The Durham City Council hears sharp public criticism over meeting conduct, questions about COVID relief funding, and extensive opposition to a proposed Peregrine police surveillance contract, followed by the police chief and mayor defending the technology and their approach to public safety. The council also digs into security upgrades in public housing, state-driven Falls and Jordan Lake nutrient rules affecting development, and Durham’s community-wide push to close the digital divide. 33mins
Original Meeting
Video Notes
2:25 p.m. update: The Work Session has now resumed with video and audio now working properly. Thank you for your patience!
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2:10 p.m. update: Audio has now been restored to all of our broadcast and livestream feeds. Work Session will resume once the City Council returns from their Closed Session. Thank you for your patience.
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1:45 p.m. update: The Work Session is now in recess while we reboot our video system, which we hope will restore audio to our broadcast and livestream feeds. This will take approximately 20-30 minutes. Thank you for your patience.
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1:20 p.m. update: We are troubleshooting audio issues now. Please standby and thank you for your patience.
Welcome to the City Council Work Session for January 22, 2026.
Agenda: https://www.durhamnc.gov/AgendaCenter/City-Council-4
How to participate: https://www.durhamnc.gov/1345
Contact the City Council: https://www.durhamnc.gov/1323
NOTE: Comments left on this livestream will not be read or entered into the meeting record.
Call to Order / No Audio
Roll Call / No Audio
Announcements by Council / No Audio
Priority Items by the City Manager, City Attorney and City Clerk / No Audio
Closed Session / Audio Troubleshooting
Administrative Consent Items
Citizens’ Matters
Pulled Items
9. Second Amendment to Interlocal Cooperation Agreement with the Housing Authority of the City of Durham to Procure and Install Security Equipment
10. Contract with Peregrine Technologies, Inc to Procure an Operations Management Platform for Durham City Police
Presentations
12. Digital Equity Plan Update [30 minutes]
13. Falls Lake Nutrient Strategy Rules Overview Presentation [20 Minutes]
Settling the Agenda
Other Matters
Adjournment
Wes Platt
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Council Member Cook asked the Durham Housing Authority’s chief operating officer to clarify the purpose of a funding item, and the official explained that participatory budgeting dollars were awarded for cameras, locks, new door hardware, and lighting at the Pridgen Place and Cornwallis Road communities.
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Participatory budgeting staff and the Durham Housing Authority’s chief operating officer explained that resident-initiated funding for lighting, security cameras, and bolt locks required additional contingency funds and a switch from reimbursement to upfront payment, which contributed to implementation delays.
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A resident opposed the Peregrine contract by warning that it would compound existing police use of data-scraping tools like Tangles and demanded that the council reject the deal, halt the Real Time Crime Center, explain existing license plate reader agreements, and publicly disclose all law enforcement technology contracts and MOUs.
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Chief Patrice Andrews responded to criticism of police technology by condemning what was described as widespread disinformation about DPD, sharing the emotional toll of homicide investigations, and explaining that the tools were intended to speed investigations, reduce crime, and let community members submit their own video evidence.
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The Police Chief emphasized the department’s transparency in sharing data, rejected claims that the city manager had signed an MOU with a license plate reader company, clarified that DPD only had a basic agreement with Flock rather than a paid, top-tier contract, and noted the department still found value in Flock systems used by private entities and neighborhoods.
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The Police Chief urged council members to base their decision on factual information rather than bias or hearsay, noting that the proposal was being scrutinized primarily because it came from the Police Department and adding that while they would soon leave the role, they planned to remain an engaged Durham resident.
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Mayor Williams acknowledged that an earlier aggressive push for ShotSpotter had been misguided, emphasized that no single strategy or tool would solve violent crime, and criticized repeated calls for task forces and commissions that were seen as obstructing efforts to act on crime reduction measures.
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Michelle Wolfoke outlined how the state’s Falls Lake nutrient rules were structured in two stages, explained that local governments were implementing the existing state strategy rather than a city-specific one, and noted that this approach helped avoid stricter federal requirements for impaired water bodies, previewing a similar framework for future Jordan Lake work.
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Michelle Wolfoke cautioned that water quality models were inherently imperfect, explained that chlorophyll a standards and post-2006 nutrient reduction efforts would be reevaluated to ensure local governments receive appropriate credit, and noted that the state rules were designed to be revisited and revised after 10 years.
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Michelle Wolfoke explained that new development in Durham must include long-term stormwater controls and meet a stringent phosphorus limit that often forces projects to buy scarce offset credits, noting that state rules for new development—especially in Falls Lake and Jordan Lake—were frequently revised and likely to change again after 2027.
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Michelle Wolfoke explained that reducing nitrogen and phosphorus from already developed areas was an expensive and scientifically uncertain responsibility placed on the city, and described how early rules required local governments to quantify nutrient reductions from stormwater controls using difficult and often inaccurate calculation methods.
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Michelle Wolfoke explained that growing wastewater flows from regional development were straining existing nitrogen and phosphorus discharge limits, leading local governments to seek additional treatment capacity in exchange for greater investment in watershed projects, even though those projects did not provide a one-to-one nutrient offset.
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A speaker from Digital Durham described how the nonprofit helped develop a community-endorsed digital equity plan and highlighted that Durham had been repeatedly recognized by the National Digital Inclusion Association as a digital inclusion trailblazer, including visionary status as the only municipality in North Carolina to receive that designation.
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