City Council did not meet on July 13 because that was Election Day. Their next regular meeting will be July 27 at 7:00 p.m. in Council chambers. Agenda items were to include ordinances amending the current rules for dogs on the beach, requiring non-residents to purchase a license tag for pets they bring to the beach, and establishing rules for the use of golf carts within the City of Folly Beach, but Mayor Goodwin has decided to have a workshop on those issues so residents can come forward to express their ideas and opinions. The date of the workshop will be announced soon. On the agenda for the July 27 meeting are the repeal of the Red Bay Laurel Ordinance and discussion of the vacation rental management ordinance. Residents are encouraged to attend and speak their minds. To make a citizen comment, all you have to do is show up and sign in. It is not necessary to be placed on the agenda in advance.

Planning Commission

The Planning Commission met on July 12 and the first order of business was to swear in Elton Culpepper, Pennell Clamp’s appointee to the Planning Commission. Then the Planning Commission got down to business.

Zoning Administrator Aaron Pope introduced an ordinance he described as “a regulatory mechanism to manage short-term rentals and the problems associated with them” that will establish requirements for obtaining a business license to rent property on a short-term basis.

One of the issues discussed was limiting the number of occupants and including a list of all occupants on the rental agreement. Sam Robinson said there should be a maximum number of renters based on the number of bedrooms. “It’s a health issue because of the demands on the septic system,” he said, “and a safety issue in the event of a fire.” Kirk Grant thought it would be difficult to enforce occupancy limits, but LaJuan Kennedy said two guests per bedroom plus two additional guests conforms to maximum occupancy guidelines elsewhere and should be enforceable.

Another major issue was how to make sure owners as well as renters were aware of the rules regarding such issues as noise, trash, parking, animals, sea turtles and golf carts. “Some people don’t have a clue,” said Chairman LaJuan Kennedy. “The agents will abide by the rules, but we need to educate the people who don’t have agents.”

There was some squabbling about whether the rules should be included in the actual rental agreements that resulted in a vote of three for and three against with Kennedy recusing herself from the vote since she works for a rental agency. Tie votes fail, so the Planning Commission will recommend to City Council that the rules become part of the rental agreement vacationers must sign. The listing of all renters was scrapped, but Planning did vote to require the number of occupants to be included on the rental agreement.

The rules and regulations must also be posted in a prominent position in the homes. It was agreed that the door would be the best place to post the rules. “Keep it short so they will read and understand it,” said Millard Smith. Culpepper went even further. “It needs to be something a ten-year-old can understand,” he said. Grant suggested that the City provide a bulleted poster.

Carl Hally made the point that under current law, the owner is responsible for violations. “This will make the renters responsible, so they should know what the consequences are.” Culpepper agreed. “The owner is getting rental income, but he is not the one creating the problem.”

“How do we determine what constitutes a violation?” Pope asked. “That’s where we got derailed last time we tried to do this. The City has the right to revoke licenses, but we don’t have any parameters.”

“If we are going to have it this year, we have got to get something to City Council,” said Kennedy. “If we don’t have it in their hands by October, we will have to wait until next year.”

The Planning Commission voted unanimously to have their suggestions incorporated into the ordinance that will receive first reading at the City Council meeting on July 27. Council will hash it over and send it back to Planning for a public hearing. That’s when residents who will be affected by the new laws – and isn’t that just about everyone? – as well as owners of vacation rentals can most effectively contribute to the dialogue. The Planning Commission makes recommendations; City Council makes laws.

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Rich, the owner of Planet Follywood, received 54 percent of the vote and city planner Susan Breslin garnered 46 percent of the vote. Both Rich and Breslin were candidates in the April 6 election, but neither received enough votes to win. Breslin squared off against Council member Laura Beck in a runoff election on April 22 in which Beck was able to retain her seat on City Council.

Rich said he was excited about the win and ready to get to work on City Council. “We always knew the winner would be the one who could get the most supporters out to vote,” Rich said. “I was pretty sure I had 300 supporters who would definitely vote for me.” Rich received 317 votes.

Breslin said she enjoyed the campaign and the opportunity to meet so many people and talk about their concerns regarding the direction in which Folly Beach was headed. But after three campaigns in four months, she said she was ready to move on to other ventures. She added that she would continue to attend city meetings and work behind the scenes. “I love Folly Beach,” she said. “Nothing will change that.”

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It has already burned itself into our national psyche; the image of millions of gallons of crude oil billowing from the BP wellhead in the Gulf of Mexico, a mile below the surface. We can only guess how much oil has escaped, and that guess is based on constantly changing estimates from BP and the government, though one Associated Press calculation made last week placed the figure at over 130 million gallons.

Several efforts to plug the leak have failed. More successful, but only marginally, was the effort to place a dome over the leaking wellhead and siphon the collected oil straight to the surface and onto waiting tankers. BP’s long-range plan – to intercept the leaking well with a relief well and use that to fill the damaged well with cement – is still weeks away from completion, and the oil keeps pouring into the Gulf. Attempts to coral the floating filth with booms and to burn it off have met with limited success.

The oil is now coming ashore in four Gulf states and we have begun to see the toll it is taking on wildlife and the fragile coastal habitat. The S.C. Aquarium has dispatched a contingency of biologists to the Gulf coast to help hundreds of others in the massive wildlife rescue going on there.

In the early weeks of the spill there was fear that the spreading oil slick would get caught in the loop current, which would carry it northeast of the wellhead and then down the west coast of Florida. By this scenario, it could reach the southern tip of the peninsula and get picked up by the Gulf Stream, carrying it up the East Coast and perhaps as far north as the Palmetto State. By the end of May the slick had entered the loop, according to scientists at the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. At this moment, however, it appears that the current is not moving down the Florida coast; it seems to moving – and carrying what oil it has picked up – in a clockwise direction in the northern Gulf. This is subject to change, but for now, Gulf oil will not be threatening South Carolina’s beaches in the foreseeable future.

Yet the Gulf oil spill is already affecting the Charleston area in less direct ways. Vacation rentals are up and seafood supplies are down. The Florida Panhandle resorts of Destin, Panama City, Fort Walton Beach, Pensacola Beach and the Alabama beach town of Gulf Shores seem to be taking the brunt of the BP hit, according to an informal survey of local beach rental companies.

“We have seen last minute inquiries by people who have abandoned their Gulf Coast vacations and even abandoned their deposits,” said Kathleen Holmes, property manager at Seabrook Exclusive Rentals and Sales.

Some of those vacationers heard early reports that the oil slick might be rounding the tip of Florida and heading to South Carolina. “We got some calls from people wanting to know if our beaches are clean,” Holmes said. She assured them that South Carolina’s beaches are pristine and urged them to consider coming here. She said she is even working with them to give discounts because some of them have already lost deposits on the Gulf Coast.

Jerad Becknell, general manager at the Palms Hotel on the Isle of Palms, said he has seen an eight- to ten-percent increase in bookings, which he attributes to the crisis in the Gulf. The new vacationers here seem to be happy with what they find, he said. “One couple told me South Carolina will be their new vacation home,” Becknell said.

Colin Landrith, a vacation specialist at Avocet Properties on Folly Beach, said he has gotten a number of calls from people who had planned to vacation at Destin or Pensacola. The increased demand for rentals has not affected prices, he said, because prices are locked in by November. It looks like it will be a tight fit for vacationers on Folly this year. “Folly Beach was rocking before the oil spill hit,” Landrith said. “Our inventory has not changed.”

The picture is not as clear on the availability of fresh seafood. A spot check of several local seafood wholesalers gave mixed results. Much of the seafood sold locally is caught locally so supply would not be affected, but prices may spike as Gulf coast seafood suppliers are shut down and demand increases on the local supply.

An unidentified employee at Backman Seafood on James Island said they had felt no impact from the Gulf spill. At C.A. Magwood & Son in Mount Pleasant, manager John Moseley said events in the Gulf have not affected prices or availability. This time of year, he said, his major product is shrimp and those have suffered more from winter cold than from Gulf oil. His primary fear is that Gulf shrimpers will be shut down in their home waters and start wandering into Atlantic waters, increasing competition in the local market and adding pressure to the local shrimp stock.

Jennifer Hardin at Cherry Point Seafood Co. in Rockville said that there are plenty of shrimp since the shrimping season started on the Texas coast, and Texas has not been affected by the spill. The price of shrimp has actually dropped 50 cents a pound, she said. “We’ve got more shrimp than we know what to do with.”

Rutledge Leland at Carolina Seafood in McClellanville concurred, saying the price of shrimp has leveled off since the season opened in Texas, but the crab market is being affected by the oil spill and we may see an increase in prices there.

The Post and Courier reported on June 25 that the Red Lobster seafood restaurant chain was running out of oysters, since most oysters come from the Gulf this time of year. That is where most local seafood lovers will feel the pinch first in the seafood supply chain. There may be a social and culinary crisis in January when Boone Hall Plantation holds its annual Lowcountry Oyster Festival, which draws more than 10,000. Will there be oysters enough by then? We will have to wait and see, a local wholesaler told the P&C.

For several years there has been a growing frenzy to explore for natural gas and oil off the South Carolina coast. As First District Rep. Henry Brown told the Chicago Tribune in 2005, “If [oil and gas drilling] is okay for Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas, it should be okay for other states … We are in an energy crisis and we should do everything we can to become more energy-independent — including offshore drilling.”

That may have made some sense five years ago, but now South Carolinians must evaluate offshore drilling in light of the blowout of the BP well off the Louisiana shore. How would a major oil spill affect the lives and livelihoods of the coast? How would it affect our tourism and our seafood industry?

Henry Brown will soon leave Congress and he will almost certainly be replaced by Republican nominee Tim Scott, who also enthusiastically supports offshore drilling on the South Carolina coast. His Democratic opponent, Ben Frasier, could not be reached for comment. Republican Sen. Jim DeMint supports offshore drilling and even his mysterious Democratic opponent, Alvin Greene, has said he wants to drill on the Carolina coast.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley also supports offshore drilling. Her Democratic opponent Vince Sheheen is the only major candidate who has come out against offshore drilling. “The science tells us there is not much potential for oil. It’s not worth risking the tourism industry in the state or risking the fragile resources in the state,” he told The State newspaper on June 4.

While many South Carolinians think that drilling for oil and gas off our beaches is necessary – even inevitable – a growing number of people have come to question that wisdom. More than 200 of them gathered at Folly Beach and Kiawah Island’s Beachwalker Park on June 26 to stand in the surf and clasp hands in part of an international movement called “Hands Across the Sand,” urging politicians and citizens to take a stand against offshore drilling.

Folly Beach Mayor Tim Goodwin told the Post and Courier, “The beaches would be empty and this hotel would look like a ghost town” if oil washed up on the Folly sand. “People are vacationing here because they have canceled their vacations on the Gulf coast. An oil spill, major or minor, near or far would just completely wipe us out here at Folly Beach.”

To drill or not to drill? It’ another important issue the people of the Lowcountry will have to think about carefully before the November election.

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At 7:00 p.m. on July 13 it will all be over. Folly Beach residents will have chosen the City Council member who will represent them for the next two years. Either Susan Breslin or D.J. Rich will take the empty seat once occupied by Tim Goodwin and serve the remaining two years of his term.

Both candidates agree that the key to winning will be getting their supporters to the polls. Rich said personal matters kept him from really campaigning hard the first time around, but he still performed well and barely missed the cut-off for the run-off. Since then, he said, he has been focused and working hard to win. For Breslin, it’s her third campaign this year and she hopes the third time’s a charm.

“I think this is a crucial time for Folly Beach, Breslin said. “We have to choose the kind of place we want Folly to be and we’re running out of time to make that choice.”

Breslin’s “Residents First” slogan has at times annoyed Rich. “This town is made up of residents, businesses and vacationers,” he said. “The interests of all of them need to be represented. I’m a resident, too, but we need balance.”

But Breslin is focused on the number of residents, especially the full-time residents who have left Folly Beach. She said four years ago more than 30% of the homes on Folly Beach were owner occupied, but now it’s down to 20%. “So many people I have talked to are thinking about moving because they’re fed up.” She said reasons for resident dissatisfaction include noise and traffic issues, drunks in the street, and the feeling that they are losing control over Folly Beach, that Folly Beach controls them.

Rich says Folly Beach cannot exist without a viable business community to support the city. “We don’t need more growth, but we need to manage what we have,” he said. “We need to make sure we have a thriving business community.”

Breslin agrees with Rich on that point, but she said it should not be at the expense of the residents. She said the downtown area is about more than the shops and food and beverage establishments that line Center Street. “Center Street isn’t owned by a few bars. Center Street belongs to all of us and we are all affected by what happens there,” she said.

A major concern for Rich is that some people see him just as a business owner and think that’s all he cares about, but he said he is concerned about all the issues Folly faces just as any resident would be. “I talk to people seven days a week and, believe me, it’s easy to know what’s going on, to get opinions from people. Between the Planet and the Crab Shack (which he says are heavily frequented by locals) it’s not hard to keep track of the pulse of Folly Beach,” he said.

Both candidates think they could work well with the present Council members. “We need a cohesive Council this time around,” Rich said, adding that he feels he would bring needed balance to the group. According to Breslin, what the city needs most on Council is a middle ground on the issues. “People square off and don’t talk to each other, they don’t say ‘I can live with this, can you live with this?’ It’s really important to cooperate with other Council members.”

It’s the middle of the summer, people are busy with houseguests or have left town because of the weather or the crowds. It may seem like a ho hum election, but that’s not true. The person elected to City Council on Tuesday will be sitting in that chair for two years. And a lot can happen in two years.

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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.

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“I see we have a full house tonight,” Mayor Tim Goodwin said in his opening comments. “I’m happy to see all of you here and I hope you’re all still happy when you leave.” In a concise, well-mannered City Council meeting that came in at just under one hour (I still had time to rush home and catch the finale of American Idol), the mid-year budget unanimously passed second reading since Councilman Eddie Ellis was not present to object. Ordinances establishing the new Official Zoning Map of the City of Folly Beach and adopting the 2010 Comprehensive Plan unanimously passed first reading and both were remanded to the Planning Commission for public hearings. It was only the observations and comments regarding fiscal irresponsibility from Councilman Pennell Clamp that kept the meeting from feeling like a sing-along. Kum-ba-yah!

Mid-year budget

Clamp campaigned as a budget reformer and fiscal conservative. For years before his election to City Council in April, Clamp would come in and sit down with City Administrator Toni Connor-Rooks or Zoning Administrator Aaron Pope to scrutinize City expenditures. He wants Council to catch problems when they occur and budget the money at that time rather than falling short of funds in the middle of the year. “I’d like to see us cut out this mid-year budget baloney,” he asserted.

Mayor Tim Goodwin assured Clamp there would be no more mid-year budget adjustments and then corrected himself. “Well, there will be no more mid-year budgets for the next four years (the term to which Goodwin was elected),” he said. “I can’t promise what will happen after that.”

Citizen Volunteer Program

Goodwin introduced a resolution to create a temporary staff position (June through September of this year) to get the new Citizen Volunteer Program off to an auspicious start. The program, brainchild of Councilman Charlie McCarty, aims to involve residents in support of non-criminal law enforcement and livability issues. McCarty called the program “five years over-due” and said “We have a valuable resource in our citizens that we should tap to help solve our problems.”

Funding for the position is already in the budget, according to Goodwin, and will come from money already allocated for seasonal augmentation of Folly Beach Public Safety and from money recently set aside for the Beach Management Patrol. “Let’s try to get this volunteer program off the ground and on its feet, he said. To volunteer call City Hall at 588-2447.

Citizen Comments

Elton Culpepper came with hat in hand to commend Chief Boatwright on the improved traffic flow into Folly Beach since the implementation of manual manipulation of the light at Center Street and Ashley Avenue. “I came here in January (with suggestions to improve the traffic situation) and I came back in March, and I said I’d be back to say ‘I told you so’ if things didn’t improve,” Culpepper said, adding that it only seemed right to come back and thank Council and the Chief now that things had gotten better. He has a bird’s eye view of the traffic from his perch at the Piggly Wiggly, so who am I to disagree, but his statement that it now takes only 15 minutes to get to Folly Beach seems optimistic. And if it’s so much easier to get to island now, does that mean more people will come?

Margie Horton thinks visitors would behave if they were better informed of the rules. She said staff at the Holiday Inn did not know dogs were not allowed on the beach. “No one knows the rules,” Horton said. “We need more signs stating the rules.” Maybe the people urinating on her property behind the Surf Bar would cease that behavior if there was a sign indicating that it was a no-no. Maybe not. What did work for Horton was putting up flood lights to catch the urinaters in the act. Now we can’t have Folly Beach all lit up like Las Vegas, so maybe we should hire a consultant to figure this one out for us.

Council Comments

Charlie McCarty reminded us this was Safe Boating Week and that there had already been more boating fatalities this year than in all of 2009. “If you wear your life preserver you are far less likely to be a victim of a boating accident,” he admonished us. Duh!

Pennell Clamp announced that Elton Culpepper was his pick for Planning Commissioner.

Laura Beck voiced her concern that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico would impact our beach and urged residents to help prevent that by going to saveourgulf.org and making a contribution.

Paul Hume said we all have the same complaints and problems and he thought Mayor Goodwin had made a real effort to get the word out that we’re not going to take it anymore. “We’ll be good hosts,” Hume said, “but we’ll expect you to be good guests.” He said visitors would rise to the level of our expectations. He suggested taking a couple of extra trash bags to the beach and saying, when appropriate, things like “Hey, do you need a trash bag? We’re really trying to keep our beach clean. . .” If all else fails, he said, take a picture of the violators in the act. Now that Margie Horton has turned on the floodlights, that should be a snap.

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Many residents have expressed interest in offering their services to the city, and volunteering is a great way for residents to actively participate in local government. By volunteering, you can help make the beach a safer, cleaner, and better place to live. If you are interested in participating in any of the programs listed below, please contact the appropriate Department Head:

Building and Zoning is seeking volunteers for Code Enforcement activities. The primary focus will be monitoring the island for violations of trash ordinances and right of way encroachments. Duties will include patrolling the island, documenting violations, and initial notification of property owners. The estimated time per week is 8 hours. For more info or to volunteer, contact Aaron Pope at 588-2447 ext 1839, or email apope@cityoffollybeach.com.

Beach Management Patrol is seeking volunteers to help keep our beach clean and act as ambassadors to our residents and visitors. Duties will include walkover cleaning, beach litter pickup, and monitoring. If you are a citizen who already patrols the beach in your spare time, please contact us so we can coordinate our efforts with those of you who already act as stewards of the beach. The time commitment per week will vary. For more info or to volunteer, contact City Administrator Toni Connor-Rooks at 708-9474, or email tconnor@cityoffollybeach.com.

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City Council Meeting
City Council finally met as a group on May 11 for the shortest meeting on record – seven minutes. It was actually a special City Council meeting with barely a quorum present called for the specific purpose of voting on the mid-year budget, which basically tacks on unanticipated expenditures that were not part of the fiscal budget.
Mayor Goodwin was present along with Council members Charlie McCarty, Eddie Ellis and Paul Hume. Pennell Clamp was out of town for the funeral of a family member and Laura Beck was attending the school play of one of her children. The budget passed without them. Life goes on despite stinky little things like budgets and they were where they needed to be. Besides, Councilman Ellis was there to scrutinize the mid-year supplemental budget for the public record.
City Council Workshop
The City Council meeting was preceded by a Budget 101 workshop in which Ellis conducted an exhaustive line-by-line examination of the budget, which he later voted against. The $835,000 increase included funds for joining the County-wide dispatch system, the City Hall expansion, and the hiring of a facilitator to help former Mayor Beckmann control his Council, none of which Ellis had supported.
Citizen’s comments are heard at the beginning of council meetings, and former Mayor Bob Linville showed up spitting nails over the new County dispatch system. “It ain’t working and it ain’t gonna work,” Linville said. “I hope to God we don’t have another Hugo and have to rely on the County to help us.” He then related a story about a dog that had been picked up by Folly Beach Animal Services over the weekend and a man who had been looking for that dog for two days to no avail. With no animal shelter on Folly due to the relocation of the Fire Department, Pet Helpers took in the animal, but County dispatch didn’t know where the dog was and Linville’s wife Carol, founder and director of Pet Helpers, said the dog was just hours away from being neutered when by chance the man called her.
Current Mayor Tim Goodwin told a story of his own about an injured duck he found on the Folly River Bridge, and his story had a better ending. “Here’s what you do,” Goodwin said. “Call 588-2433 (the old Folly Beach Public Safety phone number) and ask to speak to Ralph.” Ralph Bryant is the Folly Beach Animal Control Officer.
Goodwin went on to explain that Folly residents can still talk directly to a Folly Beach cop by calling 588-2433 (which now goes directly to County dispatch), telling the dispatcher this is not an emergency, and requesting to speak directly to a Public Safety officer. The Mayor said he had been against using County dispatch from the start, but after two good experiences and one bad experience, he was beginning to come around.
Many residents have expressed concern about the handling of non-emergency situations such as noisy parties at rental units next door, music blaring from bars on Center Street, and missing pets.  It seems the new Mayor has worked out a way to keep our dispatch calls Folly-friendly. He said after the meeting that the County was going to have to figure out that Folly was a “whole different animal” from North Charleston or even James Island and learn to respond accordingly.
City Administrator Toni Connor-Rooks went to great pains to explain the costs of the new dispatch system. Bottom line was that Folly Beach will no longer be paying the salaries of five dispatchers and even though the City will pay the county upwards of $250,000 per year for 2011 and 2012 and approximately half that in 2013, payments will disappear entirely in 2014. This is important stuff, although the mere mention of the word “budget” makes most folk’s eyes glaze over.
Other ho-hum business concerned the pros and cons of hiring an engineer to run interference between the City and the Department of Transportation (DOT) in hopes of getting bridges that satisfy Folly residents.  Paul Hume wondered why we needed to hire an engineer to tell DOT we didn’t like what they were doing, but Charlie McCarty insisted that an engineer could better state the position of the City regarding issues that have not been resolved with DOT.
Thank God for the seven-minute City Council meeting after a work session that ran 30 minutes over schedule. The good news is there was no smirking or rolling of the eyes and everybody seemed to get along just fine. The next regular City Council meeting is at 7:00 p.m. on May 25. Inquiring minds can come by City Hall and pick up a copy of the agenda and talk to the Mayor or any of the other City officials while they’re there, or less chatty, computer-literate types can print their own agenda by accessing the City website at Cityoffollybeach.com. Remember, you can attend the Council meetings or watch the fun on Channel 60 from the comfort of your own home.

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The first month serving as your mayor has been interesting with many issues to address. One, which has been the focus of some of our residents, is the proposed new bridge over the Folly River Creek. The Bridge Committee, as stated in last month’s letter, is recommending the new bridge stay in the same footprint as the current one.  There had been no new occurrence to report since the Bridge Committee’s letter was sent.  In light of this, I called DOT and requested a meeting with the Program Director which will happen within the next two weeks.  Also, it is my understanding that a response to the Bridge Committee’s letter is forthcoming.

Another matter which has been a dilemma for many of our citizens has been the difficulty in reaching the Folly Beach Public Safety Department for information or just to address administrative matters; in other words, calls that don’t fall into the category of being non-emergency with the need for a Public Safety officer to respond either in person, by phone or by an emergency 9-1-1 call.   Hopefully, the following information will help resolve some of the other problems:

Beginning Monday, May 17, the Public Safety office will be opened from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m., Monday through Friday. If members of the public have an administrative matter which needs to be discussed, i.e. party permits, dog tags, lost or found articles, times dogs can be on the beach, or other types of information, they can reach Folly Beach Public Safety at 588-7003 from 7 a. m. to 7 p.m. If there is a non-emergency matter which requires a public safety officer to respond either in person or by phone, call 588-2433. For all emergencies, immediately dial 9-1-1.

Another matter which will be coming before Council is the relocation of the sewer force main. The city had initially planned to do this project in 2011; however, due to the break in the sewer main located on the Folly River, it is just not cost effective for the City to wait on this project. City staff is working on the best way to proceed financially and the engineer on the project is preparing specs for the bid packets.

On a final note, the FY 10-11 Budget has been given to City Council and a public hearing is scheduled for June 22, 2010, at 7 p.m. There is no tax increase proposed. Please call me if you have any concerns or if there is anything you would like to suggest.  I can be reached at 513-1835.
Sincerely,

(SIGNATURE) Tim Goodwin
Tim Goodwin
Mayor

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Voting was “steady and even all day,” according to Folly Beach Election Commission chairman Bob Clair. Lavern James, former mayor and election commission chair for many years, called it the best ever turnout for a runoff election for City Council. “Normally we get less than half what the regular election gets,” he said. There were 901 votes cast in the regular election and 656 votes cast in the runoff.

The April 6 election put Pennell Clamp and Paul Hume in office, but none of the other five candidates garnered enough votes to win outright. Breslin led Beck slightly in the previous election, but Beck’s decisive win in the runoff has put her back in the City Council seat she has held since 2006.

“I am excited and appreciative and I am looking forward to working with Tim and the other new and old Council members,” Beck said as she gave new Mayor Tim Goodwin a big hug.

Beck said it was her ability to work with people of different backgrounds and opinions that won her the victory. “A lot of people really understand the value of listening to the varying points of view we have here on Folly Beach,” she said.

“Laura did a great job of pulling out the vote,” said Breslin, citing the number of younger residents, especially those with children, who showed up to cast their vote. “It’s important to Folly Beach that young people be involved,” she said, adding that she believes those voters identified with Beck.

Beck, the only candidate with young children, had positioned herself as the candidate best suited to represent the interests of young families. She also had strong support from the business community, particularly the bar and restaurant establishments. DJ Rich, owner of Planet Follywood and a candidate for City Council in the April 6 election, threw his support to Beck and offered on his website to shuttle Beck supporters to and from the polls.

In the causeway wars, Beck won hands down. She had more signs and her supporters painted the boat, but the piece de resistance was the red zeppelin that floated above the marsh urging residents to “Vote for Laura Beck.”

Breslin used the more traditional “get out the vote” method of identifying her supporters and contacting them directly to remind them to vote. “I appreciate every vote I got,” she said, “and it was a great experience.”

Beck and Breslin greeted voters all day outside the polling place, and Beck said many people had told her it was a difficult choice and they wished both candidates could be elected.

Asked if she would run again in the special election in July to fill the seat formerly held by newly-elected Mayor Tim Goodwin, Breslin said she was “inclined to say ‘no’ ” Don’t count me out, though, she added. “Going through a campaign and standing here on Election Day impresses upon you what a great place Folly Beach is. The voters don’t come out like this in other places.”

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