City Council Meeting, 1/20/2026

Welcome all. And it's a little chilly today, but here we are. District, what do we got? Mr. Mayor, members of council, as you all know, the general assembly is now in session. So, we will start off each of your meetings with Brett McKenzie, our legislative affairs director, giving the city council an update on what's going on and also when appropriate seeking council guidance and feedback on how to address certain

legislation that may come up of interest for the city council. So, at this time, we'll turn the floor over to Andrew and Brent, and Brent will kick off our general assembly um briefings for Council for the next several weeks. Go ahead, Brett. The floor is yours.

Thank you, Mr. Manager, and good afternoon, Mr. Mayor. Madam Vice Mayor, members of council, uh it's a pleasure to be with you here this afternoon.

Hopefully, it's maybe a degree or two warmer there in Virginia Beach than it is in Richmond right now because it is freezing. Um as Patrick mentioned, uh we're we'll be giving you a briefing pretty much weekly throughout the general assembly session. Today's uh briefing is going to highlight some of the key dates and organizing information uh status of our legislative agenda items. We're going to highlight uh four

areas out of our policy priority section today. Uh and then we're going to highlight a few slides of legislation of interest, just some bills that you should be aware of. Um and we'll kind of go through all those throughout the presentation.

Um so the 2026 session, as you've heard me say many times, is a 60-day what we call long session. They'll create the bannual budget this year. um session began last Wednesday, January 14th. They got off to a quick start, passing uh four constitutional amendments last week, including marriage equality, restoration of voting rights, reproductive rights, and congressional redistricting. I'm sure you've all uh

seen lots of news about these. Um filing deadline for legislation is this coming up Friday at 3:00. Filing deadline for all the budget amendments was this past Friday. Um, we will give you an update on budget in the coming weeks as all those budget amendments get posted and that process moves forward. Um, and then two other dates I want to highlight for you. Uh, Virginia Municipal League is

having their local government day on February 5th. I hope some of you will consider signing up for that and joining me here in Richmond on that day. And then um the session is scheduled to conclude by March 14th.

Uh with the beginning of the general assembly session, we saw the shuffling of some committee assignments that are impactful for our delegation here. Uh in the house, they do proportional delegation on the committee assignments.

With the Democrats picking up so many seats, they gained two seats on each committee, which means two Republican members had to be removed and two new Democrats added. that unfortunately cost Delegate Tada her seat on the um uh House Appropriations Committee. She was the last member added and so she was uh one of the two that was removed. Um and then in the Senate uh with Lieutenant Governor Hashmi coming up from the

Senate that opened up a spot on Senate Finance where Senator Ralph was appointed.

Our legislative agenda is in pretty good shape. I'm excited about the movement we've had here. Um, just to go through each of these. So, our blue line legislation has been introduced by Delegate Tada and Senator Craig. The 101 charter system bill uh has been introduced by Congress Fowler in the House and we're waiting for the Senate version that Senator Rouse has filed. Um I should have mentioned this earlier,

but the Senate is a little bit further behind in the filing of their legislation. It's just kind of a process um difference between the House and the Senate. So the Senate's kind of catching up after the inauguration this past weekend. U so we're waiting for that bill to hit the hit the system still. Um similarly, Delegate Ascu has introduced our cancer screening funding bill. Um Senator Ral has a version that we're

waiting to hit the system. Delegate Feans has introduced the legislation that would expand how our uh EMS funding for the state is allowed to be spent. Um Delegate Ascu has also introduced legislation that would uh increase the uh fire program fund and then um the menhaden fishing study has been introduced by delegate Carr and Senator Marsden who I uh both sit on the agriculture and Chesig Bay committee. um

to highlight two pieces of legislation that have undergone some fairly significant changes since our legislative agenda was drawn up. The first one is the legislation dealing with the marsh terrace. So our original um draft of that legislation and strategy there was to try and get our project just carved out from the permitting process. Uh that was not received very well by uh the delegation

or the environmental community. Um, we had some challenges there, but the environmental community has come together and offered what is a bit of a compromise. It's not a exactly what we were hoping for, but um it basically would create a um a new commission that would be a sort of an appeals commission to where some of these projects that are really tough to get the permitted from could get a second look and some

strategies could be recommended that would uh hopefully lead to a permitting u pathway. So, I'm recommending that we uh we support that legislation. It doesn't guarantee that we would get a permit, but at least gets us a second bite at the apple on this project.

Um, and then on our popup event zone legislation, there was a a fairly significant addition made to this piece of legislation. Um, so you'll remember this is the legislation where if there's a unpermitted event that's significantly disrupting normal community uh operations, then a locality could establish a special enforcement zone and inside that zone we would have like a a list of different um authority that we

could implement. We wouldn't have to implement all of them. We could choose, right? things like um speed limit reductions and increased traffic fines, establishing a curfew curfew for unaccompanied miners, and establishing and uh enforcing occup occupancy limits.

In addition to those that we had proposed, they've also added that we would have the choice of declaring that pop-up event zone as a gun-free zone as well. So, that is a fairly significant addition to that legislation.

Um, so this is the first of the four pri uh policy priority areas we wanted to highlight for you today. Uh, affordable housing is pretty much the hot topic here at the general assembly this year.

There are uh, probably more than a dozen pieces of legislation introduced on this topic. Um, here are a few that we're going to highlight for you today. Um HB4 is an interesting piece of legislation coming from a delegate in Alexandria that would basically give a locality the first right of a refusal to purchase uh a um affordable housing development. So, if some, you know, a developer had built

an affordable housing complex, operated it for a number of years, but then decided they were going to try and sell it, once they got their um got an offer, they would be required to take it to the locality to uh give us the first right of refusal to match that match that um that offer. Uh HB96 establishes a fund to provide financial assistance to local governments for uh expanding and

improving public infrastructure needed to support new residential uh things like roads and um storm water things like that. So it's an interesting uh funding opportunity.

um HB15 and SB48. Uh there's lots of legislation this year that is dealing with eviction process and um this this is an example. This one would require there'd be a 14 waiting day before uh somebody could be evicted. Right now that uh right now that law is at 5 days.

So this would be an extension of that.

The next uh area is in economic development. Um few pieces of legislation here to highlight for you. Uh the first one is the requirement for uh the department of energy to create a workforce development uh for offshore wind industry. You may remember this legislation passed last year. This was uh patroned by delegate Fagens. um that passed the general assembly last year with bipartisan

support but was vetoed by the governor with some of the um complications coming out of the federal government. Didn't think it was the right time. Um we'll see how this legislation fares this year. Um HB275 and SB10 are is are pieces of legislation coming from a bipartisan group out of Rowan Oak. And Mr. Mayor, this is a issue that you've brought up earlier in the year and trying to find ways to get more young

people into apprenticeship programs. So, this would allow people who were um as young as 16 to get involved in apprenticeship programs with a few caveats. Um, Delegate TA's got a great bill HB 366 that would allow the Virginia Military Community Infrastructure Grant Program to be awarded to projects that don't um have federal funding attached. Right now that program is basically used to um support

the the local match requirement for federal projects. Um so this would provide some more flexibility from a grant program that we've used once or twice. Um and then HB1248 uh establish establishes the creative economy grant program. This is a piece of legislation that the council has shown interest in supporting in the years past and we're uh hopeful that this year will be the year that uh we

can get it passed and funded.

Previous years we've had uh some success in getting the legislation passed but we haven't been able to get it funded. So we're hopeful that that will be um more successful this year. And then lastly, I just want to highlight similar to affordable housing, affordable child care is a hot topic here at the general assembly this year. Um, and there's probably a half dozen dozen bills dealing with that topic as well. And

that was something that you guys wanted to include in our legislative agenda and finding ways to support to make that more affordable. And so we'll continue to monitor those pieces of legislation.

Uh, the next area for the policy priorities is on fiscal responsibility and budget impacts. The things I'm highlighting for you here are mostly things that would have a negative impact on our budget. Some of these are good programs, but they would impact the our budget negatively. Um things like HB13 and 703 and SB9. There are multiple variations of this bill that would eliminate the 1% local tax on groceries.

Um and uh SB2 which establishes a paid family and medical leave insurance program. Again very uh worthy program but uh would have a significant impact on our budget as it would um create a new payroll tax both for employers and employees that would begin in January 1st of 2028. Um, and then, uh, we spent a lot of time talking about, uh, collective bargaining. HB1263 eliminates the local option for

collective bargaining. We're anticipating a Senate version of this bill to come as well. Uh, we haven't seen it yet, but we expect it to be introduced here uh, to hit the system here in the next couple of days. Um, and then I'll highlight one other one here.

SB66 is a piece of legislation that's going to be heard this afternoon that would authorize every locality to hold a referendum on a 1% sales tax increase that would be dedicated to school construction. This legislation has passed the general assembly the last two years but has been vetoed by Governor Yncan. Um Governor Spanberger has said she would sign this legislation, so it's

highly likely that this will hit y'all's uh desks at some point later this year.

Our final policy priority area we're highlighting for you today is on land use. As you guys know, each year there are multiple pieces of legislation that are introduced that uh either reduce or eliminate some of our uh zoning and planning authority. This year is no different. Um, HB262 from Delegate Simons from up in Hampton would eliminate local authority to maintain minimum parking requirements and new

developments. Uh, HB 611 would require every locality to allow uh, accessory dwelling units and any um, area zoned for single family residential.

Uh, Delegate Helmer, who is going to be the new chairman of the county, cities, and towns committee in the house, has some interesting legislation that uh was introduced last year and was not successful. Um, first one is HB 804. It would require every locality to increase their total housing stock by 7 and a half% over 5 years. And then related HBA16 would um require locality to include

provisions in its zoning ordinance allowing for the buy development and construction of multif family residential use and at least 75% of all land contained in commercial or business zoning district classifications. These obviously create challenges for us given our um you know history with Breck and Oceanana and some of the uh AQ zones there. So those u pieces of legislation are problematic, but we'll continue to

work on those as we move forward.

So the next few slides are just slides we're calling legislation of interest.

These are just pieces of legislation that we wanted to bring to your attention. If there's something in here that you wanted us to take a stance on, please uh let us know. I don't have any recommendations today as we're still kind of analyzing a lot of these and other pieces of legislation, but we just wanted to make sure that you were aware that a lot of this uh was out there will

be driving some of the conversations. Um so to highlight a few on this first slide for you guys. Um HB505 would prohibit a member of a governing body of a locality from holding any other position of employment in such locality.

We've seen legislation like this similar in the past. Um it hasn't been successful. We'll see how it goes this year. Um HB514 is an interesting piece of legislation from a delegate out of Lden County that would create a program that would help uh members of the military as they're transitioning to civilian life. Um help them uh access all their federal, state, and local benefits that are available to them. uh

being a military and veteran friendly uh city and state. That's a a interesting piece of legislation. Um and then HB55, this is the uh basically the noise camera legislation that we've seen the last couple years. It is written to target uh to allow a pilot program in Northern Virginia and in the Fredericksburg area. Um, and so the thought process would be to let them try this pilot program, see how that goes,

and then bring it back later if it's successful and is um doesn't have too many complications to apply to other localities in the state. Um, and then we'll move on to the next slide.

Um, here there's a couple of interesting pieces of legislation dealing with infrastructure. So HP 1241 is from Delegate Anthony out of Norphick. It would establish a work group to study transportation and infrastructure needs here in Hampton Roads. Um especially um this is really targeting secondary roads and our flooding needs. This is a a strong piece of legislation.

Uh delegate ascu has introduced legislation that would establish a work group to study extending light rail to the oceanfront. Um, and then there's a uh HB1120.

I know we've had a lot of discussions about ebikes, and I've got another slide on some ebike stuff, too, but I really wanted to highlight this one. Uh, HB1120 would direct VOTE to convene a work group to make recommendations for improving safety around um these sort of micro motorized uh vehicles, including ebikes and motorized skateboards and scooters, things of that nature.

Uh the next slide uh is on uh the cannabis legislation. You know, we all are anticipating this legislation to come to fruition this year. Uh and you guys received a briefing on this, so I won't go through a lot of this, but I just wanted to highlight this for you.

Um Delegate Crez from Fairfax Alexandria has introduced a piece of legislation.

We're expecting one from Senator Rouse um to hit the system here soon. Um but a couple of things to highlight here for you guys. Um Delegate Crez legislation uh does not include option to hold a referendum to opt out. Um that idea seems to have been sidelined in all these pieces of legislation this year.

Um that had been kind of a key piece of it over the last couple years that was introduced. Uh but it does retain our authority to regulate local zoning and land use requirements.

um would allow us to prohibit the use and sales in public places like parks and playgrounds. Um would allow us to regulate the distance between shops, but also between shops and schools and churches um and recreational facilities and daycare programs. Um and it would allow localities to regulate the hours of operations for a shop. And then the last piece I want to highlight for you,

um, it would allow us to have a sales tax between one and three and a half percent. We're still, uh, trying to get that closer to the 5% that I had proposed. Um, there seems to be some interest in that. Um, or at least having the the cannabis sales tax be on top of the 1% sales tax that already exists at the local level. So that would get us to

4 and a.5%. So, um, making some progress on that front, which is great. Um, and then the last bit of news here is that the the current stop processing goal is that uh or hope, I guess, is that they could have retail cannabis uh operating by November 1st of this year. We'll see how the legislation shakes out once it uh passes, if it passes, and what the process is for them to get this on the road.

Uh so as I mentioned when I was talking about the ebike study, there was also an interesting piece of legislation coming from a delegate out of Louden, delegate David Reid, um that really seeks to put some uh some pretty tough restrictions on different types of ebikes. It's a bit confusing because it creates two new classes of ebikes without eliminating the old threeclass system. So, I think

there's still a lot of work that needs to be done here, but I did want to highlight this for you guys. I know this has been a big topic of conversation. I know we got the task force working. Um, but basically, this would create two new classifications.

Um, basically a class A motorized vehicle that would go up to 25 miles an hour and then a class B that would go up to 35 miles an hour. And then it explicitly says that if it's in excess of 35 miles an hour, then it's considered a motorcycle, which is something that's kind of ambiguous in the in the code currently. Um, it also would require a class, what they call a class B, so that 35 mph

to register with DMV just like a moped.

would require them to get a driver's license, would require them to take a training course, um, and it would prohibit the sale of a class B vehicle to any minor. So, uh, pretty tough piece of legislation here. Think it's got a lot of work. My guess is that they will probably um add this into the study and send it off for study. But uh you know it is interesting to see that there are some

other localities out there that are struggling with this issue just as as as we are.

Um my last bit of news that I wanted to highlight for you guys is uh there's a lot of legislation this year dealing with some tax reform, tax changes. Uh most of it's being driven out of Northern Virginia. Uh here's a couple of pieces to uh as example HB978 from Delegate Watts, HB179 from Delegate Tran. Um the goal of these pieces of legislation is to find additional funding for uh for Metro up in Northern

Virginia and for tra transit agencies around the Commonwealth. But it makes some pretty s it makes very significant changes. Um amongst them are um it would apply the sales tax to a set of services and digital products. Um so it would expand the sales tax base and then it reduces the tax rate from 6% to or 5.3%.

Um it creates a regional highway use fee that it's currently a statewide highway use fee, but this would create a regional version. Um, and then it applies a sales tax to uh like Uber and Lift rides and it creates a retail delivery tax of 50 cents per delivery.

So, um, not 50% per box that get put on your doorstep, but every time they had to make a delivery, it would be a 50 cent tax. Um, the legislation also eliminates the 1% local tax on groceries. Uh, so um, some some different levers here.

some things they're reducing, some things they're increasing. It uh winds up providing some significant funding for Metro up in Northern Virginia. Some of these are regional taxes, some of them are statewide taxes. So, we'll continue to um to follow this legislation as it moves through the process.

So, this next slide was a notes slide that I meant to delete and I apologize for that. So though this is duplicative.

Um so that takes us to the end of my presentation and happy to answer any questions that you may have. Mr. Mayor Stacey, get it rolling.

Thank you for that update. Um question on this HB412 about the schoolboard budget.

Can you Yeah.

expand on that because that's Yeah, you kind of skipped over.

I did have it bolded for me to to do that. Sorry, I skipped over that one. Um so basically this legislation would require um a locality to fully fund the superintendent's estimate of needs which you know on the face of it sounds great but as I read the legislation there doesn't seem to be any um restrictions on what the superintendent estimate of needs could ask for uh which obviously

could create some challenges in the process and in uh and in how we fund education and fund our other obligations. Right. So, um clearly a bit of an unfunded mandate from my perspective and we'll be working to um to defeat that legislation and if not defeat it at least get some some safeguards placed on it in some manner.

But I don't think Well, I'll leave it at that.

I I think it's kind of important to stay on that one because that could be disastrous.

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. And then um there was this HA28 about a light rail study to the oceanfront.

Yes, sir.

Uh is he aware that you know we had a referendum on that and the people don't want a light rail and there's probably no way to get a light rail in the existing uh trail. We're going to have a Virginia Beach bike trail there. So I don't Yeah, we've had those discussions.

Councilman, I've made him aware. He's aware of it.

I've reiterated those issues to him. Uh, you know, the legislators have their own perspective on these things sometimes, but uh we'll make sure that the the rest of the general assembly is aware of the referendums that have been held on this topic as well. And um we'll see what we can do on this one.

And then do you have any insight on I I've heard of a U proposed tax on investments.

Um there is a lot of tax legislation out there. We're still kind of digging through. Um I do recall seeing that one.

I'm not sure that that would impact uh local government directly. So I haven't highlighted that one or spend a whole lot of time on it, but if you're interested in I can send that to you.

Yeah. I'm just worried that we'll lose a good portion of our uh citizenry if that comes to fruition.

Yes, sir. I'll send that to you.

Okay. Thank Thank you, Brett.

Okay. Anybody else at this point?

Okay. Let's go work and Michael.

Thank you, mayor. Thank you, Brad, for the Mr. McKenzie for the presentation.

Number page nine, House Bill 127912. Did we take a This is where essentially if I could summarize this if this passes I'd like to get your perspective on that ability of this to pass because this is um probably addresses affordable housing, attainable housing um a church because our minimum lot sizes for churches is three acres and so this probably frees up land all over the city for this if it passes. I

don't know if we took a position on this or not, but so you may remember two years ago this bill was introduced and we took a position in opposition to it and we were able to um to get it defeated last year.

groups like the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy came to us and even I think they met with a few of you guys on what was more of a compromise and gave us some leeway to um to choose to do this. It didn't mandate or didn't reduce our zoning authority, right? It gave us like the local option to do it.

Um, in my discussions with the Virginia Interfaith Center folks earlier this year, I was under the impression and they had shared with me another version that um that was kind of like the local option bill. So, I'll be honest with you, I was really surprised when I saw this one hit the system without anybody giving us a heads up and I was pretty uh annoyed that at that. Um, just felt like they didn't negotiate in

good faith here. Um, and so you're right. This is legislation that would give just about any church, and there are some qualifications on the size of it, but basically could build uh like a 40 to 60 unit apartment building on their property without any uh approval from the local government, which obviously is is challenging and problematic for us. So, um, we've included it in the land use, um, policy

priority section, not in the affordable housing policy priority section, so that we can continue to oppose these sort of pieces of legislation that reduce our our authority to um to to plan and to make our own zoning decisions.

Thank you.

Okay, Michael.

Uh, thank you, Brent. If you could go to slide 14, please. and I would like to speak on the topic of HB 1179 or I believe it's HB179. I have a uh if I'm if I'm if I'm not if I have a mistake about the bill, please forgive me uh Brent, but but maybe you can share which one this is because I think this is the one that you said it

changes the the sales tax to a set of services and digital products, but I don't think we've really explored about what that portfolio IO of products is just to name a few from what I understand. You can tell me if I'm wrong, nail care.

There's a um there's a long list.

Yeah, let me just name a few. Let me just name a few. nail care, nutrition, admissions to events, vehicle repair, landscaping services, shipping services, animal care, even counseling services, uh computer repair, housekeeping services, appliance repair, just to name a few. And I think those um we need to have a list of what those services are so that we can better understand it. I

mean, I was able to pull this up and just kind of pull a few from it. Um, I think this should be a very serious concern uh to the people of Virginia Beach and to the Commonwealth of Virginia.

Frankly, well, without um you know, getting too much into the into details, I'm having trouble squaring um all of this proposed tax increase on basic services with the affordability that we were told we would be receiving. Um, I think that should be of concern to the uh citizens of Virginia Beach and to the Commonwealth of Virginia and um and I and I would like to have more information that we could share with the

public about what the implications of this bill would be. So that's my first ask uh Mr. McKenzie. Then further, you know, we need to understand how the general assembly that's dedicated to affordability is contemplating raising taxes on these basic and essential services. And also um what I would be curious about is if I'm understanding this correctly, you said this is designed to improve um

transportation infrastructure in Northern Virginia.

a large portion of it is that is the main goal. It's not uh all these taxes are not dedicated towards that. Um include especially the the sales tax portion continues to be distributed in the manner that it is today. Um but by widening it a portion of that today does go towards uh transit mass transit and so it increase the share by doing that.

Yeah. I just think we need to understand this. And let me just ask you, I mean, to the extent that you're comfortable, does this tax scheme have a chance of passing and being adopted?

Yeah, I think so. Uh, it was originally proposed by our new Secretary of Finance um from the like kind of schematic standpoint. So, you know, I think it's got a chance. I mean, it's the first year of a new majority, a new governorhip. tax increases aren't historically on the um or historically successful in that context, but we'll see. And you know, as you mentioned, the affordability part of

this is part of the discussion. I think that's why you see things like, you know, they're reducing the the sales tax rate a bit. They're trying to eliminate that 1% on groceries, trying to balance it a little bit. Um, and then just trying to modernize that sales tax towards what the 21st century economy looks like. Um, at least those are the talking points that we've been uh been

hearing. Um, and so that that's kind of how all of that is is under consideration today.

Thank you. I I I think we need to understand what the u what categories are being included. I I I I'm don't take this the wrong way, but just says applying the sales tax to a set of services. We're not we're not being transparent enough about what those services and products are.

That's no problem, Councilman. I can uh we can write up uh a short memo and include much more of those details for you guys. Uh I mean, as you can imagine, trying to get through all of this in a 30 minute briefing is is challenging.

It's not it's not a I'm not suggesting there's a deficiency. I just would like more information. Thank you.

Yes, sir. We'll we'll get that to you.

Um that's no problem at all.

Okay. Anybody else at this point?

Friend, thank you for being there and uh restly. Take care.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, everybody.

All righty. All right. Mr. Mayor, members of council at the request of several members of city council Driscoll, executive director from Life Net Health Foundation will come and give city council an overview of Life Foundation and their services offered to the community.

Yeah. Thank you and welcome.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Madame Vice Mayor, members of council. Always good to see some smiling, familiar faces. Um, for those who don't know, uh, my name is Will Driscoll. I am the director of the Lifenet Health Foundation. The LifeNet Health Foundation is the charitable arm of Lifenet Health Corporate. Lifenet Health, I think, is um, obviously I work there, but I think, is one of the most

valuable and impactful assets we have here in the city of Virginia Beach. And today what I'm going to do is I'm going to kind of go through a a general overview of Lifenet Health Corporate, kind of our growth over the years, how we impact the city of Virginia Beach, but then also show you where that impact goes, and then also show you how the foundation aligns with Lifenet Health Corporate to further that impact. So,

first and foremost, um, Lifenet Health, for those who don't know, is a nonprofit global leader in regenerative medicine and also the world's largest provider of alligraph implants. Now, there's a lot to process in that first paragraph. Um, two things to really keep in mind though when we talk about regenerative medicine. If you know anything about Lifenet Health, you probably know that

we are in the organ donation and transplantation space. So, we are an approved OPO, an organ procurement organization. We are one of 55 OPOS in the country. And each OPO must operate in a federallymandated footprint because when we're talking about organ donation and transplantation, sometimes when you're talking about how this gets to the recipients, we're talking about minutes, hours, maybe days, but it's a

very it's a very fastmoving process and time is of the essence. So we are an OPO and most of our our footprint is most of Virginia goes up to the northern Virginia counties all the way out through West Virginia and a small sliver of the state of West Virginia. So within that footprint, we are the organ procurement recovery agency at all of the hospitals in that footprint. And when we talk about the term alligraph,

what is an alligraph? Well, an alligraph is tissue transplanted from one human to another. So what separates us from a lot of our peers in this space is the fact that when we recover organs or gifts as we call them, we are also recovering tissue. And that's what makes the impact of donation go even further. Because when we're talking about organs, you are really only um recovering eight organs

and these are lifesaving organs. But when we talk about tissue, the tissue that's recovered can go into any number of applications and can positively impact 100, 150, 200 people just from one donor. So when we talk about the tissue that's recovered, it can go into sports medicine applications. It can go into spine applications, dental, cardiovascular, many, many applications.

And that's really where we see the impact from being the OPO and the tissue processor which we are also the largest tissue processor in the country. So that is kind of a feather in our cap from right here in Virginia Beach that we get to talk about when we talk to our partners.

Now I talk about being a global company but at our core we are Virginia Beach through and through. We have been in operation over 40 plus years and ever since we were founded in the early 1980s our home has been here in Virginia Beach. now through exponential growth.

Yes, we have expanded throughout Virginia uh throughout many other areas of the country. We also have a global office in in Europe and we have reps all over the world. But our core is Virginia Beach. 14 offices worldwide, seven of those are here in Virginia Beach. Of our 1500 employees globally, 900 of them work here in Virginia Beach. Our global HQ is on concert drive right across from

Cintara Princess Anne as well as the uh education innovation campus for ODU, Norfick State and TCC. So Virginia Beach is a huge part of our identity and that's something that we take uh a lot of pride in. Virginia Beach has has always been a good home and and it will continue to be a good home. When we talk about impact, however, uh the the second to last bullet point there is 3,400

Virginia donor families were supported in 2025. And I'm going to go into a little bit more detail about that in just a few minutes, but donor families are everything to us at Lifenet Health.

The work that we do is because of donation. And so we want to make sure that we are supporting the donor families, that we are honoring the donors who made the selfless act of donation to provide somebody else a better chance or a better opportunity at life. So I'm going to talk about that in just a little bit as well. But in just 2025 alone, we provided some level of support to 3,400 donor families. And

when we talk about our OPO footprint, we serve 5 million Virginiaians as well as 70 over 70 hospital partners. If you are a hospital and you are in our OPO footprint, we work in tandem with you to facilitate the donation process. We can't do anything without our hospital partners and we can't do anything without the registered donors that make that act. So, I talked a little bit about Lifenet Health Corporate and and

of course, if there are any questions, I'm always happy to answer those. And if I can't answer them, I have about 1500 colleagues that can help me find that answer. So, please uh at the end of this, please feel free to to come to me with questions. Lifeet Health was founded in 1982, but the foundation, the charitable side of the company was created in 2001. Now, both Lifenet Health Corporate and the foundation are

501c3 nonprofit organizations. We are separate. We operate separately, but we are very much aligned in that we share the same mission. Saving lives, restoring health, giving hope. The work that we do through the foundation is always with that in mind to further the overall mission of Lifenet Health. And we pretty much raise money for three main areas of focus. We want to support our donor families because without the

donor families, we can't do the work and make the impact that we do. We want to raise awareness for the reasons why donation is important, the reasons why you should be a registered donor, the impact that can be made. And then we also want to support research and development programs that are happening both at Lifenet Health and externally because we look at the the space of regenerative medicine is moving at a

breakneck pace every single day. What can Lifenet Health do to stay one step ahead one year from now, three years from now, five years from now? We have multiple divisions that are t that are working on site to make sure that we do stay ahead of that. Over the next few slides, you're also going to see a couple photos, and I I want to make sure that I provide some context for these

photos. Obviously, there are QR codes there, but each of these photos provides a touch point to the reason why donation is important. The little boy you see right there, his name is Parker.

He was born with multiple heart defects.

And at 17 days old, he had his first open heart surgery. I say first open heart surgery because by the time he was four, he had three open heart surgeries.

The final one was to replace a tissue aortic valve. He got that aortic valve because of donation. Now, you can see he's a very young boy in that photo.

He's not much older now. This photo is only a couple years old. To facilitate that donation, a family had to make a very difficult decision, having lost another child very young. The the tissue aortic valve had to be roughly the same size and same functionality to react well to Parker's body. So, the family made the decision to donate and Parker's parents are on record as saying to make

to make your child a donor was such a selfless act, but your child lives through mine. And that right there is one of the highlights of how donation affects everybody else. Yes, a donation most of the time begins at loss, but there's so much rebirth and second chances that come from that.

So this slide right here just kind of shows you a little bit of the combined impact between Lifenet Health Corporate and the foundation. I talked about alligraphs. You know, we we are the OPO, but we also recover tissue. Last year alone, over 1 million alligraphs were distributed worldwide. And and worldwide is very important because while the organs that are recovered typically try

to stay within the OPO footprint, tissue can be distributed globally. Tissue can be recovered. It can be stored for longterm use. It can be fashioned into multiple applications depending on the the need it's going to serve whether it's sports medicine, dental, spine, um, and many other applications. So 1 million alligraphs were distributed worldwide. At the corporate level, we have 215 patents that are held. And at

the foundation level, we have to date erected 11 donor memorials, two of which were unveiled just last year. one at Santara Virginia Beach General Hospital and another at Bons Secour's Memorial Regional Medical Center in Petersburg.

So what those memorials do are they are living reminders of the reasons why uh people donate and we want to make sure that those donors legacies live on. So, when you go to these 11 hospitals in our OPO footprint, you're going to see these beautiful pieces of artwork that have the names of the donors that made that decision to donate, uh, that gave somebody else a second chance at life or

gave somebody some life-changing tissue.

Two other things I do want to highlight on this page. Uh, I mentioned 3,400 donor families in Virginia were supported in 2025, but you see right there the number says 6,000. That's because Lifenet Health is not just here in Virginia. Our impact and our home is here in Virginia Beach, but we have donor families all across the country because as a tissue processor, we are supporting other OPOS throughout the

country that don't have the ability to recover the tissue. So, we recover the tissue and then those donors become part of our community. They become part of our family. So, last year alone, we supported over 6,000 donor families. And then the thing that I I really want to highlight is in the bottom corner, the 4,145 thanks to you letters. These are letters that allow our recipients,

whether it's organ, whether it's tissue transplant recipients, to thank their donors, thank their donor families, and let them know how their lives have been positively impacted. We received 4,000 over 4,000 of those just last year, and 2026 is actually the 20th anniversary of the Thanks to You program. So, it's a very impactful program. Uh, it's one of those things when we read a letter, it's

hard not to get through the letter without shedding at least one tear. um you really begin to see how impactful that decision is.

So on the foundation side, one of the things I talked about is how we support our donor family services and we do that through any number of events, any number of community engagement opportunities.

But I think the one thing that links every single thing you see on that screen is the fact that we want to create community. our donor family services team. When that opportunity comes to them where we have a donor, they want to make sure that the family is supported. They want to make sure that the family knows they're supported by Lifenet Health, but they also want to make sure that the family is supported

through community. What does community mean? Community means getting them engaged with other donor families who have been through this process. Maybe they're a year into their process, three years, five years, but it's a shared community. And we do this through bereavement support. We have a 30-month process of curated touch points to make sure that as anniversaries are coming up, the donor families know that their

loved ones legacies live on. We do this through fun events like baseball games throughout our our service area, whether it's Norfick Tides, uh Richmond Flying Squirrels, Salem Red Sox, Panhandle, Florida, Seattle Mariners, we bring the families together because they all have a shared experience and we want them to know that they are not alone in this experience. Um, one of the things that I

really enjoy that we do on the donor family services side is each year the Lifet Health Foundation provides a grant to support one donor memorialized as part of the annual Rose Bowl parade on the one legacy donate life rose parade float. This year, the donor that was memorialized positively impacted over 150 people through donation. He was a 22-year-old male. um had some mental health issues, was not able to to get

through those, but his family made the decision to donate and a 12-year-old girl received his heart in a life-saving operation. His corneas gave sight to a recipient in the United Arab Emirates and over 150 people received tissue donation from him. So that one that one donor provided positive impact to over 150 people. So our goal through the foundation is to make sure that our donor family services team has every

single resource available to continue to provide that community and to continue to provide that outreach to our donor families.

Second most important and I say second most important but probably 1B to 1A is community outreach and donation awareness. And I say that because there are a lot of people that I I will not say they are misinformed. I will not say they are illinformed but they are underinformed. and hand up. I was one of those. I tell this story all the time where I got my license as a 16-year-old

in Norphick. And when I went to get the license, I ticked the box to be an organ donor because it felt like the right thing to do. And I did not think about it for 25 years until I applied for the job that I currently hold standing here right in front of you. How many people out there are like me where you tick the box because it feels good. You don't

know what donation means. You don't know that you have to talk to your family about this because when it comes time for you to be the donor in almost all circumstances, not all, but almost all, you're not the one making that decision.

It's your next of kin. It's a family member that's in the room with you. They need to know how important this is to you. I didn't know that being that one donor could positively impact 150 people. I didn't know that you could change your registration at any point. I didn't know that you could modify it. If you only want to donate organs, you can do that. If you only want to donate

tissue, you can do that. So that's why we use our community outreach and donation awareness initiatives through the foundation to do that. We want to make sure that people are well informed with up-to-date and accurate information on donation. And the first QR code you see there is actually a specific website to our give life every advantage campaign and that is specific to donation awareness. We want to make sure

that people understand the positive impact that can be made through donation, but that you are informed enough to make that decision because it's not an easy decision. There are conversations that need to be had. You need to talk to your family and you need to understand what you are doing and and how that impact is going to affect others.

Speaking of that, the woman all the way to I guess my right, your left, but all the way on the the screen right underneath right above the pink QR code is Patricia Faison. And she was the model of health. She was a 20-year Navy veteran. She played basketball. She rode 15 miles on her bike almost every single day. But as time went on, her heart began to fail, and it was eventually

operating at only 14%. She was able to get a heart transplant through donation and since then she has now given back.

She's paying it forward. She's now a volunteer at Centa Health Hospital, Centa Heart Hospital where she's providing that community that I talked about. She's talking to the people on the waiting list. She's talking to the transplant recipients, making sure that they know they're not going on this journey alone. She's providing her insight and her experiences to make sure that they understand that there are

going to be better days ahead. Um, she actually did write a letter to her donor family and in her letter she said, "I stepped up and volunteered to serve this country and your loved ones stepped up for a great cause as well for giving the gift of life."

The Give Life Every Advantage campaign is quite possibly the the largest undertaking the foundation has ever done. It's it's really focused on providing as much information through multiple channels as possible. Whether it's traditional marketing, community engagement, forums such as this, uh we just want to make sure that people understand the value of donation and how it's being done right here in Virginia Beach.

The third and final pillar that we have at the foundation is supporting research and development. And that could be anything from our life sciences department, which is literally looking at the future of regenerative medicine.

I've talked a lot today about organ and tissue donation, but cell donation is the next step. Uh when you talk about organ and tissue, I go back to the numbers I said one equals 100 or 150.

Cell could be millions, could potentially be billions. And this work is being done here locally at Lifenet Health. But beyond that, we're also supporting the next generation of healthcare providers. whether it's medical students, humanitarian groups, uh we want to make sure that they have the tools necessary to be able to carry out the work that they do. So the foundation is working to provide grants

both internally and externally to make sure that donation transplantation work is being done correctly, but again with the most up-to-date and accurate information.

the the word yes means a lot in in the world that we operate in. And just going to go through a couple of statistics, but you can see right there each year organ donation gives 40,000 Americans a second chance at life. Those are 40,000 Americans that ha that got that second chance. Right now there's a 100,000 Americans waiting for that second chance. There's 3,100 Virginiaians Virginiaians waiting for that second

chance. And that's the organ transplant weight list. So the more people that become registered as a donor, the more opportunities there are for for those people to get that second chance. Even if we're talking about tissue, you're now getting a chance to change their lives. I talked about multiple divisions that we have for tissue, but if you're replacing somebody's ACL, they might now

have an opportunity to continue playing the sport they love or play with their grandkids. If we're talking about dental tissue, somebody might have the confidence to smile again. If we're talking about regenerative wound, they might have the confidence to now wear a short sleeve shirt when they haven't for years. The life-changing aspect is something that cannot go unsaid and unnoticed when we're talking about

donation. And you can see right there just through tissue. We talked about the million alligraphs that we provided, but in America, 2.5 million Americans received tissue donation last year alone. And I love the the last bullet point and I love that we use the infinity sign because we don't know how many people can be impacted through cell donation. And that's I think one of the

most exciting things about the work that is being done at Lifenet Health and the work that we're doing through the foundation is we just don't know how many people can be impacted. And uh and that's quite exciting and that just shows that there are opportunities everywhere.

The gentleman you see there, his name is Joey and as you can tell by what he's wearing, he was an active duty Marine.

Uh but in 2019 he developed some kidney issues and was unable to go on deployment. However, he continued serving his country and in 2021 those kidney issues turned into a heart issue and his heart had enlarged to double its normal size.

He and his wife well his fiance at the time they were two months shy of their wedding day when he had to be admitted to cardiac ICU. They made the decision that they were going to get married in the hospital before he went to surgery.

He got a new heart and they've now been married for two years. But he got that heart because of donation. And what he said is, "It's truly humbling to know someone was brave enough to register as an Oregon donor." And I'm alive to be able to say this. And I don't want to gloss over the word brave. Making that decision is brave. It's selfless. And the people who receive these gifts

understand that and they recognize that.

So, I'll finish with one last story. The woman you see there, her name is Megan.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer in August 2023. And the surgery was a success, but following the surgery, she developed a severe infection and completely lost her right breast. But through donated skin tissue, she was able to begin the process of reconstruction. And she wrote a thanks to you letter to her donor, letting them know the profound impact their lives have had on her. She is now an advocate

for organ tissue donation. She makes sure that anybody she talks to, she lets them know the importance of being a registered donor. But the one thing that I think links every single one of them, whether it's Megan, whether it's Joey, Patricia, or Parker, regardless of age, each one of them was impacted because of somebody's decision to donate. The foundation, the Lifet Health Foundation,

is is there to continue to support the donor families whose loved ones made that selfless act because we want to make sure that those legacies live on.

We want to make sure that they know that they're not alone. And I'll leave you with this, but at at a a December event for LifeNet Health, we had a heart uh transplant recipient get up and speak.

And the last words he left us with are the last words I'm going to leave you with. Imagine your last act on earth being something so positive. And with that, I'm happy to answer any questions about the foundation, about LifeNet Health, and I just want to thank you all for your time and for this opportunity.

Yeah. Before I get to Michael and Cash, let me just say thank you. And I think it's, you know, Virginia Beach received kudos for being the most caring city in this great nation of ours. And it's folks like you that and your company that have really stepped to the plate.

Um, as you know, I was in healthc care for 45 years. And when I was working at North Beth Israel for seven years, they tremendous amount. I remember back in the 80s when they did the first heart transplant there and what it takes they you they had le jets on standby because you got to transport uh organs you know sometimes considerable it it takes a magnificent network but the value that you bring

uh you know because every day when I come to city hall I'm passing uh your uh thing there and you what it gives to people and life and uh but you know right now I want to go to Michael and then uh to Cash.

Well, thanks for being here and for um sharing all this really amazing information. As you know, I was one of the council members who requested that you provide this briefing and and that was really because I had a chance to visit at your invitation your life campus and you know, as a lifelong resident of Virginia Beach, I was blown away. Uh, I thought I knew what you did or I thought I had some of some idea

what happened at Lifenet Foundation, Lifenet Health, and I really didn't have any idea at all. Um, and the the complexity and the diversity and the scope of what you and your colleagues do there is um is really remarkable and it makes me uh very grateful to be part of this community that uh supports and embraces that mission. Just a couple of things. I don't have a question. There's

a couple of things that I gleaned from from my visit and from your presentation I just want to highlight. Uh one of them is that you're a non it's a nonprofit organization. Um and so um it's truly dedicated to um helping people and to making people's lives better. And that's what I see happening there and I think it's very impressive. The other thing that I learned from my time there and

and also from your stories here, you really emphasize that, but I think it's really important to note. Um, I mean, I'm an organ donor myself and I really didn't know what that meant by check. I thought I knew what it meant, but I really didn't know what it what it meant. and and after visiting your campus, I went and had conversations with my loved ones and and my family members, my next kin about what to

expect if something unexpected happens. Um, and I was part of an uh experience once where that did happen and life called and I don't think the family was necessarily prepared to receive some of those questions. And so I think the more that we understand um what to expect if something like that occurs, I think the better that we can be and just as you said to know that it's important to that individual to to

be a donor. Um and it's not just an organ donor, it's tissue and and all and bone and all kinds I guess that's tissue, I don't know, but all kinds of other things. Um, so I I that was a really important takeaway and I did have that conversation with my family and I'm really glad that I did based on what I learned from from being there. So thank you and continue to do all the great

work that you're doing.

Thank you, Councilman.

Well said.

Um, Councilman Belaluchcci, thank you for this um, presentation that you set up and and thank you for the presentation. It's good to see you. I know that you are deeply invested in the community. So to have you be the executive director of um this organization speaks uh to I know the depth that this organization will reach uh because of your leadership. So thank you.

Thank you.

I will say that that this um touches me in a very um uh personal way. uh my wife um a uh kidney transplant um that was performed on her December 18th. So this um she is a kidney transplant recipient. So this is near and dear to my heart, right? My wife is the love of my life. And so with that being said, um I am so grateful to hear that your organization is housed out of

um uh Virginia Beach. Uh we had to drive two hours away. Um we've got the call.

We're grateful for there to be uh centers uh throughout Virginia. Um but I'm so grateful that you are home. And so going forward, I would love to to maybe have a tour. Not maybe I would love to have a tour because if anything that I've learned since December 18th or since we were on the kidney transplant list seven months ago is that awareness um needs to be spread. Right. I had um I had a very elementary

uh when it comes to information about being a donor. I myself I'm a donor. I checked that box. But I didn't really understand the the depth of what that meant and the sacrifice and the families. And so if you have something that and we are Virginia Beach is the most caring city and I will say that and and and that's because we have organizations like Lifenet. Um we've got organizations that I would love to

continue to build around and then uh have my community in district 7. Um, we would love to have you come and speak.

Um, because I'm going to tell you, um, uh, they asked me, did I want to be a kidney transplant, um, for my wife? Do did I want to go through the process?

And I said, well, I'm, um, there's only two of us and I'm the one that's working for the family, so we we both can't be laid up. And so that those are real conversations, right? And so, luckily, we were able to get help from the family. But I will tell you, I'm on board with you because um it's personal for me. So, thank you that you're housed in Virginia Beach and not two hours

away. Not that that's bad. I'm grateful.

But it's so I I want to tell you guys, um my wife celebrated her one month of having a new kidney, right? And so, new life is restored to her. So, your organization um is just amazing. And then you do tissue and so forth and so on. So I would love to set up that organization that uh tool make that happen.

Okay. Thank you.

It's worth thank and congratulations. Thank you Mr.

Driscoll for the great presentation about a great Virginia Beach company. I remember seeing the Virginia Tissue Bank and Airport Industrial Park and a little brick building on Baker Road back in like 1985 or so. and you've grown immensely with the technology and the knowhow and it's a worldwide company as you say here and doing incredible things. But also what caught my eyes at last slide about research and

development because my sister died two years ago from leukemia which could have which could at some point be addressed by your research and development as well as cancer is also prevalent in my family and others around this table. we all have some connection here in some point in our lives whether as a donor or someone in our family. So, it's doing incredible things. I just want to thank you and and life. Thank you.

Okay.

Just real quick again just to acknowledge everybody what they've said, but the one thing I would say um proactively um spent a long time in the fire department. we we deal with, you know, we've been with you and and been toured and on the hazmat team and stuff, but so we talk about donors and we've been a part of it, you know, a little bit more. One of the things I did, and I

would suggest to anybody that it's not the easiest thing in the world, but I figured out who was going to be the naysayer in my group and I went explicitly to them and talked to them.

Happened to be my mom. You know, she was probably not going to be the one on board when it came time. Now, this was a long time ago and I've been married 35 happily, mostly years. So, um, so, uh, they know now and it's in the will and everything else, but to to find that one person that's going to put a kink in the plan if something does happen.

Obviously, I don't want it to happen, but, uh, I think that's a a pretty good way to be proactive to, uh, handle any bumps in the road that could happen. So, just my two cents. Thank you, and I look forward to our tour when when it happens. Thank you, Councilman.

Okay. Anyone else?

I'll just see words. You never know who things are. Thank you, especially global impact.

That's for my mother who was in for a while and he was bring her this way with me. I said, "Well, go take me to Virginia." And doctor says, "That's where my brother is." and his brother happens to be just to show you. And my mother had been donating for the uh $250 with her group for the children with the cliff and they had been to Liberia.

But it was just a surprise of all people that his brother had been working on the multiple I call my mother bionic and different different and then finding out that they were there brother or his brother the ones that have the operation and all of that in there. And then later on we got to know and I did do the tour was I thank you again for coming.

Thank you.

Okay. And now let me just say this.

You know, Virginia Beach's got a lot to be proud of. When we think about some of the organizations that we have here that have global impact uh yourself and your neighbor at uh uh you know Operation Smile, Operation Blessing, uh you know uh Mercy Chefs that go pretty much everywhere and they're right here in Virginia Beach. And you Yeah.

And I tell you what, you helped define making Virginia Beach such a great city, and for that, I think we all want to thank you very much, and we're very grateful.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Okie dokie. Uh we're going to get into council comments and everything. If you don't mind me, I just want to start with something. I got an inquiry today from the folks at Sandbridge today and uh with a pending u you know ma major storm you know sometimes they come sometimes they don't uh but once again there's you know once again and you know we it's very frustrating not being able to get

NMO built and you know have a true evacuation but uh you know but you know once again if we could just highlight some of the precautions that I know you'll be taking. So may I just want to as you mentioned before that there is no certainty in the forecast like there was supposed to be a ton of snow this weekend and on Monday and we didn't get any snow certainly not a ton of snow but

right now what we're doing we're monitoring it as we always do and um and we're preparing like so even though we didn't get snow on Sunday or Monday our staff still pre-treated the roads right so right now our staff is monitoring watching the forecast listening to Wakefield and also our independent um third party meteorologist as well is giving us advice as well. And we're staging resources and preparing to

pre-treat the roads as if a storm is coming. And if for some reason we actually do see snow storms, we will um obviously go in effect of going to our snow emergency plan to remove the snow.

And also for communities like Sandbridge, and Sandbridge is unique, but for certain parts of Virginia Beach that have unique features to it, we do adjust our plan beyond what we typically do to ensure that there's a way out or we might partner with Damn Neck if necessary to provide another out, another path out of the um the neighborhood or the community should the need arise. And I'll tell you, I found

out when was I think it was last year or last February or whatever when uh whenever Jim Canour from Weather Channel comes to Virginia Beach uh you know something's coming and uh you know but I had the opportunity to go out uh you know to Dam Neck and see the facility out there where they got mounds of rock salt and trucks and everything and there had to be Yeah. I I can't even guess how many

trucks were lined up and you know other vehicles with plows on them and everything that were ready. You know, I think you know people have to appreciate that when you run a city the size of Virginia Beach, the infrastructure that you need to deal with the miles of roads and everything that we have, you know, you have quite an impressive operation.

So, I appreciate that. Barbara, another issue. Okay. Anybody on an issue that I'd like talk about very different from what we've been talking about. I hope on a little bit lighter tone uh but I hope something that can be fun for us. Uh of course we're celebrating this year as the 250th year of the uh Declaration of Independence.

But I I think it's also important that we include the time of the revolution because of course the declaration was only the beginning and it took that period of the revolution for it actually to come to be and so from that time of 1776 to 1781 uh when everything was concluded is is is an important time and it's an important time I think for Virginia Beach too.

uh and and we really need to consider that and the role that Princess Anne County played in the in that era. Um I've been reading the new comprehensive plan and one of the thing that has struck me is that over and over it says we really need to make sure we are maintaining our historical structures and our historic areas.

And it says also in several places that there are probably some places that we haven't identified yet and we're not recognizing. And I've got one of those and I'd just like to share that with you. Um and what the background is for that site and what I'm hoping to do uh very shortly uh on February 15th of 1781.

And I I base this on this study and some of you who were here uh remember the time a few years ago when we had a committee that really went through this and to verify it and so forth. Uh it was called the skirmish at the James Plantation and and this occurred like I said in in fe on February 15th of 1781 and the James plantation was in the area of Redmill and um they're thinking that

perhaps the place that they're most specifically talking about there is around the target but that's about as close as they can come to where this happened and they're calling it the skirmish at the James plantation. Well, at that time a group of Hessian um soldiers and actually this was written by a man named Ewald who was uh of of that Eric uh group. So when he's writing we are the enemy. The patriots

were the enemy and his folks were the good guys. So when you're reading this you have to kind of get used to that to thinking of ourselves as enemies. But at that particular time the Hesshian forces which was commanded by this Captain Ewald uh encountered the Princessan militia uh and they were uh under the command of Captain Amos Weekes and uh I I think you know probably none of us have ever heard of Amos Weekes and

who would have thought okay this is a man that led the patriots during Princess Anne County time uh of the revolution but anyway Um they they did have this what they call a skirmish at the James plantation on February uh 15th. And on February 16th, the next day, they moved down what is now Princess Anne Road to the site of the Pungo Chapel.

Uh and they had another brief encounter there. Not quite as much that they would call it a skirmish, but they did have a a counter an encounter there. And that site happens to be located on what today is what we call Henley's at Pleasant Ridge. Um, and that site is just an open field. Uh, it's right on Princess Anne Road just a short distance south of Pleasant Ridge Road.

But I think of all the hundreds of cars that go past that site every single day and nobody has any idea of what happened there on February 16th, 1781.

And so on February 16th, I want to have sort of a brief ceremony there. And it's going to depend on what the weather's like because if it's a snowy, rainy day and all that mud, nobody's going to want to trace over there. But I would like to do just a little something and start talking about what did happen not only at that site but in Princess Anne County during the revolution during

this time that we're celebrating the Declaration of Independence because I think the folks in Princess Anne County have kind of had a bad rap all these years. Uh they've kind of been portrayed as being more loyalist which I think maybe came from the fact that they had to trade with England. that didn't mean they were loyalists. But anyway, I think it's a great time for us to spend some

time uh historically and um uh talking to our citizens about what what actually happened.

Uh so as we get closer to February 16th, I I will come up with uh a time and a place and a little bit more of what we're going to to do, but I would like to do just a very brief thing on that date at that site. and to start letting people know that Princess Anne County had a lot of patriots and remembering what those folks did, I think is extremely important. Uh, and we

talk about losing history. And this is one of those things that's going to be lost if we don't do something to to correct some of this misinformation that's out there. But like I say, I think we can have some fun with it, too.

So, I hope with this 250th celebration, we don't just think in terms of uh July 4th and and so forth of of 1776, but that we think of this whole time of the revolution and what was occurring in Prince County and and what those folks did. It's it's pretty amazing. This is a great uh document if anybody uh is interested to to read it. But um I I think it's something that's kind of neat

that we might want to share and we don't want to lose history.

Hey, Barbara uh you know go ahead and get the information and we'll do a proclamation get it on my schedule and we'll invite every other That would be nice.

And then we'll also uh Young Jimmy Wood is you know one of the leaders of the 250 thing. And you know, we just had not too long ago a reenactment of the skirmish at Kent's landing.

And I'll tell you what, it was amazing.

It it was a very, you know, good show.

And that was, you know, believe it or not, that's like a mile and a half from where I live now.

Uh and uh you know, I think think this is an opportunity to rekindle our patriotism and remind people that, you know, what we had to do to get to where we are today. And there was a lot of sacrifice.

Wow. uh that went on back then in a lot of parade work. Michael, thank you, mayor. If I could add on as well. Thank you, Mrs. Councilwoman Henley for that because I do think that we do as a city need to understand this year the 250th anniversary but forever what happened in this city because we're not just 63 years old. We go way back to that time. But I just want to add on to

what Mayor Dyer was saying. We are talking about this and I think at some point we as a body soon need to be talking about this 250th uh committee that is part of Virginia 250 uh expires July 5th this year because that's the end of the 200 you know 1776 but we were talking about the potential like you say the revolutionary war went on all the way to 1781. So there are other reasons

to maybe keep this committee uh together going forward. Maybe not spending as much money as this year, but there are there are opportunities to to to do what you're talking about.

We know about the battle off the capes and the other things that happened later on. And without the the events that occurred in Princess Anne County, uh the surrender would probably have happened in New York rather than in Yorktown in Virginia. and and so the folks in Princess Anne County were extremely active and there was a lot that was going on and I just don't think we generally appreciate what our

ancestors did for us and now's an opportunity so I would really love to see something ongoing.

Right.

Yeah. Michael and then Mary.

Thank you, mayor. Um, in relation to 250, I'll just say as a perfect segue to maybe think about the you may have seen the news reports that the sheriff's office um, Sheriff Hulkcom authorized a special patch for all the members of the um, sheriff's office to wear during the 250th anniversary. So, um, thank you to Sheriff Hulcom and to the sheriff's office for, you know, engaging in that, too. It's it's a

pretty nice um citywide an effort and everyone's kind of pitching in to celebrate. And I agree with you, mayor.

I think it could help it could help us uh unite and as we all contemplate our patriotism and our our history and and our commitment to to being American. So, I appreciate that. But what I really wanted to share is two things. Um last Friday, Council Member Remick and I uh attended the retreat for the VBCDC.

And um I'm happy to to share that there's a really committed board and professional staff there who are working to uh continue to deliver on the mission of um housing affordability for Virginia Beach residents. And just want to really thank the both the professional staff and also um all of the volunteers who are really committed to making some transformational changes in that area um

through their efforts at BBC. They all met at the Boat Creek Rec Center, which is in District 3, to kind of strategize and and um and to make plans to continue to deliver and expand on their mission.

So, congratulations to them. And also, thank you. And then also on Saturday, I had a chance to attend once again the Plaza Volunteer Rescue Squad's um annual officer installation and banquet. And I always love going to that event. the plaza rescue is very kind to include me and um you know you're just reminded of the dedication that exists both from the professional staff and also from the

volunteers who commit their time to saving other people's lives. And you know in public service you make sacrifice and we do public service here but the type of public service we do here doesn't involve vomit and blood and um car accidents and um other materials even worse and trauma. And it's really amazing to be uh surrounded by the people who are so committed to their neighbors and to our community that they

go through specialized training and then respond to these horrific incidents um to save other people and protect other people in their volunteer capacity. But it's not just the volunteer and in our in our most tender moments in life.

There they are. Um, and it's not just uh the volunteers, which who we all I know we all share in our appreciation for them. It's the professional staff, the professional EMS team. And I I like to call out someone who I um always talk to at those events and have visited and that's Terry Gates. And he runs the keeps our ambulances running in the mechanic shop and his whole team there

um is dedicated to making sure those ambulances run.

the way they're supposed to and um he's been doing it for a long time and I have a lot of respect for the work Terry and his team do. So, just shout out to him and uh and his entire team and everyone involved with Plaza Rescue. It was really nice and I and I love going to that. And guess what their theme was this year, Mayor?

What's up?

USA in honor of the 250th.

There we go. Okay, we're going to go with Amelia and then Cash.

Well, again, starting back segue to you.

We're really excited about this because both Councilman Remick and I serve on the Lord Dumbo the other events that has been happening around and maybe we can share that with that with our committee so they can rally around and support what you're doing. Okay. Besides that, this has been a very eventful week and weekend. First, some of our group went to the Urban League of of Hampton Rose event and our mayor kind of

stole the show with his lovely welcome remarks.

It was good. So, thank you for that.

Knocked it out of the park.

Yes, it was really well done. And then besides that, we did get a special surprise of the Martin Luther King Jr.

III who was there. So, I was able to get a picture with him. And for me that is so important and he's so quiet spoken somewhat like like his dad very quiet until he was passionate about his civil rights. So that was good to go to and then I went to the entire inaugural activities from Friday till Sunday. I have my feet are tired but it was really wonderful to be there to see the inclusive

We had not only HBCU and the VMI, all 1500 of them marched across. So were there for a bit and um we even had for the uh new lieutenant governor, the Bollywood group. So lots of different cultures, the Native Americans and so forth. And um she was well, you know, welcome. and at the ball over 3,000 were there. And um but I think with what her whole thing is, United for Virginia will make a

difference that we can all um enjoy.

Then after that, I got home Sunday late afternoon and attended the um Virginia Symphony Orchestra. They did a tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and called me up about an hour and a half. We look forward to seeing you for welcome remarks.

But I got there and they had over a thousand there. It was very well done and uh to give remarks. So we have so much to talk about for our city.

Proud to be here. Thank you.

And when you ran for office, they told you this was a part-time job, right?

Okay. Cash.

So um I mean, you took all of my council comments, but I do have to I was going to say that, but I'll say it in my own way because I think it's very important.

Um, the Urban League, the 42nd uh Urban League of MLK event was fantastic. And I'm going to tell you something from Virginia Beach and the perspective of us being um a well diverse community to have Martin Luther King III come in to Virginia Beach and speak. I feel like we are a template of what um Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. set out in his journey that we would become as a um

as Americans would become. So for me, um, as I shook his hands, and I shook his hand probably too long cuz the the security guards was kind of like, you know, next, but I wanted to look in his eyes and um than thanked um his father and thanked him for their dedication to this nation. And so I just that was very important. So I'm grateful that Virginia Beach could have events like that. And

then the second one we went to was at the Sandler Center. Now why that was important is Virginia Symphony Orchestra was there, right? And they are docked, get this, at Regent University, which is in what district? Okay, I digress. But right now seven.

Anyway, it was a free program. Martin Luther King, um, MLK, and Earl Binham was there. And if you don't know his musical talent, it was just incredible.

So Earl Binham was there and his choir, the VSO, uh, Dr. uh, Ameilia Ross Hammond, she spoke. They called me, too. They was like, "We don't know if she's going to make it or not. If she doesn't make it, will you speak?" I was like, "Of course." And then you showed up. I was like, "Good." Okay. Anyway, I digress, but it was such a wonderful event for free. And so, I want to tell you that um

that Virginia Beach is doing ma uh magnificent things for MLK um um honoring his legacy. This is taking place in Virginia Beach. So, if anyone says something different, I' I'm I'm a champion of Virginia Beach that we are um on the cutting edge of what diversity looks like. And so, thank you.

Don't forget the youth.

Oh. Oh, yes. Yes. Yes. And so, there is a young celloist. Did I say it correctly?

Chist.

Chist. Okay. I'm This is my show. and um she's 18 years old and she's a part of VSO and she came out and just the talent to perform with over a thousand people, her family in the front. They have flowers, roses, but this shows the talent that is housed here in Virginia Beach. And so she was very talented, creative, skilled, and she moved the crowd. And I just want to say she's here in Virginia

Beach. And we are grateful to have such talent that represents the arts community, which I'm a champion of. And that goes to say that that as Virginia Beach begins to move forward, we have to make sure to let our youth know that we see them.

well. Everyone's going to be hungry. So our restaurants are out there ready to service. So it goes through January 26.

Thank you.

Thank you. And uh real quick, you know, Virginia Beach, we're finding out every all the time what a great city we are.

And uh you know, 1400 people at the dinner the other day, everybody from all over the region came there. Uh, but I want to give a shout out um to the Virginia pilot and Stacy Parker. Uh, it was really nice looking at the front page of the paper and seeing that we are one of the top destinations not only in the country but the world. I think it was 52 and I think it's a culmination of

things and it's the things that uh we have put together with the you know uh creative culture that we're doing and uh we we do a lot of things sometimes we get criticized for them but they seem to be paying off for us. So I just wanted to say that. Okay.

Thank you.

Okay.

Yep.

All right. Um so let me first say as far as I know we have no speakers tonight.

Um under ordinance and resolutions.

Does anybody have any things there other than just everybody okay with ordinance resolutions?

Consent agenda consent.

Uh under planning number one uh I fly district six.

Agenda please.

Number two, Cohen Residential LLC District 2 is in compliance with the regulations.

Number three, uh, great quality construction.

So as for consent agenda with their clarification that the applicant first uh this is not a proper discussion but on um things to consider the planning commission uh added two items for the conditional use permit and I'm asking that items 10 and 11 not be included in the ordinance tonight. So, how do we want to read that? The original for the planning commission or eliminating items which numbers 10 and 11.

Mark, you can do it either way. I I think it is sufficient and I will defer to planning staff if they disagree. I think it is sufficient to denominate it as originally proposed.

Um, okay.

Without the planning commission changes might be a good ad.

Were there there weren't any other changes right?

Okay. Um, number six, Matthew.

Number five.

I'm sorry. Number five.

That's in compliance.

Five.

Six. Um, Allison Huff, District 3.

That's okay for consent.

Number seven, Legacy Land, District 3.

Okay, for consent.

Number eight, Jesse Ryan, District Five, consent.

Number nine, two 215 Fourth Street, District 5, consent.

And number 10, the ordinance to adopt the high plan with the parks and wreck assessments. Everybody okay with that?

All righty. At this point, the chair will entertain a motion to recess and close session pursuant to the exemptions from COVID meetings allowed by section 223711A code of Virginia as amended for the following purposes. Legal matters.

Consultant consultation with legal counsel employed or retained by the public body regarding specific legal matters requiring a provision of legal advice by such council pursuant to section 2.2371A88.

That would be on the disparity study.

And then also publicly held property discussions for or consideration of acquisition of real property for public purposes or for disposition of publicly held property where discussions and open meeting would adversely affect the bargaining position or negotiation negotiating strategy of the public body pursuant to section 2.2 3711A3.

Oh then here we go. District two.

District 2, District 2, District 6, District 6, District 5 and six, and District 6. Okay. And personnel matters, discussions, consideration or interviews of prospective candidates for employment assignment appointment promotion performance demotion salaries, disciplining, or resignation of specific public officers, appointees, or employees of any public body pursuant to section 2.237. to 371181

and that's for council appointments of boards commissions committees authorities, agencies and appointees and uh performance of city council employees of boards, commissions or committees. So I have a motion. So move second.

I

Okay, we are recessent to close.

If you will kindly stand if you're willing and able for the invocation.

Heavenly Father, you are always with us and beside us. Be with us this evening as we consider the affairs of our great city.

Give us the patience to listen, the wisdom to decide, and the strength to act. Amen.

And if I must ask for a moment of silence for all of those who have paid the ultimate price to keep our city and nation safe.

And now for the pledge of allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you.

Okay, madam clerk, do we have a roll call?

All present, excluding council member Schulman, who is out of the country.

Okay. Thank you very much. Uh could I ask for a motion for the certification of the close session?

So moved.

Second.

Okay.

The vote is open.

Council Jackson Gray, may I have your vote please?

I'm good still.

I need Yes. Just Thank you. By vote of 10 to zero, you certified the close session to be in accordance with a motion to recess.

Okay. Could I have a motion to approve the minutes of the informal and formal session of January 6, 2026 and the special formal session of January 13, 2026?

So move.

Vote is open.

Council member Henley, may I have your vote please?

I abstain from the meeting that I missed.

Okay. Can you just hit abstain then?

Hit abstain.

There you go.

Thank you. By a vote of 8 to zero with council member Henley and Ross Hannah Hammond abstaining, you have approved the minutes as submitted.

Okay. Uh today's mayor's presentation on behalf of the entire council is a very special one uh with the uh resolution um the international holocaust remembrance day of January 27th, 2026. And is Betty an Leven here, CEO come on up. Bring the folks up. Come on down.

And I asked my friend and colleague Michael Baluchcci if he would be so kind to do the honors.

Thank you, mayor. And I want to welcome all of our friends from the United Jewish Federation here. And um also um just say a special acknowledgement and a tribute to our colleague Councilman Schulman uh who certainly would be uh most likely to read this resolution if he were present. He's out of the country today, but we're thinking about him and we appreciate him and his service to our

city and his um integral work in developing this resolution. So it's my pleasure to read it to you today.

Whereas January 27th marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day, designated by the United Nations General Assembly to commemorate the anniversary of the liberation of Awitz Burkanau, the largest Nazi concentration camp and extermination camp. And whereas January 17th, 2026 marks 81 years since the liberation. And whereas today and every day we remember and honor the memory of the 6 million Jews who are

systematically murdered by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis along with millions of other innocent victims including people with disabilities, political dissident and others targeted for persecution. And whereas the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of anti-semitism and included examples recognize that anti-semitism is quote a certain perception of Jews which may be expressed as hatred towards Jews.

Rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-semitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish inter individuals and/or their property towards Jewish community institutions and religious facilities. End quote. And whereas International Holocaust Remembrance Day serves as a solemn reminder of the dangers of hatred, bigotry, and anti-semitism and underscores the importance of education, vigilance, and

action to prevent such atrocities from occurring again. And whereas the city of Virginia Beach reaffirms his commitment to promoting acceptance, understanding, and human dignity while standing against all forms of hatred and discrimination.

And whereas the Jewish Community Relations Council and the Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater along with partner organizations including the Combat Anti-semitism Movement affirm their commitment to countering all forms of anti-semitism today. And whereas the Holocaust Commission of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater educates the Virginia Beach community about this

chapter of Jewish history through programs and publications, including Two Life: Holocaust Stories about Hampton Road survivors, liberators, and rescuers, which highlights the experiences and achievements of Holocaust survivors who made their homes in Virginia Beach. And whereas the Holocaust Commission provides educational programming and annual commemorations for International Holocaust Remembrance Day in January

and Yam Hash Ashoa each spring. Please forgive me. each spring. And whereas in 2026, the Holocaust Commission will host public commemorations on January 27th for International Holocaust Remembrance Day and on April uh 13th for Yam Hashoa to remember victims, honor survivors, and recognize students and teachers who actively work to learn and teach the lessons of that dark chapter of human

history. And whereas it is our duty to ensure that the lessons of the Holocaust remain a cornerstone of our collective memory and to honor the resilience and courage of those who survived and rebuilt their lives. Now therefore, be it resolved that the city council of Virginia Beach do do hereby proclaim January 27th, 2026 as International Holocaust Remembrance Day in the city of Virginia Beach, and

call upon all citizens to join in solemn remembrance of the victims, educate themselves about the Holocaust, and commit to building a more compassionate society. And it further resolved that all people are urged to honor the lives that were lost and to reaffirm a shared commitment to opposing anti-semitism and all forms of discrimination and hate. And this is given by the city council of Virginia Beach on the 20th

day of January. And we um present this resolution dually signed by each member of the city council. So with your we would like to come down present you the resolution um take a photo and then welcome your remarks.

Yeah, I think we all Anybody wants to come is welcome.

That's right.

Everybody

does look like

One more for

some comments. Sorry.

I am.

I'm going to keep them guessing.

Welcome. We appreciate would appreciate hearing from you.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor and Council members. I'm Mona Shapiro Flax and I am the president of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater and I want to thank you very much for this meaningful recognition and I'm honored to accept this on behalf of the United Jewish Federation including the Jewish Community Relations Council and Holocaust Commission. This resolution underscores our community's shared

commitment to remembrance, education, and standing against anti-semitism and hate. Our work is grounded in the stories of the Holocaust survivors who built their lives in Virginia Beach and throughout Hampton Roads. Their courage and testimony shape everything we do, and we carry their voices forward as the eyewitness generation fades. Each year on January 27th, we join the world in marking International Holocaust

Remembrance Day, the anniversary of the liberation of Ashvitz. Our programs create space for our community to acknowledge, learn, and remember. This year, we are hosting a program at 7 PM on Tuesday, January 27th at the Reva and Sam Sandler family campus. We will be highlighting the Holocaust journey of the Gunsenhouser family. They're Virginia Beach residents whose ancestors traveled the world in search of refuge

during the Holocaust. To learn more about the program and to RSVP, please visit jewishba.orgihrd.

RSVPs are required for security purposes.

Each spring, we observe Yamhashawa, bringing together survivors, descendants education educators and community members for an evening of remembrance and reflection. Beyond the commemoration, we reach thousands of students and teachers annually through initiatives such as the Ellie Wiselle writing and visual arts competition, What We Carry, Survivor Testimonies, and podcasts, helping young people connect

history to the challenges of today. This resolution sends a powerful message that our city stands with us in ensuring the lessons that the lessons of the Holocaust are never forgotten and that we never again have this that it remains a shared responsibility.

Thank you again for this honor and for your partnership in preserving memory and promoting acceptance throughout our community.

Thank you very much.

Thank you all so much. Thank you very much.

Thank you for the book.

Yes, it's so beautiful.

Thank you.

You know, once again, it's always um acknowledging and honoring people as we do every time we meet. That's why Virginia Beach is such a great city.

Thank you. Okay. Uh next is a public hearing on the franchise for use of city-owned property known as the 15th Street Pier. and that Virginia Beach Fish Fishing Pier LLC reuse and operation of the Virginia Beach Fishing Pier.

No speakers there. Sorry, my microphone was not working. There are no speakers, sir.

Okay, we okay to move forward?

Okay. Consent agenda. There are no speakers. So that's correct, sir.

Okay.

Okay. So everything is on consent as we have no speakers this evening, Mr.

Mayor. Uh under ordinances of resolution number one is the ordinance to mend city code section 10-1 and 10-1.2 re change the polling location for precinct 00002 to Virginia Beach Middle School 0108 to all saints Episcopal Church and relocate the central absentee precinct and office of the voter registars to 500 studio drive as requested by the Virginia Beach electoral board. Number two is the

ordinance to amend city code sections 21-405 and 21-47 and add section 21-47.1 rate changes ret towing and storage of vehicles requested by city council member Rimik and the towing advisory board.

the ordinance to authorize one additional full-time employee employee within the FY202526 city auditor's operating budget rate audit investigating assistant requested by city council members Cummings and Schulman and the audit committee. Number four is the resolution to authorize and direct the city manager to execute an intergovernmental agreement between the Virginia Department of Forestry and the

City Ray purchase of agricultural reserve program easements. Number five is the ordinance to appropriate $364,817 from the balance of the general fund to provide an interest free loan to Sandbridge Rescue and Fire Inc. for the purchase of one ambulance. Number six is the ordinance to accept and appropriate $499,771 from the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice to the FY202526 Commonwealth Attorney Operating Budget

Ray two full-time grant funded positions for prosecutors of juvenile gun charges.

I'm open a public hearing on planning.

Uh, number one is the IFly Virginia Beach Magdal Amber Inc. LLC for alternative compliance requesting to operate temporary commercial parking lot at 2402 Pacific Avenue, unit B and 2400 Atlantic Avenue. That's in district 6. Number two is the Cohen Residential LLC Barbara A.

Kase, it's all for a conditional change of zoning from a one and a two agricultural district to a conditional uh R10 residential district recreate four lots and construct four single family dwellings and that's at 2597 Leroy Road and that's in district two.

Number three is the Brink Quality Construction LLC Chinese Community Association of Hampton Roads for a conditional use change of zoning from B1 neighborhood to business district and conditional B1 neighborhood and business district to conditional A18 apartment district developing 18 uh units multifamily community at 722 New Town Road and that's in district 4.

Number four, Michael D. Siphon, Inc. at 1120 First Colonial Storage LLC for a conditional change of zoning from O2 office district to conditional Brew Community Business District. And we are voting on the uh originally application without the changes from the planning staff, excuse me, the planning commission. And that's in district six.

Number five, the Matthew W. Ferme and Matthew and Jessica Ferme for conditional use permit rare home occupation at 1492 Backbay Landing Road.

That's in district 2. Number six is Allison Huff Sinage Enterprises LLC for conditional use permit Ray Open Air Market at 1136 Linhaven Road. That's in district three.

Number seven is Legacy Land LLC for conditional use permit red bulk storage at 525 Viking Drive and that's in district three. Number eight is Jesse Ryan. Jesse Ryan assoc and Nicole Levit for a conditional use permit raise short-term rental at 919 Pacific Avenue. That is in district 5. Number nine is 2154th Street LLC for conditional use permit short-term rental at 215th Street. test in district 5. Number 10 is the

ordinance adopt and incorporate to the Virginia Beach comprehensive plan 2016 Ray the park system needs assessment and development strategy 2024. Move for approval.

Do I have a second? Any discussion?

Okay, let's open the vote.

The vote is open.

By a vote of 10 to zero, you've approved the consent agenda as read by Vice Mayor Wilson.

Okay. Thank you. Any appointments?

Yes, Mr. Mayor. Uh, under Arts and Humanities Commission to appoint John Catius. The Bayfront Advisory Commission to reappoint John Cen and Holly Quaar.

The Clean Community Commission to appoint William Serge. the community policy and management team to reappoint Amanda Kaitton, Charlene Collins, Angela Hicks, Rooney Meyers, Gregory Smith, the Eastern Virginia Regional uh Industrial Facility Authority appoint Emily Archer, the Green Ribbon Committee to reappoint Michael Anderson, the Parks and Recck Commission to appoint Richard Holine

to reappoint David Weiner uh personnel board to appoint Frank Borum uh to re as a full member to reappoint James Barber alternate member Sharon Brown full member Kenda Snider full member resort advisory commission to reappoint Kate M Pitman representing the vibe the transition area interacility traffic area CAC to appoint Brandon Allen, James Noel, Brian Kerwin, and for Stacy Cummings to

be an additional council liaison, and to reappoint John Cromwell representing District 2 Planning Commission. Uh, Virginia Beach Cannabis, uh, Michael McCloud, and the Military, uh, Economic Development Advisory Board to appoint Bill Curtis. Move for approval.

Okay. Any comments? Vote is open.

Vote is open.

Mr. Mayor.

Yes.

I'm going to abstain because I did not have the list. I was not here last week.

I just didn't get it.

Okay. Thank you.

Okay. By vote of 9 to zero with uh Council Member Henley abstaining. You have appointed those as read by Vice Mayor Wilson.

Okay. Is that any old business at this point? new business. Hey, thank you all very much and thank you all for coming, folks.