnett County Emergency Management and
Dunn Emergency Services coming together to assist each other.
• He praised the services of DES Director Gary Whitman and the way he commanded this event.
• After the incident 35,000 homes were without power; 34 people needed shelter. Mr. Tom
Underhill of Progress Energy was brought into Dunn Emergency Services. Within two days,
power was restored 90 %.
• There were two (2) major components (Harnett County EOC in Lillington and Area Command
Center at Dunn Emergency Services).
• Ammonia leak was a major concern and had to get it under control quickly.
• Approximately 1857 meals have been served so far; 40 homes destroyed; 40 homes with major
damage and 96 homes with minor damage and the list continues to grow.
• FEMA declaration was declared on Wednesday. FEMA site is set -up at East Pointe Shopping
Center. He encouraged any citizen impacted by the tornado to please sign up at the FEMA site.
• Volunteers have come from everywhere to help at the Dunn Community Center shelter and he
encouraged anyone affected by the tornado, to go by the center. The center is currently operating
from 8 am— 8 pm. They need non - perishable and household items.
• In the process of cleaning the fields. Twenty one (21) people are currently in the shelter. They are
in need of rental/temporary housing and FEMA will pay to house those displaced by the tornado.
• He thanked all individuals, corporations, restaurants, churches, and other organizations for coming
together and working together during this disaster.
• NCDOT is picking up debris for 6 -8 weeks and possibly longer. Separate vegetation from
construction debris and place by the road for pick -up.
• He thanked the City of Dunn for their cooperation and their role in setting up a unified command.
• Many lives were saved and many people were helped during this event.
Mayor Harris stated that during the event and aftermath of the tornado, briefings were held in the command
center each morning and afternoon to update everyone and to set objectives. He commended all the
training and professionalism of Dunn Emergency Services and Harnett County Emergency Management.
The City Council stood to applaud these three (3) gentlemen.
Mayor Harris opened public hearings at 7:39 p.m.
PUBLIC HEARING
Proposed New Electoral Districts
Mayor Harris stated that the public has been notified that the City Council of the City of Dunn will hold a
public hearing for the purpose of receiving public comment concerning the newly proposed municipal
electoral districts.
The public hearing was duly advertised on April 11, 2011.
Mayor Harris read the criteria for developing plans: Redistricting 2010.
The proposed electoral districts were introduced and displayed at the April 12, 2011 Council meeting and
have remained on display for public inspection in the City Manager's office.
The City of Dunn approved the last redistricting plan in March of 2003.
Mr. Bobby Bowers, redistricting consultant, explained the newly proposed municipal electoral districts
based on the 2010 census data:
➢ Adhere to the court ordered constitutional requirements of one person, one vote
➢ Must adhere to a state law of population variance under 10%
➢ Mathematical equality
➢ Must assure that parts of the districts are contiguous
➢ Avoid splitting voting precincts
➢ Protect the integrity of minority districts
➢ Constituent consistency — legal to separate incumbents as long as it does not adversely affect the
one person one vote and as long as it does affect the rights of minorities
➢ Benchmark Plan is the present districts with the 2010 census data in them — this plan has a total
deviation of 25.26%
➢ District 2 and 3 are the minority districts
➢ City of Dunn Plan 1 - drops deviation from 25.26% to 3.50%
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Mayor Harris asked if anyone wished to speak for or against the adoption of the redistricting plan.
Mr. William P. "Billy" Barfield, 1304 Guy Avenue, Dunn, NC stated that Mr. Bowers tore up the districts
when he re -drew the lines. He does not agree with the figures that the census provided. He added that the
districts could have been re -drawn with less moving of lines. The proposed plan is confusing. He
presented a petition signed by residents asking not to be moved from their current District 1 to District 6.
Mr. Thomas Ellis, 400 S. Magnolia Avenue, Dunn, NC thanked Emergency Services and the Police
Department for the excellent job they are doing with regard to the tornado. He asked that the Council
accept the redistricting plan as proposed.
Ms. Elizabeth Crudop, 410 S. Magnolia Avenue, Dunn, NC stated that this plan makes sense and she asked
the Council to accept the plan as presented.
Hearing no further comments, Mayor Harris closed the public hearing at 8:01 p.m.
Consideration of Proposed Electoral Districts
Mayor Harris yielded to Attorney Pope to brief the Council on the process.
Mr. Pope stated that this same criteria was used following the 2000 census. Once the plan is approved, it
will be submitted to the US Department of Justice for their review and approval hopefully to be received in
time for the filing period in July. Prior to the Council considering the proposed districts, he asked that the
Council make a motion to approve and ratify the criteria that was used for the development of the plan and
to approve the outline for construction of a redistricting plan steps 1 -7.
Motion by Mayor Pro Tern Robinson and seconded by Council Member Galbreath to approve the criteria
for developing plans: redistricting 2010 and construction of a redistricting plan steps 1 -7. Motion
unanimously approved. A copy of the criteria for developing the redistricting plans and construction of a
redistricting plan is incorporated into these minutes as Attachment #1.
Attorney Pope asked if any Council member had questions of Mr. Bowers as it relates to the development
of the plan.
Council Member Turnage asked Mr. Bowers if he is familiar with the areas and did he drive these areas in
gathering his data. Mr. Bowers responded he is using census data from PL94171 which is the census data
provided specifically for redistricting, and added while communities of interest are important, nothing is as
important as the constitutional requirement and the voting rights requirement and basically that is where
they have to concentrate their efforts.
Mr. Bowers stated that with a July filing, it is expedient on the City's part to get a plan submitted to the
Justice Department that has no retrogression and good deviation in order to receive approval prior to the
filing period.
Motion by Mayor Pro Tern Robinson and seconded by Council Member Turnage to approve the City of
Dunn Plan 1 as presented. Motion unanimously approved.
Mayor Pro Tern Robinson expressed appreciation to Mayor Harris, Manager Autry and the members of the
City Council for making sure that their instructions to the demographer included their wish to maintain the
integrity of the majority minority districts, which is important to the citizens and to the City.
Closed Session
8:08 p.m. Motion.by Mayor Pro Tern Robinson and seconded by Council Member Joey Tart to enter closed
session pursuant to N.C.G.S. 143- 318.11 to preserve the attorney client privilege to discuss pending legal
matters. Motion unanimously approved.
8:13 p.m. Closed session ended.
Motion by Council Member Billy Tart and seconded by Council Member Joey Tart to approve the minutes
of the closed session as recorded by City Attorney Pope. Motion unanimously approved.
With no further business to discuss, a motion was made by Council Member Joey Tart and seconded by
Council Member Billy Tart to adjourn the meeting at 8:14 p.m. Motion unanimously approved.
Attest:
CJ, ( Zn;6
Debra G. West
City Clerk
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