Town Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you. I'd like to call the meeting to order and would welcome each and every one of you to our council meeting this evening. Uh rainy Mondays are nobody's friend. So, uh that you were willing and able to come out and work with us tonight. Says a lot about your character. So, thank you so very much. Um in just a second, we will have a pledge of allegiance. Uh Ronnie will lead us in an invitation. And before he begins, I'd like for everyone to take a moment of silence to say in your heart something about all those that are in the path of Hurricane Melissa. um just when you think they can't scare you anymore. Um you know, the press certainly chooses all those monster words and everything, but Haiti, the Dominion Republic, um Jamaica, Cuba, you know, those are very small places comparatively speaking with none of the opportunities to protect themselves that we enjoy and take for granted. So, um if you will, we'll have a pledge of allegiance and then a moment of silence and then Ronnie will give our invocation. 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. We'll just have a moment of silence. Let us pray. Lord, we thank you for another beautiful day you've given us. We thank you for all the blessings you bestowed upon us. We pray you be wisdom. Guide us, direct us, give us wisdom.

Amen. Thank you. Okay. If you have any device that could ring, chime, chirp, or play us a song, please put it on um silence so that we can give you our full attention. Pursuant to section 2-46 of the code of ordinances for the town of Fort Mill, any citizen of the town may appear before the 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 council chambers prior to the start of the meeting. Citizens will be given three minutes each to speak. I have Jerry Grantsky. Jerry, would you like to come to the podium?

Our presentation down there or We'd love to have a presentation. We I'll get to them. Yeah. They were next. It's okay. There we go. Up on the screen. I'll try and make good use of this thing. Well, number one, thank you. Uh, excuse me, Jerry. I need to recuse myself from any discussion or decisions on this potential conflict. Do you have the recusal? Barry's okay. You're welcome to listen, please. And thank you.

All right,

there we go. And it's great to see you all again. And most importantly, I want to thank all of you for your continued support the last couple of years, giving us your advice, your input, your consideration. Um, it may have been a little over two years. It doesn't seem like that long. And I think we're finally at a point where we hear you well. And I hope that today when we make this presentation that it resonates and um we can all begin to link our heritage and what we've done with this town together to extend Main Street in Fort Mill. I think this project does that. Um this was a family statement that's carried forth from last November when we met together. The the basic intent behind that is um the family does want to extend Main Street and create this community magnet and turn this vacant warehouse into a substantial multifamily um beautiful spot for residents to be with 25,000 square foot of retail. They have no intent to sell the property to give it to another developer. Um, I think the commitment of the family over the years and how they've interlocked with the with the township will evidence even further as we go along with this project. Uh, the team members are the same. Uh, DPR is our civil engineer. BBNM is our architect. And with one change, our law firm, we've, uh, moved away from Morren Van Allen. Um, the gentleman that we were working with retired. I wish it was my turn. Um and we've replaced him with no salen jeter. This is the current condition of the zoning. Uh it's right now at G1 general

industrial. It's been like that since day one. And uh our intent and our request and our aspiration is to have that turned to MXU multiple use. This is the current um condition of the building. Uh we note that we're going to reuse the three parking lots to facilitate the um requirements of the parking at 1.5 per unit and three uh 3.5 per thousand square foot of retail. The additional feature that after spending some time with you all is to build a two-level parking deck behind the new building. All right, Chris, here we go. We're going to try this thing. Oh, that's those are the existing conditions. I'm going to go to the the next slide. I'm sorry. So, back here where that new building is, that will now be a two-level parking garage. The lower level will be for residents for deliveries and for trash removal and the upper will be for the retail and public space. The requirement of parking for the development conditions is 426 spaces and currently with this additional parking element we will now fall somewhere between 500 and 531 spaces. So, it should yield close to a 100 spaces for township use. Also, on this, you may notice on one of the details, we've gone from parallel parking on Watson to diagonal parking, which puts us only on the side of the street where the new building is, and on the mill the mill building side, there will be no parking along the curb side.

we don't lose any spaces and I think there's a bigger comfort level in pulling in diagonally. I think it's safer. We've washed this out with fire marshal Eric Werner. He agrees with us. We've talked about his ability to get to the building and get fires extinguished. Um he was in tune with all of that. So, um those are some of the um new parts that you may not have seen back in November. We are also uh believe it or not in pretty good communication with Norfolk Southern Railroad and we are going to be submitting to them uh if not tomorrow uh certainly by Wednesday uh an application to lease have a land lease on the land between the railroad and the building so we can create a community pedestrian bikeway and walkway to help connect um the building uh and part of Link street, get it back down into Main Street where crossings as Maine, where Maine is at. We're also still studying the feasibility of putting those raised walkways from railroad to crossings on Maine to Academy and we found out that the township has that lease agreement. Uh, and the the only stumbling block that we see at this point is that if we put the raised walkway in between railroad and crossings on Maine that we will lose two or three parking spaces because you're not allowed to back up into a pedestrian raised walkway. So, we'll still have to figure that the logistics of that out. But I think with the additional parking with the deck and depending on where that safety lies with regard to the raised walkway, it'll be decision that we'll work closely with the planning department.

Um we've also um took a good ear to talk about how we can distribute the traffic a little bit more efficiently and not be flooding these thoroughfairs with cars. So actually with the two layers of parking we were able to push some parking uh some traffic onto railroad some onto Watson some onto Williamson and then there is multiple points of ingress and egress as it relates to um the continuation of the project along Williamson. Uh this will actually uh Amy Massie from Kingley Horn is not here but in conversations with her she really thought that this was going to even further improve what they had a what they reviewed in their traffic impact analysis. Um also included uh in the scope of work for civil any road that is within the project boundaries the uh curb to curb will be resurfaced. So that'll be link uh Williamson and Watson and a very very small section of railroad. Uh, this view is a little bit further away. I don't know if there's such a thing as blowing this up, but uh, it shows where our trash and I'm going to try and do this like this right now. Where is that green? Our trash receptacles and uh, resident uh, deliveries and um, moving trucks will work on this side of the building. And then we have on the new building underground as I mentioned before. And on this side of the building, we are investigating this section right here for pickup of of garbage garbage removal.

I think this helps to give you a little bit of idea that the parking deck it we've decided to go below grade and not raise it up so it doesn't become an eyesore to the public. can um the public parking will be on top and the main point of access for that parking lot will be off of Watson. Uh and you can see the lower level there, it's showing that you can exit the lower level onto Williamson. And then when we go around to the back of the building, you'll also be able to enter exit onto Railroad. The parking level will be level with the retail section of the building. These are some photographs that we have shared with you all before. Um, we've taken it a little bit further because um, there was a a request to see how big does this building look in comparison to some others that were in the township, but also some from different vantage points. So, I'm going to pass over these for a second. Oh, wait a minute. I'm going to go back to that in a minute. Route sequence. Okay. So, this is from at the intersection of Main Street. Um, and the building is set back right there. You get some idea of the impact it'll have on the horizon. This is from Milstone Park. And all the landscape that you see here is all existing. We we haven't added anything to further disguise the impact of the building. The only landscape that's new would be around the the perimeter of the building itself. And this is from the end of Williamson when you wouldn't be able to even see the building. We furthered uh that by trying to show an a difference between

um the apartment building and the name is escaping me. the Greens. Golfer can't remember the Greens. Geez Louise. Not good. Um, and so there's an actual a total of a five- foot difference between the two buildings. So for all intent and purposes, um, it really is going to have, I believe, the same impact. And we are 9 ft below the height allowed by code, which is at 60 ft. And we're at 50t 11 in. I'm going to go back to that last one that Oh, why is it going the wrong way? Oh, this one. I'm sorry. I'm jumping around here a little bit. The reason I added this slide in was to um kind of confirm some of the uh verbiage that I've used with you all before. When this building was built, it had more glass than brick. And when this building will be done, there will be a lot more glass than brick. And this gives you some idea. Um the so the middle slide is looking at it from Williamson. The top slide is looking at it from the railroad. And all those windows existed in that building at one time. And that is a section I believe from I think that's from Watson. The top one is from Watson. So these apartments will be something really unbelievable once they're done. And of course all this exterior skin work will not only have to be approved by the federal agencies, but the township has their own agency that will have the ability to review and provide their input.

Sorry for the skipping around. Um, this is a realistic photo that was done to try and help um, give the ability to see the impact of the project. This is supposed to project at 10:30 in the morning on a Saturday and people walking around the retail section coming in out of the the old mill building. And then they did one that was supposed to represent a Saturday early evening. And just give you some idea of how the romantic lighting will look down looking down Watson Street. Uh we kept the one page in. I didn't know uh Chris if you needed to see the traffic impact analysis and the five modifications that were required. Obviously, we've already agreed to make all those modifications. Th those would include things like the uh increase in size of Williamson um I'm sorry, of Watson. Uh the sides the size of the sidewalks that were required in there. There's a little protective language for both the developer and for the township as it relates to the raised walkways. I think we're going to be able to get that done. I I I really feel pretty positive about that. Um, but we're we're still committing to all of those features, uh, requirements. I'm sorry. I need to go back again. I'm sorry. I think Chris messed these slides up on me. All right. One last thing is the the uh developer, the family has decided to provide the township with an apartment subsidy for employees of the township, first responders, policemen, firemen, teachers, people in the school system, and um so there is a 5% of the apartment

total, which equals 11 apartments. They will need to be in the main building and uh they will be for a period of one year. We're waiting for the final language. Chris and I are trying to work that out. But there are um I think six onebedrooms, three twobedrooms, and two studios that will be available. And the township employees will also have priority listing when there's a wait list. So if there's a wait list and a township employee wants an apartment, we are going to hopscotch them up to the top of the list and they'll get a 10% discount over the rates that we have. And that is um that is our presentation.

Thank you, Jerry. It is a it's an attractive facility and I know how much work has gone into it and you know from my heart I want to say thank you for the diligence, the patience and the work that you have put into this. Council members, do you have questions for Jerry? Um, are we going to have like a kind of a open discussion about the uh the write up or is this Yeah, we'll have another opportunity into old business item number one. Yeah. No further questions. Thank you so much. Thank you again. I really appreciate and special thank you to Lisa. I'm sleeping much better now.

I keep that note right on the side of my

All right, we got one more variation to our agenda. Um, I had the distinct honor recently to speak at Fort Mills American Legion. The American Legion Ladies Auxiliary celebrated 100 years of service and it touched my heart in ways that I could only start to tell you. So, I'm going to extract a couple of pieces from what I said to them and then we're going to make a proclamation in regards to the service uh that you have given our community. I know we have several uh folks here. I'll have you stand shortly, but um the lady's auxiliary motto is service, not self. How often do we hear that these days? Not very. Their mission is to support the American Legion and to honor the sacrifice of those who serve by enhancing the lives of our veterans, military, and their families both at home and abroad. For God and country to advocate for veterans, educate our citizens, mentor youth, and to promote patriotism, good citizenship, peace, and security. We in this community see you and your service in our community. You lay wreaths to honor those that lost their lives, giving their all for us. You bring meals and provide for those that have sacrificed and live to tell the story. You help shape our future with programs, contests, and scholarships for our youth. You send care packages to our soldiers and aid to those in disasters and emergencies. You honor those in our lives with your lives and service. That service feels warm, compassionate, and respectful to me. I am honored to know you and to join you

in celebrating your 100th year of service, not self. And with that to recognize and honor the members of the Fort Mill American Legion Auxiliary Post number 43 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the same. Whereas the Fort Mill American Legion Auxiliary Unit number 43 has provided 100 years of dedicated service to our community, offering unwavering support to veterans, active military personnel, and their families. Since its establishment on October the 10th, 1923, that was even before Ronnie and I were born. The members of the auxiliary have diligently upheld the organization's mission, working tirelessly to serve and advocate for our nation's heroes and their families in strong partnership with the American Legion. And this centennial milestone represents a significant achievement, making a century of patriotism, leadership, and community engagement by the dedicated members of the Fort Mill Auxiliary. Now therefore, let it be proclaimed that the town of Fort Mill does hereby commend and congratulate the Fort Mill American Legion Auxiliary Unit number 43 on this historic occasion of its 100th in anniversary and extend its deepest gratitude for a century of invaluable service. This is proclaimed by the mayor and town council of Fort Mill, South Carolina this 27th day of October 2025. Members of the auxiliary, would you come forward so we can present this and get a photo? Come on. Come on. How are you? It's so

nice to have you. It's so good to see you again. Good to see you. Thank you for joining us.

Where'd you go? There you are. We'll all know. It's our pleasure. It is our distinct pleasure to honor these ladies. So, if you'd like to hold it. Um, please join in and let's do something for posterity. We were in here 100 years ago, though. That's right. You've made up for every minute. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Can we have a round of applause for these WONDERFUL Thank you all. I love you dearly. Thank you all. Appreciate you. Thank you. Thank you. amazing folks that stand behind everyone and everything. So, we're so grateful to have you. Um, one of the things before I close this out because many of us are old Fort Mill folks. Um, and I mean that both in age and time here. These are the names of the original um members. Miss WJ Baron, Miss William B. Arrey Jr., Miss Cleo Bales, Miss Lily Bales, Miss George Belk, Miss BD Culp, Mrs. Oscar Culp, Mrs. Wilburn Ferguson, Mrs. John Gunn, Mrs. Francis Murray Mack, Mrs. JB Mack, and Mrs. Lison M. Massie. These are the folks that were a part of that original group um that we are honoring today for existing and serving for 100 years in this community. I know so many people that are related to all these people. That is just a a very distinct honor. Thank you so very much. We appreciate you. All right. There are no other presentations. Council members, you were provided the council meeting minutes from October the 13th. Do you have any changes, deletions, corrections?

I'll make a motion to accept the minutes as submitted. I have a motion. Second and a second. All those in favor, please say I.

I. All those opposed? Thank you. We will now move to old business. Old business item number one, first reading and public hearing. We will do the public hearing first. An ordinance amending the zoning map of the town of Fort Mill to change the zoning designation for York County tax map numbers. My favorite part, not 020 06, 01, 051, 052, 053, 054, 058, and 034. approximately 15.9 plus or minus acres from general industrial and R10 to one family residential district to MXU Mixeduse development district to adopt a mixeduse concept plan and development conditions and other matters relating there too. This is in ward two which is Ronnie Helms's ward and Chris Pettit is our subject matter expert. Chris. Uh, let's do the public meeting first. We will open the public meeting. Does anyone wish to speak in regards to this lengthy paragraph hearing? None. We'll close the public hearing. Chris, would you like to

Yes, Mayor. Um as as Jerry presented um on behalf of the applicant, uh this is a proposal to uh for a reasonzoning to ultimately um go to a mixeduse redevelopment of the old mill site uh for a maximum of 225 multif family residential units and a maximum of 25,000 a minimum of 20,000 commercial square ft. Um since since council last saw it and uh the applicant went over this as well, the changes uh have been uh the addition of a parking deck uh to increase the amount of parking provided for the project well above code minimum. A redesign of uh the new Watson Street to go from a parallel parking um concept, which nobody likes a parallel park, to a diagonal parking concept, which is much uh safer and easier to use. um as well as uh agreeing to uh mill and um resurface all of the streets adjacent to the project u within their project boundary. Staff uh has worked with the applicant to include new language within the development conditions such that what you see is what you get and if something changes uh that is a material change, a major modification that it would necessitate coming back before council. Uh that's something that we've discussed doing on all of our projects moving forward. Um and with that, I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have on the project.

Before we begin, questions for just for the folks that might be watching this later this week. Uh this is in regards to a proposal to redevelop and certainly improve the property at the foot of Sprat Street, Railroad Avenue, Williamson Street, and Watson Street. Uh it is in my lifetime it was called the white plant. It was a textile plant owned and operated by the Springs folks. More recently it has been used by the uh folks with rugs.com. I think you are fantastic rug dealers and have used that to the best of your ability, but you no longer need that property for that purpose. So um I just want to make sure anyone that sees this understands specifically which property we're talking about. So, council members, do you have questions for Chris?

Yes, I do. Um, a few one of the things you noted just a minute ago about the it that everything would have to trigger to come back to council. There is a paragraph in there that says the planning director, I forget the exact verbiage, but the planning director would have discretion on making a decision or if it comes back to council. So, would everything anything that changes? It would not be anything. So, uh there there still has to uh we still have to go through the um historic review board. Uh we still have to go through building code plan review and things of that nature. So, you know, if they're changing a sophet from this sophet to that sophet, no, it does not come back before council. But if it's a major modification to where it doesn't pass the smell test of it doesn't look like this, that comes back to council, right? Um let's see then on page five it mentions architectural standards will be established under the last paragraph and then it says the development standards state that so it's almost like it contradicts itself says it will be established but then the next sentence says it almost like they already exist but it's just a little confusing on page five last paragraph just didn't know if that was something you know who would be establishing those standards and and what would they be? So this is generally talking about uh the the long term of the project such that um you know 20 years down the road if it was to sell there'd be um covenants running with the land that that require XYZ. Okay.

Um again it does go through um it's subject to the National Register requirements. It's subject to the town's historic review board and then also the planning commission. Uh and then also uh the caveat that you just mentioned where the planning director can uh in their discretion determine that this is a major modification going away from what council has approved and required to come back to this uh council. So uh there there's a lot of um redundancy redundancy that's a great word mayor uh in protecting um the plan to be what council has approved.

Right. So it doesn't stay fluid, it stays directed and its original intent. One of the things that uh really I thought was very important to mention is the in this document it says that historic review board would do appearance review and I know historically that has to do with existing structures that are uh not new structures. So, it seems to me like HRB would have the review on the existing mill, but the new building that planning would look at that. That's correct. Okay. Cuz I don't think this that document doesn't say that.

The the it it notes that if a building was to be put on the National Register, which the mill has been, it would go before the HRB. The new construction is obviously not on the National Register, so it would go to plan. Okay. I just didn't know if any of the property or anything would hook that in so that the planning commission would not take a look at that. The way I have read this that that is the way that would go.

Uh there was and I apologize I've got a lot of notes here. There was some comments about I think it was page 57 5D reducing the setback for parking from 35 ft to 6 ft and just didn't know why we would kind of arbitrarily do that. We so we have in the code uh there are means and methods of doing that. This is basically in a section of the parking lot that is existing. Right.

Uh so they're they're noting that there's an existing parking lot. It does not meet the uh typical standard. So uh they're going in to create an alternative standard of the 6ft opaque fence with um plantings. I think planted 6 ft at height uh uh day one um of of evergreen screens. So there won't be an expansion of any existing parking or made deeper or wider. They're enhancing what's already there. U as far as buffering the existing parking,

right? Just concerned about, you know, noise and things for the so the surrounding neighbors. It could be just for for a wall. So it would be more of a fence versus a wall. Um opaque fence. Okay. Not a not a fan of that. But um let's see there was one thing on page 50. It says a concept to Pleasant Whitley and I've not heard that. Was that a is that a typo? That may That's a typo. Um what section was that in? Uh page 50.

I may not have the same page numbers as you. Let's see if I can section. Oh, is that in the ordinance itself? Yes, that would be a copy and paste error on my behalf and I will happily change that. Um, yep, I' I've got it. Uh, will the street be able to stay open during the construction, the Watson to cut over to the neighborhood?

Sta staff's already begun conversations with the applicant on that and we'll work uh with the applicant on that. Okay. Is that still up in the air? I I would say at this time it's up in the air. Um the realignment of plat I think is the concern here, right? especially when Main Street is closed for an event for the township and then for the emergency vehicles.

So, we we had a very very preliminary conversation with Eric Warner, the fire marshall about how you know when that street is going to one doesn't close and one is open because they both have the same start point. They just have a different finish point, right? So there there's going to be time that that road is going to be closed, but we're going to have to coordinate that and try and minimize the amount of time that that road is closed. It's going to be tough. That's going to be a burden for that side of town. I I spoke with our emergency services staff. I mean, they certainly it removes an option. They weren't overly concerned with it, but we'll certainly work with the applicant the best we can to minimize.

Not that I'm not concerned about emergency services, more the people they're trying to to come back and forth from Bank Street. I think there's a way we do we build roads whether it be interstates or two-lane roads and things where we keep everything open and work to each side of it. I know there's kind of a unique situation but that's a big concern of mine. There's going to be a lot of repaving in that area and rework going on anyway. Yes, that's for a day or two. I mean when there's an event we have on Main Street that that Watson becomes a very busy thorough affair. I agree with

it does but there are also crossthroughs for if you travel it just like I do. You can go down academy, you can go down Confederate, you can go out to Tom Hall. It is not as if it is a closed loop. So I understand the consideration that needs to happen to ensure people can get by. But to Lisa's point, we do pave roads. We have waterline breaks. We do things that disrupt traffic on a regular basis and we have to work around that. So I don't see that as outside the norm. It's something to pay attention to. not anything that I think ought to have great concern.

Um the one thing I was just curious about more than anything, the discussion about the meeting with the community, why that would be within this document. Seems like it was just a little bit out of place. Nothing wrong with it. It's just surpris ordinance. Yeah, it's it's not included as part of the ordinance. It was just included as part of the backup material for council to to know that it happened. Okay. Um, I think that's it. You good? Yeah.

Jerry, Jerry, I had a question for you. Um, I know one of the things we kind of we had come back with it would be on the discount for I know you'd mentioned town employees. Does that extend to uh school district employees as well? Yes. Um the percentage I mean this is me personally the percentage of units I understand that's I'm okay with that. I I was hoping that discount would be greater than than than what it is. It it is still more than what anybody has ever proposed but as one of my personal sticking points. I was hoping for something more than that.

We took that under serious consideration as we were developing it. And I I think when it's 10% below market rate, in most instances, what we're seeing as we project what the revenue stream will come out of that building on a per apartment basis, that that 10% will be somewhere between $250 and $350 per month. I I understand your your comments and everything's got to kind of pencil out, right? So, um, and that's another reason we kept the three bedrooms out of the list and just stayed with the one the two bedrooms in the studios to try and make it as most advantageous for the employees as we could.

Understand? I know you've got a lot of costs here and it's easy for me to spend your money. So, um, but like said just just my my personal opinion, you know, that's all. I got big ears. I love listening to these things. I was personally excited about that part of the project. I mean, I've been here in the seat about 10 years, and I don't I mean, maybe y'all can remember that, but I can't remember last week very well, but I don't ever remember a developer ever coming to the town in my 10 years with something like this. Um, personally, I greatly appreciate that because it's very difficult. I mean, probably for for these, you know, teachers, firemen,

cops to to live here. So the initial very quick question on that agreement is it 15 years and then you'll revisit it every five is that yeah we we want to make sure it works for both the employees and us. We're we're committed to that plan but things times change and we want to be cognizant of those changes to make it beneficial for everybody. I think the intent is laid out to be a benefit for the employees and I I think the family has proven that their intent will stay. Yeah. Thank you.

Of course. Just for clarification, there won't be any charge for the parking deck, right? For the town to be able to for the people visiting the businesses and things. Y good question. I think it's a a great project. I mean, we've talked about this a long time and we've had,

you know, uh you know, previews here and there, but just to see what is going to be done with a mill that could be a lot of things. I mean, we could be running three shifts in that in an industrial environment. And to see something like this, I know the downtown businesses are excited about it. And I think it's a it's a nice project. um just and the changes that you've made based on the the conversations that we've had versus the initial concepts and softening it up and doing more things for the town. I think I appreciate the being receptive to those changes. Thank you.

Thank you for being so thorough. I love when people you and Chris bring your background with you to uh read every page. So uh I certainly am appreciative of uh everyone being thorough with this. But I too am excited for the opportunity that could present to town employees and teachers uh to live in town. I think that's wonderful. Mr. Pett, um for those that aren't aware, why are we doing this now even though we're under moratorum?

This uh application was submitted prior to the uh uh instigation of the moratorum. And uh when we did the moratorum, it um it allowed anything that had already been submitted to continue. And that's just sort of a legal uh situation, a legal requirement. Important point to make. Thank you. Appreciate you clarifying that. The other um with this project, the difference of this and how it's been handled versus a normal plan development and the control that the town or council has. Um can you go through that just a little bit?

So yeah. So, so I mean, um, I highlighted a little earlier something that's a little different, um, in the timing that it's taken. Uh, the applicants done a really good job of of going through and continuing their due diligence versus just stopping at some certain point. Um, and what that's allowed council to be able to have is a lot more understanding and certainty of what is being proposed to you all. Uh, and then staff has worked with the applicant to insert the language. uh such that not only do you know more about what you're getting, but you're also holding them to that. So the language uh in the ordinance is that what is being presented to you all, what's being shown to you all, that is what you are getting. Uh and if the applicant needs to change something, they have to come back before council to request that. So that's something that's uh new for the town. uh from the way we've been doing things. We haven't had uh something like this come up in a in a long time to to change that, but this is uh the opportunity to do so.

Thank you. Thank you for clarifying. Um as we start moving forward with our comp plan and the revisions that we're trying to make to ordinances and so forth currently, what are our limits? Um or do we have any in the downtown district and the um Tom Hall historical district as far as apartments? Do we have any kind of limitations currently? There's no no cap if that's what you're referring to.

I I would like to make a note as we go through our comp plan that that's something that we address. Um, I know Jerry mentioned that they're 9 ft below what is allowed and I think they're at the maximum tolerance of what council has kind of expressed as the height. Um, so and they've done a great job. I don't want to sound but I think we want to be sure to protect what that vision looks like for us going forward. Not this project, future project. Now, as far as a height, we have a cap for that. Okay. But a cap for a number of apartments. Which were you referring to? Both. Both. um four stories and 60 ft. Yeah.

I don't want to take words from you, but I think what Lisa is describing and Jerry for you guys, we've had the opportunity, some of us have served long enough to have been presented some really nice plans that just didn't work out that way. Uh that felt very uncomfortable to us on council that saw something very different than what had been proposed and we agreed to. So, we've been working really hard to change everything we can within the legal boundaries of our jurisdiction to tie the commitments that we make to the product that we receive. So, thank you for being patient and working with us. I wish everybody that came before us was as thorough and as efficient as you guys have been and and so thoughtful about the community itself, the town. So to Lisa's point, I I want to thank my council members for staying on that path because you too making an investment would want us to do to hold everybody equally accountable to the same quality that you are committing to.

Thank you for those words, mayor. I I think one thing Chris was trying to say there, the family made a very sizable commitment in the generation of the drawings. We're we're past schematic drawings. We're done. We are 60% into design documents right now. We're working with the architects on finishes and creating budgets. I I think the comfort that we gained by listening to you all helped us to make that decision. And um we appreciate that somebody might come and present something and give you something different, but I don't expect that out of you. That's what you get here. Never.

We're not changing these drawings. No. And and I wish we could get that kind of a relationship with every developer that came. I mean, the fact that you're coming to us with more parking places than what are required because you heard that pain from us as something we want to change. We want to fix going forward, but that takes time with ordinances and um other commitments we have to do outside of a specific project. So, thank you for hearing us and what our point pain points have been and bringing a better project not only for you guys but for our community. So, thank you for that. Yeah.

I feel like we get met with borderline belligerent sometimes and and this has been, you know, you've been willing to be fluid and and work through this and and kind of massage the plans and things like that. So, again, that's very much appreciated.

Yeah. This this will link your legacy all of you to the others who came before you and created this great town to make it as predominant as it is. And I think that communication is two ways. We express and you respond and sometimes you come to us and say we would like to talk about that. And I think that combination that interlocking of efforts is a big staple of this town. and you all seem to continue that effort. It's about partnership. No matter what it is, I mean, no matter what we do in life, it's about the partnership and working together. I don't feel like an applicant. I feel like a partner. Good. You're family.

Good. I thought it was funny on page four, uh, the fire impact said that, uh, the propertyy's located approximately 60 seconds driving distance from the town's fire station. So, tell Chipper he needs to get a supercharger on one of the fire trucks. 60 seconds. That that includes resp. Well, and part of the reason that we are so concerned on our fire side, making sure we've got trucks that can handle a building that's going to have this kind of reach, especially with the mill. I mean, most of us saw in our lifetime the mill burn and we want to be sure that these are people's residences. Um, so we want to make sure they're protected as well. Do our part. Yep.

Yep. All right. Um, a lot of thorough thoughts, a lot of good questions, and thank you for your patience and answering those. We appreciate you. All right. Um, because this is a first reading, I think I need a motion. I make a motion to approve old business item number one. Second. I have a motion and a second. All those in favor, please say I. I. All those opposed. Thank you. All right. We will now move to old business item number two, an ordinance amending budget for the town of Fort Mill, South Carolina for the fiscal year beginning October the 1st, 2025 and ending September the 30th, 2026. This is amendment number 26-01. Eric, what you got for us?

Thank Thank you, Mayor. Uh, this is a second reading. Uh, there were no changes uh from the first reading at the last uh last meeting. Okay. Um, so I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have. Any questions? You refresh. I was going to say, could you just clarify? There's some questions about why we're doing budget amendments for to clarify what what we're doing.

So 2601 uh you this council approved and awarded the contracts at the very last meeting of the fiscal year. Um but the work is actually going to take place in fiscal year 26. Uh so we're setting up the capital project ordinance for that to take place in this year. It was already it's allocated in 25 budget for 26 reappropriated for 26. Okay. I just want to be clear this why budget amendments are done and that's what I thought. So that's what make sure. Okay. He took my question. So this going to have one just like it after this. So you can ask that question. Are there any further questions for Eric on old business item number two? Then I need a motion, please.

I'll make a motion to approve old business item number two. I'll second. I have a motion and a second. All those in favor, please say I. I. All those opposed. Thank you. And thank you for the explanation here. No problem. Old business item number three, second reading, an ordinance amending the budget for the town of Fort Mill, South Carolina for the fiscal year beginning October the 1st, 2025 and ending September 30th, 2026. Amendment number 26-02. Eric,

thank you. Uh like the previous item, this one is a second second reading uh for this budget amendment. I'll just go ahead and uh uh stipulate this question that's coming. Uh this is for $6 million for one waterline project and one sewer line project. Uh this is the actually establishing a capital project ordinance uh for this project. Uh the reason we're doing that is because there's a chance that this project may u run into the next fiscal year. So, it's going to allow us to appropriate once. Uh, and everything going into the 600 fund is a multi-year fund. Uh, so you'll appropriate once and not have to see it again. Hopefully, it'll carry over from budget to budget automatically. The

questions. Yeah. So, the I know there was a a lift station or whatever we were going to put in the links to. Is this related or not related? That's already occurred. Uh so uh this is actually the gravity sewer line that'll run down to that pump station. Uh we tried uh on two separate occasions to get a grant uh for that gravity sewer line and we were unsuccessful. So um now it's it's time to it's our our top sewer gravity line priority in our utility CIP. Uh, so we want to just go ahead and get this get this. I knew that lift station was a very was a big one and so this Okay, just kind of a follow up on that.

Yes, this will connect to that. Gota further questions hearing none. I'll entertain a motion, please. Make a motion to approve budget amendment 26-2. All right, I have a second. All right, thank you. I have a motion and a second to approve old business item number three. All those in favor, please say I. I. All those opposed. Thank you. Thank you. We'll now move to new business. First reading an ordinance amending the business license ordinance of the town of Fort Mill to update the class schedule as required by act 176 of 2020. Chris Pettit.

Thank you, Mayor. Um, South Carolina Act 176, otherwise known as the Business License Standardization Act, uh, basically makes all uh, rules and regulations for all municipalities across the state as far as business licensing the same. Therefore, um, the state has required us to have the same class schedule. Therefore, we must update it every other year. This is a model ordinance written by the municipal association to do such. and I'm happy to answer any questions you may have. How does the class numbering ranking impact?

So, um the the class schedule is associated with uh the North American industry classification system or what a lot of refer to as NAKES codes. So, uh every every industry or business type has a NAKES code. that NAKES code then ties it to a specific class. So, uh basically what that does is the class ties then to your fee schedule. So, what it's saying is everyone who is in agriculture is a class one and it's in a class one fee schedule across the state of South Carolina for every municipality. So, that's that's what the class means. That's what the uh NAKES codes mean. Okay. Thank you for clarifying.

Any further questions? Hearing none, I'll entertain a motion on new business item number one. Make a motion to approve new business item number one. I'll second.

Have a motion and a second. All those in favor, please say I. I. All those opposed? Thank you. New business item number two, resolution to appoint and commission Emily Hawkins as a code enforcement officer for the property security and general welfare for the town of Fort Mill. Chris Petty. Thank you, Mayor. Um, this is an item that is sort of a formality. It is, uh, required by our code to actually authorize our our planner, Emily Hawkins, to, uh, serve as code enforcement for planning and zoning related items uh, and to, uh, work with our other code enforcement staff on enforcing those codes. Happy to answer any questions you may have. Okay, any questions?

Make a motion to approve new business item number two. I'll second. Have a motion and a second for new business item number two. All those in favor, please say I. I. All those opposed. Thank you. Information discussion. We have one item uh solicitation website. Chris Pettit.

Thank you, Mayor. Um just wanted to note um it came up uh at our last I think videotaped uh business meeting that um we were talking about a new solicitation ordinance uh throughout town. Um, and so, uh, for anyone that has any questions about that, you can go to our website, forts.gov/solicitation. It gives not only, um, the rules and regulations for anyone that is looking to get a solicitation permit, which is what was established um, at the last uh, recorded council meeting. Uh, and that's uh, based off legal precedent and us having to legally establish a means and methods for someone to do that. So that was the why we did that was for legal reasons. Um so it not only gives the information for someone looking to get a solicitation permit, but it also outlines all of the opportunities that our citizens have to say no to solicitation and and what they have to do um to say no to commercial solicitation or any and all solicitation. uh if they uh just want to say no to commercial solicitation, someone coming to sell something, there's a sticker they can put on their uh entryway, mailbox, what have you, that says no commercial solicitation. If they want to say no to anybody coming to their door to campaign or to uh provide other materials, uh handouts and that sort of thing, they just say no solicitation. So all those rules and regulations are outlined on this website. So, it's sort of a one-stop shop for both our citizens to understand uh what the rules are uh so that they can call our staff if they have issues uh but also to to have that permitting process for the solicitors. For our public that's again watching this at a later date, solicitation is equal to someone coming to your door either to provide something, ask something or sell

something. And we have put a lot of effort into this because of the regulation and legalities that go behind it. So please pay attention to what's on the website, look and determine what's right for you and your property and your family and take that action so that we will be in compliance with all those laws should we have to respond to any complaint. So again, that's on the Fort Mill website. It is under solicitation and if you would I think it would behoove you to take a look at it. Yeah, I would ask Mr. P if you could get that on social media. I know because there's no numerous versions of wrong information out there about what is and is not.

That's right. Yeah, absolutely. And and this does not the the official ordinance the official process does not go into effect until November 1st. that's that was giving us time to create the website to create the application forms and process. So, uh officially it goes live November 1st and we'll absolutely push that out on social media uh in our website. Thank you. Yeah, I can't tell you how many times people say our neighborhood is not there's no such a thing but we're working on it. So, I say great job to Mr. Pettit. I know you've done a lot of research. This is deeper and and very delicate thing to navigate through. So, job there.

There's been an evolution. Chris, you're correct. There's a lot of different rabbit holes to go down. Um, not all of them do I care for. However, we are in a position to have to follow the law. And to do that, I appreciate the efforts of staff, Chris, to ensure that we're doing that. So, please, we will be able to collapse all the previous thoughts on how to curb it if you don't want it into a method and a process that's outlined. And yes, I think it's a great idea to get that on social media.

M Mr. Pett, you had mentioned about the the stickers. Is that just to clarify that, is that something that we're going to provide or just what it needs to say so the homeowner can get it themselves? It's it's the language that that is what it needs to say. They sell them at uh local home improvement stores. They're like a $187. Um they're they're they're very inexpensive. um depending on where you're putting it. I mean, it it's not really something we can provide because not everybody has mailboxes. So, you might want a window sticker, you might want a mailbox sticker. So, um but um just want to get clarification.

Lots lots of options at local I think the two excuse I'm sorry, two main takeaways. If you don't want them on your property or coming off the street, it has to be at your mailbox. If you're okay with them coming down to your door, then it could be on your window or on your door at your at your porch. Those are two different chaining. But if your mailbox is on your house, yeah, it's got to be on be on the street. I I think too if we have the means to communicate this to the HOAs within the town, that would be an incredible benefit for HOAs to have that. Okay. Great work. Great work. Good job.

Yes, definitely. Um before we move into executive session and and we will come back out after that, but I always feel like there's such a lapse, I would like to take a a minute or so to highlight the efforts of our staff and our employees on the recent waterline break. No system is a guaranteed system to provide service of any type to anyone. And as we all know, as our TVs have opportunities to go out, our power has opportunity to go out, the water is no different. So when we have a pipe that for whatever reason breaks, and the majority of those breaks are because somebody digs it up that didn't know it was there, um our crews must respond to that. And in responding to that, we also have to quickly determine how many people are affected by that outage. I want to tell you that I was out of town last week on a welldeserved vacation and this occurred and I could not be more proud of our staff and our employees for the response and the quick restoration and the beautiful communications that took place. In my 21 years in serving this community, it has been difficult for us to get the hang of how to go about that and how to make sure we're giving the information that everyone needs and deserves to have. And I will say this was the most complete and just outstanding communication from our town that we've had. And I appreciate every effort from all staff members that worked on this well through the night. I do think it's important to recognize we've had very few I think I saw two boil water notices uh in the past and the case that we can't just send it to somebody and they tell us if it's okay

or not. It takes 24 hours. So, we are working to the best of our ability to get everything cleared. It it's in our best behalf to do that. So, we quit working on it. But I am so proud of uh our town staff and employees and I'd like to thank you publicly and make sure that everyone understands what a great job they did. Since it relates directly to that, mayor, um Gordon, do you mind explaining the alert system we now have too, because that's extremely valuable for getting the word out and it's new for us.

Yes, we're utilizing a platform called Civic Ready, which is also the host for our website. Um, residents can now sign up to either have a text message, an email, or an actual phone call in the event that there's an emergency or some kind of communication that the town deems necessary for our residents to have. So, they can sign up. Um, it's on our website. It's on our Facebook page. Um, the way to sign up, Civic Ready. Civic Ready.

Hear that clearly. Civic ready. It is the opportunity for you to sign up to get text messages long before you go sit down at a computer and look for something on a website. This will contact you for information that you might need to know and again we are light years ahead of where we have been in the past and I am very grateful for that. Amen.

Thank you. In addition to what the mayor was saying about the the communication uh also the the being proactive with any maybe not misinformation but incorrect information that was was was getting out in the social media post. We were very quick to say no actually as a matter of fact no this is not that we were not we don't have boil notices all the time and everything else. So thank you for uh dispelling any misinformation that was out there as well. response very quick.

Having our new GIS staff on that created the map, right, was a new new tool in our toolbox we've never had before cuz then people could just go to the map. And it was kind of funny. You follow the post and somebody said it's blurry. And they said, "Well, if you clicked on the link, it wouldn't be blurry. You could read your address and see if you had right to your house." Yep.

So anyway, good job um hiring Gavin and uh he's doing good work, too. the these are massive steps forward in our doing the job that we all want uh for our community in service to you. So I I'm just very grateful and and want to make sure we shine a light on that equally to everything else we do. This is in no means a promise that it won't occur again because just like anything else it will. But I am so proud of our ability to respond to it being again so so much further ahead than we were before. Thank you. All right. We do have one executive session item, a discussion incident to contractual matters relating to 123 North White Street. I'll entertain a motion to move into executive session. Can I make a motion?

And please note that we can take action on any item we discuss once we come back into full session. So, I have a motion to go into executive session and a second. All those in favor, please say I. I. All those opposed, thank you so much. We appreciate you. whenever you're ready. Okay. Let the record reflect that no vote was taken in executive session and I will entertain a motion to return to regular session. I make a motion. A second.

Have a motion and a second. All those in favor, please say I. I. All those opposed. All right. Um, as we wrap up our meeting this evening, I think it's important to remember that November the 4th is coming and, you know, please do your civic honor. I'm not going to call it a duty. I think you need to do your civic honor and go vote. And I'm happy uh that our three council members are unopposed and will be returning to torment us um moving forward. Just joking. We're really lucky to have you guys. So, thank you for your continued service and we're all happy that you will be among us. Um, to Allen's point in our last meeting, uh, the leaves are falling. It is raining. Uh, you can now blow your leaves to the street, but not in the storm drains. Our trucks will come by and pick them up. Please do not include big limbs in that because then our truck won't be able to pick up anybody's leaves. So, use care and caution uh as you push those out to the street. Ben, do you have anything for the good of the whole?

Just thankful for that rain and uh all my Fort Mill uh alumni. Hate to miss the homecoming. I understand that was last Friday. So, I hate to miss that. Class of 86, I would have been there. So, I hate to miss that. That's all I have. Allan, no, just with the scarecrows out. I mean, our town looks like a little Hallmark movie. It really does with seeing all the families out and everything. So, it's just it's a beautiful time of year and I love it. So, roll tide

been able to enjoy Walter Elijah Park and some of the areas that are widened now. So, be careful under construction, but I can't wait to enjoy the whole atmosphere once it's finished. Also, um reminder, the following Tuesday, November 11th, is Veterans Day, and I know the town will be putting out communications for our events on that day coming soon. Thank you for doing that because I really mean to say that every published meeting before an event so that we can get the attendance and everyone that wants to go will have that opportunity. Good catch.

Good catch. Halloween's Friday night. Don't run over kids. Be careful, please. Um, and before I jump to you, I forgot we need to celebrate the excellence of the music programs in our three high schools. Those bands have brought some hardware home. Um, you know, they provide music for us all our lives. So, hard work going into those three programs. Yes, Alan. And one more thing, speaking of Veterans Day, uh so this is uh through the Fort Mill History Museum. On Saturday, November 8th, they're going to be unveiling a new interpretive sign honoring the Revolutionary War patriots buried in the old Unity Cemetery. Cool. So, November 8th. Cool. Okay, Ronnie.

Yeah. All every year when uh scarecrow crawl, uh it's amazing me when you ride down the street and you think there's all kind of people out every scarecrow. That's true. But uh I also recognize I think I'm the only veteran here. So I'm proud of that. Proud of myself. We'll show up on the 11th. Yes, we will. Yeah. Uh really enjoyed uh today. I took the three of the managers and played in a golf tournament for our church. I really enjoyed getting to know him a little better. Great day out there, wasn't it?

Yes. Beautiful day to play golf. That's Eric. All righty, Mr. Moody. Uh, Gamecocks managed to rip my heart out again. So, that that scene out of Indiana Jones where just kind of rips it out and I was just kind of waiting on it. My 15-year-old son was watching. I was like, he doesn't know it's about to happen probably. And it happened again. Somebody put this Alabama hat. I'm just still just still not over it yet. I just can't put it on this year. But, um, roll tide, I guess. So, that's all I've got. Mr. Wolf.

So, you know, as everybody's alluded to, fall is a special time in Fort Mill. One of my favorite seasons, the the recent fall festival, the scarecrow crawl, and all the people walking around downtown, pushing strollers with young kids and enjoying the stores and the restaurants in our community. Uh, excited kids looking forward to Halloween, as you mentioned, fall gatherings. And this is start of the an official start of the holiday season. These are how memories are made and it's a good reminder of why we're here serving on council. Amen. U to protect our community, the quality of life, not just for our current generation, but for generations yet to come. As 2025 winds down, uh and we work, we wrap up several large initiatives. I'd like for us to pay homage to all those that came before us and bequeath us with the great qualities that make Fort Mill Fort Mill. and we need to work on that so the future generations can enjoy that and thank you for giving me an opportunity to serve and be a part of this.

Amen. Absolutely. Well said. Well said. Here. Here. As we were talking about veterans, I also want to remind those that are watching that may not be aware that Veterans Park has the ability to purchase a brick in honor of a veteran that you would like to see commemorized um have commemorated um for their time, for their service, for their sacrifice. So, it's a great way. I know every time I walk through, I get to see my grandfather's name. And um it just brings me closer to him and those that didn't make it through um the war that he was in World War II that also gives me a chance to feel a little bit closer to him. So, just wanted to remind everybody of that. Also, there was something else in

How would they go about doing that? Just so on the website, I believe it made through I think it used to be on the website. Sir, it's still there. I I will task Gordon um our communications man to find out and get the word out to as because it is a great way to do that in coordination with Brown used to be the contact for that. Yeah, I know we've got two down there. So, used to be 100 bucks, $75 or something was reasonable. It may have been to the ladies honestly. Yeah, I've got one down there also. And I think that would be a nice inclusion with the publication of what we're doing for celebrating veterans. That's perfect timing. Okay.

All right. Anything else? And with that, I'll entertain a motion for adjournment. I'll make that motion that we adjourn. I'll second. I have a motion and a second. All those in favor, please say I. I. All those opposed? Thank you.