City Council Notes – May 24, 2011
The Dog Log: 2.5 Hours of Canine Chatter
By Stratton Lawrence
Work Session, 5 p.m.
Dave Stormer presented the highlights of the traffic study to Council, including issues raised by DOT identifying deficiencies. He explained the need to conduct more traffic counts at key Center Street intersections.
Regarding parking, Stormer pointed out that the same cars are frequently parked on Center Street all day long, denying businesses the benefit of turnover. He suggested a two-hour parking limit on Center Street.
Council discussed the traffic backups on East Ashley on weekends, raising the possibility of rotating stop signs on 2nd Avenue East in order to facilitate a second way of reaching Folly Road.
Building a parking garage on Folly was discussed, with City Administrator Toni Connor-Rooks acknowledging that the parking spaces would count toward the City’s mandated number to qualify for beach renourishment funding. Stormer noted the high cost of building a parking garage, doubting that it would be a worthwhile investment.
“By putting more parking spaces around the commercial area, that means we want to make Folly more commercial,” pointed out Councilmember Eddie Ellis. “It’s just like sewer. If you put the pipe there, they will come.”
In the final minutes of the work session, Council Member Laura Beck raised the concern which some residents have expressed about new power lines at the Washout, asking who authorized it and why it was done. Mayor Goodwin explained that the lines are needed to power the new parking meter boxes. The solar-powered boxes were repeatedly vandalized last summer, said Goodwin. Council Member Paul Hume joked that every vandal caught this year could be hanged from one of the new electric poles.
The City’s contract with their parking provider expires in two months. Connor-Rooks said that the parking company would be renting out the police department’s old holding cell as an office for $300/month, allowing people to get their permits in one place. “The more they save, the more we save, because of expenses coming out on top,” said Connor-Rooks.
At 6:05, Council went to Executive Session for Contract Attorney Advice.
Council Meeting, 7 p.m.
All Council Members present except Pennell Clamp.
Mayor Goodwin began the meeting by honoring Captain Bryan Porter of the Fire Department in honor of 50 years of service.
Council approved the consent agenda, including the granting of $1,000 to the Camp Good Times “Man in the Sand Half Rubber Tournament.”
PERSONAL APPEARANCES
On behalf of Marty Morganello and the Surfrider Foundation, Councilmember D.J. Rich presented a check for $2,000 to the City to go towards the funding of the Beach Management Patrol.
Karen Thompson of the Sea Islands Chamber of Commerce came before Council to promote the Chamber and invite the City to join its membership. The organization is one year old and has been promoting Folly Beach since its inception, correcting callers’ mispronunciations of the city’s name. The Chamber is a member of the Folly Beach Business Association, and is supporting the 2012 Sea and Sand Festival. She added that the annual membership costs run from $500 to $2500 depending on the level of involvement. Council Member Charlie McCarty requested to see a financial profile of the organization before any further consideration would be made.
Katrina Taylor, S.C. director of the American Lung Association, requested approval for an annual 5K run fundraiser on October 29. The race attracts around 400 people and has a permit from PRC. A vote was taken, all in favor.
On behalf of Ben Bounds of the Sea and Sand Festival, Council Member D.J. Rich informed the Council that Bounds hoped to seek approval for the 2012 festival on Saturday, March 24, 2012.
Jonas Nance requested permission to set up a tent with a table on the beach conducting an artist demonstration on Memorial Day, including surfboard painting. Nance asked for permission to use a generator to power video monitors. He would display wares that would not be for sale at the tent. Beck and Ellis pointed out that the demonstration was still commercial in nature. McCarty suggested Nance utilize the monthly art shows at the Folly River Park as an outlet. A vote was taken, all opposed.
Melissa Bimbi of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spoke to Council about the status of shorebirds on Folly Beach, specifically in regard to the proposal to allow unleashed dogs on the beach. Her concern is that dogs will flush away the birds that use the ends of the island, and said allowing dogs there is “not conservationally sound.” She recommended that off-leash dogs not be allowed past the last beachfront groin at the island’s east end, and not at all at the island’s west tip.
City Administrator Toni Connor-Rooks spoke on behalf of the Coca-Cola bottling company, noting that the company gave land in 1942 to the City where the community center sits. Coca-Cola requested a “family affair” on the beach on June 19 and giving Coca-Cola products to people, especially children. The company would use a 40×40 tent with beach chairs set around the tent, and they would be on the beach from early in the morning until sunset. Council member Rich pointed out that Council had just said “no” to a person requesting an art demonstration on the beach out of concerns about commercialization, yet was considering approving Coca-Cola.
“I think the feeling for what just happened earlier was that it was truly a commercial venture that was trying to be done previous to this. Advertising and presentation was kind of sketchy, because they said one thing but wrote something else,” said Goodwin.
Rich said he’d seen the kind of thing in Atlantic City with beer companies, and discouraged Folly from starting the same kind of thing on the island, feeling this would set a precedent.
“I think it is the same, handing out Coca-Cola products so people can buy Coca-Cola in the future. That is commercialism,” said Rich.
Hume said that they should have been here during Sea and Sand Festival, saying it was a better venue. A vote was taken opposing the event. Only Mayor Goodwin voted in favor.
CITIZENS COMMENTS
Bryan Porter, 610 East Erie Avenue, thanked Council and public safety for recognizing his service to the City.
Andy Harrison of James Island voiced concerns about Ordinance 16-11, the off-leash dog ordinance. Harrison cited studies measuring the disturbance which dogs cause to nesting shorebirds, explaining that shorebirds appear in much larger numbers when dogs are not present.
Council Member Hume spoke in favor of the ordinance, expressing belief that citizens can self-regulate off-leash behavior, and that giving people a legal option will help minimize the problems with shorebirds at the ends of the islands.
McCarty spoke to the City’s efforts to be both conservation and animal rights-oriented. “I think this (ordinance) will allow us better enforcement,” he said.
Susan Breslin said that she is thrilled that the Sea and Sand Festival will be held earlier in the year, in March. She then spoke about the water and sewer budgets, pointing out that sewer salaries and benefits make up 22 percent of the expenditures, and 9 percent goes toward PILOT. Water salaries are 19 percent of the budget, and PILOT is 11 percent. She called the water and sewer utilities a ‘profit center’ and encouraged Council to shift human resources employees’ salaries away from the water and sewer budget.
Nancy Smith of 1207 Tabby Drive suggested changes in the language of ordinance 20-11, clarifying boundaries around the old Coast Guard station for the off-leash dog rules. Smith asked that animals not be allowed in the dunes and vegetation.
Gary Dixon of 1716 East Ashley Ave spoke as a ‘dog person,’ thanking Council for proposing the off-leash ordinance. He asked Council to give residents a chance to prove that their dogs could be off-leash and play in the water without causing a problem.
Evette Boyd of 1668 East Ashley Ave said she takes her “chill time very seriously,” which includes a five-mile run with her dog on a 16-foot tether. She spoke in regard to the dog ordinance, saying that the City should have control of our active beach, apart from the land owned by the County at the Coast Guard base.
ORDINANCES (Require three readings for approval)
Second Readings:
No. 16-11 (Reiterating the domestic animal restrictions on Folly, and approving the formation of a club, FIDO, that would allow off-leash dogs on the beach)
Council voted to remove Section D from the ordinance, establishing the old Coast Guard base as a protected area for birdlife with domestic animals prohibited, to be considered as its own ordinance.
Rich suggested that members of FIDO have a noticeable collar and that the ordinance be postponed in favor of trying the idea for an off-leash dog club out as a six month resolution.
Explaining FIDO’s structure, Hume said that input from Chief Dennis Brown and animal control employees would be important, and that public safety would have the opportunity to make changes to the rules.
Chief Brown echoed Rich’s comments about the importance of FIDO-registered dogs being easily identified. He added that he would need officers on the beach earlier in the morning.
Beck asked about seeing FIDO’s rules before the third reading, and Hume said that the Council should not micromanage the program. A discussion about locations where dogs would be allowed ensued. A vote was taken, all in favor.
No. 17-11 (Approval of the 2010-2011 sewer utility budget)
McCarty pointed out that the Council was “in a box where we need to approve money that’s been spent” for a budget that ends within 30 days. A vote was taken approving the ordinance. Eddie Ellis voted no.
No. 18-11 (Approval of the 2010-2011 water utility budget)
A vote was taken approving the ordinance. Eddie Ellis voted no.
No. 19-11 (Adoption of Design and Review Board subjective standards for renovations and new buildings)
A vote was taken, all in favor. Council moved to a third reading. A vote was taken, all in favor, and the ordinance was adopted.
First Readings
No. 27-11 (Resolution authorizing the expenditure of $19,990 for the purchase of 512 East Erie)
Rich explained that the City could receive just over $200,000 from the County’s Greenbelt funds, and this additional money could purchase the property adjacent to the City’s current park and playground. The property could be used in the future for a dog park. Rich elaborated on the rules for Greenbelt funds, explaining that the City could not put a building here and would have to use it for a park facility. McCarty pointed out that while the City was only spending $20,000, Folly residents are also County taxpayers. A vote was taken, all in favor.
No. 20-11 (Establishing Folly Beach as a bird sanctuary and defining where dogs are allowed, including a ban on leashed dogs at the ends of the island)
Council motioned to amend the ordinance to state that “there should be no domestic animals whatsoever allowed to trespass on any dunes and/or vegetation.”
A vote was taken, all in favor.
Beck then motioned to amend the ordinance, stating that domestic animals were allowed between the high and low water line, up to the “last easternmost part of the island on which is located a constructive barrier and man-made rock revetment.”
A vote was taken, all in favor.
Beck then motioned to make the west end of Folly off-limits to dogs, and that the Council should be “responsible, compromising environmentalists” looking out for dog-owner rights while recognizing that we have threatened bird species on Folly that rely on our beach. She suggested amending the language to ban domestic animals “up to and not beyond the westward end of the County Park on the west end of the island.”
Hume spoke against the amendment, and Beck said that the information given from U.S. Fish and Wildlife gave her enough reasoning to consider closing the west tip to dogs. “We’re giving privileges; we’ve got to set some boundaries,” said Beck.
Rich said that he felt that leashed dogs were not a problem in this area.
A vote was taken approving the amendment. Hume and Rich voted no.
A vote was taken approving the ordinance. Hume and Rich voted no.
Resolution 28-11 (Authorizing administration to evaluate Folly Beach’s participation in the 9-1-1 dispatch center and resolve it is beneficial to the City)
A vote was taken, all in favor.
Council adjourned at 9:32 p.m.
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