uh councilmember reist described That is to say, uh, I I believe that the The uh That the proffers that the developers have made In terms of the 34 impervious surface limiting to that Uh, the the double silt fence the The additional tree buffer offered Are all significant And I think in many ways better than what could be built in terms of the single family homes by right And I also agree with councilmember reist I know that we would all like to and Have a forest behind our homes. I've I went to the neighborhood twice. I went before the last rezoning I mean before the last uh meeting when we discussed it and after that discussion I drove out there and looked and Uh, it is it is wonderful to have that in your backyard But I think that given the choices before us which is by right as a single family development Where uh, there would not be these buffering requirements As opposed to what is being proffered here I think that this is um, this is reasonable um And in many ways preferable So I'll be voting for this as well. Let me just add a couple of small things that I I also want to say that there was this concert the concert about the right west turn Westbound right turn lane I felt that the My concerns about this and whether or not it should be proffered Were answered at the previous meeting and I feel comfortable that this is the right decision given traffic out there and And also the question That if necessary, there will be the bus pullover And I think that is essential and as my understanding is that has been proffered If it is deter if its necessity is determined by our transportation staff Okay, other council members have any comments or questions Mr. Mayor, I do want to say and I appreciate your comments with respect to proffers That they are by their very nature arbitrary and not formulae and just I wanted to harken back to the notion of a decrease in one student Being generated from the pro development compared to current zoning and then the language as a result there will be no payment It implies that there's a formula or an equation Um, whether there's a decrease or not that I just wanted to be clear that the the the developers are free to still make a proffer to uh during public schools Um, notwithstanding the seeming formulaic language and I'm assuming this is the developers language not the staff's Language, so I just want to make it clear. You there's no formula. You guys are free to do that If you want to Thank you did with the other stuff. Thanks Other comments or questions All right, if there are none I'm going to declare that this public hearing is closed and the matter is back before the council the I can get my uh Is there a motion to adopt a consistency statement is acquired by ncgs168-383 Move to adopt Second been moved and seconded to adopt the consistency statement. Madam clerk. Will you please open the vote? Close the vote Motion passes six one with councilmember freeman voting now Thank you very much. Is there a motion to adopt an ordinance amending the udo some of second It's been moved and seconded to adopt an ordinance amending the united unified development ordinances Madam clerk. Will you please open the vote? Close the vote the udo passes by a vote of six one with councilmember freeman voting now. Thank you very much I want to thank you and I want to thank the neighbors that came out tonight I know this is not the outcome that you wanted, but we appreciate your participation and uh Very much that you may very much appreciate you being here. Thank you Did you direct it mean to get the usb key that we I see us be for the pictures somebody took it and we just needed back. Yeah Uh vivian if you can hear us, I believe you have the usb And if you could make your way to the back and make it available to these folks Thank you We're now going to hear item 28 the Durham belt line trail master plan and um Begin by hearing from staff Good evening mayor and council members. My name is dale mckeal. I am I work with the Department And we are here tonight to talk about the Durham outline trail master plan the city received a tiger planning grant few years ago And for the last 18 months we have been working on this master plan With our consultant steward engineering I want to introduce Todd delk with steward who will Begin the presentation to discuss the recommendations of the bell line trail master plan. Thank you very much Thank you dale. Todd delk steward engineering 223 southwest street rally It's been our pleasure and honored to be working on this plan over the last 18 months. Um I've been really excited to put together this master plan um and sort of vision for the Durham belt line I wanted to uh Introduce you to a couple of our staff that are here today to help her present And those include jackie turner Who's a planner in her office and headed up to in public involvement for the? master plan Jake patroski is sort of been our head Lead on the design and planning side of putting together the master plan And also we have a special consultant kofi boon um professor of landscape architecture who helped us out with environmental justice and A crime prevention through environmental design for the project as well We'd also be remiss to not acknowledge the amount of staff time And several of our steering committee members that are here tonight in the audience I've seen throughout the audience as well as the folks that Help participate in the public involvement of the project as well The Durham belt line Is envisioned to be a rail trail in linear park. That'll be 1.7 miles in length And using the abandoned rail line that north or southern has through the western northern part of downtown It connects neighborhoods north of downtown To the downtown itself as well as a number of multimodal Transit hubs downtown both the bus station the amtrak and the future durham orange light rail station The trail provides regional connections To the american tobacco trail as well as the mountain the seas trail and is will actually in the future be part of the east coast greenway Through the city of durham the city has long um Planned this trail along this corridor and several institutes tried to buy this piece of right away from norfolk southern But in 2017 the conservation fund was actually able to acquire this property from norfolk southern And hold it for the city of durham for this future project that y'all have had in your plans for so long The rail line was actually built back in about 1890 by brody duke and was put in place to pretty much bypass the North Carolina railroad company, so he didn't have to pay his fees And work with the scheduling out there When this was built it split apart several communities in north durham And had a number and it was used a lot for the uh warehouse tobacco warehouses and linen Factories that were along the corridor which included pearl mill village And many of the warehouses you see in the western part of durham right now um Norfolk southern purchased this from uh the dukes Back in the early 1900s and the last train ran on it somewhere in the 1980s and 1990s and over the last 10 years It's been Abandoned and basically planned for as a greenway By several different organizations including durham parks and rec and the durham open space trail committee Uh if you go out to the rail line out there today, this is what you see in some of the more Urban settings in downtown that it runs through um Some of the sections have actually been adopted by adjacent landowners Uh and pretty well maintained, but the vast majority of it is fairly well overgrown with weeds ivy and uh different uh Floor all over it Just wanted to give you a brief introduction to the trail. I mean with that I'm gonna let uh jackie come up and give us a little bit more information about the public involvement and uh our visioning In goal setting for this project Thank you very much Thank you. Hi, i'm jackie turner with steward engineering um I do want to um begin with saying that um both my parents were uh born and raised in durham And so i've been uh, though i haven't lived in durham I've been uh coming here for a long time and I was excited to be a part of this project Um at the time I started on this project I actually worked for another firm and then I moved to steward and continued so it's a little bit of background about that um I We we began this project with a public involvement plan that we sat down with staff and then presented to a steering committee That talked about the uh outreach that we would have throughout the project and as Todd mentioned We worked with the steering committee. We held stakeholder meetings and I will Let's see here. It's showing up here on my screen. There we go um So we uh had worked with uh stakeholders and I had several interviews some as groups some with uh as individuals We worked with uh staff. We worked with downtown Um development group to try to figure out who our outreach would be and uh and then began those conversations In also in the early stages. We decided to look at some of other precedent trails Because right from the start we were told that wanted to make this particular trail or linear park Something that would be that could be known Regionally and maybe even nationally wanted it to be of high quality and a real amenity for the city We looked at the design features and amenities and funding funding strategies for the Highline Atlanta belt line And these are just some of them But we actually as a group along with staff in the steering committee took a trip to greensboro That is working on its own downtown green what greenway for some lessons learned The um so we can talk a little bit more about those the details of some of those projects may come up in the rest of the presentation that jake will be doing but we began the process with over um with with a Pop-up events at city of dermi events for instance. We had a booth at the You know river festival at the center arts festival and then we held us a workshop that was well attended And uh fall i think in september of 2017 so between that effort and a survey And the other groups that i mentioned we have reached over 1000 participants in the last Really what has been about a year not even a year in it not quite a year and a half to get input when we realized in uh in october after our initial input that there were groups that we were not yet reaching we also uh held some additional Meetings that were not part of our original plan for instance. We did a presentation At pack four at the jj hinderson housing complex to take our message to To other citizens that that had not necessarily participated The word cloud that you see on the The schedule up on the slide here is from our first survey which was uh in august of 2017 And the largest words are the words that were mentioned Over and over again throughout that particular process The response in the at least in the survey and in the feedback we had uh Almost 200 people attend the first workshop back in september of 2017 Had been has been overwhelmingly positive in terms of having a linear park Because the quarter is not just a narrow like 12 foot wide alignment There's a lot of opportunity To do other things there from the photos that taja showed and so other than the The workshops that we held the additional outreach we had in october We realized as the plan was developed over the winter in the spring that we needed to really Kick up the Outreach and also based on Comments that that we had heard in communities. We felt that had not been involved. So for the second workshop, which was held in june of 2018 we We there were 495 residences To which postcards were mailed And those were located within 500 feet of the belt line itself The announcements we had flyers And as well as the postcards those were sent to six churches that were near the corridor And there were yard signs at six intersections in the area And also posters were placed in 52 businesses and institutions in and around the area So those were some of the efforts to get and so at that june workshop We also had a fairly good turnout and a fairly diverse turnout So a couple of the things is that we have used all of the feedback from the the meetings over the last year and including the workshop this year to Sort of a set of vision for the for the belt line trail master plan and it's up there Well, the you know the vision is to be a vibrant green space connecting communities to the heart of durham the um See here I think that was about all that I was going to talk to you can see that inscribed on the rail there is a quote from lengthston hues Back on the previous slide and then jake's going to talk a little bit about the The efforts and more of the design focus for the project and I'd be happy to answer any other questions regarding Engagement efforts later. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Turner Jake Trotsky with steward engineering So we had the overall vision and As to accompany that we talked about some goals and they were developed to kind of Sound out some of the things we were hearing during the stakeholder interviews in the first survey and first public meeting One was to provide a safe and attractive trail for a variety of users The second incorporate engaging innovative design. That's uniquely durham Um The third improve quality life by increasing access to green space art culture in history In the fourth enhance and preserve communities and ensure equitable access These goals are also accompanied by a number of planning principles And and design principles That further elaborate them and specify some objectives. They're they're meant to be um A capture of the input At the time and they're meant to evolve with the belt line As well. So that's an important point The the trail itself is really traverses three distinct areas. One is the urban section On this slide. It's the the green area That begins kind of in downtown And extends up to trinity avenue This is where There's going to be the most traffic in terms of users. It's envisioned to be Have a separate bicycle zone and pedestrian zone that's actually illustrated in the top right And accommodate high volumes of of pedestrians and bicyclists and joggers and dog walkers and Strollers and and all of the above if we're successful in this We're going to need that separation in order to keep a safe trail for all users The preservation and restoration section From trinity avenue up to about glendale Is where the trail transitions from urban context Into Something a little different on the west side is the south ellaby creek stormwater restoration area And on the right is the historic url mill village So we want to be sensitive of those natural and historic assets through this this area and also look for opportunities for restoration as well, which i'll talk about later The neighborhood section really beginning into the vicinity of Glendale and extended eastward Really changes context again There's adjacent residential development and lower expected volumes in terms of users And the character of a trail can change again there Some precedents that we looked at for the preferred cross section this again This is in the urban urban section and would be built where Right away allows Is the indianapolis cultural trail and the katie trail in dallas and those are pictured on this slide The constraint constrained section, which is Pictured on the top left Would be for road crossings where you want to bring users together and cross the road and say fashion Or where elevation or right away constraints Necessitate a smaller footprint The neighborhood cross section is in that more neighborhood area And it's meant to be a little bit smaller footprint And have a 12 foot greenway and a natural surface path beside it for walking or jogging. That's something that A lot of the feedback we heard wanted to include if at all possible The next few slides i'll provide a bit more detail on the conceptual design of the trail in some key areas This is the southern most section of the trail adjacent to the future light rail station, which is on the left The pink building on your left the railroad track Exists right next to it And then there's an opportunity for urban park Kind of framed by chapel hill street and morgan and then great jones street On on the bottom for this planning purposes the conceptual design was was factoring in a potential two-way conversion of great jones street Just because if Great jones street does not get two-wayed then there's a bigger footprint, but we wanted to see the worst-case scenario there There's also some alternatives for this urban park You know It's it's city-owned land adjacent to the trail. It could be repurposed for a public space It could be home to a new museum of a Durham history building or infill development Whatever you choose, but we are showing it as a as a public space to um to Kind of illustrate the possibilities Presidents for this space include north end park in in boston city garden in st. Louis Or romeer bearden park in charlotte As we move north across fernway We move into what could be the gateway of the innovation district This could be one of the busiest sections of the trail trail we're in development Is likely on both sides of the trail? And we are showing the preservation of some key historic assets in this area One is the railroad gantry that could be either a gateway to the innovation district or if you're passing Southward could be a gateway into downtown The view opens up and you can see downtown skyline there There's also a historic railroad trestle in this section that is currently on private land But we are showing the preservation of that And we would have to work with the city would have to work with landowners on that, but it is a great opportunity Placemaking opportunity and an opportunity to preserve a piece of your railroad pass And also has great views of the evolving skyline of downtown Durham, which would be nice Like so this uh conceptual illustration shows what the trail could look like through the innovation district Um Active uses are recommended for the building edges, especially key intersections with key public roads A threaded path could weave around a preserved section of rail And saving or replanting the tree canopy is recommended here Moving northward across trinity avenue We get to that that preservation and restoration section Connecting people to the south alabaric creek wetland project is a priority here It's very rare that a that a city of your size Has an opportunity to have a wetland park Of of the order that's being contemplated for that within less than a mile of their downtown So that's something that we would like to connect people to This section it also connects to south alabaric creek trail Which is a signed portion of the east coast greenway and trail from main to florida And making that connection is a priority Is in this section as well Lighting on the trail in this area would have to be sensitive to the historic url mill village area And on this area the trail will be on an elevated piece of ground The railroad bed and making sure we have Downward facing Sensitive lighting that doesn't interfere with those residents is important. There's also a lot of opportunity for Environmental art and education along this trail just given the context As the trail crosses washington street, we're recommending a crossing plaza with pavers that slows vehicular traffic for the safety of trail users We're also recommending a crosswalks at dashing and making in order to slow traffic on the approach That's something that a lot of residents were very concerned in this area about Making sure that we not only create a safe trail crossing just to improve the safety of some of these existing crossings where there are barriers right now In this area, you have a lot of properties that are zoned as light industrial And reuse and redevelopment is possible in this area and it's likely not to be industrial So thinking about how we can reduce barriers to missing middle housing types and encourage neighborhood scale affordable housing Is recommended to help activate the trail edge through here and elsewhere where you have that condition and we'll talk a little bit more about that As we move east There's an opportunity to preserve and restore an area around stray horn springs, which is located just west of glendale avenue pedestrian connections between makin street and north street in this area Reconnecting those neighborhoods that were severed 125 years ago as something that we're recommending Continue to move east mangan street as an overpass on the trail This presents You know an opportunity and a concern a concern in that we want to make that a safe place an opportunity in that elsewhere Turning those underpasses into our opportunities has been successful a way to activate those those places City-owned land on rock spare street is envisioned to be a trailhead And the master plan also recommends locating a trailhead with some recreational facilities and programming in the vicinity of avondale drive A lot of participants Lobbied heavily for an access on the avondale drive that is is both a gateway to the trail and a trailhead Additional outreach is recommended in the plan to determine the location and the design of this Trailhead to fulfill neighborhood needs. So There's so many uninsured questions with this master plan, but again, there's a lot of things that needs to be figured out during the design phase Access to open space and parks is a substantial need in downtown and along the northern eastern part of the trail The trail will increase access to open space by 52 Based on a health analysis conducted The eastern end of the trail has higher rates of obesity heart disease and mental health issues than the rest of Durham So this access to to open space will certainly Be in a good location Those lower than average health outcomes also correlate with low incomes that we found in the social equity analysis The master plan also recommends Addressing affordable housing to the degree it can it's a it was raised early in the process and we've worked with Planning staff and department community development to make some recommendations Encouraging infill and affordable housing along the trail strategies build on existing efforts by the city and other organizations to preserve existing affordable units and develop new affordable housing in close in neighborhoods. This is an issue not only in The trail board or also in other parts of close in neighborhoods We looked at crime prevention techniques and built on the analysis done of the att and created crossing plazas That will help define public and private space and also increase the safety of trail users preservation and restoration of the natural communities as a priority it's rare that the city has an opportunity to Accept 17 acres of new green space So close to downtown and in neighborhoods in need of that green space So part of the next steps is is going to go into documenting these communities and enhancing them The cost estimate is broken out into two pieces the belt line proper with trail essentials and also some other related costs and other items 15.1 million for the trail and trail essentials and then Some other costs including parks and bioswales are listed on the right And they could be funded incrementally as grants or private funds as they become available overall funding mix for all components of the trail is shown in the plan And overall the funding mix is targeted to be a combination of local federal state and private funds Opportunities for value capture could be explored to fund priorities that federal funding Is not doesn't qualify things for The overall concept for the the belt line shows amenities and key connections The next steps include purchasing right away and moving into the actual design phase of the project Which will entail additional outreach engagement to customize the design based on the needs of neighborhoods There's two organizational structures that were We looked at For the belt line trail one is a single or multiple agency model that's led by the city of Durham Another is a public private model where there's a partner organization that plays a larger role The task show Shown in the bubbles below the options are simplified and could also include a number of other roles Other than what's shown The potential for public private partnerships is significant and the master plan provides a foundation for building these partnerships portion of the public space improvements along the trail Could be funded privately as in other precedent projects indeed a significant amount of Private funds have been pledged so far for the project And this slide just shows an example of a donor wall from the greensboro downtown greenway And also an example of funding opportunities that are available along the Philadelphia rail park Overall the master plan recommends that the belt line should be part of a greater equity planning initiative In Durham that studies how to improve equitable access to housing transit jobs and open space and close in neighborhoods This type of planning would be beneficial before the belt line is constructed And future public space and transportation improvements such as the great loop proposed by the parks foundation occurs to the east and south of the trail There's this is the beginning of the process for the belt line There's more work to be done for sure. The master plan is meant to be the start of conversations Decisions on commitments and metrics are needed by public and private partners That weren't necessarily in the scope of this master plan, but hopefully this plan will start Start those conversations and move them forward the implementation timeline for the plan is elaborated In the master plan and includes at least three years before the belt line is constructed This provides ample time to address concerns related to housing and equity through implementations of policy recommendations in the plan and equitable development planning efforts And I think that's it. Thank you very much Any other anything else from the staff or consultants at this time? All right. Thank you very much for an excellent report. We appreciate it We now have uh several people who have signed up to speak on this and then we will have comments and questions from the council We have quite a number of people and it's late So i'm going to uh ask people to please speak for two minutes And uh, let me count the number of people 11 people that we have signed up I'm going to call your name and as I call your name if you'll please come over here to the right of the podium And uh in the order in which I call you that would be great John martin Jeff bachal chuck James speed rogers james nishimuta laura stroud jim's farah terry landsdale diane standard christin gorman gen mcduffie andrea muffin hudson Let me just ask Is there anyone else that would like to be heard on this item? Is there anyone else? Okay, if you'd like to be heard on this item you need to go to the table over here And you need to fill out one of the yellow cards Okay, and once you've done that we'll get you in line to speak as well And i'm going to declare this public hearing open and we're going to begin uh, mr. martin you have two minutes Please state your name and address Thank you. Good evening. I'm john martin I live at 401 east trinity avenue in old north durham And i am the president of the old north durham neighborhood association Which its board has endorsed this? Proposal we do support the the plan to go forward The durham belt line is the northern boundary of our whole neighborhood It separates us from the duke park neighborhood and the western part of the Belt line Is just a little ways from the western part of our neighborhood And in putting this out in not just to the board but on the listserv I mean what many of the people in the neighborhood commented about was that they were tired of an overgrown Debris strewn impenetrable Abandon railroad track around the neighborhood and they would like to see something done with it Having said that in support of it I do do want to say that we have um a particularly serious concern When this is put forward it is always shown as going to avondale drive and one of the maps staff showed Showed it going to avondale drive But if you look on page 94 In the master plan It says a gateway and trailhead is envisioned for the trail in the vicinity of avondale drive The exact location of this trailway has to be determined An intermediate trail way trailhead could be located near greenleaf street Now greenleaf street is a one block street in the duke park neighborhood with all due respect A trailhead that ends at greenleaf street a trail that ends there is a trail to nowhere We strongly believe it should go not only all the way to avondale drive It should go under avondale drive and connect our neighborhoods with the commercial area That is across avondale drive that would provide parking for people who wanted to use the trail And it would also provide a means for us to get from our neighborhoods Across thank you. Thank you very much. Mr. Martin. Mr. Bacchal chuck Thank you, mr. Mayor. My name is jeff bacchal chuck I am a former commissioner on the Durham open space and trails commission and a former commissioner on the bicycle and pedestrian advisory commission One point of disclosure. I am employed by measure and a shareholder of measurement incorporated and measurement incorporated owns property That abouts the proposed trail That said trails represent a vital element of our transportation network They provide a safe corridor for people who are disadvantaged economically and cannot afford a vehicle It provides an opportunity for them to bike and walk in a grade separation approach One element of the master plan and I'd like to commend dale mackiel and the department of transportation staff And the staff at steward engineering for doing a wonderful plan One thing that they mentioned in the plan is converting the loop the downtown loop to two-way traffic Two generations ago our civic leaders made what we now generally consider in our community a poor decision to create the loop That has stunted development of downtown It has created an environment downtown where our streets are not as safe as they could be for pedestrians and bike riders We have an opportunity now to rectify that If we don't seize this opportunity now ongoing development downtown adjacent To the loop will preclude the opportunity in the future to have a viable street grid and Do it in an effective way if we fail to do that now future generations will look back at our civic leaders now And regret the decision not to do that in the same way that we regret the decision To install the loop in the first place Thank you. Thank you very much Mr. James speed rogers Mayor schwell mayor pro tem johnson and members of the council. Thank you. I'm speed rogers I live on 1007 drew street just outside of downtown Durham I'm here to speak in favor of the Durham Beltline project. I think it Helps us achieve many of our or move to achieve many of our goals as a city Towards climate justice and transportation alternatives I would like to repeat and affirm The displacement concerns that many community members expressed at a Durham Beltline for all equity event that I was fortunate enough to attend last week There were many concerns about potential impact on the community And I believe those should be taken into consideration when pursuing the project With those concerns in mind, I would like the council to consider Providing some type of up zoning or affordable housing Component to this Beltline proposal to either add units or add affordable units along the Beltline And that's all I've got for you. Thank you so much. Thank you very much, mr rogers I will now hear from James Nishimuta Hey, thank you for this opportunity. My name is James Nishimuta. I live on 16 Sweet Bay Court I'm a board member of bike Durham. We are a nonprofit advocacy organization working for bike friendly changes in Durham We advocate for affordable equitable and safe mobility Car ownership in the u.s. On average costs 8,500 a year And people of color make up the largest share of u.s. Households without access to cars That's 25 of african-americans and 13 of the latino community do not own a car So clearly transportation is equity issue people of color are the largest growing demographic in the cycling community These are typically the people who you know, they don't have access to cars. So bike lane bicycling is Their way to get around they have to bike Um However, 30 African-americans are 30 more 30 percent more likely to be killed than white cyclists They're disproportionately affected by poor bike infrastructure and lower income neighborhoods and lower lower income neighborhoods have have the highest rates of bike and pedestrian accidents So clearly the belt line can serve as a safe and affordable transportation alternative However, the u.s. Has to use a history of disenfranchising people of color from the transportation opportunities and Durham is no exception We didn't we need to make sure that the community is involved in the planning But more importantly that they won't displace the people that could potentially benefit from this the most Thank you. Thank you, mr. Nishimura We'll now hear from laura stroud Good evening council. Thank you for having us. I'm my name is laura stroud. I live at 912 Rose Hill Avenue I am a member of the Durham open space and trails commission commission. I am A parks and recreation planner by trade Um, and I'm a resident of Durham. Um, I'm here tonight in part with the group Durham belt line for everybody I'd like to ask everyone here with them this evening to briefly stand to show the support for the For the cause a lot of us are already in line And I'm here this evening to request that the council pause in their approval of the Durham belt line master plan Now this is a very difficult Moment to pause here on the cusp of a master plan approval And people have been working on this plan for 10 years And we absolutely acknowledge their visionary spirit and the wonderful design plan that stewart has put together But there are many more issues at play here than there were when this plan was envisioned 10 years ago In other communities some of the case studies that the master plan uses such as manhattan the Highline and the the atlanta belt line These projects have caused extreme and immediate gentrification along the trail corridors And we understand that that will be the case in Durham as well Once this plan is approved and to move forward there has yet to be a city A growing city where this type of high profile development has not caused displacement of existing residents Through housing speculation eviction and people priced out of the homes that they've lived in for years There's also yet to be a city that has solved this problem But we know that Durham is special And we're not special because this wouldn't happen here It absolutely would and a lot of these folks will be speaking to the evidence for that But we know that we in Durham can come up with a visionary solution to create Neighborhood stabilization policies in advance of the approval of this master plan Thank you mistral We'll now hear from Jim Svara Good evening. Jim Svara 11 14 woodburn road I am a bicyclist and an advocate for affordable housing I'm here to encourage the council to send the master plan back to the staff For further review and clarification. This project has gotten off track You've heard speakers talk about the importance of a trail that provides new access for biking for hiking But if you go to the project website, there is a very telling statement The Durham Belt Line project has tremendous transformational potential for downtown Durham The transformers have diverted this project With extra amenities that are not Central and have potential gentrifying effects on the area The proposal devotes 10.6 million and tonight we heard 11.3 million dollars to amenities That are not essential to the main purpose These investments could increase the cost of property and housing Around the trail the report states that one of the benefits Of the project is an estimated increase in real estate values of six million dollars The final version of the master plan includes a new section on equity And it proposes to a point an equitable development task force The outline plan should include only the essential elements of a trail Until the work of this task force is completed Still the memo from staff that came along with this item With this item states the park amenities could be built at the outset Or constructed separately as funding becomes available The connections to end Dorothy and those the central Durham need to be clarified and the Kelly Bryant trail integrated better into this plan The master plan should be sent back to staff It should be returned with an implementation plan that focuses on trail essentials On affordable housing on connections to northeast central Durham And on promoting equity Thank you. Thank you, mr. Svara We'll now hear from terry landsdale Hello mayor city council. I come from charlotte north carolina. I am the executive director of bicoat north carolina Almost 20 years ago.  We hope that you continue to do a brilliant work here. Thanks very much Thank you. Mr. Lansdale and thank you for coming all the way up from charlotte to spend your two minutes of time with us here That's a that's a great civic commitment. Thank you Diane standard. I'm sorry. Diane standards next. Yeah, I'm sorry You need to scare you off the podium there Uh, so good evening. My name is diane standard I'm here's chair of the durham human relations commission This evening. I would just like to submit for the official record a report that the human relations commission did on structural racism within the city of durham Which you all have already received And it was approved by the commission in june 2018 I'm just going to read up some excerpts of that report as quickly as I can Uh structural racism is considered to be a system in which public policies institutional practices Cultural representations and other norms work in various often reinforcing ways to perpetuate racial inequity We know that a compounding set of past and present policy decisions at each level of government has contributed to this racial equity But we're particularly interested in how policy decisions by the city of durham Contribute to these disparities one example of durham's influence on racial disparities Is the approval of the destruction of houses and businesses in haytai the construction of north carolina highway 147 Our report looks at racial disparities that persist in durham today across areas of health employment education And other areas, but I just want to highlight two examples this evening housing and businesses We know that home ownership is rooted in a deep history of racial discrimination in the housing market such as redlining restrictive covenants And even explicit exclusion from federal government benefits following the great depression We see those outcomes still today in durham the white home ownership rate is 66 But the black home ownership rate is 41 Further in terms of businesses on october 2014 report showed the city only spent 2.66 Of contracting for minority with with minority owned and women owned firms and specific between 2012 and 2017 Specifically the city awarded only 2 of contracts to black owned firms So we know that um just to speed things up We acknowledge that all disparities have multiple contributing factors in addition to race such as gender economic status sexual orientation But it's undeniable that race is present at every step and must be addressed head on So we encourage our local elected officials to examine Race at the front end of its decision-making processes rather than waiting to react once disparities have manifested And as a standard, thank you very much. And so we encourage you to do so in this process. Thank you Kristen Gorman Hi, honorable councilmen and women and mayor My name is Kristen Gorman. Um, I live at 721 mill spring drive, which is in the crowstall farm neighborhood Um, I am a member of Dost and I'm on the trails Subcommission and I'm here tonight to raise some concerns I have about adopting the master plan for the Durham belt line trail in its current form Um, I love trails. That's why I'm on the trails commission. Um That would be the number one reason However, I'm not the only one that this trail is being built for I'm not paying for it alone After examining the effects of the belt line in Atlanta on nearby property prices, which rose over 40 percent in four years I'm not sure residents in old north Durham You know Duke park all of the adjacent neighborhoods are going to be financing the trail so much as financing their own displacement And that is my number one concern Well, actually, no my other number one concern I'm not at all confident that a polarity a polarity Of residents in these communities are aware of the changes soon to be underway in their backyards If I had not been a member of Dost, I would not have been aware of the online belt line survey And I would not have been aware of the open house that was held at Durham nativity school earlier this summer What I propose is that we put a pause on adopting the master plan while we work to Inform every resident along the plan route and also collect their opinions and questions If 100 percent of residents sounds like an unachievable goal, then maybe we need to re-examine our vehicles of outreach If we mail questionnaires to every residents Along the route, even if the response rate isn't 100 percent We will have informed elderly residents who lack access to the internet of a major change that is being proposed This questionnaire could have the address of a website on which residents could upload videos themselves talking about concerns We could even include a number to call in for the less technically inclined that would be man during specific hours of the day My my concern is that we need authenticity to ensure equity And thank you. Thank you very much Thank you very much. Ms. Gorman gen mcduffey Evening all I'm gen mcduffey 41 21 settlement drive Durham. I belong to lots of groups in this town I think they're probably on either side of this issue So i'm speaking as a private citizen who thinks that this can be a both and Because we can have community input and accept the master plan and not hold up the process Of something that we've been working on already for 10 years The trail is important for physical activity for alternative forms of transportation To make bike commuting safer and to increase green space Ensuring adequate community input is important for equity for innovation because some of our best ideas come from ordinary citizens And for the common good of all of our citizens But the point is that we have time for both Because I remember the 20 years it took to get the bridge over i40 because I worked on it for 15 of those years And we're only at the master plan stage The master plan can be changed down the road as they start to do the design work as we get more input from the community One of the organizations I work with is the partnership for healthy Durham We do intense community Input gathering for a community health assessment. We write every three years. We know how to do this So we can be gathering more input while they do the design We can even put down the basic asphalt trail because there isn't any question about how we do that It's a rail bed. We can't move it. It's going to be there And we don't have any money for any of these amenities anyway We only have the money for the design work and the basic trail bed So I think this can be a both and thank you Thank you very much We'll now hear from Andrea Muffin Hudson Hello everyone. I'm Andrea Muffin Hudson. I live at 32 junction road Durham North Carolina 27703 If I was not on the cip if I was in the board member, I wouldn't have known that there was going to be a belt line and I work downtown. I work everywhere and I'm in all different type of communities and people that I have spoken to have not been aware But with that being said, um Those prices I saw up there those millions of dollars. Can we use that for our public school system as opposed to This bike this belt line right now Let's just make it a moment because I want it to be equitable and I want it to be fair And we're already being displaced already. So with that being built We're going to displace even more of us that are already being displaced by the gentrification that's happening now That's just going to increase the number So if you can please just put a pause on it Thank you. Thank you very much I'm going to now call the other people that have signed up to speak and if you all would come in this order that would be great Brett Stenfield Stangefield. Oh, hey Brett Can you work on your handwriting? Uh, Kamala Hayward, Hayward Rattini. I'll work on my handwriting if you work on the trail Uh, Justin Robinson Mariah Monsanto Tia Hall Angel Dower Heidi Hannibal And Fleming Talton Okay, uh, you each have two minutes if you could state your name and address I was just messing with you. You know, I love you. Um, my name is Brett I'm at Six Jewel Valley Durham, North Carolina I would implore the council to take a few steps to ensure equity Number one is to recognize that the precedents that were laid out by the store company are not A good comparison To a city like Durham given the size of Atlanta, New York, Chicago and the effects Um of gentrification on cities like those that vastly that displaced a lot of residents could be Even greater in a small city like Durham Number two is to conduct A survey and workshops that is hosted by the city as opposed to the store company to ensure that race income and length of tenure in Durham Is covered And representative of the population of Durham To make public As best you can to your ability Who has pledged private funds and committed private funds to the process already and who also does moving forward And to also make public public And vacant space that the city Currently has or plans to acquire in order to do Affordable housing in the adjacent area of the trail And then lastly to commit that jobs that are a consequence of the trail As well as art that will be Going up around the trail go to Durham residents, especially Durham residents that fall on the lower end of the income scale Thank you. Thank you very much Kamala Heyward routine Good evening I feel like I already have a win because you pronounced my first name correctly. So thank you mayor My name is Kamala. I was sure luck My name is Kamala. Heyward wrote to me. I live at 1606 p. Street Durham, North Carolina That's in duke park I am also I serve on the Durham open spaces and trails committee And I want to give a very big thank you to Durham Beltline for everybody for Organizing everyone to come out and speak this evening Um, my comments are informed by my living in Durham and also my professional experience I I study communities I study access to communities and their access to information as anthropologists Um, one of the things that stands out to me about the dorm belt line Uh, the first thing is I do believe this is of the possibility to be a model for Not just Durham pushing for an equitable development plan, but possibly the nation And so I do want to thank the dorm belt line steering committee and the consultants What I do want to say however is that The possibility for that to be realized can only happen if all communities are heard from So when I say all communities I think as human beings we generally take for granted our built environments But we don't realize that the built environments not only Um, that the places where we live, but it shapes how we live And that's why it's important to hear from everyone The other thing that comes up for me I have attended some of the public meetings and I applaud The efforts to get the word out about the dorm belt line and I do applaud The point of trying to start discussion about the equitable development plan, but what I will say Really quickly is that the usual methods of outreach need to be expanded So that other communities that who are historically not heard Can be heard in this moment. Thank you. Thank you very much Justin Robinson I'm Justin Robinson. I'm I address the 1612 south rock squirrel street That's in the cc. Spaulder neighborhood. I'm on the Durham parks foundation board among lots of other boards My main concern is what the Durham belt lines master plan is part of the steering committee You know Durham's demographics pretty well of the 30 people who were on the steering committee only four of those people were people of color Um, and some of the survey results were fairly troubling because because of the Of the the method of funding was to the federal tiger grant which is supposed to Operate ladders of opportunity for people who live in these neighborhoods On which around the belt line is the average where the median income is uh, 38,500 Of the people surveyed 11 of those people made less than 40 thousand dollars 22 of those people made more than 120 thousand dollars. So our issue is Or my issue is about who is this trail being built for If if it is if it is being built built to promote Mobility justice and the people who are surveyed need to look different I don't know if the if the materials went out in spanish If I had not been in the role that I am in and lots of different places I would not have known that the belt line was happening either Thank you very much. Mr. Robinson Mariah Monsanto No relation. Hello, um council members. Um, I'm here to ask you also to pause Um of approving this plan. I'm here as a community member Um, I live at 517 north guthrey avenue a white dude from georgia owns my house. Um, I say that to say, um I share qualities um three qualities at least that none of the people who presented on during belt line That are doing this qualify with which means I'm a resident. I'm black and um Yeah, I also didn't know about it. So, um, I just find it very ironic that people who are Not living in Durham and breathing in Durham are creating for Durham. Um, I work downtown for multiple organizations If I wasn't walking around downtown and didn't see um a sign about a public forum for this I would not have known about the dirt about line being built um Outside of that, I say that to say, um, I would hate for um, Durham city council to continue to support Um development for residents that do not live in Durham Um, I con I only have been here for about three and a half years And I've seen the demographic change greatly in terms of the population you see in Durham the people you see developing Durham, they don't look like the residents here. Um, so things like, um Saying that there's possibilities any tangible things are actually going to happen with the people who are creating this belt line So the possibility for affordable housing is not an option when there's not place where people live already not when Sheriffs are already are um and the Durham And the department of transportation is already evicting homeless cancer people who don't have homes And then to build something like this who has historically from places Um in atlanta and greensboro in new york city Um further displaced people so the whole possibility is not a feasible option in terms of the people who already live here To be able to be um to be able to live here affordably and not be displaced from their homes like they've already been have Five seconds. Thank you. It's late. I'm hungry. Thank you. Thank you. Ms. Monsanto tia hall Hi, good evening. I I'm tia hall and I live at 306 gray avenue and cleveland hollow way neighborhood I want to read a brief Bit from policy link A more equitable city is one where all residents regardless of race ethnicity Nativity gender or neighborhood of residents are fully able to participate in the city's economic vitality And contribute to the region's readiness for the future and connect to the region's assets and resources So I better read so I can get all this in But while we while the loop seems to have many accoutrements of fun and joy Does it bear the same stamp of equity for all of Durham? I love Durham and to those we love we owe a truth telling of reckoning We are a city that has a history that is planned for all of Durham absent Equitable input especially for equitable enjoyment and thriving Durham was incorporated 149 years ago Just after the end of slavery and at that time one of out of three residents were enslaved Black and non-white community members were relegated via redlining policies to historically divested spaces Those practice. This was practiced by banks Real tours and lawmakers and the practice started in 1937 Yet we still see the remnants of those today. I'm going to skip forward But what I want to say is right now we have a moment to stop and fully engage all of Durham in an equitable manner We Durham should do our very best to make sure that the most vulnerable communities are richly engaged in this development process We Durham should do the very best to eliminate and mitigate racial disparities and displacement And build towards a readiness for the future Let's do our very best to assure that all residents are fully able to participate in the fatality Of Durham's growth. Thank you. Thank you, miss Angel dower My name is angel dozier And I live at 815 south rocksboro street. No problem Um, I have lived in Durham for 19 years. I raised my 26 year old son Here I started my first business here and my second business and my third business here and I started an organization called be connected Durham Which addresses disparities and fosters equity among Audiences within this community The vision statement Here for the Durham belt line master plan says that the belt line will be a vibrant green space community I'm sorry a vibrant green space connecting communities to the heart of Durham Gold number four says That This project will enhance and preserve communities along the trail. Miss dozier. Could you pull back just a little from the microphone? Yeah, that way we'll be able to hear you. It's a teacher thing Golden do I get my time back? You I'll I'll work on that. Okay um go number four Says that this will this plan will enhance and preserve communities along the trail and ensure equitable access But if people are displaced within their communities goal number four goal number three To improve quality of life Goal number two to engage To be innovative to provide something that's uniquely Durham And goal number one which provides key connections to a variety of users not all users Here in Durham will not happen Uh, there will be residual effects in terms of the commercial properties that will be developed as a result of this And uh, this will not be these goals will not be met authentically I am also here to ask you to pause the plan as is And to engage the community more authentically JJ Henderson for example is I believe one of the Second largest elderly housing communities here and that does not represent Durham In terms of the the marginalized people who don't have the confidence Or the knowledge information access to be here and speak on behalf Of um themselves. So I ask that this be paused Thank you, miss. Thank you Heidi Hannibal Hi, Heidi Hannibal 2404 print street I'm also showing up tonight as a Proud participant in the Durham Beltline for everybody and asking council to consider pausing on this This plan Um, I've lived in the city for 20 years had DPS helped me raise four kids. I feel very proud of the city and all that it does It's creative energies. I think we have an opportunity here to really think about how we're proceeding on this particular project I'm involved in land conservation professionally and even having that background the Beltline trail experience has been a very new and recent Understanding for me. I was not aware of all of the activities that I've been going on for the last 10 years And the presentation tonight was really helpful Um, I appreciate the work that's gone into that But I think that we have a moment now in which we need to take a pause and ensure that we put equity at the front of this project One more point I'd like to make is simply that um as a resident here for 20 years Watching the city develop under the pressures that it's in currently It is is hard on the heart I feel that part of Durham's soul is starting to seep away And I worry about the the neighborhoods that we haven't Properly invested in that we haven't spent our energies on The neighborhoods that I've also had certain environmental impacts on them. That's part of the work that I'm doing right now I'm engaged in a project with other community members Some of whom in this room and feel very proud of the work that we are doing putting process before a project And ensuring that we're understanding where we all are and how we can work together in improving our city Thanks. Thank you. Ms. Hannifold Fleming-Talton Mr. Talton, please state your address along with your name because it's not on your card here Uh, yes, sir Fleming-Talton 1604 Greenleaf street in Durham um I I'm really excited about the potential for the trail and I um I'm very interested in the in the community input as far as as particularly as it pertains to affordable housing I attended the uh workshop with mr. Nathaniel Smith in which we um explored a lot of the history of Durham And how it is manifest now in in our policies and our procedures um, I I didn't I didn't come with uh much prepared in terms of what to say because I I looked at the uh Durham Belt line for everybody Website I poured over the website trying to figure out exactly what The methodologies or end goals um of the proposals are and uh I I can't I don't quite understand why the pause is necessary. So You know to get straight to the point. I I am in favor of drafting the uh the master plan um I I don't understand the length of the pause. Um, or why We need to obstruct the timeline in order to get Adequate community feedback. I feel that there is Plenty of time in the current Timeline as it as it exists to pursue those ends. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Thompson Is there anyone else present here who would like to speak on this item at this point? Tonight anyone else? Thank you all right I'm going to declare the public hearing closed and we will now discuss this at the council council members questions and comments Mayor pro tem johnson. Thank you, mr. Mayor. Um Is there somebody who? Has worked on this master plan who can help us with a definition of master plan because I I feel a little bit um I feel a little bit like there is um Um Misunderstandings about what this plan Is and what it's intended to be and like at what point what stage in the project? We're at and my kids have been watching a lot of animaniacs and so I immediately when I hear the word master plan I'm like pinky on the brain time to take over the world and But that level of detail is not what we're talking about right now I think so just more of like a context for What exactly this document is intended to do in terms of where we are in the process and moving forward before you answer that I just want to say that I totally miss that cultural reference And the city manager doesn't know either and afterwards you can tell all right. Yeah, if you grew up in the 90s, steve you It's lost on me as well Okay, great. Yeah, okay, I can say it's even younger than you are but for your information. I grew up in the 50s All right. Yes, sir.  This this monday night the same thing we plan to do every other monday night take over the world Discuss these issues Take over the world No, the master plan document was set to Give a general premise of what the vision and objectives of the the plan would be Based on the the funding that was provided the goals were to Uh Work on the community involvement side and hear what people thought And what their values were what they wanted to see in the plan But then to begin to set up to set up the design concepts for the plan as well and some uh conceptual designs What we wanted to do was first establish An idea for the cost of the project what type of cross sections were you're going to have The different users that would be there As jackie and jake had discussed when we heard and the first public meetings We heard time and time again from pretty much all the stakeholders across the board and from surveys that The original plan for this project was to almost be an extension of the american tobacco trail through downtown and around the north side But across the board we heard It really needs to be a whole lot more than that and it can't just be a trail It needs the steering committee and and stakeholders really said, you know, this needs to be almost a linear park This needs to be a signature facility in the in the project so Our goal is to set that design and then to also begin to set up some of the ideas for how do we implement design And move this uh process on beyond just a conceptual design and actually into engineering later on down the line I think mr. Bellamy may have some more comments on that as well. Yes You hit it for the very will you introduce yourself terry bell me director transportation city of Durham The the process that we're in when you say master plan is that it's the beginning of the communication with the community So in each phase there's more and more outreach and communication This is only to give us that snapshot in time The next phase that you will go to would be the design as taught Basically Indicate but then there's again community outreach and what we heard through the process is that it's more and more community outreach As we go to the next phase As they mentioned, this is a tiger grant funded project. So what this project can only be Useful is for the transportation component The other pieces to it which is a part of the master plan would be other funds that comes from someplace else Our objective is to do the the transportation piece which is the trail. Thank you. Um, I'm sorry. Thank you. That's helpful. I I some I'm just gonna say some other things I want to say which is that the I would be Very much in favor of there being an more detailed equity plan in place Um, as we move forward into the further phases of this project But again, I want to emphasize the reason that doesn't exist is because there is no detail Like the this plan is not a detail plan. It's not an implementation plan. Like we're not there on any of that so um So I'm excited about all of the All of the things that are being recommended Including, you know building our equity plan first before we move into a design plan doing more extended outreach Um, the thoughts around affordable housing local hiring racial equity analysis and racial equity lens Um, I I am fully in favor of all of those ideas. I don't I think where where I'm lost is why that requires a pause And I also don't think we ever I don't think this is gonna move quickly like like trans building projects transportation projects Um, these are these are not fast moving things, right? Like it's not We're looking at several years before Anything is on the ground. So Yeah, I I don't I don't think that Adapting the master plan is going to in any way In any way conflicts with any of the goals that I have around uh around building The equity plan that is Around around putting more details into the thoughts around equity that are in the master plan And I would 100 support doing those things in advance of A design phase for example but the other thing that I want to say and I I get stressed about it, but a pause and an equity plan Like I I don't want to I don't want to over promise like that will not stop displacement There is very little the only thing that will stop displacement is not building this and I am actually honestly I'm like willing to consider that I'm not like gun 100 gung-ho. We need to move forward with this plan But there is no way to actually stop displacement In the economic context that we exist in If we are going to build infrastructure like this it is necessarily going to but that is what it does that is We are in the city is growing their gentrification. We you know, we Have a market for housing something that every human being needs and we buy it and sell it like it's a commodity right on a market. So There There isn't an equity equity plan in the universe that's going to solve that problem So I want to say while I while I'm Completely supportive doing all these things and we should do all these things There is a limit to what the city can do To have an impact and solve these issues and we can do whatever we We should do whatever we can do but again If we're going to build this it is going to have an impact and And that's that that is an economic reality that I think we all need to be going into we need to be going into this With our eyes open about that like that is just a fact Of where we are right now. That's all thanks. Thank you very much I want to start with a quote because I know someone else shared a quote that kind of made me think about it and put it into context and Just recognizing that True community is based upon equity mutuality and reciprocity It affirms the richness of individual diversity as well as the common human ties that bind us together and that's polymary and just acknowledging that When the community stands up to say that they need a pause There's usually some history some background and some issues that have arisen that have created a A kind of agit about what's coming That is real and so I feel like We're talking about these plans in a very flat sense. It's the reason why we set up the way we are We do the consultants We do the plan the master plan the design phase and all of the engagement after And this is how the system has been set up And everyone in this room knows that that system is set up to create the displacement But if we're all going to sit here and say That's the way it's set up. We have to move along with it It's not going to stop and so my concern which I raised at that event with nithaniel smith The other night is that as much as we're all progressives around this dais And it's progressive as our city is It's not that we don't have the tools or the Political will or the wherewithal to do it is that We have to recognize that these are systems and institutions in place to prevent that There are there's not going to be a lever that lets you stop it We have to make it stop and so if that means creating a pause In the process so that we can evaluate what an equitable plan looks like And it actually looks at race and gender and ability and disability like Those things should have came first Recognizing there's a tiger grant. I mean I understand the context of all of these things in the municipal government But there is still room for us as a council to make These adjustments the same way in which we just went I mean I'm going to keep repeating it because it's the same thing You just did it with the public with the public versus charter conversation You created a way to prevent the charter school from having funding Plain and simple they will not have nonprofit Status on their funding for their building You created that Based on your will you can do the same thing and this equitable development if you don't it's not going to occur So yes that tiger grant funding is there. Yes, you yes, you can approve the master plan as it is Or you can place a pause on it and say we need to figure out how to build an equity first and actually mean it I want to also add that I made a couple of notes. I won't go through them all. It's kind of late, but if our plan does not include Conversations that are had on how these tiger grants are applied for with planning transportation stormwater and workforce and economic development The folks who are here are going to continue to be here In outrage and kind of like what's happening because they're not seeing how it all ties together It's our it's our it's on us to make sure that they understand it and so recognizing that yes I think it was diane standards who with our um human relations commission who's pointing out like two percent two percent of what the city sends sends out and And to the communities for black owned or minority owned businesses We have to be consistent in recognizing that this racial equity conversation is more than just a conversation It's more than just plans. It is actual people being displaced. It's actual um actual life happening That is creating a situation where everyone feels Like it's all pit against them. It's not just but it's not just by race It is it is because these systems have impacted us all in a very similar way. They're oppressive We just need to be Consistent and actually use our power to to actually undo that Thank you. Thank you comments Yeah, the comments questions I have some comments um, I'll just say that I Appreciate very much everyone who came tonight To talk about this and I think that the issues that were raised the equity issues If you've ever come to a Durham city council meeting or Work session, you know that those are the issues that are on the top of this council's agenda every time And so I'm very appreciative of you all Raising the issues again tonight and we need to be made constantly aware of them and it was good to hear you I'll say that I've advocated for us Getting this trail funded for a long time Uh pushed for it in the capital improvement plan. I was Overjoyed that I could uh help make the Connection between the conservation fund and our city administration so we could get this job done It's really been years of strategizing about How to shake the trail loose from Norfolk southern um, Norfolk southern on Norfolk southern had a Death grip on this land and We worked try to work through their board of directors We had dueling appraisals and finally With the help of the conservation fund and I see david propper here in the back and david I just want to thank you For the work you did it would not have been possible to acquire the land Without your help Your ability to move quickly and provide capital And to make this possible and to acquire the site Which we will be Now purchasing back from you. So just want to thank you and the conservation fund and I want to thank our staff Dale I know that for you this green infrastructure as This these trails are a labor of love and they've made a tremendous difference in the life of our city Um, you know, what's the best thing in Durham, you know, it's probably the american tobacco trail And the work that our staff has done on these trails has been fabulous and uh very difficult In addition to which it's been really hard to get the funding together to make this purchase. So we're We've we've had to not only put up a lot of our own local funds, but we've had to do a lot of prioritizing So let me just explain it like this The state transportation system heavily favors roads heavily And enabled to get anything else done Through the state transportation money, which is where much the money is it's federal money comes to the state We have to Durham and our Chapel Hill and our metropolitan planning organization Our goal is for 50 of the money that we spend through that system To be for things other than roads sidewalks trails bicycle infrastructure And for those of us now brunetta and charlie are on the mpo. I served on the mpo for quite a while and We try to keep those priorities foremost in our mind This is the kind of infrastructure that we want because we believe it creates a healthier community And we actually and we believe it is the only path to a livable future For our city and our planet, but particularly for our city And so this is a I believe an absolutely key project and I believe for all the reasons That they have been cited in the in the master plan and by many many people over many years This can be like the american tobacco trail a crown jewel for Durham I have a very personal connection to the trail my My great-grandfather Elias shul Came over from the old country fleeing the czar and got off the boat in baltimore And we was met by the representatives of the hebrew immigrant aid society and They sent him with a pack of dry goods down to a little town of virginia lynchburg where They said he could sell his dry goods and he could also cut meat. He was a kosher butcher or the jewish community in lynchburg You can imagine it was a very small jewish community in 1896 But every week once a week he rode down on the train from lynchburg came down Through roxburgh and on into Durham on what is now the belt line To cut meat for the cigar rollers The james b. Duke had brought down from new york the jewish cigar rollers so i've always been interested in this line and Felt a kind of personal connection to it that i haven't felt to all the other trails or potential trails so i've been engaged with it for a really long time and but i was when i sat down this weekend and Read the entire master plan in a lot of detail and i think i engaged with it at a level that i hadn't before i know i did and i want to say to the Consultants and to staff that i think it's a very impressive In comprehensive piece of work. I think you guys did a great job on it I have a few questions That i want to ask and And then i have a little bit more of a statement to make about where i think what i think we ought to do in terms of The timing and the equity and so forth so I'll ask these questions first The description of the funding and this may be for terry Or for someone in the administration as much as a consultant How how much of the funding do we have now in hand or we'll be voting on tonight actually later For the right-of-way purchase Building the trail and providing the basic necessities Bill judge transportation through federal funds through the state and as well as Through the cip that city council has allocated. We have basically the funds necessary to Do the design to acquire the right-of-way? and For a large portion of the construction We don't have all of the construction dollars yet We think we have some strategies for some additional federal money that we think we can That would be for the transportation component though of the trail basically just building The cross section that you saw in the master plan none of the linear park amenities all that would have to be future parks and rec funds private funds combination something else so the The cross section this would include the cross section that we saw in the Yes, okay, and but we don't have all the construction funds for that yet Not all of them, but we like I said we think through some other federal funds that we we have a strategy where we think we can Help close that gap and what would the timetable what would the what kind of timeframe would you See that operating under the judge We would anticipate the Starting the design of the trail component since that is fully funded in the next few months after master plans adopted in the supplemental municipal agreement Through our general services with the expectation that we would Have that construction funding component resolved by the time that the design would be complete Approximately yeah with the next year and a half two years to start construction Design would be complete the next year and a half two years and we would hopefully then have the funds for the Construction not of the amenities, although I guess fundraising on that would also be proceeding at a similar time But for the transportation structure alone Is that true correct for the transportation component, okay Okay, so thank you. So that those are my questions Let me just go on to talk just a little bit about the the the equity analysis the equity analysis And I appreciate you all involving the consultants involving kofi boon who is A real asset in this way and appreciated the the the recommendations that were included Concerning the great loop and and and other ones Um So I will say that we all know that in addition to getting the funding together for this project The equity issues are the ones that are going to be central to the trail success gentrification has already come to most of the neighborhoods That the trail will be passing through and I want to add a little something to what uh, what mayor pro tem johnson said which is She says if we build this there will be gentrification. What I want to say is whether or not we build this There is already gentrification I do believe that those neighborhoods That gentrification is has come and is coming to those neighborhoods Regardless of what we do in terms of this infrastructure That's true for our entire city And that's a reality that we need to face The question is what do we do in the face of that? Market forces are real people are moving to Durham and as many of the people described um from Our podium today a Durham is becoming less affordable And we have very ambitious affordable housing plans That are still not going to do the job and can we can never subsidize our way Out of the situation that we are in But we can make a difference We can make a difference and in this case one of the things that we can do Is target some of our affordable housing efforts around this trail And I think that's a very conscious decision that we can make We can't control what the landowners On avondale drive are going to do But there are things that we can do there are incentives that we can offer And there are things that we can do in terms of Of density bonuses and some of the things that we read in the report And that we also know are possible from our other other affordable housing work So while I believe that green infrastructure and any infrastructure Accelerates gentrification in this case The gentrification is accelerating at a rapid clip on its own And that's not going to change barring a major recession in this country So we can't stop the market forces, but let's do everything we can to make a difference in terms of stabilizing these neighborhoods Both for the long-term low-income homeowners that live there and for renters So i'm going to propose to my colleagues I'm going to propose this to my colleagues. I I think that this is a good time to adopt the master plan The master plan is just that it's a master plan and as I think people have said today Um, we We we have a long way to go even before the first Piece of asphalt is laid down. You heard mr. Judge saying we're talking a couple year a year and a half a couple of years before that happens We are going to be in a pause So i'm going to suggest to my colleagues the following that we adopt the master plan And that we ask our administration to come back to us. I'm going to suggest the time of 90 days with Not an equity plan because you can't do an equity plan in 90 days But to tell us how we are going to Create an equity plan and what the outlines of that will be and that will include How we're going to engage the community And when I talk about the community I am particularly talking about individuals that live along the corridor and I would say every individual that lives along the quarter Needs to be heard from And what are the other components? What are the other components of an equity plan that we want to create? now I think what we mostly want there is to know what the process and the timeline should be I said equity components, but I think that most of those components are actually going to have to come from the next phase We're going to be listening to the community for those components We know what a lot of them would will be affordable housing, for example will be but will be one But there will be others and we want to hear from the community what they are So again, I'm going to suggest that we adopt the master plan And that we ask our administration to come back to us in 90 days And I'm open to hearing from the administration about how much time that should be With what and what good equity planning for this trail will be like The best equity planning for this trail will be like To bring us back a process for that that will will will involve The level of community engagement that I think we all want and expect So those are my I'm sorry for my overlawing comments everybody But that's my that's my That's my that's my suggestion comments questions Any comments or questions? Thank you, mr. Mayor Um First I want to thank everybody who's stuck around with us this long tonight Um, you're part of the best of what our city is and wants to be I promise we didn't try to wait y'all out. That's not what happened Um It the other stuff earlier in the evening took a little longer than I think any of us wanted it to or thought it might Um, so here we are I think the mayor Has a perfectly reasonable A path forward I just wanted to make sure that folks understood from me And I know that my colleagues agree that If you didn't think we had received the message before tonight We have absolutely positively received the message tonight And I want to make sure folks understand exactly what I mean when I say that Um, I think I am going to be Focused on making sure that staff is accountable For delivering that plan that the mayor talked about that has the level of community engagement that we all deserve for a project like this Um, I think the mayor's laid out the right parameters for that And trying to reach every person that lives adjacent To this corridor and to engage them not only to give them information about what the project is Could be But also to ask them what they think the project ought to be and look like and I think That will at least be a start The other thing I want to make sure folks understand and I don't mean to put too fine a point on this but I think part of the reason I heard folks asking for a pause Was so that We could make sure to get this piece right before we started doing anything else with the project. Is that a fair assessment? I think The only way that I Can be comfortable voting for the master plan tonight I'm knowing that that's going to happen Is that I am accountable to each and every one of you You can hold me accountable If this thing starts to get built out and it's not what we wanted it to be Hold me accountable If we start to move toward a 90 day plan that you think is missing a b and c parts reach out to me talk to me I'll I'll be reaching out to you. But if we approve An equity plan that's the mayor laid out that doesn't have the right level of community engagement the right way to do it Encourage encompasses all the issues that we want Hold me accountable That's how I will make sure that I approach this with the right sense for urgency Plus I love our city just as much as you do and want to get it right Thank you, mr. Mayor Mr. Mayor go ahead mayor council council member cabillero and then council member milton. So, um, this is something that I Whereas earlier. I didn't had no conflict on how I was going to vote. Um When we were all having a lively discussion This is something I'm actually very torn about because I sat on dothed before I became a council member It was one of the commissions that was open and out of all the descriptions if I I love Uh The trail system I live right near the ellaby creek trail This trail in particular will be a huge asset to my family. It means we might be able to just go down to one car So on a personal note, I'm very much an advocate and I think that for me I will hear our community and I do actually believe that we should have a pause specifically because Of the dothed members who came out. It's we are Uh sworn in or we we are supposed to be advocating for trails when so many of you all came out And asked for that that that really resonated with me. So I just wanted to share how I'll be voting Thank you Thank you, mr. Mayor, um I know why you want us to pause Uh Because we've been hurt before And we've seen this movie before and we've had our hearts broken and many of us feel that our city The heart of our city this city Um is changing But and I want to echo that come in my colleagues for what I thought were brilliant comments And I appreciate all the comments from all of you your residents and citizens, but you elected us to make hard decisions Um And if we don't make them you're free to excuse us and find another group to make them Um You didn't really elect us to pause You elected us to walk and shoot them at the same time And to do things In my reckoning if we take the pause to its logical conclusion We should stop voting on everything Until we have an equity plan Um And I just don't I just don't think that's practical With respect to the staff the the staff has done an amazing job And I I would just respectfully put to my colleagues that The staff really can't answer the questions that we were elected to answer The staff cannot take the place of our political will what what we approve and what we don't approve the staff cannot Uh preempt us from deciding what we do with city on land that that that buck stops here Um, so I think uh mayor pro tem kind of echoed this earlier. I don't want to create false Um, uh hopes or expectations of the staff Um The buck stops here and the decisions will be made Here. I want to also make sure that what what we're tasking the staff was I want to draw a distinction between an equity plan And the communication plan We are as the city are about to impanel an actual racial equity task force That's going to have a year to do their work And um, you know, I don't want to ask the staff to do in 90 days what we're asking a task force to do in a year um So I just what you know if if we're coming up with a plan to to get more input From the community, uh, then perhaps we ought we ought to call it a communication or an engagement plan, but to call it an equity plan In 90 days, um I I just want to be clear make sure that we're clear with what we're tasking The staff to do this staff has listened to us add infinitum. They know our heart.  They know how we feel about Uh, uh Stuff they've listened to us. Um, I'm just I just want to be clear make sure that we don't We're not ambiguous Or we're we're we're not clear on what exactly the work product is 90 days from now While we've got another group of people working on the same issue universal same issue universally that they have a year to do um And what that looks like, I don't know but I I would just I I support moving forward with the master plan I'm gonna vote to move forward with the master plan. I'm confident that we have enough time to do these things at the same time Uh, but I also want to make sure that um What we're clear what we're expecting to have in in 90 days from the staff Thank you, mr. Mayor. That was a I really appreciate that. Uh, that's a great um Clarification I think yes, I think that what we would hear I will try to state what I think we'd like from our staff And then you guys can help me out. Okay um, I would I would state that what we would like from our staff in the next 90 days is um an engagement plan Uh, a plan for how we plan to engage the community uh, and the What we plan to do with that information How we plan to engage the community what we plan to do for that with that information Anyone like to add anything or uh, or or modify that? Well since you ask yeah It would be great to have some, um More information on how to address not only The communication but also how the jobs planning going forward would look How the jobs planning what it would look like to have More engaged minority and Local businesses involved in the I mean at least lay it out that we're gonna do 25 something that says that we're gonna do this differently than it's been done in the past I have to say that being that I took two tours of the Atlanta Belt Line within the last month I am like on edge about how fearful I am similar to how it was about setting up a racial equity task force and setting up the participants Like these things happen Systematically and if we don't systematically address or at least intentionally point to what we want to happen out of it I just can't help but recognize like today. I just so happened to ride under the american tobacco trail by south roxborough in war two actually And seeing all that katsu Surrounding the trail. I don't see that at downtown It's not as it's not as covered and We have to be really intentional about how we address this Thank you. Yeah, so what I would say is I completely agree with you about the need for Jobs plan But what I would say is I would like to hear from the community about what that jobs plan would be And that would also be true of the affordable housing plan So I think what we should go for first is an engagement a plan for engagement how we're going to engage the community Then listen to the community and come up with those goals That would be my thought With the intention of setting up For the intention of having goals and and and implementing those exactly. Yeah So mr. Mayor sir with respect to nomenclature, you're amenable to Using engagement plan as opposed to race equity An engagement plan that will create communication an engagement plan with the aim of Using a race equity lens I would say that we want an engagement plan That's going to allow us to create with the community a racial equity plan for this for this And I'll accept a motion to that effect So move second and then we can discuss it more councilmember freeman. We have a motion on the floor I'm trying to move this towards midnight. Yeah Got two more items y'all. I'm missing my I'm missing my racial task force meeting this evening I want to be clear and also sharing with the community and those who I know someone mentioned They didn't understand why there would be a pause someone And a couple of folks kind of saying what would be the reason for the pause Recognizing that throughout history things have occurred like redlining like 147 through hay tie The same thing has been occurring with the green infrastructure across the country And rec and recognizing how race equity works in order to have impact On the very most the most vulnerable population of people who have been impacted by things like redlining and the 147 highway through hay tie It is it is really like looking at Who's been who's been the target? Of the benefit For a project through through the government and who's been the recipient of the hurt And understanding that if you can create a system or create a process that looks at how we Don't put that negative impact on people of color Then you'll create a system or a process that will actually level out a little bit better than it has in the past And I'll just leave it at that else member Freeman Thank you We now have a motion on the floor and that motion is that we accept the master plan and that we we approve the master plan and that we Create an engagement process with a purpose of giving us a roadmap for a racial equity plan For this belt line We have a motion and a second on the floor. I'm going to ask that the Clerk please open the vote I'm going to add one more thing and that the administration bring this to us in 90 days. I'm sorry. I forgot that Close the vote The motion passes six to one with Javier a caballero Voting no, thank you very much. Thank you for all those of you all who are here. I just want to say one more time you can We are totally committed to equity in this project and we will work very hard to make it real And We know that you will be holding us accountable for that We know that's part of our job and we look forward to it. So thank you for being here tonight for all the passion That you've brought to it Thanks also to those people who are here tonight because you've worked for the last 20 years to try to create this trail We appreciate you as well. We're very grateful for you. Thanks everybody. We'll now move on to item item What are we moving on to item 33? Consolidated annexation plan Garrett road Thank you. Consolidated annexation plan for Garrett road and we will hear from staff Good evening Excuse me one second. I'm gonna Folks i'm going to ask those of you all who are Not going to be staying for this to Please take the conversations outside so we're able to hear our staff. Thank you very much Good evening. Jamie Sonjak with the planning department request for utility extension agreement voluntary annexation zoning map change Received from Dale Dan jewel for two properties totaling approximately 6.047 acres located at 3736 and 3738 Garrett road The annexation petition case bdg 17 0005 Brings one of the parcels into the existing city limits The subject site is presently zoned residential suburban 20 the applicant is requesting a zoning designation of plan development residential 3.969 Which is consistent with the future land use map designation of low density residential Or four dwelling units per acre or less Approval of the annexation petition and zoning would become effective on september 30th 2018 key commitments on the development plan associated with this request a maximum of 24 single family residential units northbound left turn lane on Garrett road at site at the site access An additional asphalt for a bike lane Staff has received two additional proffers which have been reviewed and found to be acceptable these include Prior to the issuance of the first certificate of occupancy the developer will provide a one-time $18 000 donation to the city of Durham dedicated affordable housing fund And prior to the approval of the final plat The applicant will make a contribution to the Durham public schools in the amount of $2,500 The public works and water management departments have determined that the existing water and sewer mains have the capacity for the proposed development The budget and management services the department determined that they Proposed annexation will become revenue positive immediately following annexation additional information can be found in the staff report The Durham planning commission at their may 8th 2018 meeting recommended approval of the proposed by a vote of 11 to 0 Staff determines that these requests are consistent with the comprehensive plan policies and ordinances Three motions would be required for this application The first is required by law to approve the utility extension agreement And voluntary annexation petition the second is to adopt the consistency statement And the third would be for the zoning ordinance I will be happy to answer any questions that you have Thank you very much You have heard the report of staff and i'm going to clear this public hearing open And first i'm going to ask if there are any questions or comments from the council Questions or comments councilmember freeman Just for clarity sake. This is filling in the donut hole so to speak Absolutely. Thank you Ms. Sunyak, could you repeat the there there's a proffer I heard the proffer for the affordable housing $18,000 the public school's $2,500 which I guess is $500 per student added And is there a proffer concerning the sidewalk off-site? No, thank you Okay I don't see anyone signed up to Speak on this item, but I assume that's wrong. Mr. Joule. Are you planning to speak on this item? Maybe I missed your card I did fill one out. Okay. Many many hours ago though. I'm sure Oh, I'm sorry. Here it is. It's hiding. Thank you. Thank you, Tom Yes, Dan Joule And robert harrick you have two people Mr. Harrick, are you here great? So I'm going to Give each side three minutes to begin with will that be enough for you mr. Harrick Was that yes Okay, I'm going to be each side three minutes to begin with mr. Joule will that be enough And the council may have other questions for for either of you all. Okay, uh, mr. Joule Go ahead Just mr. Mayor members of council. I'm Dan Joule with culture Joule Thames here representing Mr. Walker Harris a lifelong resident of Durham and the proposed developer of this property Just to reiterate this is a proposal for a single family zoning We uh, even though we were not required to have neighborhood meetings. We had two neighborhood meetings The first was organized by the garret farms community association They asked some questions asked us to do a few things. We came back to them a few months later About 25 people attended and they were all happy with the changes that we made to the plan As you've seen the staff is recommending approval the planning commission is unanimously recommended approval and as miss sunyak stated we Have put two proffers forward for an affordable housing contribution which works out to $750 per unit If all of the 24 units that is approved for are built and also the normal $500 per student for the uh toward the school fund And uh, I will we'll close it at that but uh, that concludes our comments And I hope you will concur with the staff and the planning commission and uh, move approval of our request. Thank you Thank you very much Mr. Joule, mr. Harrick Mr. Harrick if you could state your name and address I'm robert harrick. I live at 32 18 windfield drive, which is opposite of where his development is My biggest concern is traffic When this we have so many schools going down that road eight o'clock in the morning I cannot get on my street to make a right hand turn let a little left hand turn And it's gotten to the point that Uh, certain times of the day if you're gonna add this you got two exits from the church across the street You're gonna have a whole the entire development down the road And now you want to squeeze even more houses in there Uh, mr. Reach you spoke about how Uh, you don't have any decisions to make when these people buy these properties It has an r20 designation and then they want to come in and change everything They bought it at the r20 Not another one when he first proposed this the only proposed so many houses when he was buying it. That's what the Thing was said he's gonna put so many houses in there and then all of a sudden he comes back He's putting all these more houses in I just don't understand how you say you don't have any decision power But the biggest problem is the The traffic within our development down there and then they're gonna change the intersection Which is gonna make a free flowing Garrett road for a good portion of time because they're gonna put the bridge over I don't understand and the other we shall have is just roads in general The area is growing so much And you've got these tiny roads the white line on the side of the road is at the side of the road There's no room for error when people are going and people are constantly jogging down the road There's sandy creek park. There's an entrance behind that church And there's people there all the time We're some road improvements has to be made so that we can be able to get it out of there I don't know if they can just take the light that it that that uh Is it what it is mountain road, whatever it is and just create it so it works For two hours in the morning every five minutes so that we can get a break and get out of the street It's It's just kind of ridiculous I said I literally cannot make a right hand turn on my own street in the morning because the people are So many people are going to that school which brings up the charter schools because there's no busing They're going to the charter school. There's hundreds and hundreds of cars driving down to those two charter schools and You're gonna end up with a point I don't know what's happening at at the end because I don't really have any information about what's going to happen at Pickett and Garrett Because with all that new construction the entrances there's got to be a light. There's got to be something done there because It's impossible now the buses can't turn on there You got buses I sit behind a bus that cannot make a left hand turn for 10 minutes Because traffic's just that way So something adding more houses does not solve our problem density wise I mean, I understand it's Fine, you gotta have to do stuff. I'm not talking about I say ahead Sad to see the woods go, but I know they're gonna go but It seems to me that when you start out a plan and it changes and all we do is end up with more Little mess it's just Thank you, mr. Herrick too much. Thank you, mr. Herrick and mr. Herrick. Thank you for sticking out this long meeting We appreciate your patience and I hope you take some solace that we had to do it as well. So but we're We're grateful for you being here um So, uh, mr. Julie have any comments to make a little traffic? Yes, sir. I'll just refer to the staff report I know peak hour traffic is always of concerned folks traffic is Is bad almost everywhere in Durham But the staff report did point out that the current roadway capacity of garret road is 12,800 cars a day and the latest traffic volume is 4,600 cars a day So roughly a third And our proposal is only adding 157 cars over the course of a day on top of the existing zoning designation I think the problem is to herrick is is is rush hour and I understand that And I'm very appreciative of your of your concerns about that and and I freely acknowledge That we have road needs in Durham that are that go unmet Uh, and it's just a matter of of of taxes And we can be doing a lot more if we want to Have a lot of our taxes and so Sidewalk would help we are spending a lot on sidewalks our our capital improvement plan in the next Five years has a spending something like 20 or 25 million dollars on sidewalks. Um, they're very expensive about a million dollars a mile But uh, but I hear you and agree with you. I completely agree with what you're saying about the need I'm not sure where that road is on the Durham walks plan. Uh, but if you send me an email I'll find out if it's been prioritized for sidewalk Mr. Mayor, uh, mr. Reese. Thank you, mr. Mayor I just wanted to say I definitely agree with one thing you said, uh, which is that uh intersection of garret and picket desperately needs a traffic light I spent four years of my life Every morning trying to make a left on to picket from garret. So I know exactly what you're talking about Um, one thing I will disagree with you about those. I don't think I've ever said we have no decisions to make up here I think what I was trying to explain to those folks was The decision isn't what they want it to be It's not that they're just the decision in that case wasn't The existing pristine nature of the property versus what the developer wanted It's what the developer could do all on their own without us agreeing to a thing Versus what the developer wanted to do. That's what I was saying Okay, not that we don't Thank you. Mr. Herron. Thank you, mr. Reese. Uh, I have a question for the developer Has the developer offered to give away the garret family homestead if somebody wants to move it I saw that mention and I believe the planning commission comments Uh, yes, sir. We made that comment to the planning commission. So yes, the uh, the offer is out there to all takers to either Take the house or if somebody wanted to do a selective deconstruction and recycle the material particularly the Distinctive architectural features you find in a 1920s farm house These folks would be happy to do that But not knowing what the timing of that might be How long of a timetable are you talking about for for keeping that offer open to someone? Five five months. Yeah, I'm gonna ask you, uh, mr. Joule if you would Be in touch with uh, the historical present historic preservation Absolutely, if folks and let them know about that If you wouldn't mind doing that in the next few days and We hear you about the five months. That seems very reasonable But I think that that would maybe give us give them a chance to find someone who would like to preserve that historic property So if you all would do that, absolutely I happen to know their know their new executive director who they just hired. That'd be great. Thank you Any other comments or questions? I just wanted to Second the comment about the sidewalks and to figure out if there are any plans around garrot road Where it lies on this? In the timeline Just making sure Thank you Any other questions or comments? If not I'm going to declare this public hearing closed and the matter is back before the council Is there a motion to adopt an ordinance annex and garrot road into the city of Durham effective to september 30th 2018 so It's been moved and seconded Madam clerk, we please open the vote Close the vote motion passes six No, i'm sorry the motion passes seven zero. Thank you A motion to adopt a consistency statement moved to adopt consistency statement It's been moved and seconded madam clerk. Will you please open the vote? Close the vote Motion passes seven zero. Thank you. Motion to adopt an ordinance of many of the udo So moved second been moved and seconded madam clerk. Please open the vote Close the vote Thank you very much Motion passes seven zero. Thank you. We'll now move on to item 10 Which was pulled from the consent agenda and that item I can just find it here Contract for neighborhood bicycle routes design t.i.p. Number c 56051 and this was Hold by our ideal Ortiz and This Ortiz nice to see you. You have three minutes I won't take long. Can you believe this is longer than the last People's alliance meeting I went to So on the matter of item 10, I just wanted to say to avoid some of the disgruntled community Folks feeling like they weren't able to be connected to the process I just wanted to offer to the transportation department as they engage Alta planning and design that We would love for them to try to connect directly with BPAC and DOS members to help them get more connected to permeating into community as they pursue that planning process with that particular agency so starting Early so that we don't feel left out and compressed into very tight timelines Ms. Ortiz are you saying that you you want the Alt of the consultant to be in contact with the with the BPAC and the DOS members Soon sooner rather than later so that they can start getting contacts in community to do the relevant community engagement work That we've been struggling to feel like Didn't happen in other places and as we've been talking about tonight. Yes. Thank you very much And I think staff heard that I'm sure brian and terry. Yeah, thank you. I know they will and appreciate it very much Uh council members, uh, unless there's any other discussion kind of hear a motion on item 10 So move second been moved in second that we approve this contract madam clerk. We please open the vote Close the vote Motion passes seven zero. Thank you very much next item is item 12 durham bite line Durham belt line supplemental municipal agreement mr. Mayor If I could just thank mr. Ortiz for asking my question. I appreciate it Okay, thank you And we have two speakers on this item. Ms. Ortiz and uh, justin robinson Justin's still here.  Um, so this this Y'all this is like over 10 million dollars. We're talking about right and so What this belt line will lead to as we've been discussing all night long is really in our hands And when you're spending this kind of money, you do want to get it right? And so I appreciate what the mayor has already said about the 90 day Window to try to get some pieces Worked out What I do want to say is I studied very deeply what the community engagement was for the existing master plan And for the money that was spent that was supposed to be spent on that kind of community engagement as an organizer I know what I'm expected to do by the philanthropic organizations of this world When I'm given a certain amount of money and I cried thinking about What was done for the price that was paid so um What I do want to say as we think about the money that we may engage in this process I want to have council consider Not beginning design or construction until some of these essential steps can be Outlined and thinking about implementation and here is why A pause in what you do with the money somebody had said earlier something about Oh, you know, it'll be two or three years before you see something actually on the pavement But when you think about communities and businesses and people who have been super excluded You have to work really hard to super include them So being super excluded requires that you super serve those same populations to make sure that they are in the pipeline Um and able to participate economically Right and as residents So the pause is because you want to make sure underrepresented businesses can actually be present as part of the building of this So as not just a worker, but business owner We've already cited the dismal numbers around how many minority owned businesses can actually participate On projects that are city funded the other thing to um, and I'm sad that the conservation fund isn't here Because one of the things that they did mention on friday at some of the meetings within Nathaniel smith um in dwayne uh from partnership for southern equity Um a tool they have that we have been under utilizing is they don't just gather land for trails and greenways and parks They can also gather land for economic and social justice Which means if you want to enact Engage them to gather land for affordable housing or to secure land towards Minority owned businesses that is also possible. That is also part of their mission. It is not outside the scope of their work um, and so um one of the quotes i'll leave you with from one of the conservation fund staff On friday, they said oh god. Were we in were we involved in the atlanta belt line? I really hope not and they absolutely work So the last thing i'll say is that you know some of the things that people have mentioned in the design Are basic and then some things are amenities and the extra money which is supposed to come from private Philanthropy won't touch this if they don't trust that this was done right with community and minded at the center, especially marginalized voices Thank you very much. Ms. Ortiz Justin Robinson.  I live in 1612 south rock squirrel um Part of what i want to address about thinking about pausing this particular thing. Yes, I said pausing in um is about not thinking about the speculation for these kinds of projects Um already there's speculation around the trails now that it is folks know that it is going to be built What we don't want to do is continue is to think about more displacement because of speculation around this trail What we do know from other precedent prior projects so far is that wild Durham is already gentrified Absolutely. Yes. We have not seen the level of gentrification that can happen in the high line housing properties of housing values went up by 400 percent 400 percent i'm going to say that again so in case you didn't hear it We have not seen The other end of what gentrification of like Durham is on its first wave These other precedent projects that have happened in other parts of the country have Have has have expedited what is already happening Uh, what is what has already happened in those cities and what is already happening in Durham? We have not seen its end yet The fear is that things like the belt lining other green infrastructure gray infrastructure Will continue to speed us up will add gasoline to the fire as opposed to being able to hold it back The other thing is that was brought up earlier this evening is about It's thinking about climate climate change and having non fossil fuel based Uh transportation that used to get around the city What we don't that is true. I think we're all concerned about that What we don't want to do is displace people now for people who might be displaced later for climate during climate change events that's I Think our our motto should be to do no harm And in this instance from what we have seen in other places And thinking about the as thinking about the Durham belt line as a part of a larger loop, which would be longer than the Atlanta belt line, by the way More miles more mileage than it left about line when it's fully realized Is that we don't want to dispute this place people now for an uncertain future That's all Thank you very much All right We are now We appreciate your comments and Agree with your comments. We understand the importance of this We take it very seriously And we're looking forward to the kind of equity plan As I think that miss collin said people have been super excluded need to be super in I'm sorry Formerly miss collins. I apologize miss Ortiz I knew you in another life Miss Ortiz, I apologize and and Wow I get a motion Ortiz What you said about people being super excluded needing to be super included is absolutely right And we need to be We need you you should be able to depend on us to make sure that is true. So thank you All right Do I hear a motion on item 12 the approval of the supplemental municipal agreement? Move to approve Madam clerk, we please open the vote Close the vote Motion passes seven zero. Thank you very much This meeting is adjourned at 1155 That was too long. I didn't expect this to go that I When I looked at the all the public hearings, I'm like, well, I know the couple of them