Fayetteville City Council Work Session Recap – May 5, 2025
Published on May 07, 2025
FAYETTEVILLE, NC - The Fayetteville City Council met May 5, at 2 p.m. in City Hall for the monthly work session to discuss matters relevant to the city.
The meeting was CALLED TO ORDER at 2 p.m. followed by the invocation offered by Council member Derrick Thompson and the Pledge of Allegiance led by Mayor Mitch Colvin and City Council.
Council member Deno Hondros moved to APPROVE THE AGENDA. This was seconded by Council member D.J. Haire. The motion PASSED UNANIMOUSLY (10-0).
There were five OTHER ITEMS OF BUSINESS discussed during the work session.
6.01: Construction Management Division Update was the first item presented to the City Council. The Construction Management Division (CMD) is one of the City’s newest departments, established in 2019 to centralize resources for the successful completion of Segra Stadium. CMD continues to evolve and now manages most of the City's parks, public safety, and facilities construction projects. The Division handles initial cost estimation, project management, financial management, and coordination with client departments. Currently, CMD oversees more than 15 active projects totaling over $150 million. In order to improve project management and delivery, the City partnered with Freese and Nichols, Inc (FNI), a full-service regional engineering firm with expertise in managing municipal capital programs, project management, and program management best practices. FNI is assisting the City in procuring Owners Advisors for projects moving forward in order to ensure that City project managers have independent expertise at close hand to partner in the successful execution of projects. In order to facilitate the successful implementation of these recommendations, as well as other industry best practices and oversight, staff requested to moving forward with a one-year Capital Facilities Program Management contract with FNI. This effort will add significant dedicated resources to the Division, including a deputy program manager, one or two additional project managers, resources for construction observation, and a significant back-office presence to assist in developing a long-lasting, more formalized and transparent project management framework. This contract is structured to allow FNI to bring significant resources to bear in the short term, and then to allow them to ramp down services as City staff and processes grow and strengthen to support the program framework in house. Council member Thompson moved to receive this information and provide consensus to the City Manager to proceed with contracting with Freese and Nichols, Inc to implement their recommendations for the Construction Management Division. This item gained consensus. You can learn more here.
6.02: Next item on the agenda was the Discussion of City Collection of Property Taxes. In 2023, the City of Fayetteville and Cumberland County entered into an Interlocal Cooperation Agreement for tax collection. Under this agreement, Cumberland County receives 0.75% of taxes remitted on time and 1.75% of taxes collected through delinquency. Between 2016 and 2023, the County received an average of $495,000 annually, with projected FY 2025 collections totaling over $1 million. Given this rising cost, City staff conducted a preliminary analysis to evaluate the feasibility of establishing an internal municipal tax collection office. The City can collect its property taxes; however, the County must provide valuation, listings, and assessments. Statutorily, the City cannot usurp these functions from the County.
During the meeting, City staff presented findings from an initial feasibility analysis on establishing an internal municipal tax collection office. A preliminary analysis was conducted, including evaluating other municipalities who provide this service, discussions with retired tax administrators, and discussions with the School of Government, to evaluate the feasibility of establishing an internal municipal tax collection office. Council member Lynne Greene moved to have city staff research a third-party collection service cost analysis and report back in August or earlier to City Council. Council member Haire seconded the motion; the item gained consensus. You can learn more here.
6.03: At the April 7 City Council Work Session, staff presented several proposed changes to the City's Homebuying HERO program. During that session, City Council reached consensus to direct staff to return in May for further discussion based on guidance regarding options to expand the program. Staff returned with Options for Revisions to the Homebuyer HERO Programs. Council member Greene moved for city staff to report back during the May 12 City Council Regular Meeting with the updated recommendations to expand the program as presented. Council member Thompson seconded the motion; the item gained consensus (9-1). Council member Mario Benavente was in opposition of the consensus. You can learn more here.
6.04: The next item on the agenda was a Market House Repurposing Project Update. During this item, information regarding progress made on repurposing the Market House was presented to City Council for consensus to move forward with alternatives for modifications to the Market House Plaza. After conducting a traffic analysis and safety report, Rummel, Klepper & Kahl, LLP developed five alternatives for modifications to the Market House Plaza.
Two of the five alternatives were presented to City Council for consideration. Option 2B resurfaces the circle road, which currently slopes down towards the central plaza); provides pedestrian and roundabout improvements; provides center island plaza expansion; and will be able to accommodate a tractor-trailer and emergency vehicles. Option X does not expand the center island plaza but does improve the exterior splitter islands and crosswalks for pedestrian safety. This includes a single crosswalk into the center island plaza on the Hay Street side to the existing Market House ramp.
In addition to pedestrian accessibility focus, staff also looked for opportunities to enhance the aesthetics and repurposing elements of the space. Staff proposed to include Market House programming elements to include LED uplighting, structural repairs, and informational kiosks. The LED lighting will illuminate the Market House with different colors for designated events. Structural repairs include updates to infrastructure to allow installation of lighting and replacement of degraded exterior wood on the upper levels. As the budget allows, two interactive informational kiosks that can display videos of the history of the Market House or other desired content would be installed. The kiosks allow remote access to update content.
Mayor Pro Tem Kathy Jensen moved to direct staff to move forward with the lighting plan and Option 2B, which was seconded by Council member Haire. This item gained consensus. You can learn more here.
6.05: The final item on the agenda was a council request from Mayor Pro Tem Jensen on creating a Policy on Accepting Real Property Donations and accepting the donation of land on Rogers Drive, PIN number 0428-42-2700. The first part of the request was to gain consensus for the policy committee to develop a policy whereby the city can accept donated real property. In this example, the property owner wishes to donate the property instead of having the city pay the property owner for an easement needed by the City. There is no Council policy or ordinance, so staff must take each request to Council.
The second request was to accept the donation of real property (no address but Rogers Dr. PIN 0428-42-2700) that has been offered to the City at no cost. The city has requested a stormwater easement, but the owner wishes to donate the entire parcel instead of accept payment for the easement.
There was a consensus (9-1) to accept the donation of real property on Rogers Drive, PIN 0428-42-2700. Council member Mario Benavente voted in opposition of the consensus. You can learn more here.
The City Council Regular Meeting will be held on Monday, May 12 at 6:30 p.m. in the Fayetteville City Hall’s Council Chambers. Meetings also air live on Spectrum Channel 7, at FayTV.net and on the FayTV app available on your streaming device. Meeting agendas, supporting documentation and minutes are publicly available here. For more information about the Fayetteville City Council, please visit fayettevillenc.gov/city-council.
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