Aldermen and mayor move forward with plan to extend their time in office to five years; considered changes to zoning map; approved changes to the electric rate schedule, authorized license agreements, received public input, and more during a three-and-a-half hour meeting.
New Bern’s city council, known as the Board of Aldermen, approved street closures and changes to a mutual aid agreement; started the upset bid process to sell city-owned properties; considered changes to the zoning map; approved changes to the electric rate schedule and Pay-As-You-Go payment method; established of a working group; voted on plan to move the city’s elections to state/federal election years; approved a license agreements and authorized a riparian waiver; approved changes to Federal Alley; made appointments, and considered spending $10,000 to put “things on the walls” at City Hall during the March 10, 2026 in New Bern, NC.
Requests and Petition of Citizens
One citizen talked about the process of rebuilding houses in Eastern North Carolina after Hurricane Florence and thought hurricane recovery funding needed to be brought back to the local level.
Someone asked why non-residents were billed extra for city water services. The mayor responded, “Someone will call you tomorrow.”
A citizen talked about her family’s history and said, “once history is destroyed, it’s gone forever” and voiced concerns about a potential conflict of interest involving the Housing Authority.
A resident said he thought West Street was closed without public notice.
Another person said she felt it’s important that the community is involved with government, and it was important that elected officials listen to the people. She also asked the board to enhance the sound system in the courtroom so people can hear what is being said. She said it’s often said that citizens have several ways to communicate with the board but (besides Requests and Petition of Citizens), but some people don’t feel the same way. She said she contacted the board a few weeks ago but had only heard back from one alderman. She also asked them to be more attentive to citizens when they are speaking.
A city utility customer asked the Board of Aldermen to have some grace and asked about the algorithm that’s used to determine the electric bill.
Consent agenda
Several items were lumped together on a consent agenda — topics included the 2026 CDBG Annual Action Plan; Mutual Aid Agreement with Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point; initiating the upset bid process for 1013 and 1017 Bloomfield streets; closing streets for parades and an event; and approving minutes. Aldermen Trey Ferguson (Ward 1), Sharon Bryant (Ward 2), “Bobby” Aster (Ward 3), Lainy White (Ward 4), Barbara Best (Ward 5) and Dana Outlaw (Ward 6) voted to approve it. Mayor Jeffrey Odham (of Ward 6) also voted for the motion.
Land use and zoning
City of New Bern Development Services Director Jessica Rhue presented a request to establish an initial zoning for Craven County Parcel ID: 7-105-3000 located at 3406 Old Airport Rd., which was annexed in October 2025. The city’s Planning and Zoning Board recommended the aldermen establish the zoning as Residential R-8. After receiving a presentation from the director of Development Services, the aldermen voted to zone the property as R-8. The mayor also voted for the motion.
O’Brien Family Wellness, Inc. applied to rezone a 3.87-acre parcel at 1100 Pinetree Dr. in New Bern from a R-10A Residential to C-3 Commercial zoning district, as noted in the meeting packet. DS Director Rhue told the board that C-3 districts are established for main roads and have about 80 uses that someone can apply for by right to receive a permit. She said the P & Z Board denied the zoning request and staff recommended that the aldermen not rezone the property because it’s in the middle of a residential area. The property is also adjacent to the West New Bern Recreation Center and across the street from the Knights of Columbus and the New Bern Elks Lodge, which are in a C-5 district.
Jackie O’Brien, the director of the nonprofit, Paws of War Eastern North Carolina Program, said she and her husband, Bill, teach active-duty military, first responders and dog owners how to train their dogs. She has also said they work with local shelters and rescues to find dogs to match their needs. They talked about their mission and said they have tried to find a place where dogs can be trained inside and outside that has green space. She said part of the property would be preserved as wetlands and a portion would be created as a training and community center.
City Attorney M. Scott Davis said the aldermen needed to consider all potential uses, not this particular use.
The applicant and several people spoke in support of the request.
Alderman Fergson asked if the P & Z Board consider a C-5 zoning district for the use.
Jessica Rhue said C-5 isn’t a viable option for an outside animal type service. She said an outside animal type service use is only authorized by right in an industrial district in the city of New Bern. She noted staff weren’t comfortable with saying, unless they were in an industrial district around parks and schools and things like that, that brought them to the C-3 district.
She said a C-3 district would require a special use permit if it was a low impact use, the Board of Adjustment could add a condition(s) to the property with a special use permit. She said the city has always been sensitive to outside uses and almost all of the city’s uses go before the Board of Adjustment.
The DS director said the state has made it difficult to change zoning districts. She said the city doesn’t know if they add a use to a zoning district, would it mean they are taking a use away from other districts where it’s not listed. She said the board could direct her to add a new zoning district.
Attorney Davis talked about the state’s Disaster Recovery Act of 2024 – Part II that was passed in December 2024.
The law “provides that local governments cannot adopt a down-zoning without written consent from all impacted owners,” as noted in a presentation by the UNC School of Government. It would be considered down-zoning if “the text or map amendment limit a use that was previously permitted and/or reduce the number of uses allowed,” per the presentation. The law is retroactive to down-zoning adopted after June 14, 2024.
Scott Davis said the next step would be for the Planning and Zoning Board and staff to “reflect on whether an outdoor non kenneling animal use would be consistent with other uses in a C-5 zone” and it would go through the text amendment process with the P & Z Board and back to the Board of Aldermen. Then the applicant may then reapply. He said they would need to analyze legal risks.
He said the aldermen needed to consider all potential uses in a C-5 district, not this particular use. He noted that Durham has been sued for what they are trying to do.
Rhue said C-5 doesn’t allow outdoor uses, but they could look at that.
Ferguson said he appreciated the risk the attorney advised them on, but he thought it was a case where he would be willing to go to bat for.
The mayor asked the attorney if they went against the General Statute, who would sue them and Davis said “an adjoiner, a person with standing.”
Ferguson made a motion to direct staff to initiate a text amendment for service/therapy animal training based on their judgement of what that looked like in a Commercial C-5 district and ask the applicant to apply for the rezoning.
They also talked about a request to rezone 0.52-acre parcel at 3328 Neuse Blvd. from Commercial C-4 to C-3 in November 2025. Paws of War Eastern North Carolina also spoke at that hearing, as reported here.
The mayor called a voice vote and said the motion passed.
Police Chief Patrick Gallagher interrupted the meeting and asked if anyone owned a vehicle with a “very loud muffler” that was parked near City Hall. No one responded.
The mayor asked the city attorney if they needed to do anything with the agenda item. The city attorney said they may want to adopt a statement of inconsistency which denies the rezoning.
Ferguson said that would be his motion and the aldermen approved the motion. The mayor also voted for the motion.
On April 6, Jackie O’Brien told NewBernNow.com they are working with the Planning and Zoning to present to their board to rezone 1100 Pinetree Drive to C-5.
Electric rates
As one of 32 municipalities who own and operate electric distribution systems in the eastern part of the state, the city of New Bern purchases wholesale power from the North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency and resells it to retail customers.
Department of Public Utilities Director Charles “Charlie” Bauschard said the NCEMPA forecasted wholesale power costs to increase by 4.5% and recommended that the New Bern Board of Aldermen consider approving changes to the Electric Rate Schedule to reflect “an overall 2% increase in electric revenues and adjusted rate components with increases averaging 0.9% for residential, 5.2% for small business, 2.5% for unmetered service, 3.2% for medium business, and 2.1% for large business,” as outlined in the meeting packet. He later told NewBernNow.com, “the average bill change for the residential customer usage is $1.45 per month.”
He detailed the annual true up of power supply expenses which “consists of primarily excess capacity, energy and coal ash handling expense not recovered in the wholesale rate” that the Municipal Power Agency passes onto the city through a debit or credit at the end of the year. True up costs: Rider 1-2022 was $3,144,000; Rider 1-2023 was $2,640,000; Rider 1-2024 was $1,748,710; and Rider 1-2025 was $807,020. He said the city will receive a debt refund of $1,870,307 on April 1, 2026.
The power cost adjustment recovers under collected wholesale power supply expenses that are not recovered in the retail rate,” according to Charlie Bauschard. “Revenues from retail rates lag the timing of wholesale power supply expenses.”
On April 7, he told NBN, “I think you may find that overall, as a region and a state, electric cost are not too bad as compared to the rest of the U.S.”
He said the Duke Energy Progress/Duke Energy Carolinas merger has been approved and is only awaiting the North Carolina Utilities Commission approval of the merger, effective date Jan. 1, 2027. NCEMPA cost will be about $187 million based on the assumption that the Power Agency’s “members will absorb the $187 million in rates and/or Riders/Trueups” for reorganization fees associated with the DEP and DEC merger over the next five years. He said, “ElectriCities, NCEMPA’s power supply contract manager believes the DEP/DEC merger will lead to some savings in 6 to 10 years.” The city of New Bern’s estimated portion of the $187 million is between $2.4-$2.3 million per year for five years beginning in January 2027.
On March 10, the DPU director recommended removing the “load profile data service” was underutilized and cost prohibitive and was no longer supported by the service provider. The payment method allowed customers to pay as you go. He said the board agreed to donate $10,000 from the Electric Fund to the Round-Up program. Customers can donate to the program and the money that’s collected is held in the bank. Customers can ask Religious Community Services for assistance and if they qualify, RCS will send a voucher to the city to be paid through the Round-Up program.
He also noted the city recently switched the utility billing service provider, which may have caused a temporary delay in billing.
The Electric Utility’s 5-year Capital Improvement Plan calls for issuing $98.8 million in municipal revenue bonds.
Several people spoke about utility bills and the electric rates during a public hearing.
One person thought the board should consider tabling the rate changes until next year.
A resident said they have to look out for each other and asked the board to reconsider the rate increase.
Another resident noted if you can’t pay your taxes, your house will go into foreclosure. He said if someone is on a ventilator, they don’t have a program to help them. He said you put gazebos in the graveyard, and you are trying to bury your dead, and they have to pay a fee to sit under that gazebo. He felt they had to find a way to stop double-dipping taxpayers. He said, “If this war does not end anytime soon, the gas will continue to go up, the light bill will continue to go up…”
NewBernNow.com asked if $2.5 million that is designated for the electric infrastructure for the federal Choice Neighborhoods Implementation grant was associated with the rate increase and the DPU director said it wasn’t factored in.
Another person said she hoped that energy companies would find a way to measure electricity and be more responsible to customers.
Someone else questioned the cost of testing the meters for accuracy.
The mayor said the city does free energy audits.
Director Bauschard said they offer free home energy audit, but they charge for meter testing. If a customer suspects the meter is not working correctly, they will pull the meter, test it, and will put a new meter in if it’s not working.
Alderman Best said she thought they should have invested in the electric system years ago.
The system’s capacity improvement project was estimated at $10 million in 2019 and now estimated to cost $20 million.
Alderman White talked about the community working together to find a solution.
Backstory: New Bern joined 31 other cities and towns who owned and operated electric distribution systems and formed the North Carolina Municipal Power Agency 3 (Now the NC Eastern Municipal Power Agency) in the 1970s. NCEMPA issued municipal bonds in the 1980s to finance the purchase of partial ownership interest in several generating units at four Carolina Light & Power Co. (now Duke Energy Progress) power plants. Four units at Shearon Harris Nuclear Plant were planned and permitted, but only one unit was built. In return for the joint ownership project, NCEMPA’s members received wholesale power from CP&L Co. (now DEP) and resold it to retail customers. Electricities of NC administered the contracts between the municipalities and NCEMPA, and NCEMPA and CP&L (now) DEP and other providers.
After the Municipal Power Agency sold $1.25 billion in its partial ownership interest in Duke Energy Progress power plants and assets in 2015, the New Bern Board of Aldermen authorized 17.75% in rate reductions between 2015-2017.
The aldermen and mayor voted to raise the rates by 12% and added a limited power cost adjustment in 2024. The Board of Aldermen approved a 3% rate hike and added a balancing factor on the PCA in 2025.
Working group to review electric energy
The Board of Aldermen established a working group of aldermen — Trey Ferguson, Barbara Best and Dana Outlaw — and talked about authorizing the group to hire a consultant to work with the director of the Department of Public Utilities and report back to the Board of Aldermen. He also said the working group could also look at the capital plan for Enterprise Funds (Electric, Water, Sewer, Solid Waste) in case they needed to go through a municipal revenue bond process.
Charlie Bauschard is the primary member, and Alderman Outlaw is the alternate member on the North Carolina Eastern Municipal Power Agency Board of Commissioners.
New Bern’s municipal elections
Ferguson recommended moving the election from October 2029 to November 2030, which would extend their term from four to five years to “save money.” He said he wanted to keep it nonpartisan and use the plurality method.
Best said she wanted to keep the election nonpartisan, and she prefers the plurality method because it saves $40,000 because you don’t have a runoff. She said she thought an even-numbered year would be more partisan.
Odham said he has been in a runoff every time he has been contested.
Outlaw said he was for an election in an even-numbered, mid-term year but he wasn’t for the plurality method.
They went back and forth about the threshold for a plurality threshold.
Ferguson made a motion to direct staff to draft a resolution of what they want to send to the General Assembly at the next meeting.
Best asked if the board wanted a member of the Board of Elections to explain it to the aldermen.
Ferguson said, “If we are OK with giving staff direction” to move forward then the city manager could ask the BOE director to present information to them at the April meeting.
As White was leaving the dais, the mayor called a voice vote which didn’t appear to have opposition. The decision appeared to be unanimous as votes count as yes votes if aldermen leave the room or say they abstain.
Backstory: The 2017-2021 Board of Aldermen and mayor talked about moving the elections from odd-numbered years to even-numbered years, which would extend their terms to 5 years, and then the U.S. Census was delayed due to the pandemic, and the General Assembly allowed the city to move the election from October 2021 to May 2022.
In 2023, the 2022-2025 BOA and mayor considered moving the elections to give them more time in office and said the move would save money. They also talked about several options, as reported here.
The mayor told the alderman in January 2025 that they needed to consider cost of early voting, as reported here. Several of them said they wanted to keep the city’s elections nonpartisan.
In January 2026, the newly elected Board of Aldermen talked about moving the city’s elections to align with state/federal election years. The city attorney told the board they could reduce their term by a year or extend their term. They also talked about asking the General Assembly to change the city charter language to remove the mayor’s ability to vote on all matters. This came after the last board deadlocked on a decision in October 2025 to revert to the previous charter language where the mayor only votes in the instance of breaking a tie vote on matters before the aldermen. Aldermen Prill, Royal and Best voted for the motion and aldermen Kinsey and Aster voted no. The Ward 6 alderman seat was vacant. Mayor Jeffrey Odham voted no, which caused the motion to fail, as reported here.
The Board of Aldermen also talked about running the risk that the NC General Assembly could change elections from nonpartisan to partisan if the city asked to move from odd to even-numbered years, as they’ve done across the state.
Consolidated vote: License agreements and riparian waiver and changes to Federal Alley
The mayor decided to bundle three agenda items for one vote:
-Adopt a resolution to approve a license agreement with Riverfront Hospitality, LLC and authorized the city manager to execute a Riparian Waiver Form. The company wants to construct “an extended deck with railing, a stairway, and stadium-style seating at the Doubletree Hotel. The improvements would be located on approximately 1,102 square feet of city-owned property between the hotel and riverwalk. The proposed agreement grants a non-exclusive, personal license for a term of up to 15 years.” The public will have access to the stadium seating during the time of the contract.
-Adopt a resolution to approve a license agreement with Simmons Property Group, LLC. The city received a North Carolina Department of Commerce grant to enhance the Federal Alley. The proposed project includes adding an aggregate sidewalk, artwork, landscaping, lighting and murals on the transformer boxes and the wall. The property group would agree to install lighting on their building and city would reimburse the group for the cost. The city’s Public Works Department would be responsible for paying the energy cost to light the lights. It would also call for installing a plaque on Morgan’s restaurant property commemorating an NC DOC project and include attaching a sign at the entrance of Federal Alley. One side of the sign would be on Colonial Place Condominiums, LLC building.
-Adopt an agreement with Colonial Place Condominiums, LLC to make improvements to Federal Alley with the NC DOC grant funds. Add “Enhancements will include an exposed aggregate sidewalk, artwork, and landscaping with river rock, lighting and signage. This agreement allows the city to install signage that will be connected to the condominiums,” per the packet.
The board unanimously voted for a motion to approve the agreements. The mayor also voted for the motion.
Alderman Best left the dais.
City Sponsored Events
The aldermen also considered changes to city sponsored events ordinance to include removing the library book sale and the Twin Rivers YMCA 5k and 10k because they haven’t been held in several years.
Alderman Ferguson made a motion to add a Mardi Gras in the month of February as a city sponsored event. He said he saw data that said there were about 12,000 people were in downtown that day. He said it was about 4,000 per hour average for the hour with a lull time of two hours.
Ferguson (Ward 1), Bryant (Ward 2), Aster (Ward 3), White (Ward 4), Outlaw (Ward 6) voted yes. Best (Ward 5) was still out of the room, which yielded a yes vote. Odham (of Ward 6) also voted yes.
Editor’s note: Mardi Gras was not listed as an event on the proposed ordinance in the meeting packet.
Appointments
Outlaw nominated Nadine Buchanan to the Board of Adjustment, and the aldermen approved the appointment. Trey Ferguson nominated Kim Crum to the Police Civil Service Board, and the aldermen approved the appointment. White volunteered as the primary representative for the New Bern Area MPO Transportation Advisory Committee. Barbara Best returned to the dais. The aldermen approved the appointment.
Editor’s note: In February 2026, the Board of Aldermen appointed Trey Ferguson as the primary on the NBAMPO Transportation Advisory Committee and Sharon Bryant as the secondary member. Ferguson later resigned due to a professional conflict.
City manager’s report
City Manager Hughes said New Bern was hosting the NC Main Street conference in March.
New Business
Ferguson said he attended the NC League of Municipalities workshop in February with aldermen Bryant and White and city staff worked on a strategic plan for long term growth and they will be ready to present it to the board to consider in April.
He also said he was working with the Historical Society on a joint exhibit because City Hall needs things on the walls which could cost up to $10,000 for 25-26 pieces. He said the aldermen have about $25,000 in the budget for special appropriations.
Alderman White and Outlaw asked for more information.
Alderman Ferguson withdrew a motion and said he would put something together so they could look at it.
Mayor Odham said the board has approved $1,000-$2,000 under new business in the past, but $10,000 was a lot. He said it would have to come back before the board.
Alderman Aster asked the city manager to respond to someone’s billing questions and Hughes said he would.
Alderman White invited other board members to join her on a virtual meeting on The Municipal Perspective on Housing.
There was a brief discussion about restoring private property after it was damaged during the installation of fiber optic lines.
Related news
The New Bern Board of Aldermen will hold a regular meeting on April 14, 2026, at 6 p.m. in the second-floor courtroom at City Hall, according to the city’s website. The meeting agenda and packet can be found here.
Meeting videos are available City 3 TV, the city’s Facebook page and the city’s YouTube channel.
By Wendy Card, editor. Send an email with questions or comments.