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COUNCIL MINUTES
SPECIAL WORKSHOP MEETING
February 3, 2015
A special workshop meeting of the City Council of the City of Jacksonville was held
Tuesday, February 3, 2015 beginning at 5:30 PM in Meeting Rooms A and B of Jacksonville
City Hall. Present were: Mayor Sammy Phillips presiding; Mayor Pro-Tem Michael Lazzara and
Council Members: Jerry Bittner, Randy Thomas, Bob Warden, and Angelia Washington.
Council Member Jerome Willingham was unable to attend. Also present were: Richard
Woodruff, City Manager; Ronald Massey, Deputy City Manager; Gayle Maides, Finance
Director; Glenn Hargett, Assistant Manager for Communications and Community Affairs; Wally
Hansen, Public Services Director; Mike Yaniero, Director of Public Safety; Susan Baptist,
Director of Recreation Services; Michael Liquori, Director of Park Facilities; Carmen Miracle,
City Clerk; and John Carter, City Attorney.
*A video recording of the Council Meeting is presently available for review on the City’s
website.
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Sammy Phillips called the meeting to order at 5:32 PM.
ADOPTION OF AGENDA
A motion was made by Mayor Pro-Tem Lazzara, seconded by Councilman Thomas, and
unanimously approved to adopt the agenda as presented.
800 MHz
Mike Yaniero, Director of Public Safety reported on the 800 MHz system project delay.
Initially the program was to be fully implemented in October, 2014; now the completion target
date was February 17, 2015. All five towers were operational and the County was currently
operating under the system. The capacity the County could use was reduced because the City
held most of the licenses and those licenses had not been transmitted to the new 800 MHz
system. Part of the problem in completing the transition and making the system fully operational
dealt with coverage and testing of the system. Once the system was fully implemented, there
would be 95% coverage in all the major buildings within the County area.

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Chief Yaniero said the City also worked on coordinating the project with Camp Lejeune
who was upgrading their radio system. Jacksonville would be the first DOD community that was
interoperable with Base first responders. A patch system was used before, but now
communications would be improved with both Base Fire and Police.
Mayor Pro-Tem Lazzara asked if the trunking system was also 800 MHz. Chief Yaniero
said that the Base operated on a different channel, but purchased multiple band radios; when
operating with us, they would be talking on our 800 MHz system. Our system was still trunked,
but with digital and not analog signals. The system was more robust because the frequencies
were divided giving more capacity and redundancy. This system should be robust for the next
10 to 20 years.
Mayor Phillips asked for more clarification since before we had to work off of different
frequencies instead of an open frequency. Chief Yaniero stated that talk groups were created and
a bank of different channels included. This gave the opportunity to communicate on a main
channel. Portable radios were installed in each of the guard stations on Base so they would hear
the broadcast in real time instead of it going from dispatcher to dispatcher. This would help
make things more seamless in providing safety to the community. He didn’t feel there would be
a problem of talk over.
Councilman Bittner asked if there was a limitation on the number of channels. Chief
Yaniero said there was a limitation, but he didn’t feel we would reach capacity in his lifetime.
There was always the ability to expand the system.
Chief Yaniero was very pleased with the system because of the redundancy involved.
There were two brains to the system that pulled the frequencies. One was located at the Center
for Public Safety and the other was at the Emergency Operation Center (EOC). If one brain went
down, the other would pick up without losing any communications. If one tower went down, the
tower would redirect the signals. Each tower site had generators as well as commercial power.
Motorola guaranteed that within the City we would have between 95-100% coverage with
portable units. This was something that the City struggled with in the past in areas such as the
hospitals, mall, and the jail.
Mayor Pro-Tem Lazzara asked if the State Patrol was still on the Viper system. Chief
Yaniero stated that the highway patrol was part of our agreement, so we would be able to

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communicate with them. Ron Massey, Deputy City Manager stated Viper was an 800 MHz
system.
The only thing that had not been solidified was the connection with Jones and Lenoir
Counties. Onslow County was working out the details. Part of the agreement with them would
include cost sharing in the system.
Councilwoman Washington asked if there was any collaboration with Pender County.
Chief Yaniero stated that Pender and New Hanover Counties recently upgraded their systems.
Surf City which was partially in Onslow County and operated off the Pender County system
would also be a part of our system for interoperability.
Mr. Woodruff clarified that the primary reason for pushing off the final inspection was
because it was winter and we were waiting until the leaves were back on the trees to check for
interference. He stated there were many times when people did not see the City and County
working well together, but here was a great example of how working together and investing
taxpayer dollars at a cost close to $14 million was a benefit for all taxpayers and residents of
Onslow County.
Mr. Massey stated that when the agreement was entered with the County to share in
building the system, a joint City County ComBoard was developed with three members from the
City and three members from the County to oversee the operation of the system. The City ran
the old system, while the County only operated on it. It was important to jointly manage this
new system because some of the functions the City wanted the system to perform were a little
different than how the County operated.
Mayor Phillips asked who the members of the ComBoard were. Mr. Massey said it was
made up of the Deputy County Manager, County Emergency Manager, County Director of
Communications, the Deputy City Manager, Director of Public Safety, and the Deputy Fire
Chief.
Councilman Bittner said Chief Yaniero mentioned how robust the system was and asked
if the interference of foliage on the trees was a critical element in a test or related to contractual
specifications. Chief Yaniero stated that Motorola guaranteed 95% coverage in the City and if
they couldn’t provide coverage, for example in the stairwells of the hospital, Motorola
guaranteed they would come back and fix the building by putting a specific device in the
stairwells. This also included the hospital on Base. Motorola already realized that the concrete

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and metal involved in the jail created interference and devices were installed for communication.
The locations of the towers were also proposed by Motorola for the 95% coverage.
Mr. Woodruff stated that Motorola’s final payment wouldn’t be released until we were
sure the system worked which provided a financial incentive to finish the testing.
FY16 TASK ASSIGNMENTS
At the January 20, 2015 Budget Workshop, Council was asked to give their thought on
tasks they may want Staff to accomplish. Several comments were made, but by looking at some
of the items that came out of the Summit more tasks may come to mind. Mr. Woodruff asked
Council for their thoughts on the 24 changes to the community recommended at the Summit.
1. Better shopping – Mr. Woodruff asked if Council wanted to do more in regard to
Economic Development or to continue working with the Economic Development Council (EDC)
as we presently did. Also was there anything that should be done in Permitting, Building, and
Planning to have a better reputation as a developer friendly community.
Mayor Phillips asked what type of activities would be involved for additional economic
development. Mr. Woodruff stated that as an example, rebuilding downtown instead of building
new carried additional costs associated to converting a building. Staff could look at setting up a
limited grant program for conversion of the building to meet code, so developers would consider
downtown instead of going out on Western Blvd.
Mayor Phillips said he thought the EDC did a good job in our region, but we had to look
at ourselves for developing downtown.
Mr. Woodruff stated that with Council’s approval, staff would bring back ideas on how to
incentivize people to locate downtown.
Mayor Phillips stated the City needed to actively pursue possibilities along the riverfront
and at the old Onslow Inn Site. He asked Carmen Miracle, City Clerk to look back in the record
and provide information on the Downtown Loan Program that happened around 2005-2006.
Mayor Pro-Tem Lazzara said that to tie into that, we needed to get back to the tasks the
Downtown Group came up with in regard to infrastructure improvements like realignment of the
road, streetscaping and power line improvements.
2. Cable Options - Even though the City was not in the cable business, Mr. Woodruff
suggested that Council may want to consider installing dark conduits as the City reinvested in the
water and sewer system. The conduit could be leased out to those in the cable business. The

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main advantage would be to hold down damage to our water and sewer lines as cable companies
were installing their lines. Staff would explore this and bring back more information.
3. City Wi-Fi - Councilman Bittner congratulated Chris Koltyk on the modification to the
cell phone usage saving the City $22,000 a year. Mr. Woodruff stated that an analysis was done
on the City’s cell phone usage and Mr. Koltyk was able to negotiate a contract with our provider
on our minute usage. This was one of the 3 E’s staff worked on every day.
4. Preserve History – Councilman Bittner stated that one of things Jacksonville suffered
from was a written historical record. He suggested an annual report from the highlights of the
City to create a chronological history of the significant events that occurred through the years.
Mayor Phillips stated he didn’t think enough was made of the birthdate of the City. The
City was founded in 1849, but we never make a big deal of it where a lot of other cities make it a
part of their civic pride. Councilman Bittner said that he worked in a city that celebrated their
centennial and a local bank commissioned a writer who researched their complete history and
wrote a book about their 100 years. He thought this might be a good project for the Tourism
Board.
5. Increase Tourism Opportunities – Mayor Pro-Tem Lazzara asked for Council’s continued
support of the Jacksonville Tourism Development Authority in their efforts to increase the heads
on beds campaign and bring more activities and tourism opportunities through sports venues in
our community. Mr. Woodruff stated he would have Susan Baptist, Director of Recreation
Services work on sports programs she could identify that could help bring people in on a tourist
basis.
Mayor Pro-Tem Lazzara stated there was tremendous new activity and they were
continuing to grow with sporting events and runs.
6. Major City Events – Mr. Woodruff stated Council authorized three events – National
Night Out, Winterfest, and the Jacksonville Jamboree. A significant effort was also spent on the
Beirut Memorial and 9/11 events. Mr. Woodruff asked if Council wanted to be involved in any
additional events.
Mayor Pro-Tem Lazzara asked if the City ever had a fourth of July celebration or was it
always a County and Base event. Mr. Woodruff said he asked that same question when he
arrived but found that National Night Out ended with the fireworks.

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Mayor Phillips stated the City’s major event was National Night Out and felt we should
promote Winterfest more.
Councilman Warden asked if there would be any benefit in tying in Andrew Jackson’s
birthday with an event since the City was named after him.
Councilman Thomas stated that the Jacksonville Landing had only been used for one
tournament so far, and it had good potential for additional events.
Mayor Pro-Tem Lazzara stated that the Sports Commission was working on bringing
other fishing tournaments there.
7. Protect Names of Youth Offenders – Mayor Phillips stated that this was dictated by State
General Statute and our police department did a great job, so he didn’t see this as being a
problem.
8. Expand Trails and Bike Routes – Mr. Woodruff stated there recently was a pre-bid
conference on the Lejeune Greenway and Trail where seven vendors were present. Staff was
also looking at expanding the Challenge Course to come down into the wooded area near the
water tank at the Commons.
Councilman Warden stated he would like to see a trail from downtown to the Camp
Geiger side of the City with possibly Riverwalk as a starting point going out along the bypass to
the Beirut Memorial Grove or expanding the current trail back to the Commons area along the
Parkway right-of-way.
9. Solicit Business to Support Urban Communities – already discussed.
10. More Leadership Engagement in Lower Income Communities – Councilman Warden
stated staff was doing a good job in being involved with Onslow Community Ministries efforts
in the New River area.
Mayor Phillips stated that neighborhood meetings had been done in the past and should
be considered to get ideas and concerns.
Mr. Woodruff said the task should be changed to more leadership engagement throughout
the community. We needed to be involved everywhere.
11. Encourage Business Expansion in other areas – already discussed.
12. Better Relations with the County – Mayor Phillips felt that what staff was doing now was
working well. He felt relationships appeared to have improved quite a bit.
13. More Parking Downtown – already discussed.

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14. Better Control of Housing Development – Except for zoning powers, there was little that
could be done to tell the free market that they couldn’t build houses.
15. Better Traffic Control – this was being realized with the new traffic signal controls.
16. Improved Infrastructure – the Capital Improvement Program worked on improvements
for water and sewer.
17. Quicker Street Repairs - the City was doing the best it could on improving streets with
available funding.
18. Increase Recreation YMCA YWCA – In regard to City recreation, Mr. Woodruff asked if
there were any additional programs that should be looked into. Councilman Warden stated he
would like staff to work on getting a splash pad somewhere in the City in FY16. It might work
best at Jack Amyette as it was in the master plan.
Mr. Woodruff stated that an assessment of the Northeast Creek boardwalk would be
provided to Council. It was toured last year, but money and time had not been available for
repairs.
Councilman Warden asked if we advertised that citizens were allowed to fish off of the
boardwalk at Sturgeon City. Mr. Woodruff stated he would check on that as he was not sure.
19. Lower taxes
20. Increased Industry and Manufacturing Jobs
21. Public Pool – Mr. Woodruff stated the City wasn’t ready to invest in a public pool, but
the splash pad and things of that nature needed to come first
22. City or Convention Center – already discussed.
23. Improve Older Developments – already discussed.
FY16 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM
Deanna Young, Capital Projects Administrator stated the draft Capital Improvement Plan
(CIP) was available for Council’s review. Using the PowerPoint presentation attached to the
original minutes as Exhibit “A,” she provided a short overview of the program. Out of all of the
projects, only seven Public Services projects were new to the CIP. The CIP would be reviewed
in more details within the next few weeks. Mr. Woodruff stated that the CIP would be adopted
at the same time as the budget, and based upon comments tonight, the program would be updated
to include one splash pad in the FY16 Budget.

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WATERFRONT UPDATE – DENR
Using Exhibit “A,” John Carter, City Attorney updated Council on the waterfront land
along Anne Street. The blue area on the map showed City owned property that had been leased
to the Wildlife Commission for the boat landing and the green area showed County owned
property. These two parcels were covered by a Federal LWCF Grant. On January 28, 2015 a
meeting was held between the City and County Managers, City and County Attorneys, John
Poole and Tim Johnson with the Recreation, Grants and Outreach Program of NCDENR and
Mike Christenberry of CAMA to talk about a process called conversion which would lift a grant
from one property to another. Federal regulations did not favor conversions, but the gentleman
represented that they would work with us in this process. DENR would review the documents to
make sure that they were “right,” but the documents had to be submitted to the Federal
government for final approval. The real issue with these grants was that they placed a permanent
restriction on that property stating it had to be used for recreational purposes in perpetuity.
Mr. Woodruff said that it was reported to Council earlier that land they already owned
could not be used, but Senator Harry Brown intervened on behalf of the City and told DENR we
needed to use some common sense in government. That was why they were now helping us
figure out the maze so that we could use Jacksonville Landing as the conversion land. There
may be hope that this land conversion could be used, but it was not guaranteed.
Mr. Carter reminded Council that this was a County-City project that we would be
working on together. He further reviewed the conversion process and recommendations.
Council indicated that staff should proceed with the possible conversion.
ADJOURNMENT
A motion was made by Mayor Pro-Tem Lazzara, seconded by Councilman Thomas, and
unanimously adopted to adjourn the meeting at 6:44 PM.
Adopted by the Jacksonville City Council in regular session this 17th day of February,
2015.
______________________________
Sammy Phillips, Mayor
ATTEST:
______________________________
Carmen K. Miracle, City Clerk

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Jacksonville City Council
FY16
Capital Improvement Plan
Special Workshop Meeting
February 3, 2015 Slide #66
Capital Improvement Plan (CIP)
FY16 Expenditure Summary
5.0%
• 5 year planning window
• Shows cost or expenditure estimates 20.0%
Public Services
• Identifies probable sources of
financing Recreation & Parks
• Evaluates, prioritizes and Community
schedules projects 13.0% Programs
Transportation
62.0%
Slide #67 Slide #68
FY16 Funding Source Summary
FY16 Proposed Projects
1.4% 1.2%
Number of
18.3%
Department Projects
Water/Sewer Fund
Community Programs 1
Public Services 12
Powell Bill
Recreation & Parks 3
Transportation 4
MCBCL
79.2%
PL-104
Slide #69 Slide #70

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Location Downtown:
Anne Street waterfront district
Waterfront Land Update Contains parcels owned by the
County and the City
Formerly the Wildlife landing
Slide #72
Slide #73
Site
History
Federal Land Water Conservation Grant
$50,000 Awarded 1986
–Bulkhead
–Boardwalk
–Picnic shelter
–Benches
Slide #74 Slide #75
Requirement-LWCF Grant Challenges
Permanent Use as Recreation: • Downtown Redevelopment
Grant conditions require that property • Limited Waterfront Available
be used for recreational purposes in • NC Wildlife Commission closed ramp
perpetuity
• LWCF Grant Stipulations
Slide #76 Slide #77

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Opportunity Jacksonville Landing
Conversion Process
Must Demonstrate:
Equal
Equal
Land
Facilities
Value
Slide #78 Slide #79
Conversion Process Recommendation
• Appraisals 1. Coordinate the process with Onslow
• Environmental Assessment County
• Surveying 2. Assemble all current documents
• Process Application & Preparation of 3. Review & Conduct Appraisals
Documents 4. Conduct Environmental Assessment
• Joint application (County & City) 5. Conduct Surveys
Timeline: 6-14 Months 6. Updates to Council
Slide #80 Slide #81