Folly Beach City Council
Staff Report
The September 22 meeting of the Folly Beach City Council had to be a record as the shortest meeting of any municipal Council in the area. Lasting less than 45 minutes, the Council’s huge task of quelling the trash problem was put on hold as they had previously agreed to re-approach the issue at their October work session. A public hearing on the traffic plan proposals was scheduled for two days later, so there was no discussion on that issue. A scheduled appearance by Marta Borinsky was cancelled because she did not show up, and any debate on the Public Safety expansion has been postponed because bids on the project were not due until October 1. However, there was still about 45 minutes of business.
Yahoo!
Mayor Beckmann noted that the City has been having issues with e-mails not being received or being processed properly. The main issue, he said, was with anyone using a Yahoo! address. If you have tried to contact the City through e-mail and have not received a response, it would not be a bad idea to confirm with the City that your communication was received.
In the same vein, Administrator Toni Connor-Rooks recently obtained a $51,000 grant for the City to update and improve the computer systems used for Court purposes. Currently, the City is still using a 14 year-old DOS operating system, which is now inefficient and limiting.
It’s not for dogs
The Town passed second reading of an ordinance that will ban dogs from the north end of the island, also known as the Old Coast Guard Base. The reason for the ban was explained by a DNR representative at a previous meeting who stated that Folly Beach, especially the northern end of the island which is owned by the Charleston County Park system, has become increasingly important to endangered migratory shorebirds for nesting and resting. Dogs running through the area prevent the birds from being able to rest and can crush the eggs of some birds who nest in the sand. However, Mayor Beckmann stressed the fact that this is not a “dog ordinance”, but an ordinance for dog owners.
“If people would control their dogs we wouldn’t have to do this,” he said. He added that all of Folly Beach is actually designated as a bird sanctuary.
Not ready to go green
If it had not been for two ordinances establishing the Sewer Utility and Water Utility budgets, all of the Town’s business would have been conducted without any real discussion whatsoever. However, included in the two budgets was the purchase of a $12,000 “green vehicle”, the price of which had been split between the Water and Sewer budgets. The vehicle was going to be used for reading meters, among other tasks.
Council member Tim Goodwin raised the issue by asking why the City needed to spend $12,000 when a battery operated golf cart, equally green, could be purchased for around $3,000. Mayor Beckmann pointed out that the $12,000 vehicle could carry more things and was “street legal”. He added that the Water Department tested the vehicle for the week and that “it made meter reading very easy”. Currently the Town uses a gasoline powered pick up truck for the task. Council member Tom Scruggs suggested using the truck until it mechanically fails after Goodwin expressed displeasure with the City for accruing more and more vehicles. However, Goodwin did suggest that the City look into purchasing a Toyota Prius’ for the Public Safety Department in the future in order to have a better impact on the environment.
The Council unanimously agreed to remove the item from the Water and Sewer budgets.
Bridge replacement
You may recall in a previous edition of The Folly Current that plans were underway to replace the two aging bridges the span the Folly River and Creek. Mayor Beckmann announced that a final review of the bridge plans would take place in November and that the bridges would be replaced sometime next year. The City was presented with four alternatives for the bridge replacement, each with different traffic and environmental impacts.
