City Council Report
No dogs allowed
Melissa Bimbi of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service appeared before the City Council and conducted a presentation that explained how keeping dogs from Lighthouse Inlet beach in the area of the old Coast Guard Base would protect some shorebird populations that need our help. In particular, she discussed the American Oystercatcher, Willet, and Wilson’s Plover.
“Keep in mind that we share the beach with these birds,” she said. As their habitats continue to decrease because human influence on the shoreline, the areas of Folly Beach that are used become increasingly important.
According to Bimbi, many shorebirds use Folly Beach as a resting and/or nesting spot. Some travel upwards of 20,000 miles during their migration which makes those moments of rest especially important. These birds do not generally consider human beings a threat and can relatively co-exist. However, they are threatened by dogs regardless of whether they are on a leash or not. They will take flight in order to avoid being in the same area as a dog. Birds that have to constantly fly away from dogs can have a very difficult time gathering enough energy for their migration. Furthermore, some of these birds nest in the sand of the dune areas. The eggs and chicks are both susceptible to curious or aggressive dogs putting future populations at risk.
As a result, Mayor Carl Beckmann announced that dogs would no longer be allowed in the old Coast Guard Base area in order to protect the birds.
“Folly Beach is a bird sanctuary. We have to do our part,” he said.
Board and Committee appointments
Members of City Council voted on the various candidates that had applied for the seats that had come up for appointment. While some of had just enough candidates for the vacancies, others had plenty to choose from. For example, there were only two vacancies on the Planning Commission but six candidates. The Parks and Recreation Board had one vacancy and only one candidate. However, Council members Eddie Ellis and Laura Beck acknowledged that there were a couple of residents of which they were aware that wanted to serve but did not know the application process. As a result, the City Council agreed to postpone the vote for the Board of Zoning Appeals as it was the only one that did not have specific membership requirements and could use more candidates. The remaining Boards and Commissions were appointed as follows:
Accommodations Tax Advisory Board: Paul Chrysostum, D.J. Rich, Cliff Harvey, John Davis
Parks and Recreation Board: Mary Ohl
Design Review Board: Gary Brown, David Bishop
Tourism and Visitors Promotion Board: Adam Killerman, Ron Hill, Danielle Hartley
Board of Zoning Appeals: Postponed
Planning Commission: LaJuan Kennedy, Millard Smith. Karen McNamara as Mayor’s appointee.
The City’s Boards and Committees address relative issues and make decisions in those fields. They may also make suggestions to Council on other actions.
Falling on deaf boots
Recently, Folly Beach has taken on what some could describe as an over-zealous tow/boot company. As a result, the City has crafted a couple of ordinances to protect people in the public domain as well as provide guidelines for the tow/boot companies. Towing and booting became an issue when a private company was given permission to use some public property for parking during business hours. The company contracted a towing service to patrol the lot. However, the towing service began booting vehicles after business hours.
“Richard” of R&B Towing was reluctantly allowed to speak to Council and attempted to explain that by booting and towing vehicles, he is actually protecting residents by educating lawbreakers through negative reinforcement. “Tourists”, he said, need to be directed on appropriate parking habits. Booting apparently teaches people when they do something wrong.
Mayor Beckmann was obviously uninterested in his discussion and quickly waved him off without much consideration. The City unanimously passed reading of a couple of ordinances which outline proper booting and towing practices. The tow ordinance prevents the towing of any vehicle on public property without permission from the Public Safety department. It also requires all tow truck operators to have a permit in order to conduct any business in Folly Beach as well as many other requirements.
Keep it coming CARTA
The College of Charleston student government was able to get CARTA to run a bus (Route 31) to Folly Beach during the spring on a temporary basis. They felt the test was successful and would like CARTA to consider a permanent Folly Beach route that would run five-times a day on the weekends from March-May and August-October. The Council passed a resolution supporting the permanent Folly Beach route. The student government was expected to present the resolution during a meeting with CARTA on July 29.
Who’s transient
The City Council unanimously passed a reading of Ordinance 11-09 which is intended to “limit commercialism” on Folly Beach. The ordinance is designed to restrict transient vendors without catching the “brick and mortar” businesses in the net. The transient vendors are those that operate with temporary or mobile bases such as the Italian Ice carts and the new Tokyo Crepe business on East Ashley. They also tend to operate during tourist months only. Brick and mortar refers to businesses that tend to operate for the majority of the year, if not year round, and are stationed in actual buildings with a foundation.
