[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6626331,"mediaKeyId","2753670-98f656a5fad4464f288b7013a29e9351","parentId",2753670,"title","Votes at a glance: Rocky Mount City Council actions and outcomes","audioSeconds",1482,"startMs",2654000,"endMs",4136000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2753670-98f656a5fad4464f288b7013a29e9351&start=2654&end=4136","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2753670-98f656a5fad4464f288b7013a29e9351/thumbnail_2654000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6626331/Rocky-Mount/Nash-County/North-Carolina/Votes-at-a-glance-Rocky-Mount-City-Council-actions-and-outcomes","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6626331-877967584ba6d1e6c1829ff43dcab6ac/orig.mp4?Expires=1771176131&Signature=NTJCsgkC75PAuXrntpojh5FCFsQeseQHQcjOGXvr3MIsU7YyeS2WEjRfPE2NR1fnUrWbVSEegE4tXGhcgNRzrqsOfYoLLrWjL-OrXgkEZ7VuUz-Ss-Y-KHVSyk1k7GrEMp6Bmj~108fX-jmicCQpotAHEJK988rEPdz4F5UihrZx9Y46BSsBW1O-zJLyjATYcj~OlqkZcS5TdDosYvNIWOldVj084BfDJMyGkD63flckY51C5T6-Hp1ecnUCrEfsLtcEKgtieaHq-Jod34VLuZH9p4ll-JfnJREFG8z2KwVYzQQZQ-6k~GZPcRSFTOKErugcSgt5wWijMc0oKM7kMA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Rocky Mount","date","2025-03-24T21:08:35.12Z","article","Below are the formal actions taken during the meeting as recorded in the public transcript. Where the transcript did not record a full roll‑call tally, the motion text, mover, seconder (when named) and outcome are included as stated.

1) Approval of minutes (special committee of the whole meeting of Sept. 20, 2024; regular meeting of Jan. 13, 2025)
- Motion: Approve the minutes as presented.
- Mover: Councilman Joyner.
- Second: Councilman Harris.
- Outcome: Approved (voice vote).
- Notes: No recorded roll‑call; clerk recorded approval.

2) Agenda changes (add utility rate discussion as item 12 and closed session for personnel as item 13)
- Motion: Amend the published agenda to add the NEMPA utility rates discussion as item 12 and a closed session for personnel reasons as item 13.
- Mover: Councilman Daughtridge.
- Second: Councilman Harris.
- Outcome: Approved (voice vote).

3) Resolution recognizing Rocky Mount Academy Lady Eagles (conference and state championships)
- Motion: Adopt resolution congratulating Rocky Mount Academy Lady Eagles.
- Mover: Not specified in the record.
- Second: Not specified in the record.
- Outcome: Adopted (voice vote).
- Notes: Ceremonial resolution; coach and team recognized for picture.

4) Consent agenda (multiple items: temporary street closing; tax releases; adoption of ordinances and resolutions as listed; approve Health Consultants, Inc. as sole‑source provider for natural gas leak detection for 2025; authorize staff to apply for listed grants; authorize mayor and clerk to execute listed documents; instruct Department of Development Services to prepare a feasibility study; approve installment finance contract and award bid as recommended)
- Motion: Approve the consent agenda as published.
- Mover: Councilman Joiner.
- Second: Councilman Harris.
- Outcome: Approved (voice vote).
- Notes: Individual consent items not separately debated in the public transcript; details are “as listed” in staff materials.

5) First amendment to downtown major investment incentive grant with Dukes Properties and Construction (216 S. Washington St.)
- Motion: Approve the amendment and authorize the mayor to execute on behalf of the city to release the first draw of $100,000 now due to an unexpected additional cost of $144,000 related to a revised life‑safety interpretation requiring a second emergency exit staircase.
- Mover: Councilman Knight.
- Second: Councilman Joyner.
- Outcome: Approved (voice vote).
- Notes: The amendment was presented to address an unanticipated life‑safety cost.

6) Library board appointment
- Motion: Table appointment until the next meeting to allow review of candidate materials.
- Mover: (motion to table recorded; mover referenced in discussion).
- Second: Councilman TJ Walker (record shows a second by TJ Walker during the discussion).
- Outcome: Tabled (voice vote).
- Notes: Council asked for time to review candidate information.

7) Motion to go into closed session to discuss a personnel matter
- Motion: Go into closed session to discuss a personnel matter.
- Mover: Councilman Joyner.
- Second: Councilman Knight.
- Outcome: Approved (voice vote); meeting moved into closed session.
- Notes: No substantive public details were discussed in the transcript after the vote.

No other formal votes or final outcomes on ordinances or budget items were recorded in the public portion of the transcript.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","City Council Meeting, March 24","oneSentenceSummary","A concise list of formal motions and outcomes recorded at the meeting, including approvals, a consent agenda, a downtown grant amendment, a tabled library appointment and entry into closed session.","taxTitle","Rocky Mount, Nash County, North Carolina","taxId",5685,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6626336,"Residents tell Rocky Mount council recycling pickup and abandoned‑house problems persist; tourism and hotel revenue questioned",342,1554000,1896000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2753670-98f656a5fad4464f288b7013a29e9351&start=1554&end=1896","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2753670-98f656a5fad4464f288b7013a29e9351/thumbnail_1554000.jpg","/articles/6626336/Rocky-Mount/Nash-County/North-Carolina/Residents-tell-Rocky-Mount-council-recycling-pickup-and-abandonedhouse-problems-persist-tourism-and-hotel-revenue-questioned","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6626336-39780a6a6a49791b2bbc9ac17a5d8579/orig.mp4?Expires=1771176131&Signature=QDLgDuXcAX1lQ7t7n4lp2M-kVpx6otkV8ijdEcSlJRyT78rK5I~qa97MDXsthiMcj7XdROOYIu~LPJiktmheG0nsN95KrnxsPFTAKbp9BDtM9ybhWDJVsq098O4Q7Q3q5dvBFKjK9cOvGegl08QxnUyXtpF23GKq9jfLuhQ8KdA~na3sZvN7EKSFgWuyqS3V540~S78-zCwHEgXvsOi1Cg6Ss95KqoT0Moq6NGY5g659CdjSN6yHZ30KhgB-zMDIIFofUvt2L5EbQ3Sb5aCrUa~09X22CTfb9n1rtnSV~ey-HeUCW~jGIoL5elC7S1TW4~6~px2u6yGDzH-3h2mIqA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Several Rocky Mount residents used the public‑comment period to raise neighborhood service issues and to ask for more information about tourism revenue and hotel development.

Peggy Hines, a resident of 210 North Vine Street in the city’s Happy Hill neighborhood, told the council her recycling has not been picked up and that she repeatedly must call city staff to report missed collections. “I put it out to the street, but no one's picking it up,” she said, adding she follows recycling rules and cleans and breaks down materials. Interim City Manager Peter Varney and staff representatives acknowledged the complaint and said staff would follow up.

Joanne Hines, also from the older section of Happy Hill, described abandoned houses and an increase in people living outdoors. “There are a lot of abandoned houses,” she said, and added an anecdote about a person asking for money on her porch. Council members responded that the city is working on a coordinated cleanup plan and encouraged residents to report specific locations so staff can respond.

Robert Stedemire, who said he lives at 308 Coleman Avenue, described damage to his vehicle caused by a large hole in a street on East Thomas or East Raleigh Boulevard. He said he has received estimates and wants the city to consider reimbursement. City staff asked for and recorded his contact information to follow up.

Nathalyn Ari of the Meadowbrook community asked how planned hotels and event‑center development will affect Edgecombe‑side revenue and whether Rocky Mount receives shares of Nash County lodging taxes. City staff explained that Nash County’s tourism development authority (TDA) administers a hotel‑occupancy tax in Nash County and that Rocky Mount receives a portion when hotel stays occur in Nash County; the TDA committee is appointed primarily by the Nash County Board of Commissioners and dollars are required to be spent in Nash County, staff said. Council members said they continue to advocate for investment in both sides of the city and described ongoing recruitment and infrastructure work to attract banks, drugstores and other services.

Separately, David Batts of the Phoenix Historical Society invited council members to an April 12 unveiling ceremony for a North Carolina Highway historical marker recognizing a 1996 community zoning campaign in the Kingsborough area; he invited members to view a documentary titled We Can Do Better at the East Carolina Agricultural and Education Center.

Council response: Council members acknowledged the breadth of citizen concerns and pledged follow‑up. Councilman Blackwell urged a one‑on‑one response to neighborhood complaints. Councilman TJ Walker and others described ongoing business‑attraction efforts and said the city will continue advocating for investment in Edgecombe County neighborhoods. No formal action was taken during public comment.","Multiple residents used public comment to report missed recycling pickup, abandoned houses and homelessness in Happy Hill, a pothole that damaged a car, and concerns that new hotels and a Nash County TDA could divert revenue away from downtown Rocky Mount.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6626340,"Rocky Mount reviews NEMPA rate options as July debt release approaches",862,2748000,3610000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2753670-98f656a5fad4464f288b7013a29e9351&start=2748&end=3610","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2753670-98f656a5fad4464f288b7013a29e9351/thumbnail_2748000.jpg","/articles/6626340/Rocky-Mount/Nash-County/North-Carolina/Rocky-Mount-reviews-NEMPA-rate-options-as-July-debt-release-approaches","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6626340-0ba381b2f74604e7060ed05ffc2e41c2/orig.mp4?Expires=1771176131&Signature=Un~CLj-4XGkkGGD4U3Y-L7Ty6ouJfU4aNp0GLYeti2ZHHGYl4jG4F6NdUj8mVDetuzj-nwe1MegpBQgvxH1P0tiecsbrfBDUjei~TURUxbkKNOftJOestaYO4t205PlAAgLGfkBga6eOE9xqcaMVvK2wiInnNVl2Ua9Vo~tin5ULPTSxz0Tm9wIqLkiROLhb6WwD8kqGn~6RQiMIJcfy8tcDH0gME23KtuReSCdRMXNiV1Kl3LsWVxsDz~Ph51acSlfNkh4xWbRMGZnklNrcRb6nxao2esJQ0i~kUN4a6W4pb1AETD5swX5v48tptkHVtRB5bmSE4trwa28Z6eqqxA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Interim City Manager Peter Varney and Chris Boeschler, the city’s director of energy resources, briefed the Rocky Mount City Council on proposed options from the North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency (NEMPA) for addressing large recent true‑up charges and an upcoming debt release scheduled for July 2025.

The presentation said NEMPA members have seen unusually large true‑ups in recent years — about $53 million in 2022 and $40 million in 2023 — and estimated a $30 million to $40 million true‑up for 2024. Rocky Mount’s share of those larger adjustments was described in the briefing as roughly $5 million for the 2022 true‑up and about $4 million for a $40 million true‑up scenario. The briefing identified a separate debt reserve established in February 2015; the reserve’s release in July 2025 would return roughly $2.3 million to Rocky Mount if NEMPA members receive the funds back.

Why it matters: Rocky Mount staff said the city has used its rate‑stabilization fund to absorb prior true‑ups without raising customer rates. The two NEMPA options presented would achieve the same end point in the long run but differ in timing and near‑term customer impacts.

Option 1 (up‑front): NEMPA would collect more money up front, returning the July 2025 debt release to members; Rocky Mount staff said they would transfer that $2.3 million into the city’s rate‑stabilization fund to cover prior and potential future true‑ups and avoid immediate rate increases for customers.

Option 3 (phased/level): NEMPA would keep a flatter revenue path and use its July debt release to rebuild NEMPA working capital. That approach would spread costs over a longer period and result in smaller short‑term increases for customers in some member cities; several municipalities with less rate‑stabilization funding reportedly favor this option.

Chris Boeschler said the briefing was informational: “this is just for informational purposes only.” He explained the technical background: Duke Energy provides expense forecasts that NEMPA uses to set rates and then reconciles estimates against actual costs each September; differences are passed to members as true‑ups or rebates. Boeschler and staff walked the council through historical true‑ups, NEMPA working‑capital levels, and modeled outcomes under each option.

Council reaction and next steps: Councilman Daughtridge reminded colleagues that the upcoming NEMPA board vote will be a weighted vote across 32 members and noted Rocky Mount is the third‑largest member. “This vote coming up at the next meeting will be a weighted vote of the 32 members and each member has a percentage of the weighted vote. Rocky Mount is the third largest in NEMPA,” he said. Council members also noted that Greenville and Wilson — the two largest weighted members — voted for option 3 in the rate committee, increasing the likelihood that option’s passage at the board level.

Varney and Boeschler said the city manager’s office will convene a committee‑of‑the‑whole meeting to discuss a recommended position and to pair the NEMPA decision with the ongoing city cost‑of‑service study for Rocky Mount utilities. Boeschler said the NEMPA board was expected to vote in April and emphasized that the two options reach similar long‑term outcomes but create different short‑term consequences for customers and for Rocky Mount’s rate‑stabilization balance.

Documents and figures cited in the briefing included: the 2022 $53,000,000 true‑up, the 2023 $40,000,000 true‑up, and a 2024 estimate of $30–$40 million (the presentation used $40 million for a worst‑case example); Rocky Mount’s described share of a $40 million true‑up was roughly $4,000,000. The briefing also referenced the February 2015 debt reserve of $18,000,000 and Rocky Mount’s share of that reserve ($2,300,000) that would be released in July 2025 if NEMPA members choose to return the funds.

No formal direction was taken at the meeting; staff recommended a follow‑up committee‑of‑the‑whole session to develop a council position before the NEMPA board vote.","City staff briefed the council on two options from the North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency to handle consecutive large \"true ups\" and an upcoming July 2025 debt-release that would return about $2.3 million to Rocky Mount; the council discussed weighing short‑term customer impacts against replenishing the city's rate‑stabilization fund.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Votes at a glance: Rocky Mount City Council actions and outcomes

Residents tell Rocky Mount council recycling pickup and abandoned‑house problems persist; tourism and hotel revenue questioned

Rocky Mount reviews NEMPA rate options as July debt release approaches