Minutes 11-15-2021Wei
Dunn City Council
Regular Meeting
Tuesday, November 15, 2021
7:00 p.m., Dunn Municipal Building
Minutes
PRESENT: Mayor William P. Elmore Jr., Mayor Pro Tern Dr. David L. Bradham, Council Members J.
Wesley Sills, April Gaulden, Frank McLean, Billy N. Tart, and Chuck Turnage.
Also present. City Manager Steven Neuschafer, Assistant City Manager Mathew Boone, Finance Director Jim
Roberts, Planning Director George Adler, Chief of Police Clark White, Administrative Support Specialist 11 Debra
Creighton, City Attorney Tilghman Pope, and City Clerk Tammy Williams.
CALL TO ORDER AND INVOCATION
Mayor Elmore opened the meeting at 7:00 p.m. and Council Member Turnage gave the invocation.
Afterwards, Council Member McLean led in the Pledge of Allegiance.
AGENDA ADJUSTMENT AND APPROVAL
Motion by Council Member Tart and second by Council Member Gaulden to adopt the November 15, 2021
meeting agenda as presented. Motion unanimously approved.
CONSENT ITEMS
• Budget Retreat Date and Location - Friday, January 28, 2022 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturday,
January 29, 2022 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel
located at 100 Middle Street in New Bern.
• Temporary Blocking of Streets - Larry Brown Request
Motion by Council Member Turnage and second by Mayor Pro Tern Bradham to approve all consent items.
Motion unanimously approved.
ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION AND/OR DECISION
Bank Loan to Purchase Property
Mayor Elmore opened the Public Hearing at 7:10 p.m. Finance Director Roberts presented for consideration
an installment contract with United Community Bank for the purchase of land on N McKay Avenue that will
use the property as security interest The property includes 8.32 acres and will be used for new offices and
operational space for the Public Works and Public Utilities Departments. The loan for this property will be at
or about $375,000, at an interest rate of 1.91% for a term of 10 years with semi-annual payments of
approximately $45,000 per year. All closing costs will be paid by the City. With no additional comments, the
Public Hearing was closed.
Motion by Council Member Tart and second by Council Member Gaulden to reaffirm the decision, on October
12, 2021, to borrow funds from United Community Bank for the purchase of 8.32 acres on N McKay Avenue
and allowing the Mayor, City Manager, and Finance Director to sign any and all documents needed to close
this loan. Motion unanimously approved.
SEPI Paving Plan
City Manager Neuschafer recognized Anthony Roper of SEPI, Inc. to present the premise of the Citywide
Pavement Implementation Plan. Roper shared that the "Blended method" is their recommendation for
handling the City's pavement issues and he compared this method to the "Worst First" and "Rehabilitation
Only" methods. The blended approach is a mix of the other two fixes. This will touch more miles than the
other two approaches with the worst first only touching 3.86 miles, Rehabilitation touching only 9.03 miles
compared to the blended approach touching 15.07 miles. The recommended approach will use Crack Seal &
Patching, Asphalt Surface Treatment, Rehab and Reconstruction. SEPI has taken the Condition Survey and
applied it to a proposed budget of $1.5 million for the first year with payments of $300,000 per year until the
note is paid off. Roper shared that 67% of the city's streets are at fair condition with an overall PCI of 65. He
did remind Council that the remaining street network will continue to deteriorate even with this 2022
project The amount of deterioration will depend on the weather. Neuschafer added the $1.5 million budget is
based on the funds available through the Powell Bill. If additional funds become available, we can definitely
add to the project Council Member Turnage feels this data will be very beneficial in making the best and most
informed decision for future paving projects. Neuschafer added by choosing the favored methodology, staff
will propose the 2022 Project at the budget retreat in January based upon the "fix" method selected by the
council.
After additional comments, motion by Council Member Gaulden and second by Council Member Turnage to
accept the Citywide Paving Implementation Plan and to begin to finalize the street treatment project for a
2022 construction project using the "blended method". Motion unanimously approved. A copy of the 2021
Citywide Pavement Condition Survey Report has been filed with the City Clerk
Borrowing Comparisons
City Manager Neuschafer shared that the City's administration and finance departments have been discussing
and reviewing various options to borrow funds to meet the City's growing needs. Staff enlisted Davenport to
provide the council with the pros and cons of the different means of borrowing large amounts of funds for
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these various projects. Finance Director Roberts presented the advantages and disadvantages between the
Direct Bank Loan, Public Sale of Bonds and the USDA Community Facilities Program, as outlined by
Davenport
Council Member Sills requested analysis on $15 million and $20 million GO bonds. Neuschafer reminded
council when calculating debt service every $78,566 represents a penny on the tax rate, so $5 million would
be like $300,000 a year. Council Member Turnage added that these options can be discussed at the retreat
(the estimated expense with the needed projects and the recommended financing mechanism). City Attorney
Pope asked about the time needed for GO bonds. Roberts responded it would take about a 3-year process to
get a project started financing with GO bonds. A copy of the Report provided by Davenport & Company is
incorporated into these minutes asAttachment #1.
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Transition Plan Adoption
Planning Director Adler shared with Council that the ADA, prohibiting discrimination against persons with
disabilities, passed in 1990 and Title II of the ADA applies to all state and local governments. The NC
Department of Transportation (NCDOT) requires Iocal governments to demonstrate compliance by
conducting an ADA Transition Plan and to assign an ADA Coordinator, who will be Stephen Hodges for the
City of Dunn. The City of Dunn entered into a contract with J. M. Teague, Engineering & Planning, to assist the
City in developing the City s ADA Transition Plan. Anna Sexton, CZO with J. M. Teague presented a brief
overview of the plan which included the methodology used to develop the plan. The public was surveyed, city
facilities assessed, existing plans and city code reviewed, data collected and existing barriers identified for
development of the proposed plan. Once approved by Council, the adopted Resolution and the ADA Transition
Plan will be submitted to NCDOT for their approval, which Sexton assured council it had already been
reviewed and would be approved.
After discussion, motion by Mayor Pro Tem. Bradham and second by Council Member Gaulden to approve the
Resolution adopting the ADA Transition Plan as presented. Motion unanimously approved. A copy of
Resolution (R2021-41) is incorporated into these minutes as attachment #2 and a copy of the ADA Plan has been
filed with the City Clerk
I-95/Hwy 301 Corridor Planning Study (DMP 210210)
City Manager Neuschafer shared that several developers have recently contacted the City to inquire about
sewer availability in this area. After looking at the preliminary development plans, there is potential for
significant revenue from both tax and water & sewer revenues. However, the current sewer system capacity
in some areas of town are limited and cannot support a significant amount of growth. In order to better
prepare for future growth along the I95/301 Corridor, staff recommends that Davis Martin Powell evaluate
various options on how to increase the capacity of the Eastside Pump Station and along the I95/301 corridor
and staff expects to be able to present the findings at the January Council Retreat.
Randy McNeill of DMP told Council the study would include I95 and Hwy 301 South sewer capacity
evaluation including consideration to either parallel the Eastside force main through town and parallel the
Juniper Creek Outfall through town to the W WTP versus rerouting the Eastside force main to the new outfall.
The study will also include evaluation of installing a pump station, outfall, and force main to serve the
southwest and southeast quadrants of the I95 Long Branch interchange. Plans are to have the study ready for
the retreat Neuschafer added that we are trying to alleviate the pressure on the line going through town now,
the line that collapsed at 301 and Pope Rd, which is nearly at capacity and does not allow for hardly any
growth at all.
After further discussion, motion by Council Member Turnage and second by Council Member McLean to
authorize Davis Martin Powell to complete the I95/301 Sewer Collection System Expansion Study and
approve a Budget Amendment in the amount of $23,200 in order to fund the study. Motion carried
unanimously.A copy of BudgetAmendment (BA2022-21) is incorporated into these minutes as Attachment #3.
Announcements/Information
Mayor Elmore announced upcoming events and activities.
With no further business to discuss, motion by Council Member McLean and second by Council Member
Gaulden to adjourn the meeting at 8:59 p.m. Motion unanimously approved.
Oay4OF
06 iB p/OB
Attest:
SENN'
Tammy Williams, C, NCCMC
City Clerk i
William P. Elmore Jr.
Mayor