County Council - Regular Meeting

Before we begin tonight's public hearings, I would like to remind all speakers that comments must be relevant to the public hearing topic being considered.

Due to the number of public hearings and speakers that have signed up tonight to speak, comments during public hearings will be limited to one minute per speaker. Following the conclusion of the eight public hearings, we will move into the public comments portion of the meeting. During the public comments, speakers will be allotted two minutes each. So I appreciate y'all's cooperation. Madam Clark.

Yes, sir. A public hearing shall be held by the County Council of Charleston County at 6.30 p.m. on Thursday, June 11, 2026, before final approval of an ordinance authorizing the execution and delivery of a fee in lieu of tax agreement by and among Charleston County and Bitter Milk LLC.

Do we have anyone signed up?

We do. Mr. Bryant? Yes.

Anthony G. Bryant, President A. G. Bryant, if you think I haven't been here in a while, a minute would be sufficient. The question being posed with all these incentives that we see in lieu of the economy, in terms of having a much more robust discussion, in terms of having probably a secondary committee, A subcommittee regarding these incentives, and I think that that's something we need to consider with all the incentives that we do now. I think we kind of move beyond the old way of doing things and possibly instituting some new measures of oversight.

Thank you. Anyone else? Okay. Madam Clerk?

Yes, sir. Notices hereby given that Charleston County Council will hold a public hearing beginning at 630 on Tuesday, June 11, 2026, before final approval of an ordinance authorizing the execution and delivery of a fee in lieu of tax agreement by and between Charleston County and Red Metals Incorporated, including any related or affiliated entities or any sponsor affiliates, including Green Start Charleston LLC as a sponsor affiliate.

Ms. Wester.

Mr. Bryant.

Yeah, I'm going to repeat the same thing I said again. I think the old way of doing things that you do do it needs to be improved upon. You can't improve upon your processes because annually we see people just once a year. I was told, I think, with respect to Chairman Sass, to be respectful of the Robert rules, in terms of what's been coming back in terms of these incentives. I spoke to the chairman as well. I don't think you're really giving us enough information in terms of what are we getting back. in terms of the incentives. I heard we're getting something back, but I don't think that we're getting the information to make sure that it's accurate in terms of forming an initial oversight to the public. I just want to make sure we improve upon our processes.

Thank you, sir. Madam Clerk?

Yes, sir. As required by Section 6-1-80 Code of Laws of South Carolina 1976 as amended, notice is hereby given that Charleston County Council will hold a public hearing on Thursday, June 11, 2026 in Council Chambers at the Lonnie Hamilton Public Services Building on the operating budget ordinances for fiscal year 2027 for... Charleston County, All Endowment, Colonville Fire, East Cooper Fire, Northern Charleston County Fire, the Transportation Sales Tax 1, Transportation Sales Tax 2, Trident Technical College, West St. Andrews Fire District.

Ms. Worcester?

Mr. Bryant?

A.G. Bryan, President A.G. Bryan, Inc., a deep concern in terms of this budgetary process. We only see these people one time a year. Now, when they make error with tax, we're not going to begrudge all those who have done well, but we have some serious issues with the jail, the sheriff, and other things that we don't talk about when it comes to the money. And when somebody dies in the jail or something happens in the jail, we read it in the paper, but they're not here to deal with these issues of death. And what do we pay for with that? Now, I'm not popular in gardening matter, but again, if you affiliate people's reputation in a certain kind of way, it's important that we understand that the sheriff and other solicitor, the coroner, they all get money. And we need to know what they're doing with the money. Now, they're a government part of the government. And it seems like some political parties like the government when it's the police. Everything else ain't the government. So I want to make sure that the government is treated equally in the same, particularly for those who are. Here's my public comment. Who's the clerk to hand this right here? Who's running things? Who's handling things? Okay. That's for the record. Okay.

Madam Clerk.

Yes, sir. As required by Section 6-1-80 Code of Laws of South Carolina 1976 as amended, notice is hereby given that Charleston County Council will hold a public hearing on Thursday, June 11, 2026 at 6.30 p.m. on the operating budget ordinances for fiscal year 2027 for Charleston County Parks and Recreation Commission. North Charleston District, St. Andrews Parks and Playground Commission, St. John's Fire District, and St. Paul's Fire District. Mr. Bryant?

I naturally assume all are operating in good faith, and it's just a big but. For those who have done well in the budget, staff has done an outstanding job as usual. And we're not concerned about those folk. But we're concerned about those who have demerits and are failing in the context of these budgets. We only see them once a year. We see you all the time. We only see them on TV when something happens. Now, what we have to do now, if something happens, you want to settle a lawsuit, anything you're going to do in this budget in the future, they have to come back to counsel. They can't act like, you know, there's no accountability here. James Madison said government should do four things. Protect the people, people from themselves, the government, and guarding transient impressions. Now, some parts of this budget have transient impressions in them. We have to make sure we have separation of powers here. You have power. Only one time we see these folks. They get their check, buy their bins, and move on. But who's paying for the bins? Who's paying for the boat? Who's paying for the college tuition? We are.

Madam Clerk?

Yes, sir. Notices hereby given that Charleston County Council will hold a public hearing on Thursday, June 11, 2026 at 6.30 p.m. prior to final council action being taken to enter into a lease agreement for property owned by the county. The property in question is the property located at 1357 Remount Road, Unit 4 in North Charleston, and County Council is considering a lease agreement with J.Cann Family Ministries.

Mr. Bryant?

Okay.

Madam Clerk. Okay.

Notice is hereby given that Charleston County Council will hold a public hearing on Thursday, June 11, 2026 at 6.30 p.m. prior to final council action being taken to enter into a lease agreement for property owned by the county. The property in question is the property located at 1357 Remount Road, Unit 5 in North Charleston, and county council is considering a lease agreement with Holy City Missions.

Mr. Bryant. No comment.

Member Clark.

Notice is hereby given that Charleston County Council will hold a public hearing on Thursday, June 11, 2026 at 6.30 p.m. The public hearing will be regarding an ordinance to levy and impose a one-half of 1% sales and use tax subject to a referendum within Charleston County.

All right. We have 24 people signed up. I'm going to start calling names. If everybody could start lining up as I call your names. James Bowden, Anthony Bryant, Ellen Bowden.

I'm Jim Bowden, live on Johns Island. It took us 40 minutes to get here tonight. I'm reading an email quickly from city council member Jim McBride. He's writing in support of the 2026 sales transportation tax. His district covers 3% of Johns Island and a portion of James Island along Rivlin Drive. He writes in June of 2025, Ron Mitchum, The director of the Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester County government was saying that he did a whole scale on our roads here and gave it an F, an F minus. But basically, Jim McBride is saying that there's just simply not enough money from the state to make it happen, so the county has to do it. Just not enough.

Anthony Bryant, Ellen Bowden.

I want to know where the money went on half-cent sales tax and soft costs. I want to make sure the soft costs for half-cent sales tax for 526, excuse me, is accounted for. So you didn't do 526, so where's the money? So how can you proceed with something? Now, give me full disclosure in terms of the money that was spent on that. Now, they did the work, but where's the bread? I don't know who got the bread, but we'll find out. But I can't vote in good conscience for something going forward without knowing who got bread and who didn't get bread, because I ain't got no bread to give you extra. So we got some extra bread to put out. That's one thing. But right now, we're going on right now, bread kind of tight. So we want to make sure all the bread you gave on the first end is accounted for if y'all get any new bread. Here's my public comment to, who in charge again? Who's in charge? That's my public comment to that.

Ellen Bowden, Alphonso Riley, George Freeman.

Thank you for hearing my comments today. I live on Johns Island as well. Moved here eight years ago. Fell in love with the quaint, rural, small town vibe, but a lot has changed since then. There's been a very thoughtful approach to the commercial development. I think that Johns Island will continue on that trend, but I hope we don't turn into Bees Ferry Road or Mount Pleasant or any of those things. Our move here clearly was not welcomed by a good number of lifelong residents. I've only been here eight years. And to that, all I can ask is where was your involvement when all of this development was approved? Why didn't you fight it then? So that ship has sailed and this has brought us to the most frustrating traffic situation. It's just regrettable. I believe it can be fixed. I'm going to err on the side of being optimistic that the money will go where it says if indeed this council will approve.

Alphonso Riley, George Freeman, Duncan Townsend.

Good evening. I'm Dr. Alphonso Riley. I'm the pastor of God's House of Worship on Dorchester Road in North Charleston. I stand here tonight for the families across the region who feel the true cost effect of this decision. Many of them never had an opportunity to vote. The county called this a transportation tax, but more than one third of it goes to things that are not road construction related. Even what is called a road project carries costs that do not show up in the county tax bill. When infrastructure projects require relocating water mains, sewer lines, electrical infrastructure, and those relocation costs are not fully funded by the project, they are absorbed by the utilities that serve us. Those utilities recover their costs through the rates they charge every customer. Charleston Water System serves customers in Charleston, Berkeley, and Dorchester Counties. It does not receive tax revenue. When its costs rise, the families across the three counties rise with them. Also outside the city of Charleston, customers in the county, in Hanahan, Latsin, Hollywood, and communities throughout this region already take 60% of the monthly water bill. I'll give a copy of that.

Thank you. George Freeman, Duncan Townsend, Shana Howell.

George Freeman, president of CAGE, 2347 Highway 17 North. When this process started, you said you were looking for input from the citizens. As a citizen, I've tried on numerous occasions to try to get input on road projects that go into the half-cent sales tax. When this process started, it was failed from the beginning. The surveys that went out Many people didn't know about it. And when the second survey went out, the first one was still open. So when people responded to the first one, you didn't hear about those comments. You say you're looking for inputs from the citizens, but the only input you're taking are those from the local government. Projects presented by citizens were not presented to the public for vending. So how could the public support a project if you never let the public know about the project? So I say to you, your whole process is flawed. You need to start over.

Duncan Townsend, Shana Howe, Bruce Kleinman.

My name is Duncan Townsend. I'm from West Ashley. And about the transportation sales tax, the real facts about this are deeply concerning. The people deserve the complete truth about what they're being asked to pay. The half-cent sales tax that we will pay on virtually every discretionary dollar over the next 25 years is not the whole story. We will also be paying hidden taxes in the form of rate increases on utility bills because Charleston Water and Dominion Energy will have to be reimbursed for expenses to relocate their utility lines along Rivers Avenue to accommodate the Carter bus line. Charleston Water told this very council that their estimate was $64 million to move their pipes up and down Rivers Avenue. However, the budget only allowed for about $5.5 million. The shortfall will be paid by rate payers of Charleston water. The same thing applies to Dominion Energy. Same math applies. It's going to fall on the rate payers, and they're not being told this, and that applies to Charleston County, Dorchester, and Berkeley County residents who buy water. I adamantly oppose committing a public does not have all the information.

Shana Howell, Bruce Kleinman, Darrell May.

Thank you. I want to commend the council on the thoughtful effort that you have put forward towards this transportation sales tax proposal this year. As a resident and voter in 2024, my concerns over the priority list, the lack of clarity and transparency, led me to vote no on the last referendum. understand there is hesitancy among some council members that another referendum be put on the ballot in 2026 but i believe i'm part of a significant group who applauds the transparency and opportunity for citizen engagement this time around and i will be a yes vote if the referendum is put on the ballot this year also as chair elect of the board of directors for the coastal conservation league i applaud the inclusion of greenbelt funding it is vital to protecting what we love in charleston in the face of significant growth Voters deserve to have a say on this improved TST, and I ask that you allow us to have that vote this fall. Thank you.

Bruce Kleinman, Daryl May, Katie Zimmerman.

Thank you. I'm Bruce Farman.

I'm the mayor of the town of Seabrook Island.

And I'm here to say thank you. Thank you to council. Thank you to county staff. You guys established a process. The process involved a commitment to outreach and public input. I think that our citizens of Seabrook Island responded to that challenge, responded in numbers, and we are grateful for the consideration that you all have given to the Seabrook Island Road and Drainage Project. Thanks again. Have a good night.

Daryl May, Katie Zimmerman, Gray Gorder.

Thank you. I'm Darrell May, a member of Town Council of Seabrook Island and chair of its Public Safety Committee. And in addition to what was just said, I just wanted to add that the road that we're concerned with is the only road out of Seabrook Island. So in the event of a storm, not necessarily a hurricane, just severe rain, it floods. And so we are very much committed to the improvement of that road out of Seabrook Island. And again, thank you so much for your time.

Katie Zimmerman, Gray Gorder, Susan Milliken.

Hi, I'm Katie Zimmerman, Executive Director of Charleston Moves. And I just wanted to reiterate our ask. You all have the language we had sent you as a suggestion. But basically, the summary of our ask is to include Complete Streets language in the ordinance so that consideration of bicycle, pedestrian, and public transit infrastructure is involved in the design and hopefully approval of every project in the TST. I think that will help eliminate a lot of confusion that the public has. They think right now transit is solely limited to the public transit portion and they think bike ped is solely limited to the bike ped sub allocation i think it's helpful for folks to understand consideration of all different types of modes in every project it's not a legal commitment in any way it's just a design consideration i also strongly urge you to check out horry county's 2024 ordinance if you have not i know there's some concerns about Check out Horry County's ordinance.

Thank you. Greg Garter, Susan Milliken, Lisa Jones.

Good evening, Greg Gowder, West Ashley. I'd like to echo a lot of what Katie was just saying. I do think we need to ensure that we are creating safe and comprehensively built streets for our residents. We regularly fail as a state in pedestrian and bike safety, and we want to make sure that we're not the bottom of the barrel for that. When we look at, you know, what we've seen here tonight, I think there's a lot of distrust in this process and transparency can help a great deal with that. So really showing what the projects are. When we're talking about bike and pedestrian, which of those projects are getting funded, which ones are being proposed, I think that'll engender a lot of goodwill heading into the ballot this fall. Thank you.

Susan Milliken, Lisa Jones, David Stachaitis.

Good evening.

My name is Susan Milliken. I live on James Island. I'm speaking tonight in support of the upcoming transportation sales tax referendum for the 2026 ballot. I greatly appreciate the job the county has done with their consultants in holding public meetings and soliciting public input. I'd like to see more certain language regarding the proposed project list, not shell such as, but more definite language. Also, we'd like to see complete streets integrated into all road and intersection projects. I'm particularly concerned about our county making improvements in public transit and getting done the long awaited low country rapid transit, which will be a great resource for our area. I'm very pleased with the percentage of urban Greenbelt funding as I'm a James Island resident and we really do not have many rural areas to concern. I'm concerned about the status of the Folly Road bike paths and sidewalks that have been previously funded, as we heard three to four years ago that phase one had been funded. We've seen no headway on that project, but I do appreciate the county moving forward on other projects in 2016. Thank you.

Lisa Jones, David Stachaitis, Stephen Cohn.

Hi, good evening.

I'm Lisa Jones. I'm here on behalf of Historic Charleston Foundation to express our support for the 2026 transportation sales tax. Our support is a direct result of the county's commitment to funding a portion of the city of Charleston battery extension and roads and drainage along Calhoun Street and the medical district. These improvements are critical for residents, tourism, county residents visiting MUSC, and the regional economy overall. We simply cannot afford to wait to invest in our future as flooding traffic and pedestrian safety incidents increase. Accordingly, we support the sales tax with the understanding that the final ordinance and ballot measure will list the priorities with no ambiguity about what happens to funding if one or more projects cannot be completed. Removing ambiguity and maintaining trust means removing words that allow such doubt to occur. With this change, HCF looks forward to being a .

David Stakaitis, Stephen Cohn, Charlton Brownell.

Hey, David Stasikaitis. I'm a Charleston County business owner. I have around 75 team members born and raised in the area. Been in Charleston County. My business has been here for over 20 years on off Palmetto Commerce. Thank you so much for everything you've done with the TST so far. I think you've done a phenomenal job. I know there's been over almost 80 listening sessions in public and private. venues and I think the transparency is great and everything that you're doing is great. I just wanted to put some numbers on it. From my perspective as a business owner, I have around 20 installers. We're in commercial construction. They're on the road every day to go to a job site. Most of the time it's in Charleston County. So if I put my 20 installers an hour there, an hour back, two hours a day, four days a week at a $50 billable hour, that costs our business January 1, we are going to pay $416,000 to sit in traffic. So highly Highly support TST and everything you're doing. Thank you so much.

Stephen Cohn, Charlton Brownell, Robert Boyles.

Hey, good morning. Good afternoon. I'm Dr. Steven Khan. I'm president of the Charleston Trident Association of Realtors, representing thousands of real estate professionals across Charleston County. Our members see every day the challenges that come with growth. We see roads struggling to keep pace with demand. We see the importance of preserving the natural landscapes and keeping the low country special. The reality is road improvements, land preservation, and transit do not have to compete against each other. Charleston County needs all three. Just as importantly, this referendum represents the only dedicated local funding mechanism we have to address these issues at scale. The transportation needs aren't going away. The pressure on our land and resources aren't going away. The demand for transit is not going away. So if we allow this funding stream to lapse, we risk losing momentum on projects that improve quality of life, support economic growth, and help preserve what makes Charleston County a special place to live. Tonight is not about asking council to decide whether voters should support the referendum. It is about asking council to trust the voters with that decision. Thank you.

Charleston, Bob Bell, Stephen Boyles, Barry Whalen.

Good evening, Charleston Brownell, West Ocean View Road, James Island. I'm here on behalf of the Charleston Climate Coalition. Our community of concerned citizens has been hoping to see more funding for safe, affordable, and low-carbon transportation options like bike-ped and transit infrastructure. While we are disappointed with the percent allocations for these modes, we are still hopeful this ordinance could meet our goals by committing to meaningfully include complete streets principles in the planning and execution of each project. Incorporating bike-ped and transit elements, when feasible, would enhance the ability of our transportation corridors to meet their objective of moving people from one place to another efficiently and safely. We strongly support council's decision to increase the transit percentage to 20% from the 15% outlined in an earlier draft, as well as the transparency of this process. The inclusion of language committing to considering bike, ped, and transit access and program subcategories would make our community excited to vote yes and campaign for this.

Robert Boyles, Barry Whalen, Mary Howard.

Mr. Chairman, honorable members of the council, ASOP told us it's thrifty to prepare today for the wants of tomorrow. I'm from Mount Pleasant, a proud and happy resident for 33 years, and failure of the sales tax referendum will reduce funding for Greenbelt, support for mass transit, and will jeopardize a stable funding source with which our community collectively can make leveraged investments in roads and bridges in the years ahead. That will further frustrate my neighbors and myself as the county's population is projected to exceed half a million people in the next four years. There simply is no other source of funds to support these necessary investments. Jonas Salk said our greatest responsibility is to be good ancestors. I encourage us all to strive to be good ancestors. Thank you.

Barry Whalen, Mary Howard, John McGee.

Good evening. I'm Barry Whalen. Good evening, Mr. Chairman and members of council. I'm president of HLA, and we're located in West Ashley, Charleston. I'm here tonight as a local small business owner to strongly urge your continued support for the 2026 TST referendum. Every single day, my business relies on our local infrastructure to keep our operations running smoothly, our staff safe, and our customers walking through our doors. what makes this 2026 proposal so vital is that a balanced focus on immediate local relief important corridor improvements such as widening us-17 and funding a better north bridge connection to north charleston are exactly the kinds of regional fixes charleston businesses and communities need furthermore because this continues an existing house and sales tax rather than introducing a new one we're protecting our local taxpayer wallets by having tourists pay 50 percent we need this infrastructure investments to keep charleston competitive and to maintain a high quality of life i want to thank tom mary howard john mcgee p p guin hanrahan

Mary Howard, John's Island. First of all, I want to thank you for all the engagements you've had with the local governments and the people. What I would like to do is if you haven't already is to encourage not only the council but everybody here and any of your neighbors and friends to please read Post and Courier's editorial for 6-1. There is an issue and part of it is what extent future county councils will be bound by the list in the ballot questions. Voters to approve 2.7 billion to finance cost of roads, et cetera, quote, unquote, such as, the ones on the list. Those two words can be interpreted as, quote, these are the types of projects we will construct. We might construct them all, dot, dot, dot, none of them, projects you've never heard of that's how it can be interpreted means litigation if that's the case the ordinance itself has may include instead of will include joe mcgee pegging hanrahan jimmy kerr

Good evening. I'm Joe McGee. I'm president of the Holliston Village Association. And we want to thank you for the process of how you've managed it. And we appreciate your support for the battery extension and the Calhoun Street drainage improvements. There are 27,000 vehicles that pass every day. MUSC is going to be expanding. The Low Country Rapid Transit Terminus is going to be there. People can't get to their homes. They can't get to emergency services when it floods routinely. Not three inches, three feet. We appreciate your support. We think it's well justified, and thank you.

Peggy Hanrahan, Jimmy Kerr, Collie Farah.

Thank you. Chair Boykin, members of County Council. I'm Peggy Hanrahan. I'm with Trust for Public Land. We're a national nonprofit that works on connecting everyone to the outdoors. I work on ballot measure campaigns. We've worked on over 680, including the two successful Charleston campaigns. And so I've seen a lot of this over 22 years. I really want to recognize those of you who have been working on this, in some cases going back decades, Mr. Pryor. You've really included your entire community in this process, and you've come up with some great projects with that feedback. We are, of course, primarily supporting the Greenbelt program, and we've submitted a couple of minor edits and echo some of the other comments that have been made here. But I want to call out how important the historical projects that you've done have been. Urban parks, making sure that children can get outdoors, protecting clean water, and even the traffic signalization program, which really reduces air pollution, for example. So this is a really balanced program. We support it, and we recognize how hard you've worked on it.

Jimmy Kerr, Kali Farah, John Zlogar.

I'm Jimmy Kerr, a lifelong resident of Johns Island. And I'm here speaking tonight to seek to support the sales tax referendum this November. I want to thank you for the improvement in the process of getting input from the public. And I think that that will go a long way with a couple of other suggestions and getting people on board with what you've done. The Carter improvements and the Greenbelt additions and improvements are much appreciated. I would suggest that as far as the road improvements, that you change the language, affirm the language up in there. so that we know exactly what it is that we're going to be getting. Less chance of moving the projects around. As far as the money goes, I would like to recommend that since you've got a lot of stuff in your plans already, share that with the public. The day after this is voted on and hopefully passed, what are you going to do? What's your first step? Get the public a chance to hear what you're going to do. Thank you.

Kali Farah, John Slogar.

Good evening, Council. Kali Farrow with Conservancy of the Sea Islands. Just here to thank you all for your commitment to the Greenbelt program, and therefore your commitment to conservation. Conservation benefits everybody, the people that live here and our visitors. And conservation lasts forever. So the commitment that you all are making to it isn't just for today or tomorrow, but the future generations of the world. And we just really, really appreciate you. And we just can't wait to see what great projects can come forward with this new funding. So thank you.

John Zlogar.

Good evening. First of all, I want to congratulate Ms. Honeycutt. I also want to congratulate the council for the transparent process they've gone through and the extensive public outreach. I've been to probably half of those meetings. It was pretty extensive. I do request one change, though, and it's been mentioned here before. In the list of projects, you use the term such as, which has a lot of, I think, issues with it in terms of public trust. I've submitted some suggested wording to you that hopefully makes it more definitive, but also allows you to, you know, have a flexibility if for some reason you can't do the project, such as the Corps of Engineers doesn't give you a permit. So hopefully you take those and you look at those. I think that they are reasonable and they would give the public a lot of trust. So I encourage you to incorporate those changes. Thank you very much.

That's it.

All right.

Before we go into item 1H, the Central Park Road and Riverland Drive Intersection Improvement Project, Alex Ozak is going to step up and give us a presentation on what the plans are for that.

good evening alex oziak capital projects manager for public works and also the project manager for the central park and riverland drive improvements project and here tonight to discuss our proposed tree removal and mitigations for the required for the project Here is just a brief overview of the project and the project purpose, which is obviously to improve the safety of the intersection of Riverland and Central Park, while also trying to minimize those impacts to Grand Trees. Our project would start at the intersection of Riverland Drive and Woodland Shores and continue all the way down Riverland Drive, terminating at the Lowcountry Senior Center. Current project status is highlighted here. We've received almost all of our environmental permits except for one DES permit we're still waiting to receive. And we are, once we get approval from council on that, we are in good position to make movements to advertise this project within the next 60 to 90 days. So for our tree removal mitigation request, there are 41 grand or protected trees that are impacted by the project. Because Riverland Drive is classified as a scenic highway, any tree with a breast height diameter of six inches or greater is considered a protected tree, even if it's just a gum tree or something like that. So these three grand protected trees are required for approval by the council in order for removal. One of those is a live oak. The other two are sweet gums. We also have nine grand protected trees that have been administrative approved for removal due to their poor condition and poor health. And then that leaves us with another 29 grand slash protected trees that are going to be encroached upon. And we have a preservation plan that's going to be included in our plans to help preserve those trees and mitigate any kind of impacts. Here's just some background on our zoning definitions on what's a grand tree and what's a protected tree. Again, more ordinance background. I'll just go through this real briefly. Here's layout of the project and identifying some of those impacted trees. So here in the top left corner, we've got two trees identified for removal. Those are the two sweet gums right there at the intersection of Woodland Shores and Riverland Drive. We need to remove those trees due to the impacts from the sidewalk we are placing there. The other grand tree that is going to be removed is a live oak right there at the intersection of Central Park and Riverland Drive. That tree is being impacted due to the right turn lane we are constructing as part of those improvements. Here it lists those three different trees that are up for council approval for removal. Again, the live oak and two sweet gums. We've got some pictures of those trees here right there on your left, Sam. Those are the two trees, the sweet gums at the corner of Riverland Drive. in Woodland Shores and in the live oak there at Central Park and Riverland Terrace. I got some other tree pictures here, but I won't go through all that details. This is a list of the 29 grand protected trees being encroached upon. We've got, I believe, about six trees we're encroaching between that 25% to 35% threshold on their root zone. That requires that extra protection and mitigation. I'll kind of fast through a lot of these with all the pictures of trees. I'm sure we don't have every single one. And then we've got another nine trees that are going to be removed due to their poor condition, mostly due to utility pruning or decay. This is a brief outline of our tree protection plan. It includes some protection fencing, making sure we're not doing any kind of heavy equipment or excavation near that root zone, and then making sure they're all compliable with the zoning requirements. Some of those additional treatment plans we're taking is helping to do some nutrient injections into the root zone to help promote that new root growth and trying to improve the health of those trees. We'll also be doing continuous monitoring of those trees throughout the construction duration. If any of those eventual trees were to perish as part of the construction effort, we would provide additional funding to the tree fund to provide replacement for those trees. So altogether, we've got three trees that we're going to mitigate. We cannot replace those trees due to the tight right-of-way along Riverland Drive. We're going to have to place those trees somewhere else. We've got a total mitigation of 80 inches. That results in a $20,000 deposit into the tree fund from the project funds. We also put out a public comment on our Charleston County Engage website. We solicited comments from May 22nd through June 9th, received a total of 18 public comments. Seven comments were in opposition to the tree removals, five were in support, and then six were just kind of general comments that really didn't address the tree removal. The page did receive over 1,000 views, so certainly a lot of public interest in the project. I will say one thing, the comments that I talked about were in opposition for the tree removal. A lot of us also wanted to look at some other options that we could do along Rivlin Drive to make some improvements and avoid those trees. Due to the nature of that corridor, it is impossible to make any improvements to Rivlin Drive without impacting some sort of trees out there. It's just too tight of a corridor. It's virtually impossible. So our staff recommendation this evening is for Council to approve the removal of those three trees with that $20,000 to be paid into the tree protection fund, and then approve our tree preservation plan that will help those other trees that we're impacting upon the root zone. And then, like I mentioned, if any of those trees were to die within three years from the date of construction, we would certainly provide additional funds to the replacement. So with that, I'd be happy to answer any questions.

Council, do you have any questions for Mr. Oziak? Thank you, sir. Thank you. All right, Madam Clerk.

Charleston County Council will hold a public hearing on the proposed tree removal and mitigation plan associated with the Central Park Road S67 roadway improvements and Riverland Drive S53 sidewalk improvements project at 6.30 p.m. on June 11, 2026. Adam Friend, Susan Milliken, Elizabeth Singleton.

Good evening, Council. Adam Friend, Woodland Shores Road Coalition, and recent Republican nominee for District 9 winner. I live in that area, and I have spoken. I've gone over 2,000 doors here recently in my run for County Council District 9. I feel like I have a pretty good pulse of what the people in my area are wanting and what they have said to me. One thing that has been pretty consistently stated that a lot of times the public is feeling like decisions are made before we really have had the input. I guess in this case I can't say that that's true after hearing that, that there's been public comment opportunity. But I do think that the problem with that intersection is really it's the left-hand turns on Central Park onto the south moving traffic on Riverland Drive as well as the left turn pressure that's put on Riverland Drive onto Central Park. This project will address none of that. So in my mind, I think it's time that we stop spending $3 million on things where we don't really meet the end point, which is to improve that safety. Doing something is no longer the answer, in my opinion. This project, please. Thank you.

Susan Milliken, Elizabeth Singleton, Liz Munn.

Good evening. Susan Milliken again from James Island. There's been some confusion about the timeline for what y'all are doing right now because it's kind of changed a little bit. So our understanding right now from staff is that this will come to Public Works Committee in a couple weeks, and then you guys will vote on it later in June. So I hope we have that understanding correct. This has been a long road, Mr. Moody, Ms. Honeycutt, Mr. Pryor, Mr. Darby's not here, Mr. Sass. It's been many, many, many years on this project. And what happened a few years ago is that this project was scaled back tremendously in light of the expectation of 526 extension coming into Riverland Drive. So this really needs to be looked at again. Because although y'all are focused on the three grand trees and two are sweet gum, which are not, you know, super great beloved trees and aren't... Here we go.

Elizabeth Singleton, Liz Munn.

Elizabeth Singleton, James Island. This project that you're doing started out from the... roundabout you're still not solving the problem problem is john's island is going to continue to build central park is the shortcut to get to job to and from john's island you're trying to put a band-aid on a profusely bleeding wound. It's not going to solve the problem. You need to rethink this project. One thing that would help and solve some of your problems is a stoplight. Without a stoplight, people don't stop. And that's what you need. And to correct the problem, you need to go back to Maybank Highway coming from Folly and coming from South Windermere and address the designated left lane to go to Maybank and the right lane to come from South Windermere to Maybank. Liz Munn.

Hello, my name is Liz Munn. I am here speaking on behalf of the Charleston County Tree Preservation Alliance. This project, sorry to pile on, this project appears to be a bandaid to correct a horrific traffic and safety concern. Removing these trees and encroaching upon these trees is really not the solution. We believe that These trees have canopy. They have structure. And yes, even sweet gum trees that are that large can mitigate stormwater. We estimate that every mature tree can mitigate about 1,800 gallons. We got that number from the city of Charleston. Mature live oaks and other mature grand trees can often way outperform that. The proposed $20,000 to replace these trees is no. That's it.

That's it?

All right. This time we'll move into public comments.

We have four people signed up. Anthony G. Bryant, Katie Zimmerman, Jeremy Manchester.

If you look at all the interest in here, I had an ADR from Julie Armstrong from Dominion Energy Corporation. I received it May 21st. I got it June 1st. June 1st, on that day, I looked online and saw the Federal Bureau of Investigations mugshot in the fingerprint of a family member of mine that's held in Charleston County Jail right now. That's my brother's son. So at the end of the day, I know the opposition in this. You've got $4 billion on the table. You don't control the sheriff. You don't know how much money he gets from developers. You don't control the solicitor. You don't know what they get from these people. And they're in here right now for the interests. I have a family member of mine. So a lot of my friends got mugs and fingerprints. I didn't grow up. I didn't go to the port of God. I go to the Citadel. So therefore, a lot of my friends in that mugs and fingerprints. So what are you defining me as before you? Affiliated? What the school district is about affiliation is gang affiliation. You have to be in a gang to be affiliated with it. But before you is an inner-city brother, not rural, not suburban, inner-city. Went to a college in Baltimore City, East and West Baltimore. Matter of fact, the Y was done. I lived in West Baltimore in college in front of Murphy Homes where the Y was done at. I know tons of people in these systems. So if you've got discretion over these systems, from the sled to the county, those systems will be manipulated. People are going to be hurt. You've got contraband in the jail now. You got contraband in there now, people could die in there. And most likely they come from the neighborhood I come from. They don't come from your neighborhood. Suburban and rural entities. I want to be very clear. My speech will continue as a real brother from downtown. It'll never stop. My work will always be advanced. Here's the document here. My nephew's in there, and I hope that he's treated fairly in there by staff and that he's alive when he gets out. Have a nice day. Who's in charge?

Katie Zimmerman, Jeremy Manchester, Myra Richardson.

hi uh katie zimmerman executive director of charleston moves um and i just wanted to thank you all for your consideration of staff's work to apply for the north bridge project to the federal bridge investment program i think it's it's really exciting that staff is still examining opportunities still keep trying to I think Council Member Moody last week, you said sweeten the pot, which I thought was a perfect way to phrase it. And I just think we're on a really good trajectory towards finally solving the Northridge issue. And I just greatly appreciate your vote in favor for that grant. Thanks.

Jeremy Manchester, Myra Richardson.

Hello, my name is Jeremy Manchester here to talk about the 10 mile zoning layover. It's not going good for some of us. I'm here to talk about the north side. There's about 30 families there that are not doing so great. But you've got three or four families on the other side that are doing absolutely amazing. So I'm just going to read this right out of the Charleston County Board. The 10-mile community overlay zoning district was initiated and drafted by the community. The community worked internally for months throughout 2023, that's a couple years ago, to determine the concerns and desires of the residents, then together with the county staff. That would be Joel Evans and Emily Pickett. Several communities were held at the 10-mile community in 2023, 24, and 25. My side of the road, our biggest issue was being brought together kind of like an HOA. We had a big issue with the zoning. We wanted better zoning. As stated in here, residents expressed a desire to increase the density in the rural area of the community, which is also addressed in the overlay. So you got Emily and you have Joel Evans that were just here last September speaking about how one side of the road wanted to reverse the time from 25 years ago when you did the urban growth boundary. Before that, we had quarter acre lots, third acre lots, one acre lots, everything. You guys put the urban growth boundary in, even though there's the eighth largest high school within 400 yards of my trailer. When the band plays, I hear them. You got a hospital, Roper Hospital, that used to have a birthing center. It's within a mile. Across the street from me, and I've got pictures, they didn't bring them in, two to three feet, you can ask her, they're laid out. You guys are building a city on the other side of the road, and you won't let my neighbors right behind me, two sisters with 2.74 acres, divide their lot. I've got, because like one house per three acres. Meanwhile, the other side of the road is just building it out. $200,000 a lot. Myra Richardson.

Good day. I would like to address the moratorium for the historic districts. We're asking you to extend the moratorium. Our communities are working very hard to put protections in place. So we're asking you to extend it. We also have an issue where I believe when it comes down to cutting down trees illegally, that it should be more than a $6,000 fine. Because if I'm a developer, I would cut down every tree on my property in order to build million dollar homes we have a situation that's in our community that's coming up next week where the developer cut down a tree two years ago was shot to a 27 inch live oak tree two years ago find a little over six thousand dollars came before you this year to cut the property in half making one of the lots only .35, and now he's about to build a home, or requesting to build a home that's over 3,000 square feet, which encroaches into the setbacks. At this point, a developer is doing everything that they want to do when it comes down to the trees that protect our community from flooding. So there needs to be more restriction or more guidelines or actually more penalties. If you cut down an oak tree without permission, you should not be able to build anything on that spot that that oak tree came off of. And that's something that you need to consider when it comes down to destroying our natural wildlife and our barriers. So please take in consideration the things that are going on in the community to protect our communities, protect our natural green spaces and protect the wildlife in our community. Thank you.

All right.

This time we will move into our county council meeting, starting with a prayer from Mr. Pryor and a pledge of allegiance, Mr. Mooney.

Yes, I'll stand.

Eternal Father, as always, we invite your holy presence. We ask you to come into this meeting on tonight. Guide us. Keep us civil. Give us what to say and how to say. We ask you to bless the staff, bless our first responders, bless our servicemen and women throughout the United States and throughout the world as they carry on their mission. We ask you to bless our staff, give them the wisdom, the guidance, and the knowledge to do the work of the people. Bless this council and bless their family. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen.

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. And then, Mr. Chairman, we need to remove item two from the agenda.

We will. Moving on to item 3A.

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 relating thereto. Mr. Darby is absent. Mrs. Honeycutt? Aye. Mr. Kabrowski? Aye. Mr. Moody? Aye. Mr. Pryor? Aye. Mr. Sass? Aye. Mr. Worman?

Nay. I'm sorry, aye.

Mr. Boykin? Aye. The ordinance passes third reading with six ayes, one nay, two absent.

Oray? Aye.

An ordinance authorizing the execution and delivery of a fee in lieu of tax agreement by and between Charleston County and Red Metals Incorporated, including any related or affiliated entities and any sponsor affiliates, including Green Start Charleston LLC as a sponsor affiliate, whereby Charleston County will enter into a fee in lieu of taxes arrangement with Red Metals Inc. and Green Start Charleston LLC as sponsor affiliate, providing for payment by Red Metals Inc. and Green Star Charleston LLC of certain fees in lieu of ad valorem taxes and other matters relating thereto. Mrs. Honeycutt. Aye. Mr. Kabrowski.

Aye.

Mr. Moody.

Aye.

Mr. Pryor. Yes. Mr. Sass.

Aye.

Mr. Worman. Aye. Mr. Boykin. Aye. The ordinance passes second reading with six ayes, one nay, and two absent.

4C.

4B. And ordinance providing for the levy of taxes for corporate purposes of Charleston County for the fiscal year beginning July 1st, 2026 and ending June 30th, 2027. Here and after 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 the Charleston County Council and the County Administrator and providing for the issuance of tax anticipation notes in a mail up to $100 million for Charleston County and up to $1 million for the Allendale-McClellanville Consolidated Fire Protection District. Mrs. Honeycutt? Aye. Mr. Kabrowski?

Aye.

Mr. Moody? Aye. Mr. Pryor? Aye. Mr. Sass? Aye. Mr. Worman? Aye. Mr. Boykin. Aye. The ordinance passes second reading with six ayes, one nay, and two absent.

4C.

And ordinance approving the budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2026 and ending June 30, 2027, and 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 in an amount up to $3 million for the Charleston County Park and Recreation Commission, up to $1,100,000 for the St. Andrews Parks and Playground Commission, and up to $1,500,000 for the St. John's Fire District. Mrs. Honeycutt? Aye. Mr. Kabrowski?

Aye.

Mr. Moody? Aye. Mr. Pryor? Aye. Mr. Sass? Aye. Mr. Worman? Aye. Mr. Boykin? Aye. The ordinance passes second reading with seven ayes and two absent.

4D.

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 Elsie Drive and 1829 Belgrade Avenue. Parcel identification numbers 35001 and a .12 acre portion of 350-0100-014 from job center designation to light commercial residential office designation. Mrs. Honeycutt? Aye. Mr. Kabrowski? Aye. Mr. Moody? Aye. Mr. Pryor? Aye. Mr. Sass? Aye. Mr. Worman? Aye. Mr. Boykin? Aye. The ordinance passes second reading with seven ayes and two absent.

4-8.

In ordinance rezoning, the real property is located at 1824 L.C. Drive and 1829 Belgrade Avenue. Parcel identification numbers 3500100110 and a .12 acre portion of 350010014 from the Job Center J.C. Zoning District to the Residential Office R.O. Zoning District within the DuPont-Wapu Area Overlay Zoning District. Mrs. Honeycutt? Aye. Mr. Kabrowski? Nay. Mr. Middleton is absent. Mr. Moody? Aye. Mr. Pryor? No. Mr. Sass? Aye. Mr. Worman? Aye. Mr. Boykin? Aye. The ordinance passes second reading with five ayes, two nays, and two absent.

Four ifs.

And 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 planned development applications and to clarify Laps of approval provisions for site plan review approvals and preliminary plat approvals at the following document locations. Chapter 3, development review procedures. Chapter 4, base zoning districts. And Chapter 8, subdivision regulations. Mrs. Honeycutt? Aye. Mr. Kabrowski? Aye. Mr. Moody? Aye. Mr. Pryor?

So we on 4E or F? F. All right, because I'm a no on E as well. Aye.

Okay. Mr. Sass? Aye. Mr. Worman?

Aye.

Mr. Boykin? Aye. The ordinance passes second reading with seven ayes and two absent. Just for the record, Mr. Pryor, did you intend to vote nay on 7D and 7E?

Yes, D and E. Okay. All right.

4E and 4F?

Yeah, I'm sorry. No, 4D and E. 4D and E, the comprehensive plan amendment for the LC drive in Belgrade and the rezoning request for LC drive in Belgrade. Okay. All right. Then for 4D, just for the record, it's six ayes, one nay, and two absent.

All right. 4G.

An ordinance amending the Hamlin Beach Community Historic District 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. Mrs. Honeycutt? Aye. Mr. Cabrouse? Aye. Mr. Moody? Aye. Mr. Pryor? Aye. Mr. Sass? Aye. Mr. Worman? Aye. Mr. Boykin?

Aye.

The ordinance passes second reading with seven ayes and two absent.

4H.

An ordinance authorizing the conveyance of a portion of Betsy Kerrison Parkway right of way into the corporate limits of the town of Kiowa Island. Mrs. Honeycutt? Aye. Mr. Kabrowski? Aye. Mr. Moody? Aye. Mr. Pryor? No. Mr. Sass? Aye. Mr. Worman? Aye. Mr. Boykin? Aye. The ordinance passes second reading with six ayes, one nay, two absent.

All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. Madam Clerk?

Yes, sir. An ordinance authorizing the St. John's Fire District, South Carolina, to issue not exceeding $9,500,000 aggregate principal amount of general obligation bonds, providing for the publication of notice of the said finding and authorization, and providing for other matters relating thereto.

All right. 6A.

Move for a committee recommendation. Second.

All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. All right. Mr. Chairman. Yes, sir.

7A through aye. Move for approval of the committee. Second.

All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it.

Okay. Mr. Chairman, on 7J, we have one that went through, which I think is Ms. King. I move that we approve Ms. King by the committee recommendation. All right.

Any discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. We now roll call on.

Yes, sir. Could you, yes, read the names? So the two nominees that tied at committee are Kenneth Bible and Susan Edwards. So I'll call the roll and you vote for just one of those. Mrs. Honeycutt. Bible. Mr. Kabrowski.

Bible.

Mr. Moody. Bible. Mr. Pryor.

Going with the Bible. Sass. Bible.

Bible.

Worman? Bible. Mr. Boykin?

Well, I changed it. Bible.

Okay. So, Mr. Bible is the second nominee.

All right.

Moving on to item 8A.

Committee recommendation on A, B, and C. Second.

All right. Any discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. 8D?

Move for approval 8D, E, F, and G. All right.

So 8D through G, do we have a second?

Yeah, I've got it.

End of my letters.

OK, any discussion? All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it.

Sorry about that, Mr. Woody.

I guess we'll move into council comments. Who wants to go first? Go ahead, Mr. Moody.

Thank you for a good meeting tonight. I appreciate the public coming out as well. Some very thoughtful comments. Mr. Bryant, it's always good to see him. I would suggest, Mr. Salisbury, Mr. Bryant asked a question about financial incentives. What are we getting for it? We had a great presentation from that USC person last week. Yes, sir. I think you all should email that to him. Okay. I think that would be a fantastic idea. There was one lady that also, you know, I wrote down the term regrettable traffic, and there was a common theme about that there's no other sources, that we have to do it ourselves. And isn't that just a telling theme about failure of our legislature to maintain, to build, to upgrade their roads, especially our delegation not bringing the money back home to us? We've got to do it. Even in my opposition to TST, I note that we've got no other choice because we're not going to get the money anywhere else. It's just frustrating. Two more quick things. Ms. Salisbury, last meeting there was an item on 2026-27 TST expenditures. I voted no in error. I would like that changed to a yes if possible. I don't know if I need to do a reconsideration, but I wanted that on the record that I approve of the expenditures on the TST for this calendar year. I'll be remote for the next meeting, but I will be attending. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Sass.

Thank you, Mr. Boykin. Yeah, I'd like to thank the public for a great response tonight. A lot of people came out and had a lot of good things to say. We got a lot of emails, I can tell y'all. But we read them, we pay attention to them. Appreciate all y'all's comments, and that's all I have. Thank you.

All right.

Ms. Honeycutt.

Thank you.

All right. Mr. Kabrowski. Thank you.

I just have a different perspective on the financial incentives. I had an eye operation today, and it's why I'm dressed like this, because I came from there, and I was able to, it was out in Ladson Road, and coming back all the way from Somerville in reverse, but, and the other way, I saw nightmarish traffic, three lanes, I mean, bumper to bumper, a hellish existence for people spending their time in traffic, and my question is, I think our economic development department does great work. They're brilliant people, great at what they do. But, I mean, we're acting like it's the time when the shipyard left. And at some point, we're full up. I mean, we're bumper to bumper in traffic. And my thing about financial incentives, they did a great presentation. I heard it. But what I heard is you tax people less. You reduce the rate on businesses. They're going to spend more money. hire more people, and buy things, and it helps the local economy. But in some of these businesses that we even approved today, you have five new employees, 12 new employees. The same principle of reducing the taxes would apply to all of us who own small businesses. We would spend more money. I mean, I don't know how. The levers of government could reward some people, whether they're politically connected or whether they're more savvy about how to do these, and that's probably the case. I'm not saying anything untoward, but they're more savvy about getting these things. When you take money from the people, it should apply to everybody equally. I don't know how we can pick and choose. among businesses or private businesses of who gets incentives and who doesn't. I would say we either reduce it for everybody and everybody get the benefit. If it is good for those companies, those same principles would apply to everybody that has a payroll. They would hire more people and pay less taxes on their home, build their home. Not to denigrate in any way the wonderful work of the people that work for the county. They're doing a great job. But as anybody that's driving around, as we're asking for a tax referendum, I mean, we're full up. And for people who have lived here a long time, and they see every day things that we lose about what we love living here, about the quality of life, at what point Is this too much? And I think what I saw today was bumper to bumper for miles and miles. It looked like Dante's Inferno to me. You're going down one way, people coming from home, and that's misery. If we keep on adding and adding to that, at what point, I mean, not people sitting up here or even there, but if you're living here and you're an average person, And I mean, it just gets too much. But that's my comment and observation. And no disrespect to the great job that people are doing. They're given the task and they're given the incentives. And that's just my observation on it. Thank you.

Mr. Pryor.

You sure you weren't seeing double with your surgery today? No, no. I saw those cars stop, and I saw angry people. On a serious note, I think Mr. Johnson has said anybody can apply for this, any business, any small business, if they meet the criteria. So if you know of any small business that feel like they're not getting their fair share, give them Mr. Johnson's number, because I think he would love to see that happen to the smaller businesses, because that's the backbone of America's small business, because they're closer to the people. But, you know, without these incentives, I think they made a presentation that would show you how much money we would lose and how much we would have to raise the mill to fill in the gap. So it's a win-win situation for everybody, but I don't want people to think that they can't apply. Any small business that wants to increase is going to bring in more revenue and meet the criteria. I'm sure Mr. Johnson has something in his toolbox for them. And, again, thank you to staff, you know, for a wonderful presentation. on the James Island side over there because a lot of folks don't have the history of where this started, the different changes, and I for one was not gonna let them come through people's yard and just tear up the whole yard and then these trees weren't gonna be moved. mean it has to have some kind of common sense we all love trees you know we all want to protect trees but i want to protect families as well too and bringing a road right after their front step when they step out they go step into a roundabout that's one of the reasons why i didn't support that but um as far as the trees goes i think staff did what they could to eliminate cutting down only the necessary things that needed to be done. But a sidewalk, and I know exactly what they're talking about, you would have had to go into this lady's front yard. Mr. Darby and I walked over there. And I think you met us out there one time too, Ms. Honeycutt. And it was right in this lady's front yard. And she was an elderly lady, didn't know much better. and we were able to, you know, fix it where you could either go around or either, you know, cut down a tree, which was dead anyway. So it's not as bad as it seems by some people, but if you go out and you look at it and stop reading Facebook and stop reading all these other blogs and go out and visit for yourself, I think you'll learn a lot. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Chairman. Mr. Chairman, I'd echo a lot of what Councilman Moody had to say and thank the public for coming out. I thought it was a good public hearing and certainly I think there is a good understanding that General Assembly ain't coming. They're not coming to save us here. We've got to be self-sufficient on this and this is our best way of doing so. Apart from comments I think the by and large folks you know we're very supportive of what we put together and I think a big part of that is that we the nine sitting up here haven't really put it together it's been put together by a great process by a great deal of public input by a great deal of work from the county staff by a great deal of coordination with municipal stakeholders and other folks Overall, it's just been a good process. I think the main thing we were asked to do, whether it be the Complete Streets folks or whether it be the folks saying May versus shall, is just give us as much assurance as you can that we're going to see this thing to the finish line, that the process of what you put together is going to be what we get. I will tell you, I, for one, think we should push the line on that about as far as we can. I'm all for saying, listen, this is what we've promised. Let's promise it and let the ink dry, etch it in stone, do everything we can on that. So look forward to hopefully getting that done on the 20th and then the 21st of July. Mr. Administrator?

Nothing here, sir.

Madam Clerk?

No, sir.

Madam Attorney? Well, we'll wrap this up. I want to thank everyone that took the time to come out here tonight and share your opinions, share your input. The line is always open. Apologize. We had to cut a little bit short. Just want to try to manage the meeting and get through it. But y'all are welcome to come anytime. We have council comments. I'm sure we have public comments at every county council meeting. And certainly welcome to be there and come as much as you like. This is how business gets done. And I think that's all. We're adjourned.