Town Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you. Good day. Good evening. Good evening. If everyone will have a seat, we'll get our lively celebration off to a good start this evening. Uh if you have a phone, an iPad, a device, or anything that would ring, chime, or play us a song, please turn it on silent so that we can uh get through this good uh council meeting this evening. Uh with that, thank you for joining us. Um we will the council will stand for the pledge and Ronnie, will you give our invitation? Thank you.

I pledge algiance 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. Father, as we bow before you today, we want to thank you for the many blessings that you've bestowed upon us. We thank you for being able to be raised and born in a a great country. We pray that you be with us tonight. Guide us, direct us, give us wisdom to conduct the town's business. We give you the praise and glory. But all in your holy name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you.

All right. It's wonderful to see so many smiling faces. All right. Council members, you have received the June 23rd and July 14th council meeting and workshop notes uh and minutes. Does anyone have any changes, additions, deletions? I'll make a motion to accept as submitted.

Second. I have a motion and a second. All those in favor, please say I. I. All those opposed. Thank you so much. Public comment. Pursuant to section 2-46 of the code of ordinances for the town of Fort Mill. Any citizen of the town may appear before council for the purpose of providing public comments on any municipal matter except personnel matters. Those who wish to speak must sign in outside of the council chambers prior to the start of the meeting and citizens will be given three minutes each to speak. Do we have any? We do not.

All right. This first one I'm going to come forward for [Music] So, in a perfect world, I would have on a suit and heels and all that good stuff. But in an imperfect world, we work before we come here. So, please forgive me because this is much more of an elegant presentation than I am want to give. So, how do you measure success? a great job, a good salary, you've raised a family, be considered a leader, a good person, a grand slam. Always wanted a couple of those. Hole in one. How about positively affecting thousands of lives? That's pretty lofty, isn't it? Promoting self-worth, achievement, individuality, music, art, science, technology, sports, academics. The list is unlimited. Being a role model that cares, guides, and encourages, and works to make all possible for children and adults. That's Chuck Eps. We celebrate the life and gifts of Chuck tonight. He has given completely of himself, and I know that, to help shape our future through a school district that everyone wants to work for or attend. The Fort Mill School District's success is directly due to his leadership. It is a crown jewel in our community. I've known Chuck almost all my life. He's a tiny bit older than I

am, but not much. He's a blessing and a valued, beloved friend. Tonight, we will present to Dr. Chuck eps in recognition of your exceptional leadership, dedication, and unwavering commitment to the students, families, and future of the Fort Mill community. Your legacy of outstanding service as superintendent to the Fort Mill School District will be felt for generations to come. with appreciation, gratitude, and best wishes in your retirement. The town, our staff, our community, and our children want to say thank you. I would give you the key to the city, but you'd give it back. So, um, with that, would you come up and let us all give you a round of applause? [Applause] My friend says he doesn't deserve all this, but he really does and then some. So with that, I am so grateful to know that Chuck is still there if I call and he would always do whatever was needed to keep our town the place we grew up in. Right.

Don't make me cry. No, no, here's a plaque and a few nice little tidbits to remind you Fort Mill loves you. Yeah. Can I say a word or two, please? Um, I'm deeply honored. Town council, not city council. I know the difference between TK and town council. It's not just that.

Well, love them both. Um, but I'm I am deeply honored. I like I told the mayor, I I do know I've told Christie and all our our board, I don't deserve all this. just the the like I've said in many settings, it's the people in this room and the people that um we in place in the school district that make make this place so special and make it succeed. I just put them in their in the right seats on the bus and um I will say our relationship with the town has been special. We uh I go back to several mayors. Uh I I can go back to Charlie, Danny, Gwen. Am I leaving anybody out in my lap? Yeah. Well, I was I was a kid.

Uh and I think it's imperative uh there's two um two things we deal with the the town and the school district, people's money and their taxes. So, it's real important that we're dealing with precious commodities and we both contribute to the quality of life and it's just imperative, I think, that we work together and have the great relationships that we do. Uh we're just kind of hoot together at at the belt and there's nothing we just need to do good work together and I'm proud of that. I think we've we've had a great relationship with the town, at least from the school district's perspective. So, absolutely. That's all I got, but I want to thank the board and the staff that are here and the people that bothered to miss supper and come tonight.

Absolutely. [Applause] It's not fair to make an old woman cry at the front of the end of the meeting. Well, mayor, now that uh he's retired, I think we should add him to our volunteer list. He's got some free time from He's a smart man, Chris. I think we can use him.

He's going to enjoy his time. All right. Um, we had a presentation to recognize the Fort Mill Parks and Recreation uh 12U flag football and all star team. Um, they were finalists in the state competition. They were unable to be here this evening. Um, but we still want to say congratulations. Many of you might remember it's only been a couple of years and there's our team since the Fort Mill Parks and Recck Department sponsored uh the national champions in uh baseball. So, um our folks in parks and recck do a great job and work really hard to ensure that our kids get the best chances they have to do this type of work. So, congratulations uh to the state finalists. Presentation number three, uh, Mina McDonald will present storm water summer internship program presentation. As they come forward, I'd like to mention, won't be the first time I've mentioned it, but it's important. Um, last year's program, we actually had someone that was an intern that had her whole career mapped out, but because of her internship, she made a decision to change her major and has gone into environmental protection. And we're just so proud of the influence and the leadership of our division as they make that impact and on all of you young people that are getting out there and helping with this program. Mina.

Well, I just want to say uh it's always a pleasure. Every summer it's a new group of kids and new uh dynamic and it's a lot of fun. Um looking forward to to continuing this program in the future. But this has been a great group. We are down one. He is not with us tonight. Uh Eduardo is not here. He's our uh high school graduate who's going off to Clemson in the fall. But I'm going to let each of the kids come up and introduce themselves. So you got to say your name, say what grade you're going into and what school you're at. Okay? And then you guys can take it away. Um, good evening. My name is Hannah Dean. I'm going to be a junior at Kataba Ridge High School. Good evening. I'm Zachary Thomas. I am going to be a senior at Nations Ford.

Good evening. I'm Hudson Tubner and I'm also going to be a senior at Nations Ford. Excellent. I'm Maggie Wakefield and I'm a rising junior at Nation Ford.

I'm Riley Condan and I'm going to be a rising junior at Kataba Ridge. Okay. Um, just wanted to thank you guys again for having us. Um, to start off, we're going to go over just all the things that we got to experience this summer by being part of the storm water internship program. Our first ever field trip was when we went to Rock Hill Storm Water and Operation Center. Um, we were taken on a tour of their vast facility and we were introduced to a lot of different people with many different professions. Um, we learned how many branches We learned how the different branches in the Rock Hill Storm Water and Operation Center work together to effectively communicate and um, make projects together. Next, we went to Dye Branch and we did a creek cleanup. This was near a water goat. It removed over 10 pounds of plastic and trash and we got really wet. Next, we uh did three different events where we invited kids and parents to come and learn about pollution and how it affects our environment. We had games and a storyboard along with free cone of ice to, you know, make people come and also help them enjoy the process of learning about pollution. Uh we're actually doing another one this Wednesday at Harris Street Park. Anyone can come and, you know, learn about pollution. Uh, so far we've had 205 people come. So that's just remarkable to me. Hopefully we can increase that number a little bit though.

Thank you. Or wait, no. Sorry. Uh, we also went with local volunteers for adopt a stream. We learned how they monitor streams to see how healthy it is, including how they use bugs, macro invertebrates, and uh just the clarity and contents of the water to uh understand the stream and keep it healthy. We also went to the Rockill Rockill Water Filtration Plant, which whilst we were there, we learned about how they take the water from the Kataba River and they clean it to a point where it is safe and drinkable for people and how they dealt with the trash there. So, taking water out of the trash, taking anything or taking the trash out of the water, taking anything bad out of the water. So, it was safe and drinkable. We also went to the Katabin Nation where we learned about the um the invasive plants that were growing along the riverside and how they were damaging the river and how their their plans to use River cane to help combat that. Um, another field trip we went on was with this storm uh, Fort Mill Storm Water where we looked at the storm water and water systems in the town. Um, each day of the week we went with a different member of the team to see what they do on a daily basis and we saw how water was supplied to completed and ongoing projects in the town and how they maintain the pipelines after construction. We also looked into the water tower and how the water meter works um and saw how they are used to

track the water coming from Rock Hill to Fort Mill. Um we also went to the uh Fort Mill wastewater treatment plant and while we were there we saw how they clean contaminated water. Um we saw how they use water filtration membranes and irerration basins along with UV light to clean contaminated water. And it was very shocking to see how they make the water so clean and clear to put it back into the Kataba River without the use of chlorine like they do in Rock Hill. Um, another field trip we went on was to the landfill and recycling center. So, first we went to the recycling center where they showed us a video on the different things that can and can't be recycled. um which was really interesting for me because I feel like it's different in different places and even for me personally I sometimes struggle knowing what I can and can't put in my recycle bins. Um we also saw their machines they have and we also saw where their workers individually pick certain things out from the recycling. Um we learned about how the different towns can get fined if their recycling does not fit um their standards which I hadn't realized before. So after we went to their center, we also went and saw their landfills um and how they compress down the trash before they cover it. Um and we saw some that had already been covered and I couldn't even tell that they were ever landfills. So it was really interesting to see that. We also went to Nation Ford Chemical, which was one of my favorite field trips. I know that some people in our group are interested in chemical engineering, so it was really cool to see practically what their future could look like. Um, I think that's one of the big benefits of this program in general. So, it was really cool to see the diff and hear about the different chemicals they produce and how they have some long-term projects that they've had for years and then sometimes they'll take on a project for just a couple months to produce a certain chemical. Um, one

chemical they make is used in jet fuel and um, yeah, I didn't even realize there was one so close by. So, it was cool to see that. So, our like project we've been working on the whole summer as a team has been to make the stormwater scarecrow. For this year, we decided to make te the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and then we wanted to have them fighting a big trash monster. We kind of decided we wanted to do the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles because we've seen a lot of pictures of turtle shells made out of recycled trash. Um, and we kind of wanted to do that, but we also wanted to make it interesting and recognizable for people of all ages. So, we thought the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would be a good way to go with that. Um, we haven't finished making the turtles yet. We're still working on them, but we have finished the monster, which you can see in that picture there. Um, we just want to thank the town of Fort Mill Management and staff for giving us this opportunity and letting this program continue. Um, and thank you for putting in this effort. And thank you to the um, school district staff as well who made this possible and connected us with Mina. Um, this program, I've learned so much about what I do want to do in my future and what I might not want to do. And I think it's so beneficial to have this available to high school students because obviously there's a lot of internships for college kids, but I mean I just have always wanted to see practically what goes on in our town and I think this is a really good opportunity to do that. So thank you again.

A wonderful, wonderful work by all of you. It takes a lot to get out in this heat and do the types of things that you've been doing and then to recognize the benefit that it brings to all of us. I love our staff. They they inspire. But you know what? You kids are amazing. You're amazing and you make me happy for the future. Council members, what do you say?

Great. Awesome. I' I'd say, you know, thank you for getting involved. This is the kind of stuff that gets you up here eventually. Get involved in your community. Find out about it. find out where you can make a difference and and you'll go far in life. And so, thank y'all for investing your summers and schmucking through the mud and all that kind of stuff. But, uh, it's a great program and thank y'all for participating and good luck in the future.

Thank you. My husband and I went kayaking on the Kataba on Saturday morning and it was amazing how clean it was and I have seen it after the hurricane came through a lot of trash. a port of John on the side, a trampoline that was stuck in the trees. I mean, that hurricane did a lot of damage to our waterways and we'll probably be cleaning up for many, many years from it. So, thank you for going out there and doing the hard work and doing the grunt work that a lot of people don't want to do because it was beautiful out there. We saw an eagle within the first 30 minutes of being in the water and it was so peaceful. So, thank you for what you guys did this summer. And I do hope you learned where you want to go or different career paths you may want to take as a result of this. Also was curious, did anybody drink the water after it went through the filtration system? They've told us you could. Nobody.

We did not. I don't even remember being offered that. So, neither one of No, I'm sorry. None of us have done that either. So, yeah,

congratulations. I would like to tag on to something Lisa said. Um, yeah, the hurricane did damage. Nature itself can be very damaging, but nature can't hold a candle to the damage that we as humans do. If you put trash out on the street or throw it out of the car or let it tumble off the back of your truck, it gets in the storm drains. It ends up in the places that you guys are going out there and cleaning. Our guys are going out there and cleaning. It's terrible for the environment and the habitat. We are the worst and I really respect and appreciate the effort you put into this. It matters to us all. Thank you. Yes, ma'am.

I'm Susan Bracket. I'm with the school district. I just want to thank Mina Mina. It takes an amazing mentor like Mina to manage a wonderful kids. You're not quite tough to manage. Thank you Mina because it wouldn't be possible right without her. Yeah. Thank you, my Let's give them all a big round. [Applause] Thank you. Thank you so much. In another very interesting presentation, we're going to hear from the Fort Mill Economic Partners about microtransit pilot program. We're terribly excited to hear this information. Hi, Mariah.

Hello. It's hard to follow up that presentation. But thank you guys for having us tonight. Um I'm Mariah Price with Fort Mill Economic Partners. I have here David B, one of our board directors and um one of the le liaons for our subcommittee for this project. But we're here tonight on a specific project that our organization's working on. And we've done a lot of projects in the past of collaborations with the town and we really hope that this is another project we can collaborate on. So to get started, I just want to um remind you of our mission because this is one of the driving factors of why we're doing this project. Our mission is to support Fort Mill's vibrant business sector by fostering economic sustainability that's focused on a thriving community, strong education, and enhanced quality of life. And with that in mind, our um subcommittee has brought this project to the board of how can we implement our mission through Fort Mill in this way. So tonight we're talking about a microtransit pilot program. And I know that kind of sounds a little intimidating, so we're going to break it down a little bit for you. But

little bitty cars, right?

Yeah. So the purpose of this um program really for us is to evaluate the feasibility of utilizing a microtransit as an economic development driver in the Fort Mill area by implementing a pilot program between the major lifestyle districts in town. So to give you just a summary of what we're going to be talking about um this program we have been working in collaboration with a service provider called freebie and they've done um different projects and we'll talk about some of the communities that are local that they've been working with but really we want to be able to utilize freebies microransit program and uniquely positioned to drive economic impact by seamlessly connecting key commercial hubs for us, Baxter Village, Kingsley, and downtown Fort Mill, ensuring businesses can attract more customers while reducing congestion, enhancing mobility. This program will not only provide a convenient mobility option but also serve as a localized community guide um actively promoting businesses and local events to riders helping to stimulate spending and foot track traffic in these targeted areas. So to give you a little bit more information of um the service provider we chose to work with is Freeb. They are a company that's been serving communities since 2012 with a focus on performance, innovation, and cutting edge technology. There's a few key features that we really felt like Phoebe would be a great asset. Um, one of them being their custom branded mobile app, and we'll go into a little bit more in the um, presentation here, but this app has tracking features. It has local guides that we can post community events,

exclusive deals with local businesses, public information. So that was a great asset that they have. Um, also they have great advanced technology with dynamic routing, real time ma matching and comprehensive data collection. And we'll talk a lot about data here soon, but that data is really important in how we want to drive this program with not only our organization, but our partners. Another key aspect with us being an economic organization is their focus on economic development. They have a key focus on partnering with local businesses, not only through the app, but making sure that they're aware of this program, contacting them, not just with us contacting them, but freebie con um contacting them and their focus on that economic aspect. And another key feature that we've heard, not from just freebie, but also the local organizations we've talked to is their sustainable and reliable service. So this um program really has four key goals that we would like to accomplish. One being utilizing this platform as a localized community guide to drive customer traffic uh to Fort Mills businesses. Second, we really want to introduce a transportation solution that serves not only our residents and visitors, but business employees by providing easy connectivity to work, shopping, um, restaurants, events, and nightlife access within Fort Mill. Another key goal we really want to complete is collect and analyze wrership data to evaluate the demand, optimize service and access them um impact of microransit to be able to provide to for

future investment in transportation infrastructure. And last, the goal is to transform Fort Mill into a place where you can live, work, and play without the need of a personal vehicle. Hi. So, uh, what we have up here is a map and I wanted to explain basically what this program is trying to solve. This is a pilot program and my hope and my measure of success is gosh, this is such a great program, we need to expand the boundaries. But for reasons of controlling the pilot's cost, we've identified three key areas. And as Mariah said, that's downtown Fort Mill, that's Kingsley, and that's Baxter. And you'll note that two of those are in the town limits of Fort Mill and one is in the county. But it's a lot of people think of it as part of Fort Mill, but it's kind of part of our deal is to make sure that everybody understands that we're we are all north of the river and we're one continuous uh community whether or not we're in the town limits or not. So, what this service will do is within 10 minutes of you hailing a a uh transportation during the working hours of the pilot, a car will show up and take you to your destination from door to door. So, you don't have to go to a pickup spot, you don't have to go to a station, you don't have to wait. It takes you from door to door as long as you're within the operating hours or within the map. And one of the feedback we got from businesses was, "Guys, don't forget about the hotels." And we did. So, we had to fix that. And the hotels now are in this map. We've also picked up the hospital. And the deal here is one of the this this is one of the, in my opinion, one of the best towns in the world to live. The two complaints we hear are parking and transportation and traffic. Well, this program will will address both of those concerns. And that's something that I think that we as a business community want to help not only our residents but also everybody to

to come visit us and to spend time with us and spend their money with us. So, um so really excited about what this program can mean. And oh, I should mention so this is a uh it'll be a Thursday to Sunday program. It will allow you to get home if you're on the later end of at a restaurant. You've had a glass of wine or two. Safe transportation home. If anybody wants to ask, it is incredibly hard to get a Uber in Fort Mill. It's incredibly hard to get a taxi. So, if you have a a bar or restaurant in the town limits, the truth is you really can't do that and get home safely after 9:00. So, I I'm really excited that this program is going to really fill a gap for those businesses. As well,

as I mentioned, Freeb is has worked with communities that are close to us. Two of them that we've been talking to is one with South Park Community Partners. They have launched South Park Skipper last November. And this again is free door-to-door transportation. Their hours are daily 9 to9. Most recently, um, Freebie with Valentine has launched Valentine Bolt in the Valentine Bowl area. So, a lot of bees. But, um, on demand transportation that's available Monday through Friday, 11 to 8. within our research of of microransit, a key partner really has been South Park Community Partners and they have worked with Freeb and and have given us great insight as well as analysis that they've received within the three and sixmonth um overview from their performance. It's a lot of numbers. So, I'll give you just a a here's a graph for more visual, but within the first 3 months, they had over 7,000 rides. And then you look at the six-month analysis, they had over 16,000 rides. So, it nearly doubled in just the six months. Um, with their percentage of rides, it went up to 91% within the six months. And their age demographics, their highest usage was between 20 and 50. Um, and so not only do we have um have learned from Freebie, but we have a local community that has successfully been able to use the microtransit that Freebie offers.

So, how do you get a a ride when you want one? Well, it's pretty simple. A lot of people are already familiar with Uber, so you'll find this very similar. You download the app and you can arrange for a vehicle. It'll tell you how far away it is and tell it where you want to go. There'll be a nominal charge just to get people used to the fact that this isn't free. It won't be the $100 that Uber is going to charge, just something in the $2 range. It'll also give us some some custom branding to to uh let people know that they're in Fort Mill, let them know about businesses that may have specials running. That'll all be in the app. People say, "Well, what else can I do with the app?" Well, it'll also show events. It'll show uh specials for restaurants that all could be potential ad revenue to help support the program. It's also interesting that there are some people that are never going to adapt an app. You can also call it or hail down one of these one of these cars to get to your destination. So, it's something for all age groups. We're also as part of our program planning on budgeting a marketing effort to make sure that we get this app in people's hands and we show them how to use it. I I think we've learned from listening to other people that that's really important to have a successful program and we plan to do that.

So I go back to the data collecting. A key part of why we want to do this program is to be able to share the data we learn and gather from uh this program to not only our partners with the town, with the county, with our fats, anyone that's involved with transportation, but we also want to be able to share it with our businesses. They'll be able to capture who their clientele is, how long they were there, how often they visit, um where do they go next, and through the freebie app, we have access to a live data dashboard that gives us all of this data, the wrership, the request method, the fleet performance, the vehicle occupi occupancy. All of this data we are willing and wanting to share with our partners and businesses involved. Just to add to that, I think that whenever we're asking for public money for a program, it's important to be able to track it and prove its effectiveness. And that's why Mariah is really emphasizing that we want to prove that this thing works. But let's do a little dreaming here. Uh the South Park skipper had 17,000 unique rides per month. Think about how many cars that represents, how many parking spots that represents. Just for a moment, think about what that load coming off of our our parking spots and our doortodoor. Those are no longer unique trips. This is public transportation at its best. So, I really think that's something to point out. So, how do we get this pilot program off the off the off the ground? So, the pilot program for our one-year studies, which by the way is what we're recommending, is $47,000. The program will include uh 40 hours a week. It's emphasized heavily uh 12 hours a day on both Friday and Saturday. We're going to have some time on Thursday and also on Sunday as well to make sure we hit the lunch crowd on

Thursday and then the lunch crowd and the brunch crowd on Sunday. But 12 straight hours on on Friday and Saturday. So, we're going to need to put some infrastructure in. These are electric vehicles. They do need charging stations overnight. They're destination two level charges. So, very simple. uh it will be three vehicles and what our hope here is to keep that three vehicles so that we can keep that call to 10 minutes or less. Um so what we need to do is we need to get together with the business community which has already put their money down and said they want to be a part of this. We now need support from the town of Fort Mill to be part of that. Uh so there is a significant ask from the town of Fort Mill to get this pilot program off the ground. We've shared that with you, some some of you privately, but we think it's about a $200,000 ask from the town. We also have a fair amount of support from the county and I believe we'll get it, but um we've listened to what the community wants and we've listened to what the business community needs and so we're asking for your support. And just I do want to just mention one thing with anything with transportation. We do um take safety as a priority and with freebie uh their safety is also um a priority priority for them with their process. They with any driver they have background checks, drug testing, medical exams. They also like to hire local um drivers. So they are aware of the area, know the routes. Um but including in hiring they do training classroom instructions on the road training and focus on distracted driving. There's also um dash cams involved in real time alerts that are included with the program.

Yeah. The program will also have all the HR responsibilities and enforcing good order. So that that's really been outsourced to the vendor which also makes me happy. So the next steps for this program is for the town to take a position of whether or not they want to support this program and for the county to take a position if they want to support this program. We we highly recommend that we look at the year option. I think that the data will will prove to us especially what we see in our other local markets that this is a great program and it's something that's needed. I don't know if you guys read the newspaper, but on Sunday, North Meckllinmberg announced they're doing away with their bus service and they're going 100% to microtransit. We're no longer on the bleeding edge here with this ask, but I definitely think we're front of the curve and I think Fort Mill deserves it.

Any questions?

For those of you that are unaware, this is David Boost, Mariah Price, and Jan Martin. uh they are so instrumental in the work that the economic uh development partners do in Fort Mill and this particular effort has really grown over the last several years. They listen, they work hard, they contribute, and they invest just like the businesses that come to Fort Mill. So, we're very, very grateful for the effort. This is an excellent presentation, and I know I'm for one would love not having to look for a parking space and be dropped off at the door. I mean, what's wrong with that? Um, I do think it would be a traffic reducer and uh help us with the need for parking in most every location. Council members, do you have questions for David or Mariah?

So, I was fortunate enough to hear the South Park Skipper presentation and that was uh very informative and a lot of energy and excite very exciting. You think about traffic in South Park getting from one area to the other. Uh, also uh think it's is very important. We've keep talking about trying to extend our downtown. Kingsley is definitely part of Fort Mill and and is a growing area and Baxter even though it is the county is still part of our community. And I think this is a good way of help supporting what we've been saying. Uh, and it's going to also if you want to have dinner at Kingsley and then go down have drinks afterwards in downtown Fort Mill, vice versa, whatever is here's a good safe way to do it without worrying about traffic. So uh and I also saw that article in paper of the Charlotte and I thought that was very in in in uh timely I guess that they had made that decision too. So uh thank y'alls for your effort. I think it's uh definitely uh uh these are the types of things we need to be looking at and investing in that you know so it's a pilot we well and all the data and plus you can get the partnerships and branding and all that. So long-term financing may be a totally different solution because you get other businesses to partner with you. So thank you for your time and bringing this to us.

Yeah.

And for clarification, you had mentioned the three different areas that we're dropping off at, but as far as picking up, uh, we pick up in Massie and deliver all the way to Baxter. What does the limitations look at like for the original pickup, assuming it's at a residence? So, it's it's not terribly clear, but in your in your packet, you can zoom in a little bit and see that map. I can tell you that uh it's certainly good feedback if the town wants to make a a play to to enlarge that a bit. We are cost sensitive to try to keep this pilot to get the data that we want and uh not saying that we've got it perfect. So, that's that's something that certainly uh we we should look at if there's an area we've missed. But but if you zoom in on your packet, you can blow that map up quite a bit. and see the community boundaries that that we grabbed.

And what have they done some of the others when there's special events going on? Do they still run during those events and just stay in a concentrated area or do they take a time out or pause during that because of the traffic? No, I I I think we're definitely running. Uh we'll run to the very max until they're and you know it it may be a little bit longer wait if we're saying the strawberry festival. I'm not I'm not trying to say that's going to be the 10 minutes, but we're trying to say for the lion share the let's call it the 80% of the time to hit that mark to hit that mark to make sure people feel it's reliable. That's what we need to do.

Yeah, I definitely can see it. That's one of our um weaknesses with some of the large events particularly for handicapped or disabled people trying to get in and I think this can be a solution for us to try to help with that um to make sure everybody can attend our events. So I think it's important again to highlight the cost per ridership or the estimated cost. So the estimated cost to the actual rider which this is could be subsidized by our group the town and the county would be $2 a ride.

And so just to just to say that hey listen this isn't free but it's something I'm invested in to make sure that I get their safety. There will not be tipping. Um that's one thing the drivers will not have a a need for. They pay a market wage and the drivers are happy with it. We've heard from several other communities that that's they don't leave this program. Uber and Lift drivers go go back and forth all day long. These programs, they keep their drivers. They're they're really really happy to be in one community. So that's it's a big selling point for them. Um you know, we didn't mention it, but another community, Gastonia, just switched. They got rid of all of their buses and gone to microransit, and they're doubling down. So it's it's just fun to watch how technology has allowed us to serve our people better. For the drivers, is there an age um minimum for somebody? I just want to make an make sure a 16-year-old isn't going to be driving.

Yeah, they're they're they're pretty rigorous on there. And there's a waiting list, which I was found really interesting. There's a huge waiting list to be a driver for the skipper, um as an example. So, um I I think we're getting the cream of the crop of the for for the for the gig drivers, if you if you will. And it's a it's a it's a job. It's not a It's not just something you're doing after work. Perfect. Thank you, David. David, have y'all had any conversations with any of the restaurants yet? I know we're just in the initial stages, but let's say I wanted to go to Epic and I had pick me up, drop me off. I mean, the restaurant said, "Hey, if you do, the restaurant could pick up that fair, too." I mean, it's very flexible, the technology that does that. So,

100% correct. In fact, that this kind of grew out of of um Amore Artisa's biggest challenge after 9 p.m. they can't get people home. How do you stay open as a business and you serve alcohol and you can't get them home? This and make no mistake, this is an economic program and and yes, I could see a lot of other benefits including in the hospital being included in that in that range, but but this is for the business community. Uh it's going to be supported by uh not only residents getting to those businesses. I mean, how many times have we passed on going to a restaurant because we just didn't want to go fight for a parking spot? Let's keep those people here in Fort Mill. Absolutely.

So, when are you needing a decision by? So, uh that's a great question. We are presenting to the county in in August.

In August. Yeah. So, just a couple weeks. So, my hope here is to say that we have your blessing that the because this is twothirds of just the map. Let's just boil this down. Twothirds of the area is in Fort Mill. So, we need to show that our community wants this. And then I think we've got a pretty good argument. We've already had some really good uh support from our county council members that are in the Fort Mill area as well as some of the others. So, um uh we we need the town support prior to that meeting to say that you were um in concept or in uh believe this is a good program for Fort Mill. Can I please ask staff to put this on our very next agenda so that we would have an opportunity to post that we would be taking a vote and that way if the community has any questions they can come before us.

Thank you. Any further questions? I did so that the freebie program they will own the vehicles.

Uh so yes that's correct. They'll be branded as you saw. I don't know the graphic was great on the screen, but they will be gr branded and we had the the the Fort Mill Economic Partners brand on there. That's that was a placeholder for our presentation, but uh we we want people to know that this is a Fort Mill, uh transportation system. Uh again, they're they're on the hook for all of the PR and the HR and the and the complaints, which there were a couple of the skipper like the driver put out a tip jar. That problem got solved in less than 24 hours. really really impressed with how they react when there is an issue. So, um yeah, they will be branded and uh I think people will will will see it and it'll be part of our, you know, the fabric of this is our logo,

right? But they would actually own the vehicles themselves. Yeah, that's correct. And we would need to provide some infrastructure, some charging stations for That's what I was going to ask if you had any plans for, you know, specific locations for charging stations where their home base might be, what would need to be added. So, we would need uh three to four charging stations here in Fort Mill uh that we would need to to make sure that they're during during charging hours after after driving all night that they would be that those would be their spots. I I get to install a lot of these. They're about $1,000 each. They're not a big expense to get the charging station set up. Okay.

I think it's an exciting opportunity for us to consider. Uh certainly $2 a ride to not have to look for a parking space is uh amazing or a ride home. Um so I just want to thank you all for the amazing work and effort that you are making to continue to grow the economic development in Fort Mill. Thank you. Thank you. Now we'll move to presentation number five. die branch stream bank restoration presentation and our Leanne Clark will be the one that will lead us through that.

Hi, good evening. Um, tonight we're going to talk about uh stream bankank restoration on die branch. I don't Are we gonna Are you Oh, am I flipping? How do I do this? Oh, there we go. Okay. Sorry. Um so if you have been out on Dye Branch at all um you have seen the erosion that's occurring there. There's a lot of it next to the walking path um that runs from uh Walter Elijah to Harris Street Park. So we looked into this erosion and what we might be able to do about this. Um and we had Kimley Horn do a feasibility study for us. Um why we looked into this is the severe erosion that I'm referring to. Um there are safety concerns in some of the areas. The erosion is getting pretty close to the walking trail. Um at Harris Street Park, the erosion is starting to encroach on some of the park infrastructure. We have water quality concerns um with silt and sediment that washes into the creeks and then also um with some of our infrastructure that crosses the creeks. And then of course just um erosion and and storm water runoff issues. So this is just a map showing where the walking trail is. I'm sure everybody's familiar with it, but um it starts up at um Walder Elijah and goes down to right at the start of Harris Street Park. So, the next few slides are really just some pictures because pictures so show so much more than I could um possibly say, but these are just some pictures of the erosion. You can see the walking path there um and some of the steep drop offs that we have starting to form um from the creek.

This you can see how close um the erosion is really getting up to the walking trail. it's within a couple feet at some points. Um, over on the right hand side is a storm water pipe that we had some significant erosion around that we had to address and you can just see how it's starting to undermine the um, walking trail there. This is behind Harris Street Park and you can see the um, fence line there and how close the erosion is starting to get to that fence line. Uh this is a picture of some of the water quality concerns. You can see during a heavy rain. Um this is the covert right at the start of Hair Street Park. Um and you can see how the high turbidity in it from the silt and sediment that washes down from all the erosion. And then also we have some sewer line crossings. This is also right at the culvert um at Harris Street Park. But this is a sewer line that crosses and the erosion is causing that sewer line to be more and more exposed and um it's possible that that line could break and um we would not want that to happen in our creeks. Um this again is just some of the erosion that's occurring from the storm water issues we have. On the left hand side you can see um the erosion and undermining and then on the right you can see um that we repaired that and we're trying to fix it as best we can um when these issues come up but really we're just putting band-aids on them. They need um a more significant solution. So this was from the feasibility study and um Kimley Horn Basically broke down the study into three distinct areas and you can see they're um sort of outlined

up there. Um when they uh studied it they identified areas that were high priority, medium priority and low priority. So the high priority areas, there were six sections of Dye Branch approximately 1,560 ft. And these areas were identified as high priority because there's severe concerns for erosion and they're threatening already existing infrastructure and private property. Um we want to reduce the risk to the adjacent infrastructure and improve water quality. And the solutions, there's kind of a variety of solutions for all of the um different areas and that's really not determined yet until a design would be um identified. The medium priority, there's five sections of die branch die branch approximately 2,160 linear feet. Um these areas have erosion concerns. They're not as significant as the high priority and they're not located um directly adjacent to existing infrastructure, but we do want to address address them. And then the low priority, there were four sections of die branch that were identified as low priority and these totaled about 4,250 linear feet. Um these have some erosion concern, but they're not as significant as the high or the medium priority areas. So, um this is a picture to kind of show you this is at Harris Street Park and it's to show you down in the left um you can see there what it currently looks like and then the larger picture is to show you what it could potentially look like after we had some string bank stabilization or restoration. Um this is another one. This is along the walking trail and you can see in the bottom lefthand picture the severe erosion. It's coming up next to the

walking path. It's a steep drop off and you can see um in the rendering for what it might might look like um the creek itself is a little bit narrower. The banks are um the banks are less steep so that the water has somewhere to rise during heavy rains and um there's some plantings on there that can withstand the saturation. And so um that would help to stabilize the banks. And then this is the last one rendering. Um again you can see the severe erosion in the left hand and then you can see what it could potentially look like after some restoration or stabilization. Um so some constraints that we have there are existing utilities. Um there are aerial sewer crossings and some other um infrastructure that could potentially be a constraint for us. Um there are multiple land owners and private property in some of these areas. We did look at the two-mile stretch between Walter Elijah and um down behind Harris Street Park and then behind the school. And we picked that area specifically because we own most of it and a lot of the areas that we don't own that the town doesn't own. um the school district owns and um then there are some properties there are a few private properties there that would require some easements um but most of that property is owned by either the town or the school um FEMA approximately 7,000 linear feet of die branch has a mapped floodway so we would need to get permits from FEMA and then um access and topography because of the steep slopes um we would have to uh potentially we don't know how many staging areas we would need or where we would need those. So that could be a constraint as well.

And then here Eric, you want me to keep talking about this or Yes.

Okay. So um so this was sort of where we talked about cost. So the design survey and permitting is that first section. The construction would be the second. So really the totals would be looking at would be over there on the far right. um they're identified down the left as the high priorities, the medium, and the low priorities. Um these are it is possible to do these projects sort of um peace meal or you could do them um you know you could lump them together and do them as some bigger projects instead of individually. But um the costs we're looking at at Oh, sorry, wrong one. Um the costs we're looking at um down here, these are the total costs that we'd be looking at for um the design survey and construction. And we're looking at um just over 4 million for all of that total. Each project you can see there um is broken down and the low priorities there are large sections of low priorities and so they're a significant portion of that cost just because of how many linear feet there are of the low priorities. Um so here we're looking at the trail system and um some potential options for um working trails into this stream bank restoration and stabilization. Um I don't know Eric do you want to add into this at all?

Yes. Thank you. So, um, with this part, um, we've noticed that and Leanne spoken to, um, the need for for restoring the stream bank, but as you get down, uh, further south, you can see that it starts to connect, uh, multiple town facilities or parks, but also with other facilities that are u either existing or planned, such as the elementary school, but then also some walking trails uh, near the Elizabeth neighborhood and also a future park adjacent to u or adjacent to and on the Kataba River. So I think the next map would show that or not. So, uh, this is a conceptual design, uh, here at Harris Street Park, uh, with having the stream bank, uh, cleared out, uh, potential greenway installed, um, uh, providing that connectivity, uh, between, um, between town assets. Uh, again, the goal is when we're looking at, okay, here's the the the the bottom part uh, of of that first map. So, this is showing the Elizabeth neighborhood uh with the the future um uh greenways uh that are going to be uh constructed and the connectivity that you would have with potential river park uh potential uh future town park close to the water uh as well as the elementary school down there. And that's just showing what the the a cleaned up uh stream would look like close to the the wastewater treatment plant. And so again, the the the emphasis for this is really knowing that there's a need uh to improve uh the dive branch stream itself.

um and knowing that that there's this potential for connectivity um with uh city assets, city parks. Uh what we want to make sure is that the design and the construction of one doesn't prohibit the design and construction of the other. So we'd like to look at at doing these uh somewhat handinand. Uh so what we're looking at from council is you know Leanne had showed that that cost breakdown and again those were just uh estimates from the engineer but we would like to do fewer projects but larger in scale. Uh we'd like to utilize some of our cash reserves to accomplish this. Uh look at pursuing uh grants uh for trail construction and again trying to incorporate the trail design into the stream stream bank restoration design. So,

so does Army Corps of Engineers have to be involved with this process at all or is it just p farmed out private to like third party contractors? It depends on what the final design shows exactly, but probably Army Corps would have to be in in the mix. I would think so. I mean, it's the engineers would handle all the design and any of the permitting that goes with it. Yeah. I mean, it would just be getting a permit, right? I know pretty much anytime you're dealing with wetlands, they they're have to be in the middle of it. So, yeah. I mean, some of the um restoration could involve um like a redesign of the stream to make it flow so it's less erosive, right? And that would require an Army Corps. Okay. Thank you. Permit.

So, two questions. Uh Eric, you mentioned grants. Are there particular grants that would help fund this? We don't have any specific programs in mind right now, but I know that I know that our staff is is adept at sniffing those out. There are some when you're looking at, you know, uh Penelopey uh on the planning department has been quite active on the trail side. Um so I think there's probably a better opportunity for some of that with greenways and trails over there. Um but again we want to make sure that the the design that it that it's uh cohabitating I guess.

So second question is you on your slides you had several project if you can go back well I go back here the the question you had do you want to do several larger projects as opposed to many small projects. So if you divided it the high priorities would would what would would you recommend do all the highs and then next time do all the mediums and next do all the lows or I mean what do you mean by several larger project? I think we so so yes there were some of those projects I can you go back to where it had the cost breakdown that that sheet the at the spreadsheet. Yeah the cost table. Yes ma'am. You didn't total up what the highs were, but the large

two million I have one for high, right? So, what we'd probably do, we'd need to really u get the engineers input on this. Um, but it may be cost-effective to to do high, medium, and low all in a in one run. So, if we said, okay, we're going to take, you know, a half a mile here or 3/4 of a mile there, uh, and do it all at one time. So, we need to we need to look at um are there some critical areas from a safety standpoint that have to be addressed first and we know that there's some areas that we're like uh this needs to be addressed really really quickly. Um so, so we just need to look at all of those aspects to kind of figure out, okay, this would be phase one, this would be phase two.

Yeah, I think I think it obviously, you know, we'd like to do everything at one time, but that goes back to the grants. or are there other funding things that would help facilitate this? Because uh so if I can just comment on that for a second, we did the watershed um study uh probably a year ago now or a little more. So that provided the basis for us to be able to go out and ask for these grants because we needed a watershed study to show you know where the issues are and stuff. So

it's good. Yeah, I mean I I yeah I can just speak for myself. Obviously this is something I think is important but we also have a list of 50 other things are equally important and that's what bas so I said grants or other things can always help so that's uh and for clarification this doesn't include the trails along the way too so the trail project that we were looking at with Penelope um or is there an opportunity again economies of sale scale if we're going to have excavators already in there is it something that you might would consider doing better right these These these costs are purely for for the stream restoration. Okay. The costs are Yes. Okay.

Are there any others on the radar that we can that we'll wind up hearing about later or is this pretty much once we get this fixed? That's the primary concern for the erosion, right? Any other streams or anything you

Yeah, we have a lot of erosion issues, but like I said, this was the one we chose to focus on. I mean, it's very publicly used and the town owns most of it. Um but we had mentioned last time that um the mayor had mentioned that potentially looking at some other areas that we could do as volunteer projects where you know like smaller sections where we have volunteers come out and and um stabilize those sections kind of like what we did down at Har Street Park where we did that small section. Um, the thing about about this, just to touch on for a second, what you would choose to do is you you want to do it in a section that doesn't push the problem further downstream or upstream. So, you want to choose an area that's um, basically you have a starting and stopping point. So, for this two-m stretch, it's a culvert to a culvert. And so, it's it's, you know, like a good starting point and stopping point. So, you wouldn't be pushing the problem anywhere else.

It's a great presentation. Thank Thank you.

I would like to add a couple of things that we discussed in the prior presentation um that I think is important for the public to know. Uh number one, these are projects that matter because of runoff being created from parking lots and driveways and other imperous structures that for many years when there was a need we did that. uh this council has made an agreement that we will look moving forward at how do we make better decisions on what's allowed so that we can start reducing that as well as developing a tree committee where we find replacement uh initiatives for people to plant more trees. Guys, this heat that we're experiencing and the types of floods that occur after the ground gets so hot and the runoff has been diverted, those are situations that we have an opportunity to work on and do things differently. I personally support that we do this um because I believe that taking action now coupled with council's decisions on how we can better say you can't put this much square footage of asphalt. You're going to have to do some impervious or some work. That's the core reason that the storm water vision was created by the state so that we could better manage how that water runoff. guys, we can't live without water. We We can live without a whole lot, but we can't live without water. So, I do think this is critical path work. I love what you're doing, and I'm I'm very supportive of it as it relates to I'm sure it's going to come up as a budget item. I do think we need to know exactly which parts of this from an engineering perspective are critical that we do together because I do know that you can do one thing it can cause another

problem if we don't do the simultaneous work on the second piece. So I I I think money is important always but I do think that we want to get the most for our money that we possibly can in corrective action. So to your point, you know, the ones that are high, we need to know which ones, if we didn't do them, would create a problem we don't have today. So I do think it's upon um you guys to lead us in that direction because certainly I don't know of a water engineer on my council. So um I think before we can decide how to move forward, we have to kind of know which ones can be done and correlate to success and then we do the next one. So again, would it do make following up on that and what you just said would it make sense to do like first if was 1500 feet the first 300 feet whether it's high low or whatever to fix that problem because as you said that yeah we fix it here but we still got erosion coming down here is that going to undermine that solution so if we just started at one end or the other and did certain section high low mediums then you know whatever ideally um Eric's going to find us some wonderful grant where this is not cost prohibitive and we can just say do the whole thing. I'm not putting that on you. I am putting that on you grants. Leanne and mine are the ones that go out and get the grants.

No, I'm putting it towards you. You can just mark it off. No, but anyway, so I think we need as the mayor said, I we'd like to see options, right? Because uh I do think it's very important. But there again, we have lots of things we'd like and and need to do and it's just one of them. So, how do we figure all that out and what's the highest priorities? I think I'd like to see some action as soon as possible.

It is it's a challenge for council to see so many opportunities and so many requests and so many dreams and desires, but our environment shouldn't be optional. It should be something that we place first. So, I am u I'm very determined that we get some of this done if if not as much as we can. And I'm very grateful for the hard work that's gone into the plan. Thank you. And hopefully some of this um with the correction will prevent some of the work the group before us had to do because that's part of what happens when the wilder overflows. It pulls trash from other places and starts moving it. So awesome. No, thank you. Um

I learned a new term while I was researching some of this and I've been trying to figure out how I can work it in here, but I just want to say it. Water goat. I thought that was a great one. I was like if this works into it. Isn't that the right term for the nets that collect the trash? It is. I say that's a great word for it, but it's like well I can work this into anyway. So So you're our official water goat of the town council. So successful. I'll take tree hug or you get water goat. There you go. Yes. Okay. Any further questions for Leanne or Eric. Thank you so much for taking the time to present. Good job. Thank you.

Leanne, you're walking away real quick. Um, on the smaller projects that we have, can we start identifying those as quick as possible for small volunteer projects? We always get asked about Eagle Scout projects they're doing or Girl Scouts that want to do something. So, start working to those smaller ones. So, we can post it on our website. I mean, mine is here listening, so she's probably already got the wheels turning as you're saying. I'm sure she already has pictures of the presentation ready to roll. So, yeah. Thank you. Appreciate it, ladies. Thank you.

Great work, guys. Yes. All right. There are no old business items for this evening. However, we will move uh to business it new business item number one. First reading an ordinance authorizing staff to enter into a lease agreement with the Fort Mill History Museum for the office space located at 111 South White Street. Mr. Pettit.

Thank you, Mayor. Um last year, council authorized staff to lease out uh a vacant office space at 111 South White Street for a period of one year. that period uh being up in October, staff is coming back to council for your consideration of entering into a new 2-year lease uh with terms matching the uh terms in the prior lease. And I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. Council members, do you have any questions?

No, I Mr. Bett, I read through I thought it was I think it's a win-win uh solution. Uh I like not having the otter renewal on there. So, we do come back to re review each year to see if things have changed. Um, I think there's been some uh nice enhancements to the to what was otherwise being unused. Uh, it was nice to get the broken window out. I'm glad that they they did that. Um, and uh, you know, I think it's a I think it's a kind of a win-win solution. I have no concerns about going to a two-year term. I

I agree with Councilman Wolf on that. Like I said, the improvements they've made to the to the facility is, you know, definitely needed and, you know, definitely improving the asset. So, I'm all for the two-year lease on that. All right. Hearing that, does someone have a motion? I'll make a motion to approve first reading of new business item number one. So, second. Have a motion and two seconds. All those in favor, please say I. I. All those opposed. Thank you. New business item number two, consideration of approval of town hall renovations, CM contract amendment 001, guaranteed maximum price. Our town manager, Carrie Vargo. Good evening, everyone. Good evening.

Uh, I am pleased beyond belief to be able to present this to council this evening. Uh attached for your review and consideration is a guaranteed maximum price amendment to a contract that had been previously approved by this council specific to construction and renovation of our new town hall located at 205 North White Street. Construction will include um construction or renovation of our new customer service area located on the uh well ground floor or second floor, whichever floor.

Uh the the new permanent home of the Fort Mill Police Department and the new permanent home of of this council on on the the top floor of of this particular building. Um construction timelines are consistent with what had previously been communicated to this council. Substantial completion would be expected in July of 2027. The permanent home of the Fort Mill Police Department and customer service area is expected to be completed by the end of this year. They would be expected to move in uh January of 2026. The guaranteed maximum price amendment is for a total dollar amount of 5 million771 0003 and 24 cents. That includes a previously expended amount of $346,000 uh 346503. um putting the the the balance of the construction on the police department, council chambers, and customer service at 5 million $424,500. Um the the uh the amendment does include some some contingencies and allowances for some issues that we are well aware of. flooring in the permanent police department uh based on sub the subfloor. Um we we've we've bid uh an LVP in certain sections of that that particular area of the building. Not sure it's going to work, etc. But we know our costs will only either remain the same or go down from there, but there are contingencies for repairs, etc. Um insurance and bonding is all industry standard. We have no concerns there. Um, we do expect construction to begin, frankly, with council approval within the next week or so.

Council members, you're as quiet as I am. Well, I'm ready. I'm Let's wait.

I think I think for those that are going to watch later or are here today, uh, these are continued renovations. As we made a purchase of the building to preserve an iconic structure in Fort Mill, we knew that this facility would house the town and its operations for many years to come. But we also knew it had not been actively used for many years and would have to have some of its current condition altered and updated. not just colors and and that type of work, but rather optimum efficiency and actual workspace that fit the work we would be doing here. So, I'm not at all surprised that we're continuing to go about that. I for one will be very happy when we're finished. Yes.

Um and be very happy to see the end product. I don't regret for a minute uh council's actions to purchase the building and and keep it in its current state so that it didn't become a five-story hotel or a boutique situation. I love business, but this is not something you could come in and build. This is something we needed to preserve. So, I'm very proud of council's actions on that. Um, but again, I I will look forward when we're complete.

Well said. Uh, and my questions were I didn't we didn't have the drawings. I know we've seen them before, but this will cover I was looking through the the I think it's exhibit E and basically it's the best detail you've got. So, this does cover the customer service area. It does cover the police, all the security areas, all renovations. There's not going to come back and be another list that's going to be amended to this. No, sir. other than something guaranteed maximum price covering the entire scope of the project.

Yeah, I actually read through the contingencies and there's, you know, what's not included here in exhibit D and I get that, but I just, you know, we kind of I've kind of lost where we are in the project. We're in, but we're not and it still looks like we're kind of shoehorned into the building and I know we need the customer service area and get that moved over. I just want to make sure when we make the decision that this is all we're all in. This is everything. This is the exact maximum price. Correct.

And I concur. Um I am accustomed in my previous life to working to a milestone schedule type of work where you set the beginning and the end point that you hope to arrive at or plan to arrive at and you see those in stages. We've been kind of doing this a bit. The fish tailing is nauseating to me. Um, but I I do concur with Councilman Wolf that um it will be good to get this completion schedule solidified. Yeah. And and we certainly have a project schedule that that uh once final permitting is complete uh we'd be happy to share that with you. Okay. Great.

What work will not be complete as of the end of next year? So you mentioned there another six, seven months. Yes. So, um, they they will begin construction within the next week or so. They that construction concurrently will include construction of the police department as well as the customer service area. Um, once the police department moves from the top floor of this building down into their permanent home, which is expected January of 26, they then go upstairs and start to build out the permanent home of council. Um, so, so we would expect to have you folks relocated to the top floor of this building in July of 27. I'm sorry. 26. Okay.

Right. Yeah. 26. I'm sorry. There's no 27 involved in this project. It's July of 26. My apologies. Thank you. No wonder you guys were all looking at me like that. July of July of 26. Okay. It's February. It's it's January 26 for the police department and customer service. July of 26 the the entire substantial u substantial completion date is is roughly it's just over 365 days. So a year from now we will be done. Correct. Hallelujah. Cuz we had a giant I'm not quite sure. I didn't know why the mayor was looking at me like that. We were all looking at me like that. I know.

Okay everybody here. July 2026. Yeah. 11. Write it on the wall. Yes. Goodness. All right. Are there any further questions for Carrie on our schedule to complete this building? Uh hearing none. Need a motion. I was going to say real quick, can we um be sure to get an update quarterly on this project. You know, we've asked for our capital projects to get at least a quarterly update on we we expect to give you updates more frequently than quarterly. Be awesome. I'm sure the citizens would love to hear the progress and what's going on. That would actually be very good that to let to keep public communications of where we are because we hear those questions a lot. Yeah, happy to. That'd be great.

Yes, we do. I need a motion. Make a motion to approve any business. Item number two. Second. Have a motion. And a second. All those in favor, please say I. I. All those opposed. Thank you so much. Hold their feet to the fire. Carrie. All right. I'm assigning that to you. All right. New business item number three, request to approve a facade improvement grant for 219 Main Street, Sweet 101. Penelopey, welcome.

Welcome. Um, mayor, council, good evening. Um, the town of Fort Mill has developed and implemented a facade grant um improvement grant program to encourage um reinvestment in and revitalization of the downtown commercial district. Um, this program allows the town to reimburse the recipient 50% of all eligible expenditures up to a maximum of $5,000 to help offset the cost of exterior improvements to a property owner or tenants commercial building. This grant requires a minimum match equal to or greater than the total grant amount. In this instance, um the application indicates that the allotted funds would be applied toward the cost of a projecting sign along with new window and door signage. The applicant did receive a certificate of appropriateness from the town of Fort Mill historic um historic review board for this signage on June 10th of this year. They did follow the requirements of providing staff the three required vendors for this project. Um the the minimum project um projected project cost um was the $3,630.98 for the signage and also this we add the actual $250 for the application which was a total of $3,880.98. This grant amount um requested for tonight it's $1,940. The amount requested is based upon the town's facade improvement grant guidelines which indicate that for projects under $10,000 in value, the applicant shall be eligible for for a 50 um% reimbursement. A committee um that includes myself, a senior planner, Alex Moore, Ken Jackson,

the building official, we met on June 25th. We reviewed the application. the applicant is eligible for this grant and and I'm just here tonight to answer any questions that you may have.

I'm thrilled to see somebody using the facade grant because I think it's critically important um as we work to make the downtown corridor continue to grow and continue to be updated. I saw the rendering. It's very nice looking. Uh we love the businesses that are coming downtown and we want to support them. So, it's a great initiative that was brought to us by somebody in the audience that works really hard and uh we're we're just grateful that that exists so that our businesses can gain some some encouragement and moving forward. Yes.

Yeah. I was also I was glad to see the process of how it went through historic review, your committee, every eyes dotted, every tease crossed. Uh the only question I had was is the uh I understand they're going to have some vinyl logos on the windows. Is that part of the facade grant too or is it just the sign? Just it's it's both of it. It's it's the sign the projection sign and the the word um graphics on the windows and doors. But it was just nice to see how y'all went through the process and everybody got us. That's great. I think it's a great thing.

I do too. And we do urge other business um um community, you know, partners downtown Main Street that we do have the facade grant. Um each year, I believe we are funded about $15,000 in the planning department for people to come out and apply for these grants. Love it. You said one of my favorite words, partner. Yes. Now, how often does that actually get used? How much that 15,000 usually gets gets? Well, here recently we really um the last time we used this um was in May of 2022. So, not nearly enough. Not nearly enough. Do we have an estimate of when this business will be opening timing? They're they're going through the upfit process. They've got their permits and they're and they're going through the construction process.

Yeah, they got signs on the in the windows now. Temper temporary signs in the windows now. Well, and I'd like to ask um staff to make sure we communicate out this business is opening, but more so the fact that they've taken advantage of this grant for us and really talked to the opportunity for other business owners in the area to be able to use it.

Sure. Well, this is only one of the few tools. I mean, we don't recruit industry, but of support that we can, you know, had the Bailey bill, but that's we approved that not long after you became mayor and that really spurned that locking it in the tax value 20 years prior to redevelopment of a building and then the Bailey bill on top of and the facade improvement on top of it. You know, we've done this council and people that are no longer sitting with us as well. Give Trudy and Jamie and Larry Huntley some credit. they supported these programs as well and and and the businesses here in town. So, um, good job to everyone. I'm excited to have another fitness um business there on Main Street. We had one before that was very successful for a long time, so I'm glad to bring it back.

Yeah, we are doing very well with diversity of different businesses on Main Street. Good point. Excellent. Is there anything that would have them leave that sign should they leave in several years since the town is, you know, kind of partner? They're not leaving. They're going to be wildly successful. Well, I agree. Maybe they'll move on to something bigger and better, but bigger. Well, again, if if say a a business downtown is vacant and, you know, the signs there, the new business owner could come through this process again and get the three estimates and replace the projecting sign with their business logo. So, we could still help the new business um you know, as they're moving into the new tenant space. Right. All right. I need a motion.

Make a motion we approve new business item number three. I'll second. And I have a second. All those in favor, please say I. I. All those opposed. Thank you so much. Thank you. Excellent. Just excellent. Thank you, Penelope. All you continue to do. Your names up on just about every action item. All right. Uh we now have a committee report uh for the ad hoc appointments advisory committee recommendation for planning commission candidate. Councilman Helms will uh guide us through that step.

On Monday, January the 21st, 2025, the ad hoc appointments committee met and made a recommendation to fill a vacant position for the planning commission by recommending Jonathan Hutchinson to serve on the planning commission.

We had a vacancy that uh occurred on our planning commission. um that vacancy occurred because of someone's living arrangements. And you know, we do want the people that serve on that committee. They're all volunteers and we love them dearly for the hard work that they put in, but they do need to live in our community. Um the ad hoc committee reviews all volunteer um recommendations and any one that's interested in a a a seat on one of those committees. And we certainly do continuously look for those that have a background in that area and we try to make sure that we find balance across the community. They're not all in one location. So, um, Penelopey supports us in a huge way in making sure we know and and giving the information to us so that we can make a decision. Does anyone have any question about this appointment?

I'll make a motion to accept the appointment. the recommendation of the advisory committee as submitted. We have a motion to approve. I'll second and a second. All those in favor, please say I. I.

All those opposed. Thank you so much. There are no further information discussion items and there are no executive session items. So, um, with very little further ado, does anyone have anything they want to mention for the good of the whole other than Great Scott, it's hot outside. Please be careful and say prayers daily for our staff that works out on the hot roads and um do the things that they do to keep our town working and our citizens served. I I would not want to be a person that had to do that. I wouldn't make it an hour. So, please uh continue to keep our police, fire, public works, wreck programs. Keep them all in your thoughts and prayers, please. It was a great me meeting with things that were across the community that affected all of us uh and the kind of the welfare of the town in general. Um special thanks to to Chuck. I know he uh had to take off but really appreciate that as a product of the Fort Mill School District. Um class of 86. Proud of that and the the work that they have all done as a school district and the partnership that was mentioned there before and the keeping our real estate values high. But no, I appreciate all that he's done and and everyone at the school district. So

I will say for me kind of throwing back um it's neat to see how everything came together for me here um of how I was raised in the community and grew up and I actually in high school did an internship with the Fort Mill School District where Dr. EPS at the time had been a principal um and was just starting in his career and so that gave me the encouragement. And I hate Miss Brackett left, but you know, I did an intern internship many years ago, not as many as you, but um many years ago and then that has gone into continuing public service and continuing to work in the community. So, it it's a great place to live and I'm very blessed to live here. Hearing that, I'll entertain a motion for adjournment.

I'll make a motion that we adjourn. All those in favor, please say I. I all those opposed. Thank you so much for joining us this evening. We'll see you in a couple of weeks.