Board of Commissioners — Cornelius, NC
Date: 2025-07-22

BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
 June 16, 2025
 MINUTES


PRE-MEETING – 5:00PM
Mayor Washam called the Pre-meeting to order at 5:08PM. All commissioners were present at the Pre-
meeting.
  Land Use Plan Imagery
 Asst. Planning Director David Cole introduced a draft Supplemental Visual Guidebook for
 the Town’s Land Use Plan. The Board thanked Mr. Cole. Commissioner Johnson suggested
 building heights along Jetton Road Extension be discussed further due to the topography that
 exists along the corridor. Commissioner Osborne suggested changing the hotel level
 illustration in Corporate Mixed Use to 6-stories.

  Agenda Review
 Manager Grant gave an overview of the 6PM agenda items. He also updated the Board on
 the MEDIC discussions that continue with Mecklenburg County, MEDIC, and the Town
 Managers within the County.

Commissioner Osborne made a motion to adjourn the Pre-meeting at 6:00PM. Commissioner Carney
seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously, 5-0.

REGULAR MEETING - 6:00PM

1. CALL TO ORDER
 Mayor Washam called the meeting to order at 6:10PM.

2. DETERMINATION OF QUORUM
 All commissioners were present at the meeting.

3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
 Commissioner Osborne made a motion to approve the agenda as presented. Commissioner
 Carney seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously, 5-0.

4. MOMENT OF SILENCE AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
 Mayor Washam led the pledge after a moment of silence was observed.

5. CITIZEN CONCERNS/COMMENTS
 Mayor Washam invited the public to speak, and the following speakers were heard:

 Cynthia Team – 9550 Glenashley Drive, expressed her growing concerns with the safety of young
 children operating motorized bikes, long boards, dirt bikes, etc. on the streets and sidewalks of
 Cornelius and the dangers of getting hit by vehicles or hurting pedestrians walking.

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 Brian Murphy – 11410 Heritage Green Drive, expressed his concerns with young children
 operating motorized bikes and long boards in the streets of Cornelius and submitted details of a
 dangerous situation that occurred in Heritage Green subdivision (Attachment 1).

 Jack Higgins – 12219 Meetinghouse Drive, thanked staff and the Board for not approving
 rezoning case REZ 01-25 as it was not the right fit for the Bailey Road corridor and believes the
 vehicle stacking along Bailey Road for pick up/drop off at the middle and high schools need
 resolution.

 Dave Coppa – 18117 Ebenezer Drive, expressed his thanks to the Board for not approving
 rezoning case REZ 01-25. He suggested that the Town host a Civics 101 course to help educate
 the citizens on how local government works and to consider changing the Land Use Plan to better
 fit the Bailey Road corridor.

6. REPORTS
 Asst. Parks Director Adam Abernathy reported on the following:
 • Memorial Day program held on May 26th has approximately 300 attendees.
 • Symphony in the Park with Fireworks will be held on June 21st (6PM-10PM) at Bailey
 Road Park.
 • North Meck Farmer’s Market is being held on Wednesdays (9AM-12PM) behind Town
 Hall now through Sept. 24th.
 • Sundown Sounds featuring The Catalinas will be held on June 20th at Ramsey Creek Park
 (7:30PM-9:30PM).
 • Bailey Road Park – the water fountains have been replaced at the soccer field shelter and
 the Court Complex is under construction with an estimated completion date of Sept. 2025.

7. PRESENTATION
 A. CMS Update
 CMS, District 1 Rep. Melissa Easley provided the Board with a CMS update on the new
 middle school that will relieve Bailey, Bradley and JM Alexander middle schools (estimated
 opening Aug. 2028) and the new Cornelius Elementary (estimated opening Aug. 2030). She
 shared that Hough High School seniors earned over $11M in scholarships and the 2025
 graduation rate was at 95%. She gave a breakdown for the 2025-2026 budget, as well as the
 legislative items that are being followed like teachers’ compensation, calendar flexibility, and
 CMS support of Senate Bill 729 for student health screenings. CMS is ranked 20 out of 115
 school districts across the state for meeting or exceeding growth.

 Mayor Washam asked if one assigned SRO (School Resource Officer) for the size of Hough
 High is adequate. Ms. Easley stated that she is not aware of a quota/ratio that determines
 how many SROs should be assigned per school, but she will look into that further.

 Commissioner Johnson asked for more insight on the CMS dedicated police department, its
 location and role. Ms. Easley explained that the officers are CMPD officers that are
 stationed at the Education Center. Manager Grant explained that CMS has their own law
 enforcement agency; however, the SRO officers that are assigned to the high school and
 middle school in Cornelius receive funding from CMS and the Town funds the SROs
 assigned to the elementary schools.



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 Commissioner Osborne asked how many students will be enrolling in Bailey Middle School
 from Davidson while the new school is being built. Ms. Easley stated that approximately
 376 students will be moving from Davidson K-8 to Bailey Middle. Commissioner Osborne
 asked what the bus ridership was for Cornelius students. Ms. Easley stated that Bailey
 Middle has 69.2% bus riders and Hough High has 36% of the student body that rides the bus.

 Commissioner Higgins asked about the coordination between CMPD and CPD. Ms. Easley
 stated that she did not realize that the SROs assigned to Cornelius schools were CPD officers
 and not CMPD so she will need to check into how the coordination is handled.

 Commissioner Carney questioned CMS posturing relative on student technology. Ms. Easley
 stated that every student in CMS is assigned a laptop or an iPad for learning; however, there
 are conversations around banning phones from school campuses, but how to enforce the ban
 has not been defined.

8. PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLIC COMMENT
 A. REZ 04-25 Aftonshire Homes
 Senior Planner Aaron Tucker presented a rezoning request made by Fund 26-Dogwood, LLC
 to rezone a .349-acre parcel located near the entrance of Mill Creek from Neighborhood
 Residential to Conditional Zoning to allow three single-family lots to be developed. The lots
 may contain accessory dwellings, the homes will have a three-story height limit and will
 have driveway access to Aftonshire Drive. The developer will not be the builder, and a
 perimeter fence will be provided. The community meeting was held on June 5th with 5
 attendees that had questions on stormwater drainage, proposed separation of homes, and
 where visitors will park.

 Commissioner Higgins asked about visitor parking and sidewalks. Mr. Tucker explained that
 the Town does allow on-street parking and there is existing sidewalk that will remain with
 the project.

 Commissioner Osborne asked for clarification on the definition of accessory dwelling. Mr.
 Tucker explained that accessory dwellings are typically allowed on single-family lots, they
 must be in the rear yard and be half the size of the home.

 Commissioner Sansbury asked what would prevent a developer from coming in and doing
 townhomes. Mr. Tucker explained that the project would be conditioned so that only
 detached single-family dwellings would be permitted.

 Mayor Washam invited the applicant to speak.

 Martin Kerr spoke for the applicant and thanked staff and the Board as they worked
 throughout the rezoning process.

 Mayor Washam invited the public to speak, and the following comments were heard.

 Kim Sherrill – 19722 Feriba Place, stated that she supports the single-family lots vs. any
 multi-family dwelling units.



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9. CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL
 A. FY26 Fee Schedule
 Asst. Finance Director Cindy Johnston explained that the fee schedule is amended
 independent of the budget document, so that mid-year budget amendments do not require the
 5-page schedule of fees. Parks & Recreation changes include an increase in resident and
 non-resident field rental, tournament fees, outdoor court rental, and shelter rental.
 ElectriCities has a 5% electric rate increase to Residential, Small Commercial, Medium
 Commercial, and Medium Industrial tiers, as well as increases to the REPS Rider fees for
 Residential from $0.82 to $0.87, the Commercial fee is increasing from $4.47 to $4.72, and
 the Industrial fee is increasing from $46.08 to $48.67.

 Commissioner Osborne made a motion to approve the FY26 Fee Schedule as presented.
 Commissioner Carney seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously, 5-0.

 B. Reimbursement Resolution
 Asst. Finance Director Cindy Johnston explained that due to the timing for the FY25 police
 and fire vehicle financing, the reimbursement resolution allows for the purchase of the
 vehicles and equipment before closing on the loan and then the ability to be reimbursed with
 the proceeds once the loan has closed. The FY25 budgeted amount for police and fire
 vehicles is $700,000.

 Commissioner Higgins made a motion to approve reimbursement Resolution #2025-01171 as
 presented. Commissioner Johnson seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously, 5-0.

 Resolution #2025-01171 is hereby made part of the minutes by reference.

 C. Amend the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Grant Project Ordinance and Close Out the
 American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Special Revenue Fund
 Asst. Finance Director Cindy Johnston explained that the ordinance amendment recognizes
 the interest accrued in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Special Revenue Fund in the
 amount of $1,237,086 and authorizes a transfer of $1,237,086 to the Infrastructure Capital
 Project Fund.

 Commissioner Carney made a motion to approve Ordinance #2025-00878 amending the
 American Rescue Plan Act Grant Project Ordinance and close out the American Rescue Plan
 Act Special Revenue Fund as presented. Commissioner Sansbury seconded the motion, and
 it passed unanimously, 5-0.

 Ordinance #2025-00878 is hereby made part of the minutes by reference.

 D. FY25 Infrastructure Capital Project Amendment
 Asst. Finance Director Cindy Johnston explained that the amendment recognizes a transfer of
 $1,237,086 (interest earnings) from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Special Revenue
 Fund to the Infrastructure Capital Project Fund for the Town's match towards NCDOT
 partnership road projects.




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 Commissioner Higgins made a motion to approve Ordinance #2025-00879 amending the
 Infrastructure Capital Project as presented. Commissioner Johnson seconded the motion,
 and it passed unanimously, 5-0.

 Ordinance #2025-00879 is hereby made part of the minutes by reference.

10. PRESENTATION
 A. Transportation Advisory Board (TAB) Update
 Senior Planner Aaron Tucker presented the update on behalf of chairman Lou Raymond who
 arrived later. Mr. Tucker provided a look back on the 84 projects that were defined under
 planning, capital items, education and policy/safety. The future initiatives include roadshow
 events, the continuation of populating the project list and prioritizing/ranking them, as well
 as evaluating future transportation plans and studies.

11. CONSENT AGENDA
 A. Approve Regular Meeting Minutes - June 2nd
 B. Approve Closed Session Minutes - June 2nd
 C. Amend the 2025 Board of Commissioner Calendar – Resolution #2025-01172 is hereby
 made part of the minutes by reference
 D. Operating Budget Support Grant Agreement with Lake Norman Community Development
 Corporation
 E. Operating Budget Support Grant Agreement with Cain Center for the Arts
 F. Support Grant Agreement with Ada Jenkins Center
 G. Support Grant Agreement with Bags of Hope
 H. Support Grant Agreement with NC Youth Orchestra
 I. Support Grant Agreement with Senior Community Connections
 J. Support Grant Agreement with Smithville Community Coalition
 K. Support Grant Agreement with YMCA

 Commissioner Carney made a motion to approve the Consent Agenda as presented.
 Commissioner Johnson seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously, 5-0.

12. COMMISSIONER CONCERNS
 No concerns were expressed.

13. ADJOURNMENT
 There being no further business to discuss, Commissioner Johnson made a motion to adjourn the
 meeting at 7:46PM. Commissioner Carney seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously, 5-0.

 Approved this 21st day of July 2025.



 ATTEST: Woody Washam, Jr., Mayor



 Lori A Harrell, Town Clerk


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Attachment 1