City Council Meeting
By Lauren Dean
Ordinances
The June 22 City Council meeting began at exactly 7:00 p.m. and the gavel came down at 8:01 p.m. No new ordinances were introduced and no one raised a stink about anything. The new Comprehensive Plan and Official Zoning Map unanimously passed final reading. The State requires that the comprehensive plan be reviewed every five years and the Planning Commission held a public hearing on the plan at its June 7 meeting. There were no objections from residents and after striking the provision regarding construction of a fine arts center, the PC recommended passage of the Comprehensive Plan and sent it to City Council for a final vote. A nuts and bolts ordinance updating Folly Beach building regulations to bring them into compliance with current codes also passed unanimously.
The FY10-11 budget was up for final reading and Mayor Tim Goodwin opened the floor to public comments. There were no questions or concerns raised by residents. Pennell Clamp reiterated his stance that there are some things he doesn’t like about the budget, but what the heck, all in all it’s a good budget with no millage increase so let’s “git ‘er done.” Clamp did propose a change that would require Council’s approval before the City purchases any new vehicles. That made sense to the other members – I’d wager Clamp maintains his vehicles rather than rushing to buy a new one every couple of years – and that provision was added before the final tally, in which only Eddie Ellis cast a dissenting vote.
An ordinance providing for the issuance of a $1 million general obligation bond to pay for the expansion of the Public Safety facility passed second reading with only Ellis voting against it. According to City Administrator Toni Connor-Rooks, the most recent value of all taxable property in Folly Beach is approximately $66 million and the City may borrow up to 8% of this amount without a referendum. Although the cost of the expansion was approximately $1.6 million, keeping the indebtedness at $1 million will keep the annual payment approximately the same as that for the current City Hall, which will be paid off this year. The bond will be repaid in ten annual principle plus interest installments of $122,739 at a fixed interest rate of 3.91%. Not only did the City negotiate a good deal, according to Connor-Rooks, but Folly Beach Building Inspector Eric Lutz will be on the job – monitoring construction work and costs – to make sure the City is getting its money’s worth.
Other business
A resolution authorizing the City of Folly Beach to withdraw from the Charleston County Consolidated Dispatch Center introduced by Ellis was shot down when he failed to receive a second to the motion. A resolution awarding the bid for the court room sound system for just at $21,000 passed unanimously with Connor-Rooks explaining that the City would receive a grant to cover approximately half of that expense. Connor-Rooks said she had seen a demo of the equipment and was very pleased that it would now allow residents the option of listening to meetings on the radio.
Public Safety
Chief Terry Boatwright talked about his plans to get Folly Beach through the Fourth of July weekend. To many residents, Boatwright is walking on water after the Memorial Day non-event and he aims to keep on walking. Boatwright said the Folly Beach Department of Public Safety is “staffed up and ready for the July 4 weekend.” He said his major problem this summer has been getting traffic off the West side of the island, but as far as front beach behavior is concerned, “small ops” since the Memorial Day weekend have had the intended effect on behavior. From May 1 to June 22 of 2010, 484 citations were written compared to 288 in this same period last year. There has also been a 60% increase in littering citations this year, according to Boatwright. Not more littering, he stressed, but more enforcement. He said he also intends to continue the vehicle check points that have proven very effective.
Council Comments
Laura Beck expressed concern about the new power poles SCE&G wants to put in the Folly River. She said the permit to OCRM failed to specify the height of the new utility poles and she thought it would be wise for Folly Beach to exercise some input before the permits are granted.
Eddie Ellis applauded Chief Boatwright for staying ahead of the curve. He said he was standing in line at the Piggly Wiggly and overheard the day-trippers in front of him talking about how visitors needed to “tone it down or you may get a citation.”
Hume reiterated his stance regarding his low-key approach that makes residents ambassadors of our beach. “We all need to work to keep our beaches clean. Pass out garbage bags, ask people to behave. If we all work at this, we can do it.”
Charlie McCarty reminded us that July 3rd, which will be celebrated at the beach as the 4th of July holiday, is also the birthday of Julius Caesar.
Mayor Tim Goodwin said residents need to remain focused on beaches and walk-overs, but we also needed to look in our own backyards. He encouraged people to purchase regulation garbage containers at City Hall and to refrain from putting trash cans and yard debris on the street days before pick up. “We know what gets picked up on what days,” he said.
