On or about March 1, the Folly Beach dispatchers joined other dispatchers in Charleston County to form the 911 Consolidated Dispatch Center. Most of you are aware dispatchers are to be transferred; however, some of you were not aware it would be as early as March 1. Director of Public Safety Boatwright has sent a letter addressing the 911 system: what it will do, when to use it, and other information which will be valuable to keep for future reference.

The purpose of this letter is to assure everyone that the most important aspect of all of this is you and your safety and well being, as well as the well-being of your animals. I am committed to making this transition as easy for you as possible while giving you this reassurance: Your needs, whether it concerns public works, public safety or anything else have always been and will continue to be my first priority.

I know one of the major concerns is our Folly Beach animals and what will happen if help is needed after 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and on the weekends. I have met with Chief Boatwright to ensure animal related services after hours have been addressed in a way which will be satisfactory to our residents. All animal-related service calls and non-emergency matters will continue to be taken and dispatched on a 24/7 basis. Citizens only have to call the number they are accustomed to calling for service, which is 588-2433. After-hours animal related service calls will be assigned to a Folly Beach shift supervisor to ensure the appropriate animal services response is taken. Animal Services Officer Ralph Bryan, working in partnership with Carol Linville of Pet Helpers, will continue to build a cadre of animal services volunteers so that “on-call” assignments can be shared.

Knowing you have other concerns about this transition which you would like to discuss, I am available to meet with you during the week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For your convenience, however, I am extending my weekday hours to be available from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and also on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. The only dates and times I will be out of the office are Saturday, March 13, 2010, and March 15 – 18, 2010. When we meet, I will do my best to address your concerns and answer questions regarding the transition of the on-site dispatchers to the Consolidated Dispatch Center and any other concerns you may have.

When Council and I first addressed the 911 Consolidated Dispatch in 2008, there were several reasons we made the decision to join other communities in Charleston County and transition to a Consolidated Dispatch Center: 1) the dispatchers in the Center will be well-trained; capable of relaying information over the phone that could save lives; 2) Folly Beach had a significant number of turnovers in the Dispatch Department, as many as nine in one year; 3) the calls on non-emergency incidents will still be handled ultimately by the Folly Beach Public Safety; and 4) after a period of three years, Charleston County will be paying the entire cost of the dispatchers; Folly Beach will pay nothing. This is a significant savings for the City of Folly Beach and during these times of economic hardship, it is important that the city make every effort to keep cost at a minimum without sacrificing or compromising the safety and well being of our residents.

I look forward to hearing from you and am hopeful this addresses some of the concerns you may have.

Carl B. Beckmann, Jr.
Mayor of Folly Beach

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Being a New Year, January has begun with a bang. It would seem that January would be a slow month in City Hall, but to the contrary there is much going on. Residents considering running for Public Office began picking up their packets on January 19, 2010. That being said, April elections will be interesting. We have had several water main breaks. Fortunately, the water was not off for too long in the affected areas. Council approved the Public Safety Expansion and we are moving forward with that project as quickly as possible before construction material costs rise.

Events for February include the 2nd Annual Folly Gras on February 13, 2010. Watch for details or call Mary Cunningham at City Hall. On February 6, Folly Beach will host the Save the Light 5K and half marathon run to raise money for the Morris Island Lighthouse. See the Folly Beach web site for more information on the run.

I want to talk a little about a new program we are trying to initiate to better control our litter and trash concerns. For now, we are calling it the Volunteer Civilian Police Patrol. Councilman McCarty and Chief Boatwright are working the details so we can get the remainder of this program started this spring. We already have the Volunteer Beach Management Patrol in place and hope to build the Volunteer Force with various sections such as an Administrative Branch, Beach and Parking, and Roving Patrol just to name a few. If you believe you might be interested, please contact Councilman McCarty at City Hall.

Please stay tuned to City Hall and our website for updates on the Construction of Folly Creek and Folly River Bridges, drainage projects, and the Transportation Study. If you would like to read the report from Wilbur Smith and Associates, please call me and I will make my copy available to you.

Carl B. Beckmann Jr.

Mayor

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Good morning or good afternoon.

September has been a quiet month, so far. We are still seeing some tourists which are good for business. Unfortunately the tourist trade is almost a necessity. Our local businesses collect Hospitality and Accommodations taxes, which in turn, adds revenues to the city and is used as an offset for property taxes. We receive most of the funds back from the State but not all. We as locals should support all of the businesses on Folly. They are part of our City too.

Does anyone remember the “Faith Chapel”  most recently located at 406 East Arctic? Those young enough to remember will have to think long and hard about this one. According to an article I received from Ms. Mabel B. Pace, the Faith Chapel was the first Church of any type to locate on Folly Island. Two books written about Folly have incorrect information regarding other churches being the first on the Island.

Speaking of history, I am always looking for old photos and news articles about Folly. I would like to “build”  a pictorial history along with the news articles and place them in our library at City Hall. Bet you didn’t know we had a City Hall Library?

October, to me, is the one of best months on the beach. No people, no dogs, no trash, just you, the birds, the surf and your thoughts.

We are progressing nicely through Council discussion with the Re-write. Please join us some morning. Right now we are meeting on Wednesday mornings at 0900 in Council Chambers.

Have a great Folly Day!

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I hope everyone survived the 4^th of July Holiday. I must say in all my years I have never witnessed so many people on the beach. People we can’t do much about except to possibly control their behavior. The Council is working some issues and recommendations. The Council invites all residents to a Town Hall Meeting on 4 August beginning at 7:00 PM at the Holiday Inn. We want to hear from you because these issues may seem simple BUT they are very complex when dealing with all pieces and parts.

I attended a meeting with the DOT and architects concerning the Folly Creek and Folly River bridges. We walked the projects and looked at various elements. The DOT will schedule another public hearing in October for everyone to review the almost final design. The personnel I spoke to today say the start date is late 2010. We did talk about getting all utilities out of the way before construction. We don’t want to be like the Ellis Creek project!

My thanks to all the Volunteer groups and especially Folly Residents who come out and pick up trash and continually do so.

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The City needs your help once again. We have several Boards and Commissions where seats are vacant and really need to be filled. This is an excellent opportunity for you to assist the City in moving forward. Please send your résumé/CV and your letter of interest to our Municipal Clerk, Mary Cunningham. Mary will have a list of the seats available during the first weeks of July.
It appears, from what I’m told, that the Citizens of Folly Beach feel they are exempt from all laws we have in place. In particular is the leash law and dogs on the beach! I will tell you, you are not exempt from prosecution. You above all should be setting the example for our visitors and guests. Please do not become a casualty.
There is not much we can do about the heavy traffic on the weekends, so I’m asking each of you to be patient and understanding. If you must leave the Beach on the weekend, time your travel so that you can return in the mid to late afternoon. We are a public beach and unfortunately we have to endure the hordes that invade each weekend. I met with the mayors from the Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island recently and we are not alone. They have the exact same traffic problems. We discussed this subject at some length but did not come up with any untried solutions. We plan to meet on an on-going basis and will try to come up with ideas to resolve some of our mutual problems; like traffic.
Its turtle season, so please remember to turn off your outside lights after dusk. If you see any houses on the front beach that have their outside lights on, please ask them to turn them off.

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Folly Beach, SC

The City needs your help once again. We have several Boards and Commissions where seats are vacant and really need to be filled. This is an excellent opportunity for you to assist the City in moving forward. Please send your resume’/CV and your interest to our Municipal Clerk, Mary Cunningham. Mary will have a list of the seats available during the first weeks of July.
It appears, from what I’m told, that the Citizens of Folly Beach feel they are exempt from all laws we have in place. In particular is the leash law and dogs on the beach! I will tell you, you are not exempt from prosecution. You above all should be setting the example for our visitors and guests. Please do not become a casualty.
There is not much we can do about the heavy traffic on the weekends so I’m asking each of you to be patient and understanding. If you must leave the Beach on the weekend, time your travel so you can return in the mid to late afternoon. We are a public beach and unfortunately we have to endure the hordes that invade each weekend.  I met with the mayors from IOP and Sullivan’s Island recently and we are not alone. They have the exact same traffic problems. We discussed this subject at some length but did not come up with any untried solutions.  We plan to meet on an on-going basis and try to come up with ideas to resolve some of our mutual problems like traffic.
Its turtle season so please remember to turn off your outside lights after dusk. If you see any houses on the front beach that have their outside lights on please ask them to turn them off.

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