City Council - Regular Meeting

Good afternoon. It is 4 o'clock on September 8th, 2026, and I officially call this meeting of the City Council to order. If you'll join me for an invocation, please. Dear Father, we thank you for this day. We thank you for all of your blessings. We thank you for the privilege of being here to commiserate the terms for the future of the city of Conway. We ask that you open our hearts and our minds as we hear others speak and that we not be closed to other people's ideas. Please watch over us and keep us and give us safe travels home. These things we ask in your name. Amen.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you so much. First, we'll entertain a motion relative to the consent agenda.

Mr. White. Before we can do that, I have a question about item eight.

Okay, please.

May I before this?

Of course, please.

Can you use your microphone, sir? I'm sorry. I turned it off for you. Item eight, it reads that there's going to be a food truck down at the marina. Now, would this food truck be in the area where they would eliminate boats from getting in and out safely?

No, it's on the other side.

I just wanted to make sure because we had some issues about that last time. Thank Thank you. Now, I will move that we receive the consent agenda.

Thank you so much, Ms. Butler.

I second that motion.

We have a properly seconded motion to approve the consent agenda. All in favor, please indicate so with the showing of your hand. Motion carries unanimously. Four is special presentations, the first of which is presentation of longevity awards. I typically ask somebody on city council to present with our city administrator, but there's a gentleman who's being honored today whose employment began I think the same day as mine did with the city some years ago. So I'll do these myself.

so tonight we're excited to recognize two employees on their milestones at the city the first is johnny lewis johnny where you at come on up johnny was hired 10 years ago in the public utilities department as a utilities trades worker 2. in 2018 he was promoted to construction inspector line locator 1 and in 2023 he was promoted to project manager plan reviewer congratulations on 10 years of the city of conway johnny appreciate it next is Jameson Dixon I saw Jameson Jameson you want to walk up here Jameson was hired 20 years ago by the city of Conway as an equipment operator one in 2013 was promoted to operator two in 2020 he was promoted a crew leader in 23 he was promoted to right-of-way maintenance supervisor and in 2025 he was promoted the public works superintendent congratulations on 20 years

I know several of you are on the front row and on the second row. Please come join me.

Thank you so much.

Oh, wow, we've got the crowd here. Hello, hello. Yeah, we're going to make a semicircle. Hello, hello. The bigger the crowd, the better. This proclamation comes from the Office of the Mayor of Conway, South Carolina, honoring the leadership and outcomes created at Care Team Plus by its Executive Director and CEO, Johanna Haynes. Whereas, known simply as Care Team Plus, this critical organization was established in Conway, South Carolina in 1993 with a focus on treating people who live with HIV. It has, over the following 33 years, expanded its offerings to primary care, pediatrics, chronic and infectious disease management, mental and behavioral health prevention, and case management. And whereas, services provided by this health care center has also expanded beyond Conway into Georgetown and Williamsburg counties as their response to health care needs and economic impact on our region constantly grow. And whereas, Care Team Plus is a recipient of national awards, namely as a Silver Health Center Quality Leader for Advancing Health Information Technology for Quality and for being a COVID-19 public health champion. Moreover, Care Team Plus is a federal qualified health center lookalike. And whereas growth, broadening the width and breadth of services, and award-winning performance does not happen without dynamic leadership. In this case, leadership is made up of a board of directors, an executive director slash CEO, Johanna Haynes, and whereas trained at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, and that's not Upper Conway Law, I mean, everybody but not. You get it? Okay, thank you so much. Trained at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, Johanna Haynes' career with Care Team Plus spans more than three decades and ends with her carrying out responsibilities of executive director and CEO, her role for over 10 years.

And we're a family.

And it is fitting that we honor her vision, creativity, expertise, acumen for relationship building, concern for human beings, and her dedication to Care Team Plus. The health and well-being of Conway's and the Waccamaw region's residents are much improved due directly to her efforts on our behalf. Therefore, as Mayor of the City of Conway, South Carolina, hereby I proclaim that this eighth day of September, 2026, is Johanna Haynes Day. in the city of Conway, and I urge all to honor and celebrate her contributions. In witness whereof, I have set my hand and cause the seal of the city of Conway, South Carolina to be affixed this eighth day of September, 2026. It is attested to by our city clerk, Alicia Shelley. I've got some underneath, Christian. I promise I didn't blow my nose.

Thank you.

God bless you. Thank you so much.

Item 5 is a public hearing and first reading of Ordinance ZA-2026-0921A, granting a non-exclusive franchise agreement for Mr. Softy Mobile Food Truck to operate at property located along Peanut Road. Ms. Wilkerson.

Yes, Sam. The applicant is requesting approval for a new franchise agreement for Mr. Salty. The applicant currently has an active franchise agreement with locations at Collins Park and Riverfront Park with the operation times being from sunup to sundown seven days a week. They also have an additional mobile vending location across from the town green off of Laurel Street. The applicant has agreed to cease operations on days of city-approved festivals or special events without prior written permission from the event organizer. An example of this would be like the month of October for all of our Halloween festivities. For this application, the applicant has requested to set up off of off of the vacant lot on Peanut Road near the water tower. The applicant would also like to operate from sunup to sundown seven days a week at this location. And although staff is not opposed to the request, staff does have some concerns. Those concerns include the proximity to a heavily traveled vehicular right-of-way on a daily basis and an active pedestrian right-of-way during holiday festivities and other events. the proximity to an event venue that is most commonly used for weddings and the possibility of conflicting noise from the applicant's vehicle, the queuing area for the consumers as they wait to order, as well as the various other previously approved locations. The applicant did fulfill the requirements of mandatory public notice and the requirements for a public hearing have also been met. And with that, I can try to answer any questions that you might have.

Thank you. Given all the concerns that you have, ultimately what is your recommendation?

so long as the applicant is still willing to agree to only participate or open whenever they have expressed permission from event holders like the city or that's a requirement anyway correct so in that sense then that should not be of a concern as but staff would also like to know where on the um parcel they would like to set up if they're wanting to set up closer to the roadway that would be a little more concerning for staff. There's also a four foot minimum requirement of a queuing lane for pedestrians to stand for the line, so to speak. So that's something that we would work with the applicant before issuing the full franchise agreement. It was just something we wanted to make sure that council was aware we were looking at those and we did have those few concerns.

And Ms. Wilkerson, you expect to have those questions answered by the time we do second reading?

Correct. Yes, we would.

Wonderful. Wonderful. Yes. uh i think we should do the public hearing first okay and and then we'll engage is that is there any particular way we need to do this i think public hearing out of the way first and then council input okay wonderful thank you this is first a public hearing is there anyone present who would like to speak either in favor of or against mr uh what's his name mr softy mobile food truck uh setting up business uh on peanut road If you're here to speak either for or against it, please raise your hand. There seems to be no one. I move that we close the public hearing. Is there a second? Mr. Goldfitch? I'll second. All in favor, please show your hand. Motion carries unanimously. Now, Ms. Wilkerson, I think we have some questions for you. Ms. Hardwick.

Okay. Again, I'm glad we've got some time to work some of these things out. My concern is, and again, I haven't walked back there and looked at this, but just looking, you said there's a four-foot right-of-way from the truck for the line to form, correct?

It's a minimum pedestrian queuing area.

Okay, so that means I walk up to the truck, place my order four feet back, is the thing my concern is um and i hope that we will look at it carefully and look at that area and where the truck is parked is a lot of times if you're looking at the festivals or in halloween that that line is going to be a lot deeper than than four feet you know when mr softy comes to um treat the teachers at at the school i mean that's kind of chaotic and we're adults and so it gets kind of if it's where i think it is and it's kind of dark i'm also concerned about the lighting i know it said sundown so is that a true sundown it will not be going into the evening their application just specified sun up to sundown we can clarify with that okay because i guess that was two questions mean if the lines there at sundown will they continue serving and then do we have uh you know are we thinking about the you know what kind of light do we have there to see the pedestrians just those are just some questions are you satisfied with sun up to sundown or would you feel more comfortable if you had tons i know that might change during the year but I'm okay with either, as long as we've just thought through the process of, okay, if at sundown you have 50 people in line, well, if I'm the owner of Mr. Softee, I'm going to serve those 50 people because they were in line. Sure. Kind of like if you're in line to vote at 7 o'clock, you can vote. So when the sun goes down, it's dark, and so just making sure we're thinking through it. Sure. Mr. Goldfinch.

Thank you, Mayor. I'm assuming that, you know, Farmers Market Saturdays, you know, that's a festival, right? I mean, you know, days where there's special event permits in place. I mean, so when you add all of those up, and it's a lot, that's going to bite into that. what what's drawing them outside of days like farmers markets to that location is it the higher traffic versus uh down by the tennis courts or i mean i'm not sure it's just the location that the applicants specified that they were willing and looking to try to pursue a franchise agreement now as far as the farmers market is concerned that is technically on a different parcel so that would be something that if those right but that's going to be in the way during the farmers market because it's it's literally a zoo down there and that area i mean there's a lot of parking on on on that parcel for a farmer's market you know so i would be inclined to to give them a shot and let us work with them to figure this thing out uh to the extent that it doesn't place an undue burden on the city um to the extent that it doesn't place an undue burden on you know navigating that area safer especially i mean you're gonna find out here in a week or two when halloween kicks up what that looks like yeah But I would be open to it with the caveat that if we come back to you in two or three weeks and say, look, this just is not a good fit, we'll put you down at the old tennis court, I would be in favor of that with that condition attached. Anyone else?

Ms. Butler.

I just have some questions for clarification. How many agreements do we already have with them? And how many trucks are already in the agreement?

So franchise agreements, we already have two, and then they have an approved location on a private parcel that's just a mobile vending application, and that's off of Laurel Street across from the town green. My understanding is they have three trucks total. There may be a few more trucks that I'm unaware of, but they kind of rotate throughout the county. I don't know if their plan is to have all three in Conway on a particular time or day. That's something we could discuss with them as well. They were just asking for if this could also be an additional location for their ability to set up.

I think that's where I just want to get some clarification. proximity-wise if there's already a location near the town green which is not that far from where they're asking now will they be there alternating days are they could it says seven days a week set up the sundown so are all three going to be present during those times and I just need to know because if they have one near the town green is it necessary that they have another one just a couple blocks away right that's my my concern

And along that same line, I don't know that we've ever discussed any limit on the number of actual licenses that any entity has. Just as a matter of fairness, I'd like for us to spread the opportunity as opposed to giving all of them to just a handful of people. It'd be interesting, are there other franchisees, if that's what we can call them, who have more than one license? Hi, Darren.

Yes, and they can request multiple locations. The restrictions come in per parcel and then there's a square footage restriction as well. So one parcel that might not have the same amount of square footage as another would be limited on the number of food, mobile food vendors that they could allow there. But because this is a franchise agreement, it's a city-owned property, that's a little bit different. It's completely up to council.

Right. But we have, council has not placed in the ordinance any specific number above which an entity can be licensed to serve. We might want to think about that at some point. Mr. Goldfinch.

To your point, Mayor, and to Ms. Butler's point, I'm certainly open to that conversation. I think a lot of it's going to be market-driven. I can't imagine them having three Mr. Salty's down there at 6 o'clock on Sunday mornings. But it's a valid point that we've got to consider. Again, my heartburn, I think, is just the location. and i just cannot maybe i hope i'm wrong and maybe they can navigate around it i just can't see them not get in the way of what we're we're being the city is doing down there whether it's easter or christmas or you know fall time coming up but i mean i i'm open to giving them a chance if it can work i just don't want to put our city employees you know where they have to work around you know, basically a restaurant that popped up on wheels.

Anyone else? I'm sorry.

I just have one more thought. I agree with everyone on this. And you know what? I just keep one of the things I go back to remembering is last October and last November, the food trucks that were parked, the red one that had the fried Oreos and all the sweets and all that, y'all, the line was literally you know, four, five, ten people deep and across the town green. So just thinking of those type of things, I could see where if Mr. Softee had one on the town green side and one then on the other side of the peanut warehouse, that would be advantageous to everybody.

Keep in mind that they cannot operate during any sort of special event permit. So there is a special event permit pulled for the entire month of October. So they would not be able to be there during the month of October.

So they'll not be there. Take that back. Sorry.

That's a great thought. Correct. Without express permission from whoever the event holder is, for us it would be City of Howard. Yes. For the farmer's market, it might be a little bit different. If they were okay with it...

Yeah. For planning for Halloween, for example, we have a number of food trucks and vendors that we've worked with and solicited and have located. Mr. Softee's not one of them. So for them operating during our event in a place we've not anticipated them being, it would not work. So they would not get permission in that case.

That answers some of our concerns. Any other questions so that Ms. Wilkeson knows what to bring back? I believe that's all, Ms. Wilkerson. We'll move on. Item 6A.

Do you need a vote of some sort would be helpful.

So we don't have a motion for first reading. Is there a motion? Yes, ma'am, Ms. Butler.

Can I make a motion to defer until we receive additional information?

Does that cause any time constraint issues for the requester?

As far as I know, no, ma'am.

We'll put it on the next agenda and have them have more information. That'd be great. I second the motion.

Aye.

All in favor, please show your hand. Motion carries unanimously. We'll just defer this until later. Item 6A is first reading of Ordinance ZA-2026-1102A to annex approximately 5 and 79 100 acres of property located on Liz Lane and Webb Street. Ms. Hux.

Hi, good evening. This item is for first reading of an ordinance to annex the subject property on Liz Lane, currently zoned Horry County SF20, which is a single family residential district that does not permit manufactured homes with minimum lot sizes of 20,000 square feet. The annexation is being requested at this time in connection with the proposed development of the property that will require connection to city utilities. The applicant is proposing to develop an outdoor storage facility on the property that will be limited mostly to recreational vehicle storage. This property does have some unusual site characteristics. A substantial portion of the property is encumbered by a power transmission easement and a Santee Cooper electrical substation is located directly across from this property on Liz Lane. The easement and existing utility infrastructure would provide some separation between the developable area and the adjacent residential neighborhood. Tonight's action is limited to first reading of the annexation ordinance. However, while the proposed or requested zoning of light industrial is not consistent with the city's future land use map, which designates the property as low to medium density residential, the physical constraints of the property, the relationship to the existing electrical substation, and the low intensity nature of the proposed use may provide some support for considering a non-residential zoning classification at this location. But it is important to note that zoning would apply to the property, not the proposed use. So any use in the light industrial district would be applicable to the property subject to the standards of the video and not restricted exclusively to the development of the property. And it will have to comply with the city's requirements for access, buffering, screening, landscaping, lighting, stormwater and fire. Any improvements within the transmission easement would also require approval from Santee Cooper. If first reading of the ordinance to annex the subject property is approved, Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the request and make a recommendation regarding the proposed zoning at its October 8th meeting, and the request will then return to Council for further consideration. With that, staff does recommend approval.

Thank you so much, Ms. Hux. My concerns have to do with some of the wording. One of the things that's said is that the power line easement may provide some separation between this and an adjacent residential neighborhood. We've had issues galore when Light Industrial is next to residential properties. I don't have a sense of how close together they are. I didn't get a chance to drive out and see But my concern is not for the immediate proposed use, but once it's zoned light industrial for the uses that could come to be once the current use is abandoned. Anyone else? Ms. Colfax.

um what percentage roughly of the proper of the parcel is uh in the right is in the uh san francisco right away um if i had to guesstimate i'd say about 40 percent 40 of the property has a power line and the reason why i say may

We don't always know what Santee Cooper is willing to permit because that's between whoever's want to develop the property and Santee Cooper. They would have to request permission. Typically what they will allow is certain improvements that are perpendicular to the easement but not parallel to the easement. So depending on what it would be and my guess, you know, fencing, landscape buffers, they don't typically like to see that. So what we could do is say that you have to install a landscape buffer but it has to be the innermost part you can't use the power line easement depending on the width to be your landscape buffer with no improvements that's why we said May because it's really just depend on what Santee Cooper will allow them to do and Santee Cooper's rights are usually into perpetuity are they yeah so yeah yeah nothing's getting built in that right away right not even a buffer

So I don't need to be concerned about anything that we would typically think of as light industrial ever fitting in this space.

Yeah, anything that would be permitted in light industrial, you don't have to worry about that being developed underneath the power line easement. And again, I can get the exact distance. So when it comes back for rezoning first reading, I can tell you exactly how many feet into that lot it is. But it is significant.

And is highway commercial not inclusive of the proposed use?

No. With highway commercial, to have outdoor storage, you have to have a principal use aside from that first.

OK. Ms. Butler.

Just a question of clarification. The future land use map, that is, it was technically planning to be residential, correct?

R1, yes.

Right. OK. Just wanted to make sure.

Mr. White. And on one of these maps, that one, the kind of bluish area that's outlined, there's a house on the, what I'm looking at has a house there and a lot of cars behind it. Is that that person's property or does that property belong to this new development, supposedly, area?

Those vehicles that are there likely belong to people who live on Webb Lane, but it would not be their property. They're probably just parking vehicles. along there.

Because he brought that concern to me as well, that that was his property.

No, I do not believe so. But they would get their access. That is Webb Lane. They would get their access from Liz Lane because it has to be an improved road. Thank you.

Anyone else? I will move then that we move forward with first reading. Is there a second?

I'll second.

Mr. White. Are there any other questions or concerns? There being none, we'll call a vote. All in favor, please show your hand. Motion carries unanimously. Thank you. Item B is first reading of Ordinance ZA-2026-1102-B to annex approximately 82 100s acres of property at 1187 Highway 501 Business. Ms. Hux.

This property is currently vacant and currently zoned Horry County Highway Commercial. The applicant is also requesting the city's Highway Commercial District upon annexation. The annexation is being requested in connection to proposed commercial development that will require a connection to city utilities. plans for the project were initially submitted to horry county for review however because the development will require city services and the adjacent property was recently annexed making this property also contiguous before a connection to city utilities can be provided the applicant must request annexation If successfully annexed, the property will be subject to the city's applicable site plan review and permitting requirements. The property is within the Redhill community along a predominantly commercial and industrial portion of the Highway 501 business corridor. Most adjacent properties are zoned Horry County Highway Commercial with a heavy industrial property located directly behind the subject property. And nearby properties within the city limits are zoned Highway Commercial, Forest, Agriculture, and Light Industrial. The requested zoning of Highway Commercial upon annexation is consistent with the city's future land use map, the property's current county zoning, and the established development pattern along this portion of Highway 501 business. If first reading is approved, Planning Commission will hold a public hearing and make a recommendation at their October 8th meeting. With that, staff does recommend approval.

Thank you so much, Ms. Huggs. Mr. Goldfinch.

Mayor, I move that we approve first reading of said ordinance and welcome them to the City of Cotland.

I'll second his motion. Are there questions or comments? There being none, we'll call a vote. All in favor, please show your hand. Motion carries unanimously. Item C, first reading of Ordinance ZA-2026-1102C, to annex approximately 60 one-hundredths of an acre of property at 2997 East Highway 501. Ms. Hutz.

This request for annexation is for property at the intersection of 501 and Garner Lacey Road and it contains an existing Domino's Pizza restaurant. The property is currently zoned Horry County Highway Commercial and the requested zoning upon annexation is also Highway Commercial. So the existing use would remain or maintain a comparable zoning classification once annexation is complete. The surrounding portion of Highway 501 is primarily commercial and light industrial in nature. and adjacent properties in the county's jurisdiction are zoned highway commercial and light industrial while the city's future land use map classifies the property as industrial similar recent annexations in connection with the same future development of the immediate area have been zoned highway commercial upon annexation if first reading of the ordinance is approved planning commission will hold their public hearing and make a recommendation at its october 8th meeting and staff does also recommend approval

Thank you, Ms. Hux. What is the will of the council? Mr. White.

May I move that we approve first reading?

Thank you, Mr. White. Is there a second? Mr. Jordan.

I will second that motion.

We have a properly seconded motion to approve first reading of this ordinance. Are there questions or comments?

There you go. We can use it. No questions or comments?

We'll call a vote. All in favor, please show your hand. The motion carries unanimously. We don't have anyone listed for public input, I do believe. I didn't pick up my agenda, if you don't mind sharing that. Thank you so much. We do have public input from two people. I think they kind of know each other. We'll start with Mrs. Deborah Butler of 1830 Spivey Alley regarding Smith Jones Park. And at the conclusion of her delivery, we'll hear from Judge Aaron Butler of that same address. Mrs. Butler.

Good afternoon, Mayor and members of City Council. As stated, my name is Deborah Butler, and I serve as President of the Board of Directors for Smith Jones Park. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak with you this evening. I come before you not only as a representative of the park, but as someone deeply concerned about the safety of the families, children, seniors, and community members who use this park. On Tuesday, September 1st, five people were injured in a shooting in the area of Smith Jones Park. The incident has understandably created fear within our community. A place that is intended for recreation, fellowship, and opportunity should be a place where our residents feel safe bringing their children, exercising, attending programs, and gathering with their neighbors. We recognize that no single measure can prevent every act of violence, but we also believe there are reasonable steps we can take together to make Smith Jones Park safer. First, we are asking the city to assist with expanding camera coverage throughout the park. Smith Jones Park is unique because portions of the property are privately owned while other portions are city property. Many members of the public do not even realize there is a distinction. From their perspective, it is one park and one community. Safety measures should reflect that reality. We need adequate camera coverage on both sides of the park so there are fewer blind spots and law enforcement has better tools to investigate incidents when they occur. Second, we are asking for an increased police presence in and around the park, particularly during the hours when the park is most heavily used and as closing time approaches. Third, we need to address the park's hours and signage. The park closes at 9, not midnight. If that is not clear to visitors, the signage should be improved and we should work together to ensure that the established closing time is understood and appropriately enforced. Most importantly, we are not here simply to ask the city to solve a problem for us. We are asking for a partnership. Smith Jones Park and the city have collaborated in the past, and we would like to reestablish and strengthen that relationship. We respectfully request that city council schedule a workshop with representatives from the city, law enforcement, and Smith Jones Park so that we can discuss camera coverage, police presence, park operations, programming, and a formal collaborative agreement. The park belongs to this community in every way that matters. our children play there our families gather there our residents deserve to feel safe there what happened on september 1st should not define smith jones park what we do together in response we are ready to come to the table to work with the city council thank you miss bella thank you so much judge bella

I'm sorry, the second speaker wanted to waive his time so that the first speaker could continue. Is there more, Mrs. Butler? Typically that would not be allowed, but I think that's... Well, since we've never been asked that before, this one time we'll do it, if you have more to say. I mean, if you think it's pertinent that we hear the rest. Okay, thank you so much. I move that we close public input at this time. Is there a second? Mr. Goldfinch?

I'll second the motion.

All in favor, please show your hand. Motion carries unanimously. We are now at the city administrator's report. Mr. Edmerick.

Good afternoon. this friday is the 25th anniversary of 9 11. in addition to our normal tribute we'll be adding our color guard some additional recognitions and it's all going to begin at 8 46 a.m some of the new activities will be taking place at the terrace while others of course will be on the main street bridge this is one of the most powerful things that we as a city do so if you're able to make it please don't miss it it's it's it's amazing Halloween decorating is underway. You may have seen some of it. We actually started a little bit last week. We'll be doing a major push over the next three weeks to be ready. The first event is October 1st, the Big Boo beginning, the costume march that begins. It's going to begin over at the new end of the Riverwalk and will end at the Town Green. We'll have entertainment. And that will be on October 1st, beginning at 6.30ish will be the lineup. 7 o'clock will be the march. And the concert will start about 7.30. We have, this year for the first time, we have brought in a third party consultant, Spirit of Conway, to help us with sponsorships this year. They're working hard. I'd like to thank Ortho SC for their sponsorship. They are the key presenting sponsor this year. So they're the big one to announce. So thank you Ortho SC for your faith and confidence in what we're doing. The Mayor's Youth Council swearing in is this Thursday with seven new members to the Mayor's Youth Council. World War II Memorial at Collins Park that I talked about before. It's by Pickleball. You've probably seen some construction there and wondered what it was. They're building a very nice monument there for a World War II monument. It's having its ribbon cutting on Monday, November 9th at 11 AM. The mayor had a young resident reach out to her about the newly paved section of New Road recently. She'd seen the number of turtles that have been run over by cars. Do you have a picture, June? Um... She asked if we could put up slow turtle crossing signs and even set an example of what those signs could look like. And so we have turned them into slow turtle, watch for turtle signs on the section of New Road that was recently paved where there's been a problem. There are four signs on New Road now to hopefully get people to pay more attention as they drive through there.

If I might interrupt you, I'd like to have a tiny ceremony honoring the person who's responsible for this.

Let's set it up together.

OK, thank you.

We've had a number of complaints about the stormwater ponds and other debris left by DR Horton and the Kingston Bay subdivision. I wanted to let Council know, because I know you've been copied on some of those emails, that we're actively working with both DR Horton and South Carolina Department of Environmental Services to make sure that any issues that need to be addressed are. However, with all matters of enforcement, there needs to be sufficient time given to the person who's done the problem to be able to cure that before we go into the enforcement stage because the enforcement stage usually offers more opportunity to cure it if it's not been done in advance. There is a demonstrable effort moving forward right now to cure the problems that are out there. We are holding their feet to the fire to make sure it is completed. Some of the issues being complained about, though, are not enforceable issues. They're HOA issues. and there's an issue right now because the hoa has not been turned over to the community so it's we can we're doing what we can to do what we can um but some things are just not going to be something that the city has an ability to get involved in just know that we're working hard on a solution we're not sitting idly by we are trying to get it resolved And then finally, we have a number of workshops planned tonight, including discussions of the Conway Outpost expansion plans, a potential new franchise agreement offering river tours, further rentals at 5th and Main, and an update to some of our fire stations. And we also have two executive sessions, one dealing with an old annexation agreement, and the second about appointments of boards and commissions. And that concludes my report, unless there's any questions. and that's right excuse me i'm sorry i'm just in time for the new york council uh... don't have the swimming in thirty two thirty two thirty but it's not open to the public as it's in the high school we can probably get you in here you'll have to say that he had a very good and we need to be able to do it escort we'll talk about thank you

Thank you, Mayor. I'm not being sarcastic. I sincerely mean what I'm about to say. The turtle thing is cute. My question is, is the speed limit 15 on that road?

Apparently so. That was the first I knew that. Did you know 15? it just seems like i don't know that we put it up for a road that has no houses no so that road was was paved and then given to us by the county so the speed limit signs probably predate our ownership but we'll research it listen i'm not going to lose a wink of sleep i was just curious 15 is awful slow it's hard to go 15. not as slow as the slowest street in south carolina yeah but it is also hard to go 15 on that street but we're asking people to slow down for the turtles

It would be an oxymoron for us then to increase the speed on that street.

No argument from me there. I agree, Mayor.

We cannot change it. No, we start with that.

You don't drive down there often, do you?

Well, not anymore. That concludes my report. Thank you so much for standing right there.

okay with that done we now have will now have input from the City Council and I believe we start this afternoon with them Sardwick Thank You mayor I see I've been out this afternoon walk around look at the Halloween decorations everything is beginning to it's coming together it's so exciting to see to see what what's coming I am interested in not now but maybe at some point we could and maybe just for me i don't know we talked about what we were doing with the d.r horton subdivision as a comparison to what was happening on country club road with graham and how those compared is it something we need to continue we can answer that now later and it's been a great beginning of school hope everybody's uh driving carefully look out for the other school buses and uh thank you

thank you miss Hardwick mr. Jordan nothing for me to nightmare Thank You mr. Dolphin not tonight thank you that's right I have one ask chief we have started out my community garden again on race pass Street and we have a lot of ladies out there doing the work and we wanted to ask if we can have police presence out there periodically during the day a drive through if now they're not stopping parking talking just for their safety as well thank you thank you sir is that it that's it thank you

Thank you. I have two things really quick. The first thing, I wanted to see if we could have a conversation about the uniformity of our police vehicles, our SROs. had a little razzle-dazzle to their vehicles. I think the intention was great, but I worry about the uniformity of what county police looks like in their vehicles. I just want us to have a conversation to see how do we acknowledge our SROs, because they're extremely important. They do a fantastic job at our schools. I appreciate them 100-fold. And so yes, we want to make sure that they get something that identifies them as SRO, but then when it comes to their vehicle i think there should be some uniformity when it comes to you know who they are how they represent the city of conway i just think we should have a conversation at some point let's have a conversation let's get some of the sro input um and let's just kind of bring everything to the table and say okay what is the best look for the city of conway That was the first thing. Second thing, I definitely think another conversation is had concerning Smith Jones. The biggest thing is safety. We want all of our citizens in Conway to feel safe, whether it is on private property or on city property, however we divide that. At the end of the day, all of our citizens should feel safe. period. So I definitely think a conversation can be had. I've always believed in collaboration. We're stronger together. We're strongly strong. So then let's come together and have a conversation. So I don't know how we can do that, how we can plan that. But I think it's a conversation that needs to be had. And that is it for me, Madam Mayor.

Thank you so much, Ms. Butler. And Ms. Helms.

I was going to speak about my mother, but I'm going to pass. That's all I have.

There's someone in the audience who has worked for several months for the city who has made great strides and has made himself an important part of who we are. And that certain somebody, I'm afraid I'll slaughter his name, but His name is Drew, I think, Sorbello. And today is his birthday. And to lighten the weight of what's going on in this place right this minute, I think it appropriate if you all would agree to join me. Drew, we're going to sing happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear Drew.

Happy birthday to you. Bravo! Woo hoo!

Mayor Drew is 21 today.

So Shaun T's out for the council meeting. And does he have an escort home?

Chief.

Happy birthday. Happy birthday. Don't just ruin his fun.

The chief can escort you. Yeah, there you go. Because that's what every 21 year old does. No, let me tell you. They've been waiting for 21 years, right? At this point, the workshops will be had in the conference room, and anyone here who has the time or energy or interest can join us in the conference room. They've already been described. After which time, we'll go into executive session for a discussion of a contract regarding an annexation agreement, as Adam said, and B, for consideration of appointments to boards, commissions, and committees. And if any decisions are made, we'll reconvene from executive session and make those decisions publicly. Anything that's discussed in executive session that has any action will be brought out to the public, after which time we will adjourn. So if you will please, follow me to the conference room. Those of you who choose not to, we wish you a very good evening and safe travels. Still stay hydrated. It's still warm outside. God bless you all.

We usually ask for the Halloween games . Is she here yet?

uh i can i can listen and sign it now we're going to start with a presentation from the county outpost about their expansion plans as you remember there were some issues with using the boat ramp side accomplished with the boat ramp and traffic we have given the temporary use of the other side um parking lot side and i think we had a couple hurdles in the beginning but it's gone fairly well since then and they have some new designs they want to present on that side for council and i think we've got it on the powerpoint And so I'm just going to let them talk about their design and then have Katie bring up any issues that she knows of and come back with your thoughts.

Well, with the taking into consideration the city council's suggestions, we decided to go off of the building on the other side, so not to block the ramp side. And we did all this with design to They're not moved, but only three parking spaces, which we did in a way that if you look at the backside on this plane, it has the site plan. But this would be the two handicapped spots that are by the tree now. But we moved it here, which is nice because it's right by the elevator. And we have a ramp that'll be right here by the parking spot. So the only spots we're losing is three spots right there. And, you know, I think it'll actually come out pretty nice. We're going to extend right off the building. And that's actually probably easier for us to go off the existing plumbing that's already in the building. So it might be a win-win for everybody.

We're still able to start the group.

Yeah, actually, what we're going to do here, I'm talking with the guy from the site plan and then the survey. They would have to take a little bit of this curb here and put a fire exit in here for a fire truck to go through. So that would be, that's the only thing they're gonna require is a fire truck entrance right here. We may have to restructure the parking lot. We believe this is a really nice design. Incorporating the tree, it's gonna be open. So the tree and all will be incorporated into the design. And I don't really have to move anything. And this will be on the roof, open, and it's the existing building. So we hope you guys like this plan because we put a lot of thought into it. We're only taking up three spots and getting, you know, not a huge, you know, we're going down in size with that, but I think it's a nice compromise. And it's going to look pretty nice.

I know what would have been helpful for me is to have the old plan and see what the issues were and then compare it to the approved plan. That's a much better plan. Yeah. Yeah. I don't remember the plan. I said it was on the side. Yeah.

The city took the parking bumpers out and put like a small curb type thing that people can drive on so people can have their trailers on that crash lot anyway. So it's a good compromise because they're all going to be right there. So both sides will be both sides. And it's not really going to, you know, take a big footprint.

So hopefully you guys will... Katie, you want to talk about any concerns that you think of that the CAV might have?

I think CAV's major concern is probably going to be the loss of parking because we went out there today and we did a rough measurement. The awning itself or the outdoor pavilion area itself is proposed at 64 by 60. But there's an additional area in the middle for that open decking around those trees. And from the side porch, existing side porch 100 feet straight out, It was closer to about four parks on one stretch and then an area of three. But that also doesn't include any extra buffering areas that you're gonna need for eaves, overhang, anything of that nature. So they're definitely gonna wanna see the parking a lot more clearly to confirm it's only three. with two being relocated, and then also because they double as the tree board, they're gonna wanna make sure that those two trees are 100% protected moving forward. The cutout in the deck is also going to have to be measured correctly to meet ANSI A300 protection requirements. won't be able to build the decking up all the way to the base of the tree or the side of the trunk you're going to have to leave a substantial amount of area to allow for the tree to grow as well can you pull up the uh the cycling so if you go to the top left this should be the first one jay yeah that one um that is going to come out as far as this this is right now as

It's going to go straight up that way.

And what I can see looks like three spots. So that was the existing handicap there.

Yeah on the plan it definitely looks that way but today when we went out we did a rough roll. Now we're not professional measures. I mean to be fair. And then we just measured kind of from where the side porch starts not the steps just the porch itself because that was our understanding of where you would want to go from. And we went straight out about a hundred feet which is what the total is with the pavilion and the open deck. And that took us out to almost where the first light pole is on the sidewalk, which is about four to four and a half parks on that top road over past that island.

Well, we can work with the planning department. Is this what you want us to do? Work with the planning department and make a nice picture of it? So my next step would be to get the blueprints and then go to the planning department? Well, they're your first step. Okay.

are y'all going to try to match the material and i mean i see the design but yeah the roof is going to be the same as the colors okay so sort of match the existence of the green metal roof how many can you see that this outdoor area um probably about 60 people what's that how many people was that the main hole um

With sitting around the actual tables, no. Tables are a thing, but sitting around the actual outside rail of it. You know, the bar will have about 40 people, 40 or so people, and then you'll have about eight or so tables.

Yeah, and you've got tables on the other end for about a hundred.

Yes, about a hundred people, and then, you know, get sitting around the outside rail, so that'll give you another eight or a hundred people if you want sitting on the rail.

We thought this was the best plan considering, you know, we were gonna go to the one side and he asked us if we would consider moving to the other side. So we just figured, you know, we're trying to not lose parking spots because, you know, all the parking we need. We're trying to get as much parking as we can get. So hopefully you guys will consider that.

One other thing for CAV, I know in this area, it's the Walkmont Riverfront District, they focus heavily on the different pitches because the HDRD points out different common roofline pitches that are allowed in this area. That was a big item for the restaurant on the riverfront, Tripney Leisure Restaurant down there. They went back and forth a couple times for roof pitch to match. So making sure that this is more conducive with the warehouse theme instead of more pointy barn looking is probably going to be another point for the board as well. And like you asked earlier, making sure it matches the existing buildings, this is going to be connected.

But I would imagine that's easy to leave enough alternate.

It can. I just wanted to make sure I pointed that out because if the pitch changes, the overall look of that pavilion will definitely change as well.

We went with that pitch so we wouldn't mess up the tree.

It reminds me of the tuna shacking at the Marsh Walk. Is that what the feel you're getting?

No, we just want, we want an original design.

I mean, I like the tuna shack, don't get me wrong.

I've never been there, so I don't have the time.

I'll just go with my recommendations from what I heard from the downtown appearance board, like some kind of double pitch. So I was kind of trying to make, from what I've been hearing, make everybody happy with that design to fit in that location as little footprint as possible.

I like this design much better. A couple questions. When I'm looking at this drawing, if we were actually out there, do we have enough room for the roof and the tree? According to that, it looks like it's all over the tree.

No, it's going to be all over the tree because we actually lowered the deck. So when you come out of the building and you drop down to that first level, it's going to be even with that. So it's going to go all over the tree.

But you're going to have more room than it appears to me from the tree and the building? Yeah, it's hard to tell from that picture. That's what I'm saying. It looks like it's...

Yeah. We want to make sure you have as much shade as possible so you can see. The roof line should end there. Okay, perfect.

I'm also interested in looking at landscape buffers. Will they need to go around? Will they have to have landscape buffers? Or any landscape design? Or can it just be a straight drop like it is here?

With this being kind of an existing parking lot and there wouldn't necessarily be any landscape requirements. I'm sure the board is going to want it to be prettier or decorated in a form that it could help, but.

Where my point is going is that is a very, We want it to look pretty, but we also have to have some common sense and practical in that that is a parking lot and has been a parking lot for a long time. And they do have a clean drop there. So, but I just didn't know what landscaping. We'll get the change ahead. We're good.

Yeah, we do want it to look as nice as possible. I mean, we've been here for a while.

What's your time frame like?

when you did all the checks checks we got the builder ready to go i just got it before we did the uh the actual uh blueprints we want to make sure you guys are good with this type of design so we can make it like but maybe in the summer yeah yeah we'll be up by spring i hope if everything goes smooth uh by spring then

You got your engineering all ready and done? Your engineering is all done?

Uh, for the block and all, but we don't have the, uh, we didn't do wood for the stone. The same guy that did these drawings here, he's got them all. The architect? Yeah, the architect. Yeah, Nick Knight, he's gonna do it.

Any other questions or comments? What's the next step? next step will be then to apply to the cab and go for it as long as you get the good blessing now i say okay so i'm going to get that parents board applied okay we're working directly with katie on that okay and then we'll uh yeah i'll get them started on the blueprint thank you guys appreciate it thank you thank you so much the next thing is a discussion of a new franchise agreement potentially offering river tours

I was just to kind of give him a little preface before he gets up here. We're here. This is a franchise agreement. It's slightly different than like what you heard in council because it's not a mobile vending franchise agreement. So that's why we want to come here, have the workshop, kind of fill things out. Similar to what we had with H2O excursions, slightly larger scale. and he can fit in his plans and his business model from there. Go ahead.

Thank you, Ms. Fran. You might be interested in this also. My name is Rick Lanigan. I'm from Waccamaw River Tours. I'm currently located in Saucasie. I've been there for 13 years. And what we're proposing is to possibly relocate our existing business or operation here to Conway. It's a narrated boat tour. It's all on the walkover, that's why the name walkover. Our boat is a 12 foot by 40 foot long boat. It has 52 seat times. It's a U.S. Coast Guard inspected vessel. It has 52 physical seat time. We usually, according to the COI and the stability letter we have, we can take up to 46 passengers. But we generally, when we do our bookings, we limit it to about 40 passengers to keep the seating so that everybody's not sitting next to strangers and things like that. So that gives everybody their own personal seats.

Right, plus two crew. That's what? Plus two crew.

Oh, it's 46 plus two. That's my wife, she's the boss. That's Betty. That's Captain Sid Clark and his wife Michelle and they've also run the business for us. Our normal operating are in our normal operation. We usually count bookings in about 40 people like I said So it's a comfortable together up right now and some of you see we generally run anywhere from one to two trips a day daily they're usually one and a half hour tours and we would expect to kind of do some of the same things here and Although our exact schedule and length will probably change a little bit depending on the tour that we actually set up here. And also we would like to try and do some other specialty type tours. For example, school tours, sunset tours, happy hour tours. Halloween, Christmas, Christmas tours, Easter tours, things like that. And those tours would be based off, they would go different time lengths, and they would go kind of conformed to the actual event that we're putting on. If it's a half-hour tour, this is going to be towards afternoon. Kids' school tours could be early in the morning. It could go anywhere from 9 in the morning until somewhere just after sunset. We wouldn't run late at night because there's nothing to see after dark. Other than that, our tour would primarily be an eco tour. It's a strong historical educational component. We focus on wildlife, nature, the ecology of the Waccamaw River, and also with a little bit of the river history of Conway, the whole town history of Conway. And so we also have a lot of fun with it, and a little bit of entertainment out here, and joking and toys. So that's a lot of fun. So that's that one. We've been in existence for 13 years now in Sauk State. We have over 2,500 reviews between Viator, TripAdvisor, Facebook, things like that. We have a 4.0 rating. No, I'm tired of that.

He's from a GPA. He'll probably just stand there and think. Right.

This is the part of President Rick, right? Yes. Where you sit down and hand and say, honey. Do you remember Jim Holbert? Did you know Jim? He did the electric boat down here for years and it was different. So we most recently had another fellow down there and I don't know what all he offered her from an educational perspective but And that's something I think we've been missing since Jim did the electrical thing. He's moved. He moved. But I can get you in touch with him. I've got his number. Question. If you identified where you'd like to park the boat, the logistics of the operation, what does that look like?

Yeah, I fixed that too. That's why I'm saying you might want to stick around. There is some old pylons here. I guess you guys can sit there. There's some pylons existing there. Right now, you have a pirate boat sitting there between the two for Halloween. We're proposing possibly putting a dock. back there like a little walkway off, kind of like on the other side, this little pavilion area where you can walk out over the water, two pilings in the water holding that up, and then a ranch going down to the dock. It's gotta be ADA accessible, obviously, with the hand ratings and everything. Exactly where it has to be, I would want it centered more, so that it's maybe more centered towards the the smaller folks here so that everybody has better access to them.

Adam, is this more of a discussion for them two? Well, I think it'll be a little bit of both.

Just so he's out here, just so you know, we have about 7,000 to 8,000 people a year that we've been doing. So I don't know. We typically have 40 people on the grand panel. That picture we have today was 40 people. They come back hungry, thirsty. They want to have something before they go.

What's the cost for admission? $38.95 for adults, $23.95 for children 12 and under.

And that could vary between the tours. Like if we were doing a Halloween tour, we were already thinking that Halloween, we might do like a 45 minute tour. So there's just going to be people walking around. Do a 45 minute ghost story tour. Take them out there. Somebody can tell them ghost stories. And then it would just be like $5 for children and $10 for adults or something like that. You'd get more.

There used to be, and this predates me, but there used to be a large Burton dock there at some point, which is why there's infrastructure there also. Okay. But that was further down. The Kingston Lake. Yeah.

So the tours would be all, you know, buried. I mean, we could have for the businesses that are around. So a lot of people who come to our businesses and they have, you know, their Christmas parties and so forth like that. And those tours would be a little bit more catered toward what they're wanting to do. It wouldn't always be educated, so much educational. I mean, obviously, I'm going to point out this is the historical bridge or whatever. We're talking about Kingston Lake or whatever, but it might be a little more party than it may be. laughter

Because it's navigable water, is there any prohibition for alcohol or anything? We need more of a party atmosphere somewhere. Yeah.

We're not all that interested in putting a lot of serving alcohol on the boat, per se. You mentioned happy hour.

That's fine.

Well, they would bring their own. I'm not going to get involved. I mean, maybe you could do that. Yeah. I'd be open to that, those kinds of discussions. This is Brian. Are you going to abandon soccer school then? Yes. My plan is to do that. And the reason why is, Conway has something that a lot of times don't. A beautiful river running right through the middle of it. And where we are in Soxie, I don't know if y'all remember the Wauketee Zoo. The Wauketee Zoo. Well, it's gone. That's right there before. And we've been there a lot of times.

We still... I got sprayed there. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

They've closed up. We've seen this colony as a much better fit for our business. Plus, the other thing is, even when the zoo was there, there was never a community at the school. And we love this community atmosphere, and with all you've done to revitalize the downtown area here, I think our business would add a lot to that. And also, I think the Conway downtown would add a lot to our business. And then the repeat business. Katie was asking me about the route that we're planning on. I think we might have the route. She gave me a great idea today. She said, what's the route you're going to go on? Well, we'll probably go south a little bit, maybe go north a little bit. And then I thought about it. I'm like, why don't we have one tour that goes north, And another toilet goes south. So then when we get to the first door, they say, well, what's the other toilet? Well, you're just going to have to come back. You know, and so that brings you back to Conway. You're here for a week, week-long vacation. You know, they come out on the tour, and then they've got to come back to do the other one, because they like to happen so much, and there's so much to do. And we think that, you know, when we do our tours... We do a lot of online booking. So these people make reservations. So we know how many people are coming. We shut them off at a certain amount. But we tell them to get here a good half an hour to 45 minutes, an hour ahead. We've got people showing up an hour and a half ahead of time. So what are they going to do? They're going to have to go to a coffee shop. Or go to the store. a little place to get a snack or whatever, come over to his place and do the care. And then when they get off the boat, again, they're home. Ms. Bell?

I just have one slight concern. For example, during the summer, kayakers also like to go and kind of... to push out from there. So would there be some type of collaboration between, okay, we're going out.

I'm worried about the canoe work.

I'm just thinking I would actually be a little nervous, because I'd like to kayak out there.

We can maneuver the boats pretty well there.

As captain, I can answer that, because I'm 10 years, I'm driven this boat. I'm a professional, so we're very considerate. Paddle boarders, we slow down. It doesn't matter if we're in a slow section of the river or not, we're gonna slow down, because I canoe and paddle board myself. So we give them small weights, we're very considerate, very professionals out there, very safety-minded. And that kind of sets, it's not just blasted down the river, regardless of the animals and the people that also we gotta share that space with.

The more professional, this is my opinion, and this is all based on just anecdotal observations, but the more professional people you have like this in an area, the less morons flock to those areas. I don't know what it is, but seriously, the crazy boaters, they'll go elsewhere, and those guys will keep the peace.

You've got the course that we're talking about. That was just a rough thing. It's about three miles either way. So that makes it a six-mile trip. That's kind of what we're doing now. It's an hour and a half. But part of that's going a little faster coming back. We go down to Soxie Creek and these different parts. We come out in Bucksport. And then we come up the Waccamaw River and we come a little faster here. Here we might only go like two miles down and go slow and easy and then come back up the river. We don't like them real fast. It's not fun for anyone. It's too much wind. It's too much noise. And when it's being narrated or whatever, it's just not as easy to do.

I can tell you that people come in the marina all the time.

If you guys come down, you're more than welcome to come down, take a tour, see what we've done firsthand. And I think you'll see that the passion that we have shines through. We're good stuff. And that's kind of what I like about Hongdae, because everything you see here has been a work of passion. And that's what makes our company a part. Every single person that owns that property, they can potentially be asking where they're from, how they found us. I mean, they come as strangers, they leave as friends, basically.

We promote your town all the time.

And lastly, I know we're asking a lot of questions because this is new to us and we're learning, but the reality is at the end of the day, you don't need our blessing to bring your tour to Iron Dock because you're navigating, those are state waters. You need our blessing to set up and operate from the shore. Everything after that's on you and you following the Coast Guard and all those wrecks. I mean, what's the downside? Is there a downside? I don't think there's a downside.

The only thing we're losing from our businesses, we wouldn't have at that location. The little red spot is what we're proposing to be a small kiosk of some sort. And what we have there is a 20 by 20 building where we have this beautiful little gift shop. And if you saw our website, you probably saw the gift shop that we have. In that kiosk, we would have it as a checking area. We'd have some shirts and things like that to sell some land and things. What we'd do is we'd already give shops some money. And that does make us pretty good money.

So, Rick reached out last week about doing this and I think I immediately put him in touch with the planning department and since we had the meeting already scheduled, I said, let's workshop this and make sure we don't have issues. But if there's not any issues that you can see that, I mean, there's still some hurdles. We've got to figure out the docs and all that. I want you guys to talk to each other Make sure the boats can still get in and out with whatever you're constructing. As long as those all work, the franchise agreement will go forward and you'll see it from there. We'll walk through that process. I concur. I just have a couple questions.

Work with me.

I just want to ask this and put it on the record.

I want all the answers out.

Could you repeat the length of the boat?

420. the next question is going to be asked to me on the street is

Is there a restroom on the boat? Yes, there is. Thank you.

There's a restroom on the boat. And that's one of the reasons we picked that location. There's also two public restrooms on the other side. And he has a pump out and a fuel dock. I need to get fuel every week and I need to pump it out once in a while. There's a bathroom with a seat. Yeah, there's a bathroom. That's going to be asked. Absolutely. That's a great question. What was your other one?

You had two. Well, you got the sizes better in the bathroom. And of course, I assume it will work out that with the kiosks and the new plans for the outpost, those will not conflict.

Well, we don't want to do that. We're not going to sell food or anything. We've got a location in place.

We've got a lot to look at. We've got another place.

We want a plan that will help us with that and the location, right? Okay.

I'm very excited.

You're in a good place right now.

Seriously, thank you for coming at it from the educational piece. Too many people just want to do a party cruise, and a party cruise is fun, but an educational component is much better.

The matrix, the 11 and the 2 quadratus would be basically all of that.

We found 11 and 2 is like the sweet spot for... and you said, we don't know if it would be the same here. And it's about an hour and a half long. We have another narrator that she's very good. She's got excellent reviews. If you look at her reviews, Agnes is all over the place. And she's amazing. She spends a lot of time researching everything. And she loves Conway. She loves Halloween.

We talk about plants, vegetation, the trees, all the different types of trees, the cypress roots.

The birds.

One of the things that I have not understood in our local schools is that they don't seem to pay a lot of attention to local history. I would imagine that certainly the Conway schools would have elementary kids in City Hall every week almost, touring, getting information, learning history. And you're going to give it to them anyway.

And we deal with a lot of humor. Absolutely. We deal with a lot of humor, too. And that's come more towards you. We've found that humor helps people relax and remember. Sure.

Yeah.

As long as there's no test afterwards. Oh, really? Yeah.

Thank you for being here.

I mean, I think you can tell that we are quite anxious to hear more.

Okay.

What's our next step? That's a great quality. I'll email you tomorrow.

Okay, thank you.

I started to ask you specifically for a comment.

I want to see it.

That would definitely be .

Well, I've been opening a restaurant like three times in the last four days.

That's what it is. Thank you. The victory, the victory is in them seeing the value and how they're going to work.

That is, that says more than anything. It speaks volumes of value. It's interesting. Do you know what I mean?

Do you know what I mean? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. Next up is a discussion of further rebels at 5th and Main.

I'm afraid I don't read that. So we opened 5th and Main. Y'all opened 5th and Main in 2017.

Call Me Alive has been running those rebels up the stage for almost 10 years. At this point in time, calling Downtown Live recommends that the city removes itself from the rental business. You have approximately 25 to 50 rental uses of the buildings each year. 12 to 14 of those are paid rentals, party rentals, if you will. The remainder of those are city use, institutional use, Departments having events, CCU, Conway Live, the Chamber, the Myrtle Beach Chamber, the schools. So what we're seeing is the most wear and tear, the most stress in the building, the most challenge to staff times are the party rentals. To give you a decent point, last week, One five-hour rental required the response of the police, the fire. We had to have Timmy Williams' crew come and de-grease the loading dog steps. And that's just city services. And my staff spent an additional six hours dealing with that rental as well. So our recommendation is to cease outside rentals 12 12 to 14 rentals a year um not advantageous well your your budget yeah so um and this allison williams is here if you have any questions

you got my support and i swear i think we spent a third a fourth to the third of every board meeting talking about the disaster of the last private party that was there that cost the city whether it was public uh safety resources or timmy's crews and their resources or you having to go down there at 12 30 at night to you know because the alarms going off um

my recommendation would still be allow 501c organization so like the Red Cross usually have their volunteer appreciation let's keep that let's keep the school let's keep all of that 501 non-profit institutional government keep all that we're happy to keep the calendar but let's stop the private party rentals it's been a good decade I don't have a problem with it. And we were happy with our rent agreement with the city. We would continue to pay the rent as it stands.

We don't know. I mean, what's the budget that we add to? Not that much.

They have to lose money now. Last year, I think we lost $12,000.

And that's before you quantify the additional resources from public safety. You can't even put a number on that to add to it.

So can somebody tell us about the list? The alarm just went off.

They cooked inside. They're not supposed to cook outside. They cooked, smoked film, fire had to come, the police had to call, and then we had to reset the alarm. Their cleanup was longer, so we had to clean up staff for hours waiting for them.

There's pending legislation. Pending the election. Thank you.

And you've had issues with high heels and dancing and the floors had to be redone twice now?

Yeah, people have spray painted in your building. People have set the tables on fire. They've set the floor on fire.

That can be explained.

back into your list which was thousands upon thousands of dollars and keep in mind most of those private rentals were taking out all the tables and chairs putting them in the parking lot bringing in all their own and then rolling everything back in so I just I have one for May, but I'm just going to let them roll. you know what i'm saying yeah so we'll go to the end of this year as it stands and then we'll accommodate those folks and i don't want to ruin anybody's wedding no more booking unless you're a five on one seat

All right, the last thing we have is a presentation by Jason Berzan.

Thank you all for having me. So we're going to do some discussions. We've actually been in the process of doing some minor renovations to our stations the last couple of years. I'm going to show you all three of our fire stations currently. This one is the one we actually picked to do this year. As you can see on the outside, the sun has really energized these buildings. Last year, if you've noticed the tint here, it's kind of a mirror tint. It darkens it up and what it is, the sun comes in and bakes the paint off these buildings. It comes through the windows and our decals and everything gets sun damaged. So that's why we chose to go with the tint. However, even though the doors don't do it justice, the conditions are in. So we're proposing a little bit of a modification. I love it. Adam showed me a couple ideas, so we collaborated a little bit. And it's gonna be a shock, so. Go to the next slide. I don't think anything's shocking anymore. Just hit the arrow left. There you go. So these are one of the proposed changes. The reason we wrote it in red, it's a little bit more vibrant, but it also brings that traditional firehouse look. And we're talking about constructing fire stations more potentially. One of the things being discussed was going to the red doors, making it look very traditional, very historic. and making it vibrant at the same time. And just not alone, in my opinion personally, not speaking for anybody else, go back to hit left. Hit right, I'm sorry. We already read that. Look at the difference though, even the landscape, I think it makes everything pop. So go ahead again. All right, now we're gonna walk you through, this is fire station two. Actually, skip over, because go two more to the left. All right, one more. Nope. Okay, so currently in fire station one, this is the Buck Street side. As you can see, the building is, I think we moved it in 2014. and those were brown doors now they're out i won't call it you call that pretty sure you can take your finger and write your name in it so keep in mind the same concept if we'll go yeah look at the it just pops it really does and then we'll go on to the next one june we'll show the fire station too now See, I'll have that. Yeah. That's the one. You put nitrogen on the grass.

I must have some red blooming nuts in the front.

What I want to see is the three different designs. Tell me there's not a statue of the house cat.

There's not a statue of the house cat. Now, we did some versions. As you can see, this one's just with the red bay doors. This one's with all the red because it matches a little bit better. And this one's just the red pedestrian doors and the windows. I've got to tell you. Do it at home. Do it at home. It's a different color. Go back to the door right now.

Yeah. Put the windows back. There you go. Right there. That's my favorite. Me too. If we're picking out Christmas cards, that's what we're picking out. If we're picking out Christmas cards. Yeah.

And just think about that, though. It's fantastic. So wider, it just pops. I think it makes it traditional but broader at the same time with the gray brick instead of the red brick. It just changes it up. But it keeps it in line with everything else.

Can we see fire station three again? You can. And did you do one with just without the windows being created?

I did not, but I can do a mock-up with that if you want. That's a simple chat GPT.

That was my preference too. Red doors with the black windows. Yeah, I like the red doors.

We'll do the oldest thing with it.

Yes, thank you very much. I like it.

Jason, do you have enough money in the budget to do one this year and then work on the other one? So we do because station three was already in the works and I might be able to squeeze in, provided we don't have a $150,000 HVAC at station one again, we might be able to squeeze in station two at the end of the budget, towards the end of the budget. So you want the black window sills and the red doors?

You didn't. I did. My mama used to wear it. All right. That concludes the workshop. I second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Will you tell Jeff to go off air?

Yes. Or will?

I'm going to ask you, when you said, was it like you said jazzed up or something like, what did you say?

They don't like it.

They don't like it? No.

I got this one.

Oh, no. We're back on like this. We are. Our executive session.

We'll entertain a motion relative to. I'm going to feel better. I think I'm going to feel better. Is there a second? Mr. White, all in favor, please show your hand. Motion proposed unanimously. And secondarily, I move that we authorize the reappointment of the individuals to the boards and commissions as discussed. Is there a second? We've got a few of them. Ms. Hardwick? I'll second the motion. Thank you. All in favor say, I mean, yeah. It's unanimous. It's unanimous. Thank you so much. And I move that we adjourn. Is there a second? All in favor? Everybody.