Folly Beach City Council – January 26, 2010
By Lauren Dean
There are plenty of issues at Folly Beach, to be sure, and pet projects every now and then, and even a good, salacious scandal from time to time. It’s why we call it “Follitics,” but every resident worth his salt knows the two enduring and seemingly unsolvable problems at Folly are traffic and trash, and City Council took a stab at both when they met on January 26.
Is the traffic moving yet?
With only Councilman Ellis dissenting, the Transportation Study conducted by Wilbur Smith & Associates was accepted and sent to the Planning Commission for further refinement.
The Planning Commission will hold meetings and public hearings to seek citizen input and meet in joint sessions with Council before implementing any of the projects, and some recommendations may be dropped entirely, according to Councilman Dave Stormer. Stormer classifies the projects as mostly either high-impact/low-cost or high-impact/high-cost (presumably the low-impact/high-cost recommendations won’t make the cut), and believes that some of the high-impact/low-cost measures could be put in place before the vacation season begins.
“Relocating signs and getting residents acclimated to the changes can be easily and quickly implemented,” said Stormer, referring to the stop signs on East 2nd Street which, instead of stopping traffic on 2nd Street, would stop traffic on Cooper, Erie, Hudson, Huron and Indian Avenues; in effect making 2nd Street a major artery and easing congestion on Center Street.
This would facilitate the pedestrian-friendly downtown area which Stormer envisions, encouraging people to walk Center Street and visit the local business establishments. But major changes to Center Street are what Stormer calls “concrete and mortar” issues: things like widening sidewalks and creating a median along Center Street are expensive and take time. “If it’s costly and permanent, we need to make sure it’s what we want before we do it,” said Stormer.
Councilman Tom Scruggs was opposed to accepting the proposal in its entirety. “There’s a lot of good information here and some interim things we can tackle right away,” Scruggs said. “But there are also some much bigger projects that are going to be expensive, and we don’t know where we’re going to get the money. Let’s be smart about looking at them.” Scruggs said the important thing for residents to know is that Council’s acceptance of the plan is not the same thing as endorsing all the recommendations. “The important thing is to move carefully and cautiously to ensure the steps they’re recommending is what’s right for Folly Beach,” said Scruggs.
Stormer emphasized that Council was approving a “plan” of what the City hoped to accomplish over the next ten years, not a “construction schedule”, and that the City should proceed cautiously and determine where they would find the necessary funding. “A plan is like a map,” he said, “if you don’t know where you’re going, you don’t need it.” Reasons cited by Ellis for voting against accepting the Traffic Study were the proposed traffic circles and having only “one lane on and one lane off” on Center Street.
Talking Trash
The Council then held a prolonged discussion about a proposed recycling bin centered on whether to choose the location chosen by Councilman Ellis or the one selected by Councilman Tim Goodwin. Ellis recommended placing the bin at Bert’s. He said he had a letter from the owners of Bert’s and the owner of the adjacent property supporting the location, and a petition with 60 signatures supporting recycling at Bert’s. Goodwin’s choice for the bin was next to the water tower because it was City property and would fall under the watchful eye of City employees who would also help to keep it clean, and it’s location across the street from an empty lot didn’t require any letters.
The problem was that the resolution had been written in such a way that it required Council members to choose between the two locations. That was when the talk got trashy. Goodwin made a motion that a vote on the ordinance be postponed until Council could choose one or the other locations because “the County is not going to want us to put two bins out here.” Au contraire, insisted Ellis. The County would rather have more than one bin on Folly so they could come out with an empty truck and fill it up. Councilwoman Laura Beck doubted that was true, citing that it had been difficult for the Mayor to get County to agree to even one bin, and thought Charleston County should decide which of the available locations was best for them. Councilman Charlie McCarty thought the decision should be deferred to Folly’s Public Works Department. “Wherever it goes, I suggest we put a memorial marker on it,” McCarty quipped.
Eventually, Goodwin withdrew his proposed site in order to “get out of this quagmire” and made a motion that a recycling bin be placed at Bert’s. The resolution passed unanimously.
“Washington has health care reform and Folly Beach has recycling bins,” joked Ellis. Ellis also volunteered to pursue getting an additional recycling bin on Folly and to try to get Charleston County to pick up recyclables once a week during the summer months.
The next Folly Beach Council meeting will be held at 7pm on February 23, 2010, at City Hall, located at 21 Center Street. For more info, call City Hall at 588-2447.
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