Council adopts 2024 priorities for city to share with federal legislators, agencies

At its meeting Monday, the Fayetteville City Council voted unanimously to adopt a list of the city’s legislative priorities to share with federal agencies and elected officials this year. 

The action plan hits on a number of issues that the city will lobby for federal support on, including potential grant opportunities. The list includes initiatives to support economic development, the military, public infrastructure and transportation, public safety and quality of life. 

“We're always moving these different categories and projects along as opportunities present themselves,” Leslie Mozingo, the city’s federal lobbyist, told the council Monday. “The idea is to find the resources to match the project with the resources that the federal government is offering and to bring as many of those resources back to the city as possible — and it is indeed a team effort.” 

The key priorities for 2024, according to the federal action agenda and as adopted by the council Monday, include: 

Economic development 

• Expand community and economic development in key corridors, such as Murchison Road and Bragg Blvd. 
• Secure maximum funding for the Murchison Road Corridor Choice Neighborhood Implementation Grant.
• Connect new I-685 to I-95 via Fayetteville.
• Expand the commuter rail system between Fayetteville and Raleigh.

Military 

• Expand veteran programs to impact workforce development in fields including agriculture, health care, logistics and technology. 
• Expand athletic facilities for military families and the Fayetteville community at the historic McArthur Road Sports Complex, a partnership between Fayetteville and Fort Liberty.

Public infrastructure and transportation

• Airport
• Establish an International Arrivals Terminal. 
• Make other airport improvements, including ramp reconstruction, runway extensions and expanded hangar space.
• Establish a direct flight from Fayetteville to Washington, DC and additional locations.
• Pursue potential grant: Defense Community Investment Program (DCIP) application for runway expansion and other capital projects. 
• Prohibit elimination of aqueous film-forming foam by airport rescue and firefighting vehicles without a similar replacement. 
• Surface transportation
• Transition to electric vehicles and put in place charging stations for the city transit fleet. 
• Increase support for public electric vehicle charging infrastructure. 
• Water and sewer
• Increase support for watershed modeling, flood prevention programs, and stream improvements, including construction at the Rose Lake Dam and rehabilitation of a high-hazard potential dam in Arran Lakes West. 

Public safety

• Law enforcement and community safety
• Focus on recruitment, retention and training programs, funding and infrastructure. 
• Expand mental health resources and crisis intervention programs and funding.
• Secure funding for youth programs to reduce juvenile violence and gun violence.
• Pursue potential grant: Community Based Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative (CVIPI). 

• Fire department 
• Support initiatives around firefighter mental health and cancer prevention. 
• Reauthorize and increase funding levels for the Assistance to Firefighters Grant.

Quality of life

• Increase funding for mental health programs related to homelessness and for Community Development Block Grants and HOME Investment Partnership programs.
• Expand workforce training opportunities for Next Generation Workforce.

• Telecommunication expansion that would allow municipalities to have some authority to determine if, when, how and where telecommunications companies expand or integrate 5G into the jurisdiction, including not requiring the waiving of permit requirements and fees.

• Environment and energy
• Maximize funding for energy efficiency innovation programs and Brownfields grants.
• Engage proactive solid waste and recycling measures for community resiliency and sustainability.
• PFAS and GenX contamination cleanup without unfunded mandates.

Here’s what else the council did Monday: 

• Murchison Choice grant: The council tabled a discussion on the city’s federal grant application for the implementation of the Murchison Choice Neighborhood plan, Fayetteville's multi-phase plan to revitalize the Murchison Road corridor by rebuilding the Murchison Townhouses and investing in other improvement strategies in the neighborhood. City council members said they would like to have more time to go over options and possibilities for the grant, and the council scheduled a special meeting to discuss it on Jan. 31, with the time to be decided later. A neighborhood meeting is also being held at 6 p.m. Thursday for residents to talk about the grant. That meeting will take place at the Seabrook Auditorium located on the campus of Fayetteville State University. 
• Fay Block public hearing: The council tabled a public hearing on Fay Block’s rezoning expansion request. Council Member Malik Davis told CityView the developer had requested the item be tabled, making this the second time the hearing has been postponed at the request of Fay Block. The hearing is now set to take place at the Feb. 12 city council meeting. 

Contact Evey Weisblat at cityviewnc.com or 216-527-3608. 

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