Town Manager Kyle Brewer updated council on the Army Corps CSRM project and an RFP for appraisals tied to easement acquisitions (town share cited as $525,000), waterline resilience work including an intercoastal bore beginning Sept. 21, continuing subsurface park work, ladder-truck committee recommendations, and an ebike/multiuse-path workshop scheduled Sept. 28.

Town staff asked council to move forward on a final design contract amendment for a 5.2 MGD water plant (including PFAS removal technology) and to set a public hearing (Aug. 4) on a system development fee study that would raise allowable fees; staff said the study’s maximums would total roughly $25,000 per household for combined water and sewer tap fees.

A resident asked the council for a public forum or working session on automatic license-plate reader cameras, raising concerns about internal abuse, AI/misread error rates and constitutional protections; Mayor Batts and staff offered to follow up and requested contact information.

After an hours‑long quasi‑judicial hearing, Surf City council concluded the applicant did not meet all required special‑use findings for a proposed mixed‑use redevelopment at 412 Roland Avenue that would add two enclosed dry‑stack buildings (200 boat units) and commercial space. Coastal, traffic and yacht‑club witnesses raised safety and congestion concerns; staff will draft a formal order reflecting the council’s findings.

Town staff presented preliminary results from a traffic‑management pilot that combined bridge‑ramp metering and flaggers; staff reported a July 5 network failure (northbound drive times over three hours), recommended suspending flaggers for DOT baseline collection, and will present full analysis at an August work session.