City council voted unanimously tonight to not refund residents of Brandy Creek money the community says it was owed when property values soared upon land speculation in the Carolina Crossroads Music and Entertainment District.

Despite a 5-1 vote tonight to deny Brandy Creek residents refunds from 2007 through 2009, an attorney for the University of North Carolina Center for Civil Rights said members of the community could initiate a lawsuit against the county to get the funds.

City council took no action following a closed session tonight but Mayor Emery Doughtie did issue statements on the progress being made with Lafayette Gatling to buy the Roanoke Rapids Theatre and the Brandy Creek refund issue.

After adjourning a brief meeting, city council went into closed session tonight, presumably to discuss a refund being requested by residents from the Brandy Creek community for three of the years it was inside the city limits.

Several “show me the money” comments are surfacing regarding the refunds sought by Brandy Creek residents for three years worth of overpaid and overinflated taxes.

After winning a battle to have their community de-annexed from the city of Roanoke Rapids last year, residents in the Brandy Creek and Wallace Fork Road communities are now fighting to get three years worth of taxes paid back.

Issues surrounding the Carolina Crossroads project took up some of city council's work session today, including discussion and a vote on extending the repayment period to the state Department of Commerce on the water and sewer project there. Council also discussed how emergency responders would handle Brandy Creek now that it has been de-annexed.

The de-annexation of the Brandy Creek community passed in the state Senate today, 48-0.

Roanoke Rapids City Council Tuesday night reversed a decision it made last month and passed a resolution to send to legislators supporting de-annexation of the Brandy Creek community.