County Council - Regular Meeting

Finance Committee meeting followed by our County Council meeting. My name is Joe Boykin. I represent Charleston County District 8 and I currently serve as chair of council. This time I'd like to ask our council members and key staff to please introduce themselves. Start with Mr. Moody.

Brantley Moody, District 7. Darby, District 4.

Herb Sass, District 1.

Kristen Salisbury, Clerk of Council.

I defer to you, sir. Bill Tootin, County Administrator. Rob Wurman, District 3.

Natalie Hamm, county attorney.

I apologize for starting a little bit late. We were running short of a quorum, so we had a couple of folks to get here. We're going to start with the FY27 budget. We've got a presentation on our capital improvement plan, which is item 1A from Mr. Carl Wofile.

Good evening, Mr. Chairman, Finance Committee. My name is Carl Wolfile. I'm from the Facilities Department. I'd like to give you a quick rundown on our capital improvement plan. This is our administrative campus. There's no change to our footprint for the administrative offices. We just finished the assessor renovation of the perimeter center and allowed them to occupy that facility and get out of their lease space over at their previous facility. We also updated the roof on that facility to protect the spaces that we just renovated. There's two CIP highlights in this campus I'd like to talk about individually. First is the Lonnie Hamilton building renovation. As Public Works vacated this facility, they created a large space that we could use to our advantage to allow some of our departments that have some growth needs to expand into that space. In order to do that, of course, we have to move folks around departments and also renovate the spaces where they're moving to and from. Starting with a third floor HR and planning the zoning is going to get a large portion of the third floor on the west wing. And then from there, the next phase is the centralized permitting on the first floor. And then from there, the second floor, which would be procurement and building inspections with a small area for the CFO as well. Any questions on the Lonnie Hamilton building renovation? That's supposed to start in August, September timeframe when we'll start on the third floor in that phase one. The elections building acquisition is on the CIP. That's essentially just for the purchase of the building. And that will allow us to, of course, that purchase is augmented by ARPA funding. That will allow us to continue to make improvements to that facility, mostly centered on safety and security for our elections folks. Moving on to our Azalea complex, in blue you see the newer facilities. The tan is our existing facilities. Some of the highlights on here is we just, since our last CIP brief last year, we've completed and occupied the admin facilities for facilities and public works in three, four, and five. We're moving into the next phase of the Azalea compound, which is number 10, the EMS headquarters. Some smaller projects associated with Azalea I'm going to highlight on the next slides. First one is the fleet shop expansion. Adding on to the end of the fleet shop maintenance wing, that's to accommodate all our larger fleet of EMS vehicles, not only in number, but also the size of the vehicles required for some additions to the building. I already mentioned the EMS headquarters complex. That's underway currently, scheduled to be completed in FY28. and then a proposed centralized warehouse on the Azalea complex to basically consolidate all of our wide diverse central or stored areas all over the county. In our corrections campus, besides the biological service center, there are no updates to the footprints here. Out and about around the county, we have almost finished design on the sheriff's new marina. This location has allowed them to collaborate with the parks and rec to use the Cooper River Marina Pier in order to build off of that. This new facility will allow the sheriff to improve their access to the river, also improve their response time, and improve training with their new facility, both indoor and outdoor for dive training underneath. The sheriff has also expressed a desire for an outdoor range, and we've been looking at properties in the Ravenel area. That picture right there is an example of something we could potentially build for that budget amount. The public work facilities will continue to working with public works to improve and update the remote sites. Each of the different remote sites is strategically located around the county area to provide services from public works in some isolated areas that historically become isolated away from the North Charleston hub. James Island, as pictured there, would be a template for the follow-on sites at Ravenel and Johns Island. For the library referendum, each one of those red stars indicates a location where we have either a new library or a completely renovated library. All of them except for the one highlighted on the peninsula, which is the main library, the last one in the referendum. That is getting ready to start this fall. I think July 31st is the last day of service at the main library where it will be temporarily located up the peninsula. This is our distribution of magistrate courts. The one in the center in West Ashley in orange has an expiring lease in the next few years. In preparation for that, we've been looking for locations to build a new magistrate, and we have targeted the area right next to the St. Andrews Fire Department that was just completed recently as a potential location, and we're in negotiations with the property owner. This is our distribution of EMS stations around the county. This distribution is based upon call volume and response times. The latest proposed new facility would be the one at the bottom of John's Island near Kewa River development. That essentially would replace EMS 10. If there are no questions, I'd like to hand over the brief to Ms. Cat Perry, our budget director.

Mr. Wehrman. I just have one question. So what are the highlights on the, you know, sort of final chart there? We've got a highlight for the service center, the Blake Tenement Animal Services, and then we have one that's highlighted for fleet equipment. What is that designating exactly?

Those are new projects that have been added to the capital improvement plan this year. So a lot of the projects that you will see are recurring projects that we have. This is our five-year plan. So we will shift projects into future years if we need to and prioritize projects and bring them into newer years. And so those are the newest projects that have been added to the overall capital improvement plan.

that was going to be my other question which is you know what of this is carryover and what is new and so i'm glad it was uh sort of a two-for-one deal there so thank you yes sir

Any more questions about this slide? So the next slide, I want to point out that the top of this slide indicates a need for us to shift some of our normal one-time capital improvement projects from the general fund to the borrowing. So our revenues are up again this year. However, the cost of doing business in Charleston County and really across the board is outpacing the revenue that we're seeing in any given year, and this year is no different. so one of the things that we had to do in order to balance this budget to bring to you all is we needed to shift some of our one-time capital expense borrowing from the general fund over to our capital improvement plan so what you're seeing at the top here is we have some of our fleet vehicles and equipment some radio communications equipment upgrades that need to happen across the county and some technology our hardware upgrades and our new financial management system that we're working to bring online all will be shifted to the borrowing in 27 and 28 and that's about 14 million in 27 that we've had to shift the bottom part of this slide is just to show where our funds are coming from. We do expect a borrowing in May of 2027 of about 83 million to help us accomplish all of the capital improvement projects that Carl went over, in addition to those items that you're seeing on the top of this slide. And then we have another borrowing of about 89 million scheduled in May of 2029 to continue that five-year plan that we've presented to you. Along with that comes our debt management plan. Obviously, if we're going to borrow the money, we have to be able to pay it back. So one of the things that we do as we work on our budget is we complete a five-year debt management plan so that we can make sure that the county stays fiscally solvent as we're doing this. So here is the debt management plan for that five-year. Again, you'll see the $83 million borrowing in 2027 and 89 in 29. Now, this does not constitute an increase in millage in order to make this happen so long as none of our projects are accelerated and there are no projects added in any of the five years moving forward without making adjustments All right, as far as the capital improvement plan, what we're asking council to approve tonight is the five year capital improvement plan. We are asking to reallocate three hundred and ten thousand from the assessor relocation, which is complete over to the Edisto EMS project to help finalize that and then appropriate about twenty two point nine million from our future borrowings to the eight projects that were presented for the twenty twenty seven capital improvement. project plan and then lastly we are asking you to approve the five-year debt management plan that we use to pay back our debt after we borrow it any questions all right thank you sir thank you all right um

So we've got a request to approve 1A, the capital improvement plan. Move for staff recommendation. All right. Do I have a second?

Second.

All right. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. Okay. 1B, debt service plan, request to approve. Do I have a motion?

Oh, sorry. Move for staff recommendation. Second. Second.

Second.

All right. Any discussion about the service plan?

Yes, Mr. Pryor. A question. So I see where the sheriff is requesting $3 million for a training range. Did we not partner up with the city to do something like this years ago? And if we did, why are we building a $3 million training range? Is that a shooting range? Is that a gun range that you're building here, Sheriff?

Yes, we did work partly with the city at times, but again, that's their range. We have to always ask for the time beginning range. It's not always available. It doesn't always meet our needs. We also have a contract with Palmetto State Armory. Again, we're kind of at their time schedule, when we can get it, when we can use it. This will give us our range that we'll be able to use to provide the highest quality training to our deputies.

And do we have a site for this yet? I'm sorry I walked in late. Mr. Darby told me the meeting was 630, but I didn't get it.

So y'all blame Mr. Darby. So do we have a site for that yet?

I can't hear you, sir.

Do we have a site for the range yet? We have a potential site.

I think there's a discussion, yes, sir, with some sites, and I'll refer back to our county administrator once here.

We have some potential sites, Ravenel.

All right, that answers my question. Thank you.

Any further discussion? Mr. Moody.

I had just a follow-up maybe for the sheriff. It seems like we discussed that years back where maybe we're putting something in the north area and combining with Dorchester and Berkeley County. Is there a need, if we're going to Ravenel, that Collison County may need to come over and share some expenses? Just throwing it out there.

I'm sure there could be opportunities, even after we get it built, where we can not only partner with Collin County, a lot of our federal agencies are always looking for a place to train, and I'm sure they have a budget that could assist us if needed.

That's the key right there, my man. What's that? I like that. Anybody can help with the money.

Anyone else? Okay. All in favor of 1B, say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. All right, request to approve one C, the county budget. Mr. Kabrowski?

You're getting a motion. Oh, I'm sorry. Motion to approve.

Okay, I have a second. All right. Now, Mr. Kabrowski.

Thank you.

I just wanted to, on the line item for, as I understand it, from $225,000 to the Chamber of Commerce, and I'd like to discuss that briefly. They have a, political action committee and I feel a public official should not be voting on giving money to an entity that has a political action committee that then can either endorse or not endorse or give money because it gives an appearance of putting us in a bidding war and I understand it's separate sources of money so it's not I don't have any question about the integrity or honor of the people working there They're all good people, but we should not vote, in my opinion, on giving money to an organization that has a political action committee and also a political orientation that could either endorse or not endorse us or give money to us or oppose us. And that's my reason for saying this. I don't have any opponent in the primary or in the general election. would not affect me personally but i just put that out there i feel that sends a wrong message and we should not be in that situation thank you i don't always see eye to eye with mr lebrowski um but i think he has a great point why should we

as taxpayers contribute to an organization which has PACs. I think those dollars should be raised by them themselves other than coming through county government. whether there's any veracity in the statement or not, those persons who are not in favor of 526 dollars were used for that. And it was quite political. I'm of the opinion that should not have happened. So I concur very strongly with Mr. Kaye. I'm going to have to wait that decision because again, I just don't believe that we as a county government should contribute to an organization which has a PSC. Just my thoughts.

All right, sir. Anyone else? Mr. Chairman. Yes, sir. We need the right to amend up the third reading. That's what I want my motion to indicate. So that way, discussions like we're having right now, we got up to three readings to make changes.

In addition, sir, if I may speak, sir, when we give dollars out to small organizations, we really and rightfully so scrutinize where those dollars are going, that they're going where they're deemed necessary. But I don't think this council has ever scrutinized the dollars. where we give the chambers. I don't know. I could be wrong. We did last year. Okay. But then I stand to be corrected. But I wish that would continue if that is the case. Thank you, sir.

Ms. Perry, is there a way we could get some clarification on how and where the Chamber spends those funds and what they are used for?

Yes, sir. We'll get that and get back with you before the next reading.

Thank you, ma'am.

Yes, sir.

Mr. Moody?

Mr. Chairman, thank you. I would point out that organizations like the Chamber or RDA or the Library or Museum or whoever, we all have board appointments that attend those board meetings, and those people are our eyes and ears at the monthly board meetings. I would secondly mention that This is part and parcel of economic development. These groups, they advocate for higher-paying jobs. They advocate for better jobs. They advocate for companies to move here that keep our millage down. They advocate for housing. They've been a big proponent in our housing push of affordable housing. So, you know, I think it's a drop in the bucket compared to the work they do on behalf of the Tri-County area. So I fully support this. Okay. Anyone? Mr. Wehrman.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I've got a different issue. So, although maybe apropos of Councilman Moody's mentioned that the Chamber has been a great ally on the push for affordable housing. But my understanding here is we are reducing the amount that we are providing to the SC Community Loan Fund by $2.9 million. And that was money that came out of the ATACs. Is that correct, Ms. Perry?

Yes, sir.

And so one thing that I've learned in talking with our staff about this is this is the result of, you know, this is not staff's decision-making in terms of making policy for us. This is the result of directives that were already in place, budgetary directives that basically dictated that the 15% that I personally thought was going from the ATAX program to the housing fund is sort of superseded by another directive to maximize the contribution to the general fund. Now that reminds me a whole lot of something Councilman Middleton has said many, many times that, you know, a budget is a moral document. And so this is about priorities and this is about our priorities. It's not staff's, you know, they're not doing anything that we haven't told them to do. And so, listen, I've got an issue with that. I think it should be higher on the priority list. I think it's fundamental to our mission and fundamental to the future of this community. I went to an event hosted by the Post and Courier that they were telling me, you know, they ran this survey, housing is the main issue that they were getting from folks in North Charleston, that the folks in North Charleston want to have addressed. There was a strict make questions only, no comments rule at this event, so I did not jump up and spread the good word as I was inclined to do. But a lot of what people were yearning for at this event were things like preserving naturally occurring affordable housing. producing units that are deeply affordable, not just at the 100 AMI level, but at the, say, 60 AMI level. Well, it just so happens that these are things that have occurred through our policy choices that we've done with our housing funds. And, you know, specifically, I've commended our folks that the housing trust fund program, you know, it comes up here. How affordable is it? Well, the vast majority of the units we produce through that program are 60 AMI or below. So you're talking about folks making Gosh, I was doing the math on the back of the napkin here. That could be in the hundreds in terms of what the actual rent is, certainly not 1,500. So I just think we should straighten out those priorities now. I understand there's some opportunities to maybe find some funding sort of on the back end, but basically I'd have it the other way around. I'd find funding on the back end for other things that could maybe be funded by ATACs, and I would I would max out our A-tax contribution here today. So that's where I stand on it. That's why I can't support the budget in its current form.

Anyone else? All right. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Nay.

Nay.

You're abstaining or?

Say it again. I'm sorry.

Are you abstaining or you're a nay? Nay.

Can we just do a roll call?

Yes, sir. I'm pretty sure it was a tie vote, but we can do a roll call. Mr. Darby? Yes, sir.

I'll come back to you.

Mrs. Honeycutt is absent at this time. Mr. Kabrowski?

Nay.

Mr. Middleton?

Nay.

Mr. Moody? Aye. Mr. Pryor? Aye. Mr. Sass?

Aye.

Mr. Worman?

Nay.

Mr. Boykin?

Aye.

Mr. Darby? Aye.

What was the name?

Okay, so that's a tie. So we don't have to move this to the next? Move it to council with no recommendation.

Okay, so we'll move this forward with no recommendation. And maybe Ms. Honeycutt will be here and she can vote at that time. All right. Moving on to.

I just want to say for the record, sir. Yes, sir. Until I get the additional facts, sir. Yes, sir.

Understood. Moving on to 1D, special purpose districts budgets. Motion. I request to approve. Move.

Second. Second.

All right. Any discussion? Hearing none. All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. Moving on to 1E, library budgets.

Approval.

Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. All right, 1F, environmental management capital.

Move for staff recommendation.

Any discussion? Hearing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. All right. 1G, transportation sales tax plan of expenditures, request to approve. Do I have a motion?

Move to approve.

Thank you, Mr. Pryor. I have a second. Second. All right. Any discussion? All those in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed? Aye. All right. Request a roll call, please.

OK. Let's just move this to council, all right? Yes, sir.

Mr. Darby? Nay. I think that is absent. Mr. Kabrowski? Aye. Mr. Middleton? Nay. Mr. Moody? Nay. Mr. Pryor? Aye. Mr. Sass? Aye. Mr. Worman? Aye. Mr. Boykin?

Aye.

Okay, the motion passes with five ayes, three nays, one absent.

All right. Thank you all. This time we will move into our county council.

Let me make sure we're right at 630.

Perfect. We're moving our county council meeting. We're going to do it in a different order. Mr. Moody's got the folks here from Orange Grove, the robotics team. We're going to try to get them in and out before we go through the rest of it. Okay. So this time I'm going to ask Sheriff Ritchie to lead us with a prayer and have a pledge of allegiance led by the Orange Grove Robotics Team.

One second. If you please join me in prayer. Heavenly Father, we come before you today with gratitude for the opportunity to serve our community. We ask for your wisdom, guidance, and understanding as this council conducts its business. Grant us clear minds, respectful hearts, and the ability to work together for the good of all the people we represent. Help us lead with integrity, fairness, and compassion. May our decisions reflect sound judgment and commitment to justice, unity, and service. Give us patience in discussion, humility in disagreement, and courage to do what's right. We ask your blessing upon this meeting, our community, and all those who call it home. Keep us mindful of the responsibilities entrusted to us and focus on the common good. In your name we pray, amen. Amen.

Y'all go ahead.

States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you all very much. The Freedom of Information Act.

In compliance with the Freedom of Information Act, notice of meeting was posted and agendas were distributed to news media and persons requesting notification.

Minutes of April 28th and May 12th. Second. All right. All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed, ayes have it. All right. Item 3A, Health and Safety Awareness Week Resolution.

Second.

All right. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed, ayes have it. Board A and B move to approve.

Second.

All those in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? Ayes have it. Thank you. On 4A, before I go to 4B, give me one second. I wanted to make sure we've got these conditions for the award for 4A. And as we did last year for them, One, there will be an initial allocation of $1,000 directly to the Community Resource Center. Two, the remaining $14,000 will be dispersed on a reimbursable basis. Three, funding will be reimbursed for direct costs for this program. Four, funding must be spent only to support programs located within Charleston County. Five, funding must be spent by August 12, 2026. And finally, six, funding will be administered by the community development department using the department's existing guidelines and procedures.

Mr. Chairman. Yes, sir. I kind of differ on this. We did the same thing last year.

Yes.

These folks were responsible. And Mr. Darby made a point a few minutes ago. We put restrictions on the smaller groups. But then we don't monitor the bigger groups. Now, we all know what the Community Resource Center is doing in this community. And for us to put those tough restrictions, even though they did it last year, they produced receipts and all, I think it undermines the program and it undermines their integrity. So, I mean, I would ask that we withdraw that. And, you know, just as we give folks their money and have them bring their receipts, We can do that. If they don't follow those instructions, there's always next year. You won't get the money next year because this money doesn't come with government strings on it. It's coming out of council contingency. We are a government, but it's not coming out federal funds. So I would hope that we withdraw that because I think it sends a bad message to a partner that we've been partnering up with for many, many years. And they've uplived what they said they're going to do. The other day they had an issue and they corrected it just like that. Okay? So I would ask that that be, you know, remove the restrictions. And, you know, we've got to trust them, and we've been trusting them, and they've been doing what they can. So I don't know why we're putting this on them. Do we know that somebody knows something that the rest of us need to know? Why are we putting this restriction? And they passed the test last year, the year before. But if they had the money to spend up front, they wouldn't be coming out asking for money.

Mr. Pryor, this is because I brought the motion, and this is something that I insisted upon, and not any reflection on the Community Resource Center. It would be anyone that I would use council contingency funds. I just feel like there needs to be a flow through one of our departments to administer these funds, and there needs to be accountability that we're not giving a lump sum amount of money and not have any idea where it went.

Mr. Chairman. With Orange Grove, we're fixing to do the same thing with Orange Grove. We're not requiring them to spend money up front.

I think Mr. Moody could speak to that.

I know about Orange Grove. I had kids and grandkids.

But that's for a specific expense that they've already identified what the amount is.

Well, the same thing with the resource center. This is a specific expense that they've identified for the summer enrichment program. And so I just don't see the difference. It's not apples and oranges now. So I don't think we ought to restrict them.

I have to respectfully disagree with you.

I would like to put it to a vote before we do this because I don't think it's a fair motion. Had I known this going forward before we even voted on this stuff, I would have said something, but I did not know that.

Well, if you want to make a motion to reconsider your vote, we can do that.

When we get back, I'll make a motion to reconsider, and then we can put up to the table whether we want to put these strings attached or not. OK, that's just one person asking. That's you. Nobody else was asked, but Tony, the chairman. So when we get back to that, I'd like to change the motion. Well, I'd like to ask for reconsideration to come back. And I'd like to have a motion to take off the restrictions in the community resource center and allow them to carry out their program as they always do. So I want to amend the motion to say that.

The vote was already taken, though.

Right. So, Mr. Pryor, I just want to make sure you have the opportunity now to make a motion to reconsider. Right. Then that would need to be voted upon. Or you can wait to the next council meeting to make that motion.

I'm going to ask right now to re-reconsider that right now.

Then you will need to make the motion to reconsider.

All right. I make a motion to reconsider item number 4A. Second.

Okay.

And if then these restrictions were articulated when the motion was made, then we would have been more informed of that motion.

Correct. Just for the record, they were part of the committee recommendation that's in your agenda packet.

Okay. Well, my bad for not reading that.

I'm assuming they were just like everybody else, didn't have to have that in there.

So that's my motion to reconsider.

Okay. Any discussion? All right. Mr. Moody.

Well, I mean, Mr. Pryor, have they, I mean, have they, has this been onerous or anything? I mean, I'm kind of sympathetic to the idea that we'd want to, you know, just have one set of rules that can apply to everybody. I mean, if we want to, I think with the Orange Grove thing, it would apply somewhat differently, but I'm, wouldn't have a problem having them provide receipts either if we want to impose it that way. I would much rather the even-headedness go that way than the other way because, you know, I just think, like I said, it's good to have one rule that applies to everybody, and I think it would be better to have a rule that's protective of, you know, the county and public dollars than one that's a little bit looser on that. So, I mean, I don't... I guess I just, I don't know what the issue is. Is it because they can't do this, or is it because of the discrepancy between how others are treated and the community?

Ms. Wehrman. Again, this was the first time I'd ever taken county funds and used them in this manner. I guess my law enforcement background and being a career governmental employee, and I just thought you need accountability. So if we ever got audited where those funds went, our community development would have all the receipts of where they paid for food, paid for hourly expenses for people assisting, paid for trips to the museum and other places to take the kids. I just think that's a bare minimum that we can do for the public that we represent as far as accounting for their tax dollars.

Well, that's what I'm saying. And that's all I mean by it. I'm saying I think that's a good idea.

Anything other than that.

But didn't they provide that in the 990 form or whatever, that form they required to be a nonprofit? Don't they, when they submit that to us for last year, isn't that in there that shows that they did that?

No, sir. What's going on, and maybe Ms. Smalls or Mr. Rant can speak to it, this was specifically for these funds only and their allocation to them, and that there is a record of,

reimbursement they get initially a thousand dollars to start so they can get going and then they bring those receipts back for spending that thousand dollars and then yes sir is when they thought their financials it goes to the secretary of the state all this should be included because they are a non-profit 501c3 i can't speak to that so i mean did we not check their their their receipts and stuff that that from last year and did we not check their statement that goes to the secretary of state

The organization received capital funds from ARPA, and we did check that with the ARPA application. With this particular funding, there wasn't an application because...

I know there wasn't one last year. So did they produce receipts last year?

Yes, sir, they did.

That's my point. They produced the receipts last year, and it should be on the record when they file with the Secretary of State.

But Mr. Pryor, I would say that that was last year and this is this year. And why would we change how we're doing it? I mean, I think it's only a good practice to have those receipts. If there's a public inquiry where those funds went, we can show where they went.

Mr. Chairman, I understand that. But as Mr. Dobby made a point a few minutes ago, what if we tell the chamber and everybody else we want to see receipts, we want you all to pay for these stuff. you know, before we vote on, I mean, before we approve the money. We're going to give you the money, but you've got to bring the receipts before, you know, in order for us to give you all the money. I mean, we're entering in right now into something that's going to cause confusion. We're going to do it for one set of people and not all people. The motion is on the floor, so I mean, I just leave it at that. There's no need in debate.

Any other comments?

I'll be brief. I mean, what is best for the best should be best for the rest. Now, if you're not going to put these restrictions on these huge organizations, why are you going to put them on the petite organizations? I'm just saying, like Mr. Werman, just have one group of restrictions for everybody, but that's not applicable here, and that should not be. So that's just me. I just think you need to be fair in all things. But thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Chairman, I'm still kind of confused about this. I understand that you want accountability, and accountability is good for council and for the public and for the community resource center. And I think that it sounds like what they want to do is a really good thing, and I'm for that. I'm for that. I don't see what the problem is, Mr. Pryor. I don't understand what the problem is.

We're not doing this to every organization is the problem, Mr. Sass. Mr. Darby just articulated it so well before we even came that it's different rules to different people. If this was our rule to say anybody that comes to get money for contingency or anything have to pay up front and then submit receipts, That's fine if it's fair across the board. But to talk it out, my thing is, is there a problem with the community resource center that we need to know, is there a trust issue? That's my question I'm asking. If there's a trust issue, then say so, and everybody will know, and then we'll know which way to go. But if it's not a trust issue, why are we putting this restriction? We did it last year, and it's the test of time. Mr. Brown.

I have to respond to that. There is absolutely no trust issue with them whatsoever. This is a matter of just basic government responsibility, and I don't know how to be any different than I am. I think it should apply to everything that goes out of council contingency. When we're giving to groups or whatever, I think they all should. I think it should be fair across the board. We apply it evenly. I'm not trying to. This is the only one I've ever done, so that's the reason this is here. That's it.

You did it last year, Mr. Chairman. Yes, sir.

But I'm doing it again this year, so I'm not going to do it differently this year.

You said apply it across the board, but for item 4B, that's not being said. And it's the same thing that's coming out of the council contingency. And I trust both of these groups. These people are going to do what they say they're going to do, and we've got to trust folks. And so you can't have a separate rule for A and not D.

Well, then I think this is something that probably needs to come out of the Rules Committee or one of the other committees to go in and make it uniform across the board, as you said. I think that would be fair.

I want to reconsider. I want to reconsider.

All right. Any further discussion?

I was going to answer a question from an accounting standpoint. The Form 990, Mr. Pryor, those are just summary numbers. They wouldn't go into that type of detail explanation. I think the Chair made a good idea. We could move this along tonight. I think we ought to have Rules Committee come back and move the staff recommendation for everybody and let's make it uniform for everybody. So, Orange Grove, we know what their use for the money is going to be. They can provide receipts to the clerk upon request. Let's make it the same for everybody. If the chamber has a certain use for whatever money we're giving them with a staff position or they're going to do whatever, outline it, send it to us. Just like all of our departments, they all send us their budget requests and they back it up. I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

So what you're saying is you want to freeze both of these until we get all that money? No, sir.

I say we move these along as move through finance and tonight. He's got a restriction on one and not on the other.

Mr. Pryor, the other one isn't mine. I've only got this one. I understand it's not yours.

It's the council's decision. You requested that, but I think we ought to vote on it.

I want to say one last thing, and we'll take the vote. One of the biggest criticisms of government is lack of accountability and lack of transparency. And every bit of this, what we're doing is foible. So if somebody wanted to get the records of where the money went and look at the receipts, they have access to it. But they won't if they don't exist at all.

You're saying they're not going to give receipts. I don't understand. To me, it seems like you're saying they're not going to give the receipts. We have accountability every time somebody applies or something, Mr. Chairman. It's on the website. It's in the book. It's in the accounting. And if they don't do what they say they're going to do, you know, when they come back to apply, the money is not there. So, I mean, maybe we just... semantics to me but i'm just saying i want everybody to be on the same level playing field because what these folks they do from orange grove is great you know and you know and i trust them and i would never say well bring me receipts because they have done what they were supposed to do and so i don't want to put them in this spot i just want everybody to be treated equally so that's all my motion is to reconsider mr wehrman

I'll disagree with you a little bit. I mean, I would gladly ask the folks from Orange Grove to bring us receipts. I don't think that that would be a problem. I trust they would do that. So, you know, when we, in five minutes, I think that might become another issue. It seems that the hang-up on the receipts is whether you need the initial allocation or not. I mean, if you don't have the cash to spend it, you can't get the receipt. So, I mean... Maybe here's my question for Mr. Boykin. On the $1,000 of the initial allocation, they would have to provide receipts for whatever that's spent on as well. Okay. Just for tonight, before Rules Committee, could we maybe just up the initial allocation to $3,000 for the Community Resource Center so that it kind of matches what Orange Grove is going to get as an upfront, and then we can come back on Rules Committee and deal with how we do this uniformly going forward?

If that moves us along tonight to get us to where we can get it to the Rules Committee, yes, I would agree to that.

I'm going to keep my motion on the floor, and if I lose, then y'all can reconsider. Okay. Fair enough.

Yeah, you're right. That's not on the floor. All right. That's not on the floor. Madam Clerk, will you call the roll?

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I'll bring it back up.

Mr. Darby? Aye. Mr. Kabrowski?

Aye.

Mr. Middleton? Aye. Mr. Moody? Aye. Mr. Pryor? Aye. Mr. Sass? Nay. Mr. Worman? Mr. Boykin?

No.

Motion to reconsider fails.

Mr. Chairman, would you consider amending your motion to what Mr. Worman stated? I think that would probably be support for that.

Sure. Hang on a second. So the vote still stands because we've not overturned it. We voted on this already. So can we not take this up in council? And would it be proper to? This is council. I guess we can't take it again tonight.

Right. This is council.

Right. This has got to move forward if we don't agree on this. It's going to move forward as it is now. Because we have a vote. Sorry.

I think somebody can make a second motion.

I'll reconsider that previous motion. OK. Let's vote on reconsider, and then we can make the motion to change it to Mr. Worman's suggestion.

Second. All right. Any discussion? All in favor, say aye. Aye. Nay. Opposed? I'm sorry. Who were the nays? Nay.

OK. Mr. Warren, if you'd like to amend your motion to what Mr. Worman suggested, or he can make the amendment.

Yes, sir. So Mr. Willman, I would amend my former motion to change the initial allocation from $1,000 to $3,000.

Chair can't make a motion.

I would move. I think what I'm moving for, I'm going to go slowly. I think what I'm moving for is committee recommendation with one change, which is that the initial allocation would be increased from $1,000 to $3,000 directly to the community resource center.

I would like to just inject in the conversation, excuse me, when looking at making administrative rules and policy changes, then we should go through the proper committee to uniform those changes across the board so we don't have confusion like this. That should have come first, particularly when the request came in. When the request came in, there was no reason not to then say, well, oh, now we need to entertain a whole new process if then this becomes the priority making certain because I don't think anybody is against accountability I don't think anybody up here is against making certain that we have procedures in place to safeguard the taxpayers money And so I really think that in the future, if then these things are going to be so it doesn't seem like it's a targeted thing against one organization over others, especially when two are presented similarly to be, you know, kind of considered under you know under a certain line item based on council members you know bringing these requests to council if we had those policies in place then these things would automatically apply we would not be splicing it and it would not seem like there's an inequity

Mr. Middleton, I did this one exactly like I did last year. The same restrictions were on it last year. So I didn't realize this was going to be a difficulty tonight, or else I would have done exactly what you said. So now we're going to fix it. Anyone else? All right. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Nay. Ayes have it. All right. All right. This time 4B. I'm sorry, what are we going to do? We did 4B, but we did both of them, so yes. Okay, so this time we asked the robotic. Come on up.

First of all thank you

106, I'm sorry, 106 teams in the Netherlands. They've raised a lot of money and they need a little bit of help from us and we're very proud to support you and I thank council for supporting you as well. So if there's any more details you'd like to share with our folks, please do.

Well, we just want to say thank you for inviting us here tonight. It means a lot to our team. We're going to show all of the work that we've done throughout the season. As you see, we have two teams that recognize the hurricanes and the cyclones and all of our two robots. And we have about 14 teams competing from the United States, three from South Carolina, but two are from Charleston County. And it means a lot to us because we strive to be competitive on the robotics field. but also to be a part of our community, and we like to spread robotics throughout our community through our own programs. We help story FLL teams throughout our community, and we like to help outreach and help other teams, so it means a lot to us that you're here and listening to us now, and you've funded us in the past, and it has helped our team grow in so many ways. First, it helps us with reaching out to our community, Gaining same careers, becoming leaders, and first is vital to us, and it helps so much when grown. So thank you so much for being here.

Thank you. Thank you.

You're not going to take it? You're not going to show it to the public?

Please.

Please. Yes.

You can hold that up for your team and tell them I'm sorry I forgot. Please let the public see it, please, sir. Take a picture with it out there.

Yes. All right.

All right, this time we're going to suspend our county council meeting and begin our public hearings. All speakers should state their name for the record and are allowed up to two minutes and should please keep their comments germane to the public hearing subject.

Charleston County Council will hold a public hearing on the proposed mutual drive sidewalk project tree proximity encroachment mitigation plan on May 26, 2026 in council chambers.

Do anybody sign up to speak?

No.

Okay. All right. This time we will move on to public comments. Just as a reminder, council members aren't allowed to engage in discussion during public comments, and all speakers should state their name for the record, and they're allowed up to two minutes each to speak. Anybody signed up for public comments?

Yes, sir. Just one. Katie Zimmerman.

Good evening. I'm Katie Zimmerman, Executive Director of Charleston Moves. And I don't know why I carried my pen up here. I just wanted to, I know you all discussed this a little bit in committee last week, but just wanted to let you know I'm here if you have any questions about the suggested edits we provided for the TST ordinance. Savannah and I basically looked at we reviewed the public input you all had received over the past several months We looked at Horry County's most recent ordinance language and what they included and then also we have had for the past few months discussions with some of you as well as Some of the staff so we came up with some suggested edits that I think They're just minor tweaks, but I think it'll be a lot of bang for the buck as far as comfort that the voting public will have with the ordinance. And they're focused on both transparency and also, of course, getting some complete streets language in the project lists and category lists. You all remember a few months ago sort of shifting things around, combining categories a little bit. And at the time, I had mentioned it would be very important for the voting public to understand that just because something's categorized under one subcategory does not mean that it would not consider access for bicycling, walking, and access to public transit. So I think that's really important. I think 66% of the public surveyed mentioned that bicycling and walking infrastructure is very important for them. So I want to make sure the public understands what's included under all of those subcategories and don't get sort of bogged down in what they think are the specifics. So as far as transparency goes, I know the staff is working on a transportation dashboard, similarly to how the Greenbelt program has a dashboard. I think including reference to that in the ordinance is really important. That'll be the way you get to the specificity without painting the county into a corner as things change and needs change over the next 25 years. You don't want to say very specifically you're going to do one thing and then you don't need it in five years. So I think that dashboard and a rolling tracking for the public, basically a capital improvement plan for the TST would be very beneficial. And then also making your special transportation sales tax committee of council a standing committee going forward I think would also be very helpful. And that is all. Thank you so much.

Thank you, ma'am. Anyone else?

That was all.

Okay. All right. This time we'll reconvene county council. Agenda item 5A, second reading of ordinances, financial incentives for Bittermilk FKA.

An ordinance authorizing the execution and delivery of a fee in lieu of tax agreement by and among Charleston County and Bitter Milk LLC, including any related or affiliated entities and any sponsor affiliates, whereby Charleston County will enter into a fee in lieu of taxes arrangement with Bitter Milk LLC, providing for payment by Bitter Milk LLC of certain fees in lieu of ad valorem taxes and other matters related thereto. Mr. Darby? Aye. Mrs. Honeycutt? Aye. Mr. Kabrowski?

Aye.

Mr. Middleton?

Aye.

Mr. Moody? Aye. Mr. Pryor? Aye. Mr. Sass? Aye. Mr. Worman? Aye. Mr. Boykin?

Aye.

The ordinance passes second reading with eight ayes, one nay.

All right, moving on to agenda item six, committee recommendations. First reading of ordinances. Can I get a motion for 6A through 6H? So moved. I have a second.

Why don't we, I was going to say maybe through F. Through F?

Okay.

Sorry, E. I'm sorry. Echo. Through Echo.

Let's do one at a time because I'm going to be a nay on 6A.

Okay. That's fine. All right. 6A. Town of Kewa Island and a portion of Betsy Karras.

Move for committee recommendation.

All right. Any discussion? All those in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Nay. Ayes have it. All right. 6B. 1824 Elsie Drive.

Second. Committee recommendation for B and C, Bravo and Charlie. Okay, do I have a second? Do you want to take those separately too?

No, I'm going to be in A.

Okay, yes, B and C. All right, any discussion? All right, hearing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed?

Nay.

Mr. Browski and Mr. Pryor. Got it. All right, 6D. Request to consider. All right. Second. All right. Any discussion? Hearing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. 6E.

Move approval. Second.

Any discussion? Hearing none, all in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed? Ayes have it. 6F, 2026 Transportation Sales Tax Referendum. Request to approve ordinance first reading.

Kristen, do you need to read the ordinances?

I think he was planning for me to read them all at one time at the end.

Okay. So we got to have a second.

Second. I'm sorry. Can we make a motion? I was confused.

Yeah. I don't know. I don't have any motion at all. All right.

Thanks. We got it properly made and seconded. All right. Any discussion? Briefly. Go ahead, Mr. Kapowsky.

For this, there was a great discussion last time, and I think you as chairman and Councilwoman Honeycutt brought up how can we make this more certain. My opposition last time was because I didn't feel that when people voted for this, they knew what they were getting. I think in the interest of transparency that people need to know when they vote this time, they know what they're getting. There was an interesting discussion about how to tighten up the language. Has that been done or is that still under talk so that there's no wiggle room? Many members brought up questions as to that and I was wondering if we could use specific language to tighten that up.

Madam Attorney.

In other words, instead of saying may include, to say shall include, I thought would be important.

I think that's a discussion for council. I cannot provide any advice on that sitting here without it being legal in nature.

Mr. Pryor, go ahead.

I think it all depends on if the money comes in. That's why I said me. Got to shout. You put shout. Mr. Kowbrowski, then you obligate the county to do something if the money doesn't come in. I think that's maybe why the word me is there. I don't know.

To your point, Mr. Pryor, you know, we can run into situations where we can't get a permit.

Mm-hmm.

and we can run the situations where the cost is untenable with inflation and other things on certain projects. So, you know, there are going to be instances, you know, where we aren't able to do a project, and I go back to, you know, Possibly. The main road corridor segment C, when we put it out to the public, it was soundly rejected. And so we did not move forward with that project, and those funds went to another TST project, which was main road corridor segment A. So the funds stayed to projects that we had on there, but I just think we've got to... not put the county in an impossible situation where we say we're gonna do something and then we can't, and then that puts the county in a bad light.

Is there a language we can put that shall include unless obstacles make it impossible? I mean, I'm not sold on the specific language that we have to use, but is that an option to include?

I would say to you that I think language we had in there initially was to include but not limited to something along those lines that may be similar to Berkeley County, some of these other. I would be open to utilizing language that's stood the test of time and has actually been passed by the voters and without issue.

I did want to thank you, Ms. Zimmerman, for your comments. Did we have a chance to look at her proposed information?

Actually, I took a look at those today, and we've not finished analyzing them at this point. Okay.

And to the point of clarification, just so that everyone is clear, is we do have up until third reading to make any changes? Yes.

Okay. Mr. Wayman?

I think that was established at committee, but if it wasn't, then I would certainly make that part of my motion to approve.

Just briefly, I'm in favor of all the projects listed, and I'll vote in favor tonight with the understanding that We can look into any language to possibly tie it up because I think transparency, and I understand the exceptions, but I think it needs to be part of the language that everybody understands that we do this unless the situation becomes untenable for whatever reason.

DAVID BURRAGE. Right. What we're not going to do is put this list out to the public and then go down some road and do some project we've not talked about with these funds. These are the projects we've committed ourselves to do. Any other discussion? All right. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed?

Nay.

Mr. Pryor, Mr. Moody. Okay.

Middleton, nay. Yes.

Okay.

Darby, nay. Darby was an aye or nay?

It's nay, ma'am.

Okay.

Okay.

There were no nays down this end.

Mr. Pryor.

Your nay. Okay. Yes, sir. Okay. Yes, that motion passes with a vote of five ayes and four nays.

All right. Moving on to 6G, the county budget.

Move for staff recommendation.

Second.

Okay. Any discussion? All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Opposed? Nay. Ayes have it. All right. Item 6H.

Who are the names?

I've got Middleton, Darby, Kabrowski, and Werman. And Werman.

Not you.

That's right. I hadn't voted yet. That's why I thought it was a 4-4. So what we are saying in the county budget, I can move this process along until... you know, third reading, because there's a motion to third reading, but if things don't change, then, you know, we can, that definitely probably be a nay, so it's third reading.

Move it along. I'll make that motion. I'm sorry, I should have said that at the beginning. You should have said third reading.

And I'll second. Okay.

I don't want to get staff stuck in a situation.

It's automatic.

Make changes after third reading.

So it carries? Yes, sir. Okay, thank you. All right. So they'd be voting on 6-H? Not yet. I think I was working my way there. All right. 6-H Special Purpose District.

Move for approval.

I have a second. All right. Any discussion? No. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. Okay.

I need to read the ordinance as you said. An ordinance authorizing the conveyance of a portion of Betsy-Karrison Parkway right-of-way into the corporate limits of the town of Kiowa Island. An ordinance amending the Charleston County Comprehensive Plan Map 3.1.13 DuPont-Wapu Area Overlay Zoning District to amend the zoning and future land use designation for the real properties located at 1824 LC Drive and 1829 Belgrade Avenue. Parcel identification numbers 350-01-00110 and a 0.12 acre portion of 350-01-00-014 from job center designation to light commercial residential office designation. And then an ordinance rezoning the real properties located at 1824 LC Drive and 1829 Belgrade Avenue from Job Center JC Zoning District to the residential office RO Zoning District within the DuPont WaPu Area Overlay Zoning District. And then an ordinance amending the Charleston County Zoning and Land Development Regulations Ordinance Number 1202 as amended to add transportation and stormwater management infrastructure criteria for rezoning type applications that request higher density and or intensity to clarify and expand the approval criteria for plan development applications and to clarify lapse of approval provisions for site plan review approvals and preliminary plot approvals at the following document locations chapter 3 development review procedures chapter 4 base zoning districts and chapter 8 subdivision regulations and ordinance amending the Hamlin Beach community historic designation To adopt an area character appraisal and identify 37 additional contributing resources, the Hamlin Beach Community Historic District is located in the East Cooper area of unincorporated Charleston County. An ordinance to levy and impose a one-half of 1% sales and use tax subject to a referendum within Charleston County pursuant to Section 4-37-30 of the Code of Laws of South Carolina in 1976 as amended to define the specific purposes and designate the projects for which the proceeds of the tax may be used. to provide the maximum time for which such tax may be imposed, to provide the estimated cost of the projects funded from the proceeds of the tax, to provide for a countywide referendum on the imposition of the sales and use tax and the issuance of general obligation bonds, and to prescribe the contents of the ballot questions in the referendum, to provide for the conduct of the referendum by the Board of Elections and voter registration of Charleston County, to provide for the administration of the tax if approved, to provide for the payment of the tax if approved, and to provide for the other matters relating thereto. an ordinance providing for the levy of taxes for corporate purposes of Charleston County for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026, and ending June 30, 2027, hereinafter referred to as fiscal year 2027, making appropriations from the general fund and other funds of Charleston County for such purposes, providing for the levy of taxes for corporate purposes of Charleston County, providing for budget control of the appropriations, by charleston county council and the charleston county administrator and providing for the issuance of tax anticipation notes in an amount up to 100 million dollars for charleston county and up to 1 million dollars for the allendale mcclellanville consolidated fire protection district And finally, an ordinance approving the budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026 and ending June 30, 2027, directing the auditor of Charleston County to levy the necessary millage and the treasurer to collect taxes for the Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission, the North Charleston District, the St. Andrews Parish Parks and Playground Commission, the St. John's Fire District, and the St. Paul's Fire District, and providing for the issuance of tax anticipation notes and in an amount up to $3 million for the Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission, up to $1,100,000 to the St. Andrews Parks and Playground Commission, and up to $1,500,000 for the St. John's Fire District. That's it.

Thank you, ma'am. Yes, sir. All right. Moving on to the consent agenda. 4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4 All in favor say aye. Aye. All opposed? Ayes have it. Moving on to agenda item eight. Mr. Chairman. Yes, sir.

Without objection, I'll go A through G and take H separately.

Okay. Do I have a second for A through G? All right. Any discussion? Hearing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. All right. 8H. Transportation sales tax plan of expenditures.

Move for approval. Again, this is the one we're up to third reading. Make changes.

Yes. Okay. Do I have a second from Ms. Honeycutt? No. Sorry.

This is only because it's a plan. It's just one vote tonight. Okay. Move to approve.

Okay. Do I have a second? Second. All right. Properly moved and seconded. Any discussion? All right. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Nay.

Nay.

Moody, Middleton, Darby, Pryor. Okay.

Motion carries? Yes, sir. Motion carries. All right. All right. Moving on to council comments. Mr. Graham, would you get us started tonight, please?

Sure thing. Mr. Chairman, I don't have a whole lot. I know we're obviously coming off a Memorial Day where we remember those who died for this country, and so I would just continue to keep them in our hearts and in our thoughts and prayers, and we should remember them all day. So I would just carry that spirit forward. Beyond that, I don't have anything to add. Thank you.

Mr. Pryor.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Quick question to the administrator. What was the percentage built in for our employees for raising a share in the budget? Did they get a 3%, 2%, 1%? Ms. Perry.

So we are proposing a 3% equity adjustment for our staff this year. That would be on their base salary. Yes, sir.

Thank you so much. That's so great. Mr. Worman made a good point about the community loan funding, the $2.9 million. I would imagine you're going to work with staff to look to see if anything could be done before the third reading.

Yes.

That's one of the reasons why I wanted to give you an opportunity to do that moving forward with the budget. This, Mr. Administrator, you may know, but remember when we did the, I think it was the tobacco settlement, we had like $1.4 million left over for like affordable housing use, you know, out of that money. What settlement? Was it the tobacco?

Airbnb.

The drug. Airbnb, I'm sorry. Airbnb, I'm sorry. And we said we were going to have that money go toward affordable housing. So I'd like to maybe get that on the agenda so we can discuss that, where we want to put that money at. Because it was my recommendation to split it 50-50 rural and 50-50 urban. But we might want to look at it and then see what we can do with that as far as affordable housing, maybe from affordable to critical repair. I mean, you know, $1.4 million will go a long ways to water critical repair versus affordable units because I'm telling you, these affordable units, you're seeing them pop up more and more in some of these poor communities. And they're actually, you know, not to their detriment because it's not us. It's the big developers. And they're coming in and building. Like, if you go in Union Heights and look at Union Heights, those folks are priced out right now. You know, the average person that lived there can't even live there now with houses. selling for $450,000, not our homes, but it's, you know, we trying to do something to stop it. So, you know, I would like to see money go toward critical repair to help those folks stay in their houses first and have to sell their houses to a developer and then, you know, they moved out. And so if we can look at that in the future, it doesn't have to be, you know, we can wait until after the budget is over so that way we can have a good discussion and a brief discussion on that. I think that's critical. OK, and let's see. That does it for me.

Thank you, Mr. Thank you, Mr. Nebraska.

Well, echo what Councilman Weirman said. We're one day after Memorial Day and we should never. forget the sacrifices of those who gave us our freedom and why we're here. And I noticed we had the sheriff here and many members of his office. And they also put their lives on the line every day to protect us. And we thank you for that. And we should never forget that as well. And also the passing of my brother-in-law on the funeral this weekend, Jimmy McClellan from McClellanville, who is a leading person in the effort to The conservation of all of Charleston County and especially East Cooper and McCloneville and Allendale and just I think. And. Back and I've seen the changes since. Marion Susan and going to McCloneville since 1979 and for anybody that thinks we don't need the. The Greenbelt money is as much to preserve and put limits on what can be developed. We have Long Savannah coming now into fruition. And that is on, we do have the urban growth boundaries, but my fear is whatever we do with the urban growth boundaries, north and south of that, the zoning can always be changed. I'm trying to prevent Long Savannah becoming our destiny, all over Charleston County, especially East Cooper. So as I look upon it, it's not just preserving land for nature, which is important, but it's also preserving it so it can't be developed. And I'm of the opinion that all the out of town developers who look at what we have, like spiders, if we don't think ahead, they're already thinking ahead a decade or two. And if we don't put the land offering development, it will be development. And if we're not careful, Long Savannah will be the future of all of Charleston and every square inch will be filled in. That can be. We have an opportunity to plan for the future and prevent that from happening. So I hope we keep the spending priorities for the sales tax referendum. And again, I was a leading opponent last time. I think the difference is this time we've made it clear what we're going to do. And I just think anything we can amend up to the third reading so that people have the certainty as much as usually as much as humanly possible would be a good thing so that people can go to the polls and know what they're voting on. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Kabrowski. Ms. Honeycutt?

Yeah, I also want to just recognize Memorial Day yesterday, just incredibly humbling to live in a free country that folks have died for, and we don't take that for granted. I also wanted to remind everyone that early voting started today, and so I hope everyone, it sounds like there was record turnout across the state, so just remind everybody that that's going on. Our Board of Voter Registration is doing an incredible job out there, so thank you to them. and get out there and make your voice heard.

Thank you, ma'am.

Mr. Sass. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I agree a lot of comments about Memorial Day. Really want to thank our first responders and our military who keeps us free, and that's why we're free today, because of the sacrifices that people made before us. 250 years is really something special. I want to make a statement, two things about the sales tax. We really need to make sure people understand that this is not a new tax. I still run into that everywhere I go. People don't realize it's not a new tax. Some people think it's a new tax. I don't know if that can be put on the first line of the ordinance or something, but it's not a new tax, and people need to be reminded of it. And the third thing is that, talking about Greenbelt money, rural land is where we can make a difference in Charleston County. Not urban. It's rural land. That's where you're going to save money. So, you know, we've got a big job ahead of us. Let's get it all done.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Public would really research and see how the Memorial Day ceremony came into existence. It started right here in Charleston. In 1865. I wasn't going to say so much, but take a panoramic trick to the past. I am reminded of T.S. Eliot, who wrote in Murder in the Cathedral, 1935 and 1936. And his famous statement was, the last temptation is the greatest treason. The right thing for the wrong reason. I applaud the General Assembly today for what it did. It was the right thing to do, but why did they do it? They should have come out and said it was wrong, but they made the right decision. And I applaud those 10 Republicans who were courageous enough to say, we're not going to go along to get along. That takes courage, and it's there in time. And I wish that more Republicans and Democrats would garner the courage to do that which is right. I'm reminded of Dr. King, the ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands a moment of comfort and convenience, but where he stands a moment of controversy and challenge. It was very controversial in the General Assembly, but those 10 Republicans evince the greatest courage I've seen in quite some time in the state of South Carolina.

Thanks, sir. Mr. Middleton.

No comment.

Okay. Mr. Moody. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I wanted to thank this council again for the funding for Orange Grove. That's a fantastic school. I know Mr. Pryor's had kids and grandkids have gone through there, and it's everything that all of our schools should be across the entire county, and they're wonderful. But I wanted to thank this council again for that. And to Mr. Wormer's point, I am open to a discussion about having some rules about these fundings that go out. I don't have any problem with that. I also just want to say on the budget that staff, as you mentioned, Sheriff Ritchie was here. A lot of our public safety people are here. I'm glad I voted for your budget. I'm glad I voted for your pay raises. Shame on me if I didn't over a donation to one of the best chambers in the country. Work it out with staff. Talk to your council members. Don't put our first responders on the line. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thanks, sir.

Madam Clerk?

No, sir.

All right. Mr. Administrator. Yes, sir. Madam Attorney. All right. Since we're on the Memorial Day subject, Mr. Darby, I got to go spend quality time with Ms. Johnson this weekend. And when I got to speak at that event, I told them how I was a student and Ms. Johnson was a teacher. And she taught me right there in that library about things I didn't know about Memorial Day and its origins. And if you don't know, look it up. It's pretty amazing. It's another one of these things. May 1st, 1865, at the Washington Racecourse, which is now Hampton Park, freed African-American slaves who just found their freedom went upon what had formerly been a Confederate prison camp for Union soldiers. And many, I mean, it was in the hundreds of these soldiers had passed away from all the different afflictions while they were in confinement. And they were buried in mass graves. And these African-American folks went out there and exhumed their bodies and gave them proper Christian burials, every one of them. And they held a celebration and put flowers on their graves, wreaths, and honored those brave men that came and gave their lives for their freedom. And so the very first Memorial Day wasn't about those that go out and defend our freedom and liberty and make the ultimate sacrifice. It was about those that came and freed those who were not free. and be never too old to learn new things and so proud of that history and it's something we should really cherish and hold near and dear to our heart that that happened here. So thank you all for working so well tonight and appreciate all the robust discussion and we're adjourned.