Town Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you.

Good afternoon, I'd like to call this town council meeting of June 9th, 2026 to order. If you will join me in saying the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance. of liberty and justice for all. If you will continue standing while we have Reverend Eric Bash from All Saints Episcopal Church to the invocation.

Let us pray. Almighty source of life and wisdom, we come to you today offering such gratitude for all the blessings you have bestowed upon this community. You've created such a place of brilliance and beauty and we thank you. As this meeting begins, we ask that you instill in our leaders a spirit of charity, justice, grace, and courage to serve with steadfast purpose and to ensure the wellbeing of all persons, especially those in need. Open our hearts that we may love even more than we know is possible and fill it with your compassion and love. Amen.

Thank you, Robin.

Mr. Orlando, are there any changes to the agenda today? No, sir. Okay. With that, is there a motion to adopt the agendas presented?

So moved. Second.

We've got a first and second. All those in favor, signify by raising your right hand. So move 6-0. Mr. Orlando, do we have a need for executive session? Yes, sir. As shown on agenda item 5A. Do I have a motion to go into executive session?

So moved. Second.

We have a first and a second. All those in favor, please signify by raising your right hand. So moved, six, zero. We're in executive session. Be back in a little while.

Second.

First and second. All those in favor signify by raising your right hand. 6-0. We are out of executive session. Mr. Brown, do we have any action coming out of executive session?

Yes, sir. Mr. Mayor, I move to approve a resolution of the town council of the town of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, authorizing the execution and delivery of a contract for legal services of the town attorney with Brittany L. Ward of Finger, Milnick, Brooks, and LaBruce.

Is there a second to that motion?

Second.

Any discussion, Kim, from the, any comments from the public?

I don't have anyone signed up for this item.

Okay, anyone wish to make any comments on this? Mr. Hoagland, you have three minutes. Yes, sir.

Skip Hoagland. I hope the process is going to be a fair process and a process that is not conflicted. My feeling is you need to hire a local lawyer. And you should have done this a long time ago. We should never have the same lawyers for 35, 40 years. basically overcharging us legal fees never any oversight of any of that and it should have it should have been done a whole nother way so we were really kind of abused on that uh that that on that on that area uh i think a local lawyer is what we need but i think we need a staff lawyer we don't need a lawyer that is connected to friends and other law firms to maybe even profit those law firms with the hiring of builders and real estate agents and whatever it might be. I think we just need a very young staff lawyer at $80,000 a year. And quite frankly, with AI technology, if I am actually lucky enough to be elected mayor, I'm planning on buying an AI robot these questions because we don't need yeah you laugh about it but you know and it's kind of hard to believe but an AI robot will replace lawyers and lawyers will tell you every lawyer in this room will tell you their billable hours are going down the tubes because I don't even use lawyers anymore I just I just do everything on AI I can go in a lawsuit represent the opposing lawyers with AI legal. So y'all need to grasp that reality that it's here. It is here. So you laugh about it, Alex, but you better read about it. So that's what we need to do. We need to accept that. So to hire a lawyer with a law firm or even hire a law firm outside of Hilton Head, which I think is what you're trying to do, like Terry Let him use AI. Let him give you the AI answers because they'll be better than he can produce. There's not one lawyer in here that can argue with me with AI and when. Not one of these lawyers can argue with me and when. None of them. They can't argue with any of us. Here's the difference. We're all smart. You know why? Because we all are the same intelligence because we have AI. We have Google. But what we're not all is we're not all equally honest. elected officials, and we've got to stop all this illegal voting and all this fraudulent contracts and everything else. And AI will help to fix this. And I intend on using a lot of AI if I become mayor. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Mr. Williams.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

I'm Chester Williams. I'm a local attorney here. And contrary to what Mr. Hoagland has to say, I think Brittany Ward is an excellent choice for your town attorney. I think exemplary service over the years. And I've dealt with Brittany a couple of times. She was with the county, easy to deal with, a problem solver. And the good thing is that it makes my job so much easier when there's somebody competent and intelligent and results driven like Brittany on the other side. So I think you make a great choice. Thanks. Thank you. Anyone else?

All right, seeing none, we've got a motion by Mr. Brown, seconded by Mr. Alfred. Two, if you want to read the motion again, Mr. Brown.

Sure. Approve a resolution of the town council of the town of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, authorizing the execution and delivery of a contract for legal services of the town attorney with Brittany L. Wood of Finger, Melnick, Brooks, and LaBruce.

All those in favor, set motion, please signify by raising your right hand. So moved, six to zero. Any other additional actions?

Yes, Mr. May, move to approve a resolution of the Town Council of the Town of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, authorizing the execution and delivery of a contract for legal services with Curtis L. Coltrane. Is there a second to that motion?

I second.

Mr. Alford got it. Again, any public comment on this?

I cannot believe that you're hiring a girl that worked for Terry Finger Law Firm. Terry Finger is the same lawyer hired by Curtis Coltrane to draft the illegal fraudulent Chamber multi-million dollar five-year contract. And we have proof of that. How is it possible you people can be this incompetent or just corrupted? It's outrageous. It's outrageous. This, there's something, we need to investigate this. There's something needs to be done about it. You cannot hire Terry Fenger's law firm, the Bluffton lawyer hired by Curtis Coltrane to draft the multi-million dollar illegal chamber contract. How is that possible? You knew that. Melinda, you got to do something. Tamara, you guys need to speak up. Patsy, you ladies need to do something. This is, we're in an emergency situation.

Anyone else? Seeing none, we've got a motion by Mr. Brown, seconded by Mr. Alfred. And Mr. Brown, if you'd read that one more time for the record.

Yes, sir. Thank you. I move to approve a resolution of the Town Council of the Town of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, authorizing the execution and delivery of a contract for legal services with Curtis L. Coltrane.

a motion the second all those in favor signify by raising your right hand so moved six zero excuse me next we'll have the special meeting minutes of may 5th 2026 regular meetings may 12th and special meeting minutes of may 13th is there a motion to approve so moved second any discussion by council We have a first and a second. All those in favor, please do so by raising your right hand. So moved 6-0. Next up, we'll hear from Mr. Orlando on his report as town manager. Mr. Orlando.

Thank you, Mayor Perry. Good afternoon, members of town council, members of the public. Just a few things today. June 1st through November 30th is hurricane season, so we always encourage everybody to be aware of the season, but also to be prepared and create an emergency plan. And we have a lot of great resources on our website, including an emergency preparedness guide. So I encourage everybody, if you don't have one to take a look and be prepared. North end post office construction project that many of you have seen the construction activity out there that is all tied to the North point on Jarvis Creek neighborhood construction phase one, just high level phase one. Parkway, that's through July 31st. And then phase two, which begins by contract and schedule August 1st, it shifts the access back to William Hilton Parkway. So phase one access of Gumtree, phase two access of William Hilton Parkway, all work should be complete by mid November. It includes some stormwater work, a pathway and a road connectivity to Gumtree. Mitchellville Road paving project is complete. That is a very, very, very long time coming in a significant project. It's only 0.256 miles. It was the dirt portion of the Mitchellville Road, which is parallel to the water. It serves a number of parcels of many homes. And I really have a lot of gratitude for our project management team, our CIP team and project manager. Fort Shelring is about to open. It officially opens to the public on June 15th. It's a result of Beaufort County and the town of Hilton Head Island preserving and sharing this important cultural resource. Paved entrance, permeable gravel parking area, new parking spaces, including ADA accessible van space and a walking trail about 1500 feet long. And the Ford and Green Shell rings, if you haven't seen them, they're extraordinary, provide a lot of archeological insight into the lives of indigenous people who once inhabited Hilton Head Island. And there's a lot to learn about it. Diet, settlement patterns, community life, ceremonial practices. It also contains evidence of later historic use, including possible connection to enslaved African communities associated with early settlement along Skull Creek. Pretty fabulous and a great job. Olagichi Historic Neighborhood Community Development Corporation, they're into their third year of Money Talks, which is a six-part seminar for entrepreneurs. Workshops begin June 16th, held every other Tuesday at the Island Recreation Center from 5.30 to 7.00, and so June 16th, June 30th, July 14th, 28th, August 11th, and August 25th. and there's a lot more information in that schedule i just mentioned on the our website experiencegulla.org office of cultural affairs they saw natalie sitting somewhere there you are i knew you were here somewhere um natalie does such a great job they've most recently our office of cultural affairs held a cultural district mapping workshop on may 21st to discuss the proposed district it's a policy that that you all have endorsed and pushed forward um and ROCA team met with stakeholders as well as the South Carolina Arts Commission. And the real goal is to help refine the district itself. And so there were stakeholders, including the Arts Council, business owners, town staff, and I believe Ms. Bryson was there as well. That's what my notes say. That's great. And Mr. Alfred, thank you for being there. Juneteenth, we're closed Friday, June 19th in observance of Juneteenth. And then the celebration that is at historic Mitchellville Freedom Park, they'll host their annual Juneteenth celebration, June 11th to the 13th. three-day event honoring the legacy of freedom through a lot of programming and community engagement. And you can learn more about that at exploremitchellville.org. And last but not least, it's event season, Shelter Cove Harbor Fest. Fireworks begin tonight and continue every Tuesday through August. Summer events, including summer jams, movie nights, sunset celebrations, also start this week at Shelter Cove Community Park. Party in the Park returns to Lowcountry Celebration Park beginning Thursday. And all of this and more is available on the special events calendar on the town's website.

Thank you.

So just curious, Mitchellville Paving, how many years was that in the works? I've seen memos at least 15 years old, if not longer. Thank you.

So next up, I've got a plethora of presentations and recognitions. So first up, first up we have the Dukes County School District Character Education Student of the Month, Earl White. So Earl, if you'll come up with your mom and dad, from Hilton Head Island School for the Creative Arts, the Character of the Trade of the Month is forgiveness. And your teacher. She's not here? Okay. So Character Education Student of the Month, April, 2026, for Hilton Head Island, his fourth grade student, Earl White, from Hilton Head Island School for the Creative Arts. Earl is here today with his mother, Duante Bryant, and his father, Earl White Sr., along with, if she was here, she'd be here, Principal Lucas. The character trait chosen for April was forgiveness. to stop feeling anger towards someone who has done something wrong or to stop blaming someone. Nomination from Mrs. DeFryer. I would like to nominate Earl White for April Student of the Month. Earl always has a smile on his face and is quick to apologize and quick to forgive. He is very easygoing and never holds a grudge. I've never seen him upset with anyone or intentionally wrong anyone. He takes responsibility for his actions and never blames anyone for anything that may have been done. Congratulations, Earl, for exhibiting character traits that are essential to success. So with that, I wanna present this to you, a certificate, right? In this challenge course. Next we'll have the presentation of the Juneteenth Proclamation, if we can get Joyce Wright, Director of Programs and Interpretation for Historic Mitchelville to come on up. Or is it? Who's it gonna be? Yeah. Y'all come up. So the Town of Hilton, Rhode Island Juneteenth Proclamation. Whereas Juneteenth is often referred to as our country's second Independence Day, and has long been celebrated among the African American community, its historical significance has largely been omitted from the educational curriculum, making it relatively unknown to the wider population. And whereas despite the Emancipation Proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1st, 1863, and passage of the 13th Amendment by US Congress, more than 250,000 enslaved Africans and their descendants remained in bondage in the state of Texas until the arrival of the Union troops at Galveston on the 19th day of June, 1865. And whereas when the news of the emancipation spread, following the reading of general order number three by Major General Gordon Granger, the formerly enslaved people of Texas reacted with joyous celebration, launching what would become an annual event known as Juneteenth. And whereas early celebration of Juneteenth consisted of family and community gatherings filled not only with special food and festivities, but also prayer, reflection, and respect for ancestors who suffered under slavery and celebrates African-American freedom and achievement while encouraging continuous self-development and respect for all cultures. And whereas the elected leaders of the town of Hilton Head Island town staff pledged to continue our efforts to uplift the importance of history of Juneteenth and work tirelessly to root out institutional racism wherever it exists and advance equity and inclusion for all members of our community. Next is the South Carolina Day Proclamation. Mr. Mike Williams, come on up, and then you'll have a few moments to make brief comments. So we have Mike Williams, Beaufort County 250 Committee Member, Barbara Cantanasi, Executive Director of Heritage Library and Beaufort County 250 Committee Member, Angie Stone, Assistant Town Manager, Community Development, come on up, and Natalie Harvey, Director of Cultural Affairs. Proclamation observing and commemorating Carolina Day, June 28, 1776. Whereas on June 28, 1776, brave patriots of South Carolina and Continental soldiers from several colonies under the command of Colonel William Moultrie defended the unfinished Palmetto Log Fort on Sullivan's Island against the powerful British naval assault. and whereas the steadfast courage of these defenders, many of them from Beaufort District, who were withstanding a British assault by land to the near of the fort, secured a decisive victory that preserved Charleston, inspired the American cause, and rallied hope across the colonies. And whereas the victory at Sullivan's Island proved that the desire for freedom could withstand the oppression of tyranny, and it was followed one week later by the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776, setting forth the ideals of liberty and self-government that still guide us today. and whereas the people of South Carolina and our nation at large continue to honor the sacrifice, valor, and vision of those who stood firm on today, marking it as Carolina Day, a commemoration of South Carolina's vital role in the birth of the United States. And whereas it is fitting that our community join in observance of the historic anniversary to remember the courage of the Patriots of 1776, to educate future generations about our shared heritage, and to renew our commitment to the enduring principles of liberty and independence. Now, therefore, on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Sullivan's Island, by Mayor Alan R. Perry, Mayor of the town of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, to hereby proclaim June 28th, 2026 as Carolina Day in the town of Hilton Head Island. And I encourage all citizens to observe this day and those between June 28th and July 3rd as Carolina Days, with appropriate ceremonies, programs, and remembrances honoring the brave and sacrifice of those who secured our freedom.

My name is Mike Williams. The Beaufort 250 Committee would like to thank the mayor and the town council for recognizing Carolina Days. And we also hope that you'll attend some of the many planned activities we have scheduled during Carolina Days. Thank you very much.

And last but not least, the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Mr. Mike Williams, Barbara Cantonese, Angie Stone, Natalie Harper, come on up.

Right?

The words will be different. Not as much fun. The town of Hilton Head Island, 250th anniversary of the proclamation states of the United States Declaration of Independence Proclamation. Whereas the year 2026 marked the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the founding of the United States of America, and this historic milestone known nationally as the United States Semi-Quincentennial commemorates two and a half centuries of American liberty, democracy, service, sacrifice, and civil responsibility. And whereas the citizens of South Carolina played a vital role in the American Revolution, contributing courage, leadership, and determination in the pursuit of independence and self-government. And whereas local governments are the bedrock of American democracy, providing millions of residents with an accountable, responsive, ethical, and transparent government, and the town of Hilton Head Island proudly recognized the enduring values upon which this nation was founded, including freedom, equality, representative government, and opportunity for all. And whereas the town of Hilton Head Island encourages all residents, businesses, schools, veterans organizations, civics groups, and visitors to participate in events and activities throughout the year to celebrate America's 250th anniversary and to inspire future generations to preserve the blessings of liberty. Now therefore, I, Alan R. Perry, Mayor of the Town of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, do proclaim July 4th, 2026 shall be recognized in the Town of Hilton Head Island as the 250th anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence and the year of 2026 as the United States of America's 250th anniversary commemorative year.

Congratulations.

Again, the Beaufort 250 Committee would like to thank the mayor and the town council for this proclamation celebrating the 250th anniversary of the United States Declaration of Independence.

All right, let's see, where are we here?

Next we have the 2026 annual update of the community rating systems representative loss analysis. Sherry Mendrick, floodplain administrator of the town of Hilton Head Island. Planning department will be conducting the presentation. Ms. Mendrick.

Thank you, Mayor Perry, council members, and Mr. Orlando for letting me speak to you today about some annual requirements for the town's community rating system. I am Sherry Mendrick, the town's floodplain administrator.

Next, can I advance the slides?

Okay, thank you. To get started, we are a participant in the National Flood Insurance Program, and we participate because the program allows us to get federal disaster assistance, federal mortgage assistance, federal grants and loans, and makes flood insurance available to all the citizens and residents of Pelton Head Island. In order to participate in this program, the town has signed a resolution of intent with FEMA, and we have adopted flood maps and the associated regulations for those maps. The community rating system is a voluntary program that we participate in so that our residents can get a 25% discount on their flood insurance. It is a voluntary program. As part of this program, we demonstrate that our floodplain management activities exceed the minimum NFIP standards, and we have to submit these annual recertifications. So the community rating system has 19 credited activities in four different categories, including public information, mapping and regulations, flood damage reduction, and warning and response. Items G, I mean, excuse me, F and G on your agenda under presentations and recognitions are the repetitive loss area analysis annual update, which falls under flood damage reduction, and the program for public information update, which falls under public information activities. And I tried to make it very quick, because I know you guys have a long agenda, and I'd be more than happy to answer any questions at this time.

Any questions for Ms. Mendrick?

Mr. Brown? A question for Ms. Mendrick, and thank you for all the work that you continue to do. At some point, I do want to understand from the town manager when we're going to take a look at, I guess, the maps and how we're setting code to support those maps. It's been a practice of the town of Hilton here to go after the insurance rating discount, which I can appreciate, but I'm also starting to see that the higher we go with the maps, as far as height is concerned, the more runoff we are having on neighboring properties. Okay, so I think it's high time for us to have a conversation around where are we really going here as far as our 10, 20 year plan around the floodplains on Hilton Head. So tonight's not the night, but I wanted to bring it to everybody's attention that we need to have this conversation. Thank you. Any other comments or questions?

First of all, thank you for all your work. It does end up with a discount, which everyone who purchases flood insurance benefits from. So I appreciate that. One thing I just wanted to ask you about the grants. I know in the past there have been grants to help property owners remediate some of their issues and that those had dried up. Do you have any further information on grants and accessibility of those?

Yeah, so grants are still available. A few years ago, there was a change in the way that the grant program is administered through the state of South Carolina. And we've been trying to navigate some of those changes. So as things continue, excuse me, as things continue to change with FEMA, we'll continue to navigate those changes. So in the future, hopefully in the near future, as that grant funding is available, we can provide additional assistance to our citizens that are interested.

Any others?

Also, thank you for your work. I don't understand at all, but I thank you. But to Mr. Brown's point, I think it's a valid point. We ought to look at that. And I would ask the town manager if that's a part of our looking at our stormwater master plan. Perhaps that's something that could be included as well when we take a look at that. I see him nodding, thank you, sir.

Ms. Becker.

Just a simple thank you. Listen to your presentations over the years and they're always helpful and to the benefit of the town and its residents, so thank you.

Thank you.

All right, and you covered them both in one swoop.

Yep.

Awesome, thank you.

All right, thank you.

All right, next we'll move on to general reports from town council. Does everybody have any general reports at this time? Ms. Bryson.

Yes, sir. First of all, I know several of us attended the Rotary Club's Hilton Ed Island Hall of Fame on March 14, 2026. Those of you who were not there, there were some good articles about it, but there were 10 folks added to as 2026 Pillar honorees, and reading about them is certainly inspiring. There's a lot of quotes in the program that I would commend to your reading, but It certainly makes me humble to follow in footsteps of folks who have gone here before providing leadership positions. As far as Juneteenth goes, I want to point out a few things. In addition to the time period on Thursday, June 11 is the Juneteenth campfire conversation and sleepover. On Friday, June the 12th, there's a children's drum camp followed by the Juneteenth drum circle. And if you want to see a town council member come play the drum, Come and see that. That's the only hint I'll give you. On Saturday, June 13th is the Juneteenth celebration, and I'm stoked to see the performer named Stokely. That will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. And on Friday, June the 19th, if you hadn't had enough to celebrate, there's a Juneteenth 5K run and walk. No, don't come look for me there. So, and the other thing I'll mention, Mayor, is that Last evening, the county council adopted on third reading a new ordinance regulating plastic bags, styrofoam, all plastic bag prohibition, there's some exemption in styrofoam, and also that plastic straws will be based upon request. And I would ask the mayor to put this ordinance on the town council agenda in the future for our consideration, because the last time the county adopted an ordinance regarding plastic bags, we followed suit and adopted our own ordinance. And certainly because one of our strategic plans is protection of our environment and it being the time for sea turtle nesting, we need to be able to be mindful of what's left on our beaches. And an ordinance like this will help with protecting our beaches and our sea turtles from those kind of harmful subjects. So I hope we will put that on our agenda in the near future.

Thank you. Just real quick, and I apologize for my voice. I've been sick. But just to follow up on M. Patsy's comments with regard to the recycling, I'm going to take advantage of the fact that we have our chamber members and the partners here with us tonight and suggest that maybe we could put a kind blurb there for folks who are visiting us to remember to take some environmental steps to protect our sea turtles I know you've already do a great job on that but short of an ordinance I think that's the best thing it's simply a PR message so I wanted to make sure I took advantage of your presence to suggest that but also I wanted to mention to our town manager and ask, I don't know what steps can be taken to help, but there's a visceral reaction to the cutting, tree cutting over at the North Point area. And I'm getting a lot of negative feedback about the project as a whole, based on what they're seeing with the land clearing. So if there's any steps that we can take to put out some designs, something that shows what it'll look like, the replanting, that will take place, et cetera. I think that'll go a long way. So whether it's on the website or even something that is here in town hall, so people can see what it is that they can expect. And while it is uncomfortable, to say the least, to see the trees being cut, that there is a plan for inhabiting that area with vegetation. So just a comment. Thanks.

Yes, I'd just like to thank the town manager and staff for the paving of Mitchellville Road. I know the residents that live on that road had been very concerned about the availability of safety equipment to be able to go down that road. If you'd ever been down it in dirt, the potholes were as large as your car, or at least my car. And so now it's a beautiful paved road with sunlight and we'll really provide access for safety related purposes. So thank you for that.

Any other reports, comments? All right, seeing none, we'll move on to reports. Ms. Becker, Lowcountry Area Transportation Study.

Thank you. I'm gonna submit a report in writing. I was ill and missed the meeting and we'll have to get an update.

Okay. Mr. Rafferty, Lowcountry Council of Governments. No report. Thank you. Ms. Tonner, Beaufort County Airports Board.

Yes, all is going well with the phase one improvements and I got to experience that as a customer on June 3rd and so all went well. They're still working on parking, new gate arms are going to be installed in the parking for the airport and they will be preparing communications regarding the pricing and the process when it goes live in the future. The airport also has a volunteer ambassador program that assists people as they use the airport. They have 20 ambassadors for the summer. They staff Saturdays and Sundays from 10 to 2 Memorial Day through Labor Day. So we appreciate all those individuals who volunteer their time. Commercial passenger arrivals and departures totaled 60,879 through April, up 9.6% from prior year. There is a open board seat available. If you are interested on being on the airport board, you can apply through the Beaufort County website. Beaufort County will be interviewing and selecting this seat. And lastly, the airport county and consultant will be planning a stakeholder meeting for the airport layout plan this summer. Again, that is the plan that will lay out the future growth of the airport over the next 10, 20 years. And I am told there are several options to consider in regards to the potential layout and operations of the airport and more to come in the next month or two. And there'll be an opportunity for public feedback. Thank you.

Thank you. Ms. Bryson, Southern Water Country Regional Board.

Yes, sir. The Southern Low Country Regional Board, or SLOCO, met on May 26 in Bluffton. We alternate between meeting in Bluffton and Hardyville. The new business was a presentation by Lisa Sokol, Lisa Sokol, pardon me, Mayor Sokol, former mayor of Town of Bluffton, the chair of the Beaufort County Sales Tax Advisory Committee. She gave a detailed presentation of their work, and that is available on the SLOCO website, which is hosted by the town of Hardyville, I recommend that presentation to you. In addition, there was a presentation on the 20-year plan committee by Truett Rabun and Christy Sturtz, and that is looking at regional planning. No action was taken on either one of those items. And again, I commend your review of that report also on the same website. Then Mayor Harry Williams, the chair of SLOCO board, reported on the tri-share appropriation request This is a three-party funding participation in child care. The funding request was sent to the state at this time. And of course, there's still budget negotiations, I think, going on. It doesn't look like there'll be money coming from the state for this budget cycle. The proposal was for seven jurisdictions to each fund one half, or about $18,000 each. Mayor Harry Williams is still working with the community foundation and other funders and other nonprofits to try to set up such a program. So stay tuned for that. The next meeting of SLOCO will be on Tuesday, June 23 at 10 a.m. City of Hardyville Council Chambers. And that's my report, sir.

Thank you. Mr. Brown, Island Recreation Association. Yes, Mr. Mayor, I'll be quick and just tell you what's going on at the Rec Center this week. Beach volleyball camp, volleyball camp, soccer camp, karate camp, summer camp, challenge camp, adventure camp, surf lessons, swim lessons, lap swimming, water aerobics, fitness classes. They're busy.

Thank you. Thank you. Next up is me with Beaufort County Economic Development Corporation. There's no report today. Gullah Geechee Historic Neighborhoods Community Development Corporation. Mr. Brown.

Yes, sir. Mr. Mayor, the Gullah Geechee Historic Neighborhoods Community Development Corporation will meet on next Wednesday, June 17th at 10 a.m. The agenda includes the executive director's report, consideration of a name change related to the Community Development Act, discussion of the 2026 strategic plan, potential funding strategies, consideration of resolution approving a partnership with the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta, an executive session for discussion of legal matters regarding Community Development Act. Thank you.

Ms. Becker, Community Development and Public Services Committee.

Thank you, Mayor. Our committee, the Community Development and Public Safety Committee did not meet on June 8th. That meeting was canceled due to a lack of agenda items. We look forward to the next meeting, which hopefully we'll have an agenda item. If not, we'll see you in August.

Okay, thank you, Mr. Brown, Finance Administration. We also did not meet in June. We will meet again July 13th at 10 a.m. The agenda will include the monthly fiscal year 2026 financial update and consideration of a resolution authorizing town manager to execute the intergovernmental agreement with the South Carolina Department of Transportation for the Sea Pines Circular Improvement Project.

All right, thank you. Next, we'll move on to a public hearing and second and final reading of the consolidated budget of the town of Hilton Head Island for fiscal year 2027, ending June 30th, 2027. Town council approved this budget on the first reading on May 16th, 2026. We also conducted two workshops on May 14th and 19th, 2026. Mr. Orlando. Thank you, sir.

Mayor, council, good afternoon. It's my honor and privilege to propose to you the FY27 consolidated budget here this afternoon at second and final reading. This is our fourth formal public meeting where we have been discussing the budget and you have been a part of reviewing and considering this year's fiscal year proposal. I mentioned at first reading a few things and I just want to high level, make sure I continue to mention them here at second reading. As we evaluated this year's consolidated budget, we started to realize that we really are in this normalized period of growth, right? That post-pandemic normalization. We took a look at development activity, financial trends, tourism performance, operational metrics, long-term debt obligations, and we presented a consolidated budget structurally balanced to you with considering all of those elements. A few elements we discussed leading into the first budget hearing and workshops is that this budget is aligned with the strategic plan. We've talked about that a lot. We've got a couple of slides on it. I would say that that strategic action plan is aligned or the FY27 consolidated budget is aligned with the strategic action plan. And in that regard, I'd say that we have a priority based budget proposed to you. We've also become more disciplined and data informed. and how project services, long-term debt and long-term financial decisions are prioritized. Some highlights from this budget before I dive in, there's no millage increase. There are diversified revenues through targeted programs and user-based fees. So an example, short-term rental fees are aligned with those short-term rental revenues. Improved service levels, including public safety, short-term rental program and capital projects. No additional personnel with the exception of what we calibrated last, fiscal year as an amendment to bring some folks on with short-term rental revenue, as well as some new folks. And we talked about that. We have a 4% performance-based compensation increase plan in this budget, as well as a class and compensation study implementation that I will bring forward to finance and administrative committee to just give you some highlights on that. We reduced operating costs in several accounts. So I think we're doing more in some areas and less in others. So those operational overall or operational costs, operating costs have reduced. The budget supports workforce retention, organizational capacity, technology, and some operational modernization. We are investing in capital projects with very clear project scopes. I think that jumped out through the CIP workshop. There's investment and more investment this year than last in affiliated agencies, a few Island Recreation Association, definitely a partner, Coastal Discovery Museum, the property and the asset management part of that, as well as Mitchellville Freedom Park through affiliated agency, as well as some capital improvement investment. We've increased fund balance policies as well as several fund balances. We are using $20 million of a one-time use of fund balance, right? So if we've grown 35 million in revenue, 15 to reserves, but 20 used for a one-time use for CIP this year. Last fiscal year provided about $54 million in new debt with only about $13 million in debt increase due to planned payments. And then of course, and we're excited for this and grateful we've established and we maintain the AAA bond rating from Standard and Poor's, Fitch and Moody's, all the three major rating agencies. Our budget is proposed to you in a consolidated format, general operating fund, debt service, capital improvements, stormwater utility, Gullah Geechee historic neighborhood, community development corporation and housing. and this year the budget was different and we talked about it at first reading and a couple times since that it includes a more defined presentation of special revenue funds which improve the clarity of all revenues aligned with all expenditures and targeted fund balance growth at the beginning and the end of the fiscal year so structurally as high level. I want to say thank you again. I said it at first reading, but I have to say it now so that I don't miss the opportunity. An amazing finance director Dave Bird showed up here I don't even know how many months ago, but took the initiative of the town council and some of the game plan strategy from me and reorganized and structured the budget. And so I need to make sure I say thank you to Mr. Byrd publicly. Dave has a great team. Dave doesn't do this himself, just like none of us do, but John Carpenter, assistant finance director, budget manager, Erica Medeir, they're right here. Interim Director of Communications, Kelly Spinella, what you see on the screen is a vision until Kelly brings it to reality. Our HR Director, Lisa Stauffer, for really working with us from that personnel and management standpoint. And of course, our entire senior team, the department heads and the folks that worked with them, but more importantly, or just as important, thank you to all of you for all of your time before, during, and leading up to this point. I've got some slides and I'm gonna go through some high level stuff real quick. But again, when I say we're aligned with our strategic action plan, we've always said that our strategic plan drives the budget and the budget drives the strategic plan. There's nothing in the strategic plan from my deep dive, heart assessment that isn't budgeted. And you see your 10 goals and we'll report on those goals as we get into some strategic plan reporting, including in January's workshop. FY27 consolidated budget goals remain the same. We're here at second and final reading. We've proposed to you a consolidated budget of those six funds plus the special revenues. And we propose to you a budget of the six funds at 146 million. and then the special revenue funds, the accounting of all revenues in and out with matched with all of those associated expenditures for a total of $233.284 million. In your packet, and if you want me to go through this, I will, but you'll see that the total operating revenues are 121 million, The use of fund balance, as I just mentioned, was 35. That's the use, so planned investment into the fund balance, also planned use of that for a total revenue, or I should say transfers in of 72. Other financing, which are fire trucks, 4.5 for a total, 233. And I would say that the the real use of our funds is the most important. You can see that all of these six funds here are compared to FY26 original, 25 and 24 actual. And you will see that the general fund is the only fund that's increasing 12%, and that is affiliated agency. And some of those items that I highlighted, 4% performance-based, class and comp, and some of those operating costs in there. You will see that the operating expenditures are 145, transfers out 72 for a really structurally balanced budget. And you can see the future use into fund balance right there. Our mills remain the same. We've made a couple of adjustments to this work since first reading. We amended the beach preservation fee fund reserve policy. We talked about it at workshop, as well as the natural disaster fund reserve policy. You can see what was proposed at first reading and then the at second reading, the work that you've collectively given me direction on at the workshops. I won't read it all, but you can see that the proposed minimum was and then what we've done is we've calibrated the proposed minimum is 40 million and each year we'll reserve available fund balance amounts exceeding that, right? Our goal by the end of 2033 is $60 million in that account. And then the Natural Disaster Fund, we've walked away with the understanding that the minimum required shall increase annually by any, to keep it simple, anything over the 55% threshold goes automatically into the Natural Disaster Fund and the Natural Disaster Fund will not have a maximum fund balance. And so, Mayor, at this point, I'm prepared to dive into all of these funds. I'll ask you for some guidance.

And I'm not speaking for all the council, I'll ask you in a second, but we have gone through this in detail, workshops, previous readings, so I'll ask the rest of council if you have a desire for him to dive in any more on this?

Okay.

So with that, I'd like to, we'll open it up for the public hearing in just a second, but before I do, Council Member Steve Desimone is out of the country, but asked that we relay that he has expressed his full support for the passing of this ordinance and adoption of the budget. So with that, we'll now open the public hearing for the proposed ordinance adopting the consolidated budget for the Town of Hilton Head Island fiscal year 2027, ending June 30th, 2027. Kim, do we have anybody signed up to speak on this?

We do. Mr. Hoagland?

uh skip hoagland and windmill harbor will be annexed when i'm mayor i'm here today to comment on the two on the 226 27 budget we just completed our city doge ai forensic review and what we found raises serious serious concerns i'm demanding not asking the following on behalf of all taxpayers Town Council called the FBI and the IRS Criminal Division on the illegal tax use we have identified immediately. Alex Brown has removed his finance chairman and replaced with two local volunteer CPAs, preferably with forensic audit knowledge, and appointed and report directly to the council, not the town manager. We're in a crisis. Council hires a forensic audit firm to assist them further with all the budgets and year-end audits review. No one on this council is a CPA. Council needs to utilize our City Doge AI technology, including an AI powered robotic assistant to help support this council in public. The purpose is not to replace employees, elected officials, lawyers, accountants, but to provide instant access to laws, documents, budgets, ordinances, contracts, and financial data during meetings and public discussions. Imagine being able to ask a question to an AI robot during town council meetings, executive sessions, and receive immediate answers in seconds, not weeks and months. CityDoge AI technology will reduce billable legal fees from millions to thousands and mostly free. You just need to hire a young staff lawyer at $80,000 a year. City Doge audits will now be able to instantly identify and red flag budget concerns over spending, contract concerns, and even draft contracts with not the lawyers. Also identify all crimes and better use of our taxpayer funds. Elected officials should embrace a vote to approve our new City Doge Finance Committee or explain to everybody in this room and this island why not. Taxpayers deserve answers. They deserve oversight. They deserve honesty, legal use of our tax money. If elected mayor, I will stop all the illegal votes. I will save taxpayers over $10 million in tax funds my first 72 hours in office. I will not be an illegal chamber ribbon cutting mayor. I will be a watchdog corruption cutting mayor. Hope you understand that, Mr. Perry. Thank you very much for your time.

Anybody else signed up to speak?

Richard Busy.

Good afternoon, Richard Busy, Indigo Run. I am still waiting. for this council. After I sent another email to all council members, my representative Tammy Becker left me a voicemail stating that Mr. Orlando had already answered my questions and that any further questions should be directed to him rather than to the council. That response concerns me because it appears to misunderstand the respective roles of citizens, the council and town manager. of citizens first, followed by the town council, then the town manager and staff. The council was accountable to the citizens and responsible for overseeing the town manager, not the other way around. At the May 12th council meeting, I raised several questions about the budget. Since staff does not answer citizens' questions during public meetings, I submitted those questions to the town manager and copied the council. Mr. Orlando responded on May 20th, and after reviewing those responses, I found that they raised additional and in some cases more troubling questions. I shared those concerns with the council on May 21st. Now, three minutes is not enough time to revisit every issue, but several concerns remain unresolved. First, relying on reserves to sustain spending growth is not financially sustainable over the long term. Second, the town has acknowledged that it doesn't use zero-based budgeting. Instead, spending is largely built upon prior year assumptions rather than requiring departments expenditures every year. Third, the explanation regarding the funding provided to the Gullah Geechee CDC still does not explain why two positions account for $359,000 in salaries and benefits. Fourth, the explanation that the stormwater budget was right-sized raises questions. Which projects were delayed? Which were removed? What backlog now exists? And finally, while financial audits confirm compliance with accounting standards, they are not designed to uncover waste, abuse, or ineffective use of taxpayer funds. And for that reason, I believe an independent forensic review should be considered. My request is simple before approving this budget. And I don't believe for a minute, this is going to happen, but I got to say it. This council should fully examine these issues, provide clear public answers and demonstrate to the citizens that meaningful oversight is taking place. And let me remind everyone of what our finance director said, where he described government accounting as weird.

Thank you. Is there anybody else signed up to speak?

Chet Williams. That's all.

He passes. Anybody else in the audience wish to speak on this item? All right, seeing none, Mr. Orlando, would you like to address any of those comments?

There were a lot. I didn't write them all down. I did have an email response. So no, at this point, sir, we can talk. Zero-based versus priority-based budget. Zero-based budget, I think, is a term that a lot of companies can use. It's not a traditional term in municipal, finance and municipal budgeting. Zero-based would be going back to zero on everything for the most part. Rather than rebuilding from a blank slate each year, we have a clear set of community and town council priorities. I'd say that our budget is priority-based, not zero-based in that regard. We maintain our core services. We don't go backwards unless we calibrate them downward. And we've shown that we've done that, but our residents and businesses expect service levels. We protect public safety. We advance and maintain infrastructure. So again, it's hard to sit here right now and talk about zero based, but we justify same lesser expanded spending every year. And I think we've shown that we've gone backwards to go forwards in other accounts and lowered millage and paid off debt and AAA bond rating. And so I think that there's some details that I've heard tonight I can try to answer again. I'll be a little more clear, but from that standpoint, Fund balance, I'll just say real quick, I think that's the most important one. We are not relying on public or on fund balance to balance operating, right? Your decision was to spend $50 million on roads, on stormwater, on parks, on the infrastructure, including facilities. But if there's 35 million in revenue and it shows right up there, 15 million to reserves, and we've used 20 of it for a one-time use, we say that we've used, that's fine. We say that we've used fund balance. So we've used $19 million for capital projects and never have I ever in my career used fund balance to balance an operating budget. So I think it's terminology and I'd be happy to sit down with Mr. Bissey and hear a little more about this. It's always hard to, point counterpoint and answer questions in an email. I think that's what workshops are for and I think that's what I can say right now.

Okay, thank you. So with that, the public hearing is closed. Do we have a motion on the table?

I move to adopt. Second. Second and final reading.

We have a first and a second. Discussion from council. Ms. Tonner.

All right, thank you. So it's easy to get lost in all the numbers and all the comparisons and all the slides. And so how much we're budgeting to and comparisons. But one of the things that I like to do is look at three things. How much money are we budgeting to spend on expenses? And then I also like to compare it to where were we a few years ago? Because we've got all these comparisons to budget, prior year's budget, et cetera. And so I did that. So I looked at our expenses in two different ways, our operating expenses, which you talked about, and then our capital related expenses. But what happens in our exhibits is we add those together. But it really does tell a story when you separate out operating versus capital expenses. So operating expenses, and I'll just define what those are. And these were in an exhibit that Mr. Byrd had put together in a prior meeting. Includes the general fund, the debt fund, the housing, and the Gullah Geechee CDC. It does not include the capital fund. And if I compare the fiscal year 2027 budget to the year of 2024, so three years ago, our operating expenses went up 1.9% per year over that time period, well below inflation. It moved from 85.6 million to 90.5 million. And that doesn't happen without good oversight. So operating expenses are being very well controlled. capital expenses are going up. And they are going up significantly and there was a lot of work associated in the CIP budget workshop. In 2024, we spent 26.8 million and this year we're gonna spend 55 million. And What's different is that this is a year of putting shovels in the ground. There have been projects that have been promised for years that are now going to be coming into fruition. And some of those major drivers include the pickleball courts at Crossings Park and the improvements at the Bristol Sports Arena for our young people. We also have investments in fire and safety with two new fire trucks that were ordered several years ago that are now and the new fire and rescue headquarters that include emergency operations. And the third thing I'd like to look at is if we need to dip into our fund balance, which you've talked about. And this year we're going to be using 20 million of our fund balance to cover our CIP plan. And as you said, it's not to cover our operating, it's to cover our CIP plan. So the question is, should we be concerned about that? So I've talked about this before. Our business model is to collect all those special funds that come in each and every year, and they have qualifiers on how you can spend them. And we save that money in a savings account in funds, and we save it over time. And then we will use it to fund large projects. And so that is what happened. We saved money and now we're using it for these projects. So I am not concerned about the fact that we are going into fund balances to cover our CIP plan. That is our business model. But we have to keep an eye on that. And now through the great work of Dave Bird, he has provided more transparency through the financial reporting done on a monthly basis, which lays out all our fund balances, the inflows, the outflows, and he even does what he calls a fund walk that projects where we're going to be in each one of those funds. every month and so we are always on top of knowing what is happening with our fund balances so that we can keep an eye on that and so i think that is a huge improvement in our processes so i am not concerned about the 20 million dollars that we're dipping into for this year I also want to acknowledge that we've had many opportunities to discuss the budget in great detail over the past several months, and you have implemented process improvements as well. The capital improvement workshop was great. It allowed a deeper dive in discussion, and from that, $7 million was cut from what was originally proposed to what we see in our budget today. Budgeting special revenues to provide greater clarity and transparency of key drivers of our financials. Yes, it makes it a little difficult to compare to prior year because we are planning in a new way, but it provides great transparency. Strengthening our reserve policy for natural disaster recovery and beach preservation fees provides more stability for our future. And establishing funds for economic development. So we also, I think, identified a process improvement for you next year, which is to have the affiliated agencies as a standalone topic for town council review and approval so that there can be a deep dive. So we're always looking for ways to improve the process. So when I look at this budget, what I see is investments in our infrastructure through stormwater systems, park roads and pathways. I see investments in our employees through development and a salary structure that is updated based on data. And I see protecting our island through land purchases to reduce the impact of future development. So with that, as I think about everything that we have talked about, I am comfortable with the budget as is, but also recognize that there is always the opportunity for process improvement.

Thank you. Thank you. Other comments? Questions? Ms. Bryson?

Yes. First of all, thank you to our town manager and his team. We really appreciate how hard you work to come up with the recommendation for the budget, which the town council is responsible for adopting. It is our responsibility. We recognize that. But we also thank you for all your hard work in providing us with the information upon which we can base our decision. We are fortunate in this community to have many sources of revenue. We're not dependent upon property taxes. In fact, if you look at the list, I know it's expenditures now, but we've seen the list. property taxes, business licenses, franchise fees, stormwater utility fees, local accommodations tax, EMS revenue, permit fees, state accommodations tax, beach preservation fees. We just finished or almost finished our beach re-nourishment project, which looks great. Hospitality tax. We've had a TIF before, real estate transfer fee, electric franchise fee, short-term rental fee, grants, investment income, beach parking, Sunday liquor permit fees, impact fees, bond proceeds, et cetera. But we are fortunate to have all these different revenue sources, which means we can maintain our millage rate and deliver to our community wonderful services and capital improvements. And thank you, Ms. Tonner, for that analysis. That's a really great analysis at looking at what questions do you ask in order to determine whether or not to support a budget. And I agree with that analysis. And that's why I'm happy to vote for and support this budget. It carries out our strategic plan, and it delivers to our community the kind of things that our community wants. Thank you.

Thank you. Ms. Becker?

Well, thank you. And thank you, Mayor, for the opportunity. It's a whole bunch of stuff. Sometimes you just can't win no matter what you say. But I'm going to give it a shot here, too, trying to make myself really clear. We're in a limited government, Hilton Head is, and I appreciate and respect that and honor that decision that was made when we incorporated. But even with having said that, we provide a tremendous amount of services. And one of the things that I know I've questioned over the months that we've been working on this budget is the numbers where it looked as though we had a large increase. Our fine team sitting over there and you, Mark, have spent time with me to help me see. And I'd like to make sure everybody, because I know we talked about it at the last workshop, but everybody understands that, in fact, our budget has gone down roughly $26 million, right? Yeah.

I went back a slide, Ms. Becker. There it is.

And I think that's important for us to recognize because in light of being a limited service, we're providing actually more and higher quality services at a lower cost to the taxpayers. And I want to respect that and make sure that you all know that I appreciate the effort that goes into doing that. I also want to acknowledge that While modern technology is fabulous, I am so grateful for the team that you've put together. Those with such high expectations of themselves and bring such a work ethic and experience to this town that we can feel with confidence that the work and the advice that we're being given is top rated. And specifically that our staff, excuse me again, our staff is knowledgeable about the particular areas of expertise, but they're also very cognizant of our community and our community's expectations and meeting those expectations as it relates to us one on one. And that relationship cannot ever be replaced by any type of new technology. So I want to make sure that I say thank you to you all and let you know how very much, not only in the finance department, but every department in this government. Having said all of that, there are a couple of things that still bother me and that I know we've talked about several times, but I should back up some of the other positive things For me, we know, I think we're all increasingly becoming more and more aware that we have to address public safety issues on the island. And I want to say thank you for the monies that were spent for the public safety assessment and going into creating a better system with cameras, et cetera, down in the broad Caligny area. And I think that that is going to be a big improvement for our public safety here on the island. But also in this budget, there's monies put aside for additional public safety assessment across the island. And I think that's a good step in a direction that I know I am hearing from our residents is important to them. And I want them to hear us that we are planning for a careful look at that and hopefully putting something into place in the short term. But I can't vote yes. There are some items that still cause me some agita, things that I know we're still talking about, things that I think that we need a better understanding, more time. And with me, I understand that sometimes things don't come in a couple of months. You know, I've been working on projects that have taken four and five years. and this is just the process that you go through. But what I don't want to be accused of doing, and I certainly would never accept of myself, is to begin to feel, and I have recently, that we are creating policy through budget. And so I'd like to take the time to continue those conversations that we've been having, look more closely at them, and make sure that as it relates to policy items, that we're having a clear communication and dialogue and debate among this council with the advices of our town managers so that we are actually moving forward and doing things in a proper process for all of our futures. So there's lots of good in this budget, lots and lots of good, and I don't want to take away from anything there, but because of those concerns that I have, I have to still vote no. I haven't been able to get to yes yet. Thank you.

Thank you. Mr. Alford, do you have any comment? Nope. Mr. Brown? Ready for the questions, sir. All right. Well, I just want to remind us that we're at 19.4 mils, which doesn't generate a lot of tax revenue at all. Our industry is strong. It's been overflated. It's normalizing a little bit, which is okay. Compared to other municipalities up and down the coast, they're not as fortunate. Some of our sister communities are at 72 mills, 50 mills, 108 mills. So to the management team, to the finance team, you've done a great job in presenting a budget that works well within the funding that we have. We'll see what happens next year, right? We know that things are gonna change and we always have to be on the lookout for that which is gonna change. But where we've come from to where we are now over the past three years with now having our third finance director in play who has really brought transparency and clarity to the table is stellar. So you've got my full support on this. So seeing that there's no other questions or comments, We have a consideration of an ordinance adopting a consolidated municipal budget for the town of Hilton High Island for fiscal year 2027, ending June 30th, 2027. Motion was made by Ms. Bryce and seconded by Mr. Alford. All those in favor, signify by raising your right hand. Opposed? Vote is five to one. And Mr. Desimone is enjoying out of the country. So, Mark, thank you. Thank you, Mayor and Council, very much. Thank you. Now in the new business, we have consideration of a resolution to adopt the designated marketing organization, physical year 27 marketing plan, budget and industry metrics. DMO presented a revised physical year 2027 deal marketing plan, budget and industry metrics to the accommodations tax advisory committee on April 23rd. The ATAC members voted unanimously to recommend the marketing plan budget industry metrics for the town approval. The Finance Administrative Committee reviewed the annual package on their May 11th, 2026 meeting and sent the package forward for final approval to town council. Angie Stone, Assistant Town Manager, will be conducting the presentation. Ms. Stone.

I'm actually just going to introduce Ari and Chase, but I wanted to just quickly say the DMO marketing plan and budget is up for approval today. It's part of our first year. This is the first year of our new contract that was a result of a procurement process we went through. You went through the review and approval process so far. The presentation contains the budget and responses to town council comments and questions that have occurred in the last few meetings. With that, I'll bring up Ari Pernice and Chase O'Dell.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good afternoon. My name is Arianna Pernice. I'm here for the Hilton Head Island Bluffton Chamber of Commerce and I oversee the Visitor and Convention Bureau.

And I'm Chis O'Dell, the Research Manager with the Chamber of ECB.

And we're here to present after we've been with you a few different times throughout the year, prepping for fiscal year 26, 27. And today's presentation is gonna focus on a handful of items that were asked to be presented against. So those efforts are the budget review, we're gonna talk a little bit deeper about the golf partnership, our shared values, local events, and answer any questions. So you are very familiar with our budget. What this year we are bringing forward based on the new requirements put forth in our contract as the DMO that we are presenting against the 3.7 that we forecast or anticipate receiving as the DMO with the DMO designation and the plan is built against those 3.7. And as a next page, this is the form. I'll be at hard to see at this on the screen. It is equally as hard to see it in person when you're looking at it, unless you're big, big paper. But we have worked together in partnership with the town, with Angie and Mr. Byrd to bring forth of the seven sections, we are in six of them. The first being advertising, the second being promotional materials, third being marketing support, Four is group sales and marketing. Destination PR is number five. And then number seven is other, really our operational detail. So I know that we've spent a length of time on this. I want to make sure that I need to go into further detail. We are going to be addressing golf and other things further in the presentation. So if you're okay with it, we can move forward in that. Okay, so let's skip to golf. So the golf partnership is an opportunity for us to dive a little deeper in terms of what the golf partnership means for the destination and how does the DMO support the partnership? How do we support the, not just the partnership overall, but how do we support the activity and a driver as a destination for the destination? So we presented against these slides last time, and we will take some deeper dive in the following slides, but we wanted to come back to this slide first to start as kind of a foundation piece. In our budget that you saw earlier, we have allocated $100,000 of the 30% to move forward in supporting paid digital ads. Those are ads that you would see through Google or Bing or on our social media platforms that are asking people who are interested and been identified as interested in golf, clicking and coming to our golf microsite that we oversee and have oversight on. So 80,000 towards those working efforts, pure working dollars, the 20,000 really goes to golf microsite maintenance. It goes to supporting the elements of the RFP functionality. So it's really there for the working components of that. The LGCOA who comes forward to you during the ATACS opportunity focuses on separate efforts. And those efforts, 65,000 are split between social media and social media influencers. and 45,000 are spent on golf publications and their e-newsletter that they send out. In partnership, and just to go back on golf publications, think of a golf week, you know, that type of publication that they can either digitally or print be in. And so together in our separate focus that all support golf, we produce at the end of the day, not only generation of demand, but we bring people through to the microsite so they become leads. It is an RFP microsite and that those RFPs are then distributed out to the golf courses. Very similarly to how we support meetings and group business on the island. Hotels also support their own efforts in the out market. However, they work very closely with the chamber and we have a dedicated site for them and they produce when people come through to us based on our marketing efforts, there is an RFP capability there as well. And we are responsible for taking those leads and distributing them out to the hoteliers. Similarly, how we take the RFPs or leads that we receive into the golf microsite and we distribute those golf leads to the golf courses. Again, visually, how are we supporting golf differently than the golf efforts of the LGCOA? I like to look at it as a funnel. We talk often about awareness, intent, and conversion. If you look at where LGCOA is focused, it is focused at a very high level, casting a wide net, and reaching people who have at least acknowledged that they are interested in outdoor recreation and golf as a general kind of thing that they like to do. So that is their efforts. We are focused a little further down. Once the person has been identified as a golf enthusiast, someone who golfs often, and we are bringing them through to the microsite where they are submitting an RFP and it's going out to the courses. Again, a very specific effort that we're doing versus the LGCOA. These are examples at the top. that have our ads. So you can see our messaging from our social channels or digital channels are very specific to that part of the process in the funnel where we're saying, planning the perfect Hilton Head Island golf getaway is a breeze. It's harder for me to read, I apologize. Let our experts, planners, craft the ideal experience for you. Again, learn more. That takes you to, or book now, calls to action. This to the left, your right, is the Gulf microsite homepage. To the right, your left, is the Gulf RFP platform. So this is again where I am super interested in golfing. I know I've chosen Hilton Head Island. I wanna understand what this might cost, my group of one up to 10 plus, and they put that in there and it's sent to the golf courses.

I'll talk to this part briefly. So just to kind of show what golf means to us as an island, we spend a lot of time talking about driving shoulder season visitation. What you see here are round counts provided by LGCOA to show month by month the number of round counts. What you can see is that golf is a huge driver in their shoulder seasons. Our peak visitation is right now, June, July, August. But golf's peak visitation is actually right before that and right after that. So it's a strong driver of our shoulder season visitation.

But I think we need to look at, you know, we're looking golf as an isolated effort and outreach. I think what's important to understand is how are we equally supporting all initiatives, assets, drivers to the destination. So we've done some analysis on that and we wanted to bring that forward.

Yeah, so we were kind of showing, you know, with our 100,000 and LGCOA's 100,000, you know, how that compares to some of the other things we promote on the island. So as an example, we pulled our social media campaigns that we put out in, this past fiscal year, the one that we're ending. And we compared that against the budget for that. And what we were able to show is that we spend about 390,000 in social media last year to promote the core values for the community. And what we were able to show there is that on a pillar by pillar basis, they're competing with golf. The golf is not, We're not doing golf instead of something else. Golf is part of the messaging, but it's not the whole message. We do still put a huge focus on those core values, and we actually have it broken out to show, I can go through it if you'd like me to, but the portion of the budget for social media that each of those core values had to show how they're part of our overall messaging.

And so I think that breakdown of how we're supporting all of our pillars that we are going to get into a little bit later in the conversation, it's important to understand that one effort isn't receiving more funding than another per se, but we also are showing how our visitors or potential visitors are engaging with our assets. And I think that's an important component to keep in mind as we make decisions regarding how we use those funds. Because though history is a very important component to our destination, it is to a smaller group of individuals who are raising their hand and saying, we're interested, we like it, we're sharing it, we're commenting on it. However, it is important, and so we are dedicating a strong percentage of the budget to that pillar. Equally though, recreation, history, ecotourism, arts and culture, and at the time, we look at, these pieces and we're seeing that there are different engagement levels happening and we need to understand that as well, that we can't forego supporting recreation or wellness or ecotourism to offset and focus on one specific area. So again, what this analysis has shown is that we've taken these funds and shared them appropriately across the year or the fiscal year to gain engagement.

And just as an example to what Ari's talking about, total engagements and engagements is when someone just interacts with something on our social media profile, whether they like it, leave a comment, they engage with it in some way. History makes up about 2% of our total engagements. If you look at it on a pillar by pillar basis, we actually allocate more than double that, about 5% of it, toward promoting or posting about history on Hilton Head. So we are conscious of making sure that we represent those regardless of, we do scale it based on the engagement, but it's not like, you know, you get 2% of the engagement, here's 2% of the budget. We want to make sure we push those values because they're an important part of our island.

So I think it's important that you had all of that knowledge in front of you as you're making the decision regarding golf and that we are equally treating those areas of focus appropriately. So going into our shared values. I think the one piece I wanna bring forward is that for years we have charted against what we had referenced as our five core values. And those core values were arts and culture, ecotourism, history, recreation, and wellness. Those were agreed upon, those were handheld together to support the town's initiatives, the broader plan of efforts in place. It is what our community has raised to say that what's important to them. And those will always remain the foundation of what drives our tourism marketing. However, to speak to the visitor on how they digest media, I think it's important that we recognize they don't do it so literally, that they don't say, I'm doing ecotourism and I'm only gonna focus on ecotourism or I'm gonna go to recreation, I'm only gonna do recreation. And I will also say that in the pillars that we're originally created the values and originally created in the efforts underneath them, they were either very specific or too general. And I say that because I can give you an example of under wellness, it included spas, outdoor, beach yoga, culinary and retail. Because at some of those touch points and all of those touch points, you can have wellness, right? For some that means something to then another. However, we feel that breaking culinary out because culinary as a community has become very important to us. And I will also say that it has become a partnered opportunity as we talk about culture. Culture and culinary is an initiative that we'd like to move forward with for this next year. As we look at what does the next round of efforts supporting the documentary that we have together in partnership, as we look for opportunities to bring forward more storytelling. Again, in partnership of culinary and culture, that makes the most sense. And so I use that example to say, we are not abandoning our values, but we're growing them so they better resonate with those who are booking travel. And so we brought in this page and Chase, I'll let you speak to it a little bit to show visually how we're connecting the core values that we held hands and agreed upon, but are bringing those more collectively to our out market and to our visitors.

you know, to kind of build on what Ari was saying, here we've kind of like broken out based on the core values underneath these new visitor experience foundations to kind of show, you know, one, the kind of marketing imagery or messaging that you would see underneath each of these pieces. But we also, to build on what she was saying, we're trying to reflect that, you know, there's, when visitors are on the island, they rarely experience just one thing, right? The example I like to use is if you take a bike ride through sea pines, it's not just a bike ride. You're going to encounter nature. You're going to encounter history. You're going to, you know, get exercise. Like it's multiple things at one time. And we wanna be able to pitch that experience in its totality to our potential visitors. And so that's kind of what this is intended to kind of give you an idea of.

So keep this in mind, know that our values that we originally held hands on are at the core, but again, that we're moving in the direction of how do we present a stronger effort of regarding tourism because people are naturally and organically combining these values and these pillars together when they're thinking of travel. So if you will, We're going back to the slide about how you work through as a consumer, as a visitor, how do you digest media? How do you digest brand or branding? And I go back to this top line, the visitor journey. It always starts with awareness and it moves you through to there's some intent there. Gosh, I really keep seeing this. I have some intent to travel and then the conversion. And we do those efforts of moving a visitor through this funnel or this line of awareness, intent, and conversion by several different tactical efforts. And that is where we create demand generation and we turn it into demand capture. And you see that through a series, sorry, at the bottom line, just how we do that. We talk often about that. We're getting them first, and it goes back to the LGCOA conversation. Get them first with the social media, broad, talking big picture, Hilton Head Island, golf, top of mind, and then you move them through the funnel and more tactical book now, great opportunity, timing of the year, so on and so forth. So you see that in the bottom line, but then we move forward and if you'll allow us, we have a little bit of a story to tell with some pictures. And I think that's a good opportunity. So as we move through this story, and we talk about our friends Sally and Adam based in New York, and visually what they're doing through this process, please keep in mind that the visuals are correlated with the values that you see below the icons. And I'll let Chase help us walk through Sally and Adam's discovery and experience of deciding to come to Hilton Head Island.

Yeah, so this first step is awareness, right? So Sally likes coastal experiences, but Adam prefers culinary and local events, right? So what they have in common is that they like ecotourism. They like to be eco-conscious when they travel. So they're going to start getting served advertising that highlights those specific aspects of Hilton Head Island. Sally gets coastal outdoor life. Adam gets culinary. And rather than promoting any of the individual activity, the ads convey kind of the natural vibe of the island. A sense of place, if you will. A sense of place, yeah. So then the next step is actually building that intent. So we're moving away from becoming aware that Hilton Head Island exists and moving toward intent that, hey, you know, maybe I want to travel there. So they're gonna keep getting hit with ads for Hilton Head that reflect their specific mix of experiences. And that's gonna reinforce that awareness that they saw earlier in the first step. And then that engagement then begins to deepen. They may stop just looking at ads. They may start interacting with them, maybe liking something, leaving a comment, maybe kicking the tires and heading over to a website. But what is important here is that even though they're seeing kind of different contexts, that ecotourism piece is still the core of the entire experience. It's the foundation that the broader aspects kind of feed off of. And then finally, we move them to conversion, which is they've become aware of the island, they are intending to travel, and now they're gonna actually click over to one of our, or they can come to HiltonHeadIsland.org and then click over to a partner website to actually make that booking. So Sally gets her coastal and outdoor creative stuff. Adam is gonna get his culinary experience. Both of those are gonna be rooted in the ecotourism or the eco-conscious marketing that we have put out into the market. And Sally's gonna go to, like I said, hiltonheadisland.org, and she's going to book her stay at one of our hotels or short-term rentals.

And so I hope visually, but also in the storytelling, it has shown that the way that we, even you and I, we're consuming is different than being siloed into one area of focus. and that collectively that we are gaining more opportunities by creating that synergy between these experiences and values and bringing the desired qualified visitor to the destination to do all these things. When they see Andrew Carmines at his oyster farm, you can see that, you can experience that. When you can go to Mitchellville, you can experience those opportunities. When you go to the beach, you can experience the pictures that they're seeing. And again, so it's this blended opportunity for us to bring the destination to life. And I encourage us to kind of think more collectively in that effort as we move forward.

So the next piece we're gonna move forward with is the local events piece, which we talked about before. So anybody in the community can post an event on HiltonHeadIsland.org. That's not just exclusive to members. Anybody in the community can post their event there. What you see there is kind of two screenshots. One is the events page, and the one on the left there is actually where you can go in and submit your event through that page. So in 2025, we had about 274,000 views onto our events page, and that translated to about 217,000 external link clicks. That means someone went, saw the event, and clicked off to the partner's website or landing page or whatever to learn more about that event and then potentially attend it.

And I think what's great is that in partnership and with our new contract in place, we've been working in lockstep with Angie and the team to understand how we can improve and better support our partners in the community for regarding local events. And there are going to be several steps that we have in partnership put in place to support the community, the ATACS committee and the town staff regarding any kind of research or efforts. So if you could walk them through the form, but also then the, marquee events that we've identified together?

Yeah, so we've identified several marquee events. They're all listed here, and they'll be on the next slide as well. But we are going to collaborate with ATAC in order to help bring some of these resources, one, to make ATAC applicants, sorry, ATAC's applicants knowledgeable that this process exists, but also make it easy for them to partner with us and for us to, you know, help either promote their event or do research for their event. so that we can bring value to those local events around the community. So I'm going to actually click here and kind of show you what that link looks like if it pops up.

I think because you're on present, you know, your slides, maybe just go out. Kimberly, is it okay if we go to a website and just show them the form? So while we pull this up, do you want to have Kimberly pulling it up? Oh, she's going to pull it up for us.

Ari? Yes, ma'am. If I might, I think you can skip the form. We'll cover that with the ATAC folks.

So the form is put in place, thank you though for trying, was put in place to help support the submissions for ATACs to say that in this form, you can qualify yourself as an out-marketing effort, that we can offer X, Y, and Z opportunities for you in addition to promotion of your event on the events page. And so we have actually already received one or two.

The form went live, I believe, last week. And so we've actually had one or two people already reach out via that form. So it makes it much easier for people in the community to reach us. And it makes it a lot easier for us to reach back out to them and begin to help them.

And it aligns now with the new cadence of the application starting a little earlier this year. So it's in place and we're working really closely with Angie and team on that.

And so this kind of gives you an idea of the marquee events that we're talking about. So where it's blank right there, that's just because that will be new events for the new fiscal year. But you can see just some baseline stats of the performance that they had either on our website or on social media last year, event attendance, what percentage of them came for 50 miles or further out. And then the bottom part there is the promotional budget that we have allocated from some of the line items you saw earlier toward promoting those events. And then also the same thing with research. The reason you're seeing a variable number there for research is that because the price does depend on whether or not they want a one day or two day surveying effort. So it depends on what the partner will need.

And that's it.

All right, thank you.

Thank you.

So now we'll go and see, ask for a motion to approve.

Well, I'll make a motion to approve the presentation that we've heard here tonight and need a second.

We have a second?

Second.

All right. We've got a first and second. Kim, has anybody signed up to speak on this item?

Yes, we have Mr. Hoagland.

It's a big waste of time, but I'll do it anyway. Once again, you are all in violation of law by voting in favor of $8 million more to the Chamber for pay tax funding with zero accounting. You are all violating South Carolina constitutional laws by voting in favor of the funds being used for private profits, not for the public good, reason, purpose, and benefits by the Chamber. You all use tax money to become Chamber members, another violation and conflict. You are all in charge of the hired DMO and liable for the chambers of DMO in violation of IRS C-6 tax codes committing UBIT tax violations and tax evasion, paying no IRS taxes on their illegal advertising sales, and also unfairly competing against local media. If you handed Skip Hoagland, not Bill Miles, $8 million, and I told you my use of the tax of $8 million was my business and none of your business, I assume you'd have me arrested and sued. You totally avoid Bill Miles' use of aid tax funds in Canada, reported over $3 million plus. Tamara, why do you do this? Why do you allow this criminal tax theft? It's got to end, Melinda, both of you, all of you. Alan Perry said he saw 80% of the receipts and invoices of tax funds used by Bill Miles, with Bill Miles and his accountants, and I'll phrase his laundering accountants, including in Canada. Mr. Perry, where is it? Where is it? Where is it? Show it. If this election goes well and I become mayor of Hilton Head, I fully intend to have you both investigated and I hope arrested and serve time for your criminal fraud and scams. This is not sustainable and it's coming to an end. We need an honest mayor and a council to control our hired manager and lawyers. The lawyer you just hired works for Bluffton Town lawyer Terry Finger, again hired by Curtis Coltrane, our lawyer, to draft the illegal fraudulent five-year, $40 million chamber DMO contract. Finger and Coltrane schemed this fraud to allow this illegal chamber operation to continue robbing taxpayers blind. with no fair procurement. They both should be prosecuted and disbarred. Our council is allowing this town to be run and controlled by the criminally operated chamber and the secret special interests and lawyers that have violated the law. You better all pray that I don't become mayor. If I do, it will all be run legally, transparently, and Doge and AI will be used to do so. We need to restore honesty. You folks have just become dishonest. Every one of you. You just, Tamara, congratulations. You're the only one, shame on you, Melinda, that's voted to oppose that budget. That's outrageous. Why can't you just abide by the law?

Anybody else sign up to speak?

Mr. Williams.

I'll pass.

That's all we have.

All right, so we'll bring it back to the dais. I'm gonna make a statement in that I support this presentation and this contract. For the first time, we're working together in a long time, and it is something that has needed to take place and is taking place, and we're moving forward in the best light that we possibly can. I'm not gonna say it's 100% perfect, but I'm gonna say that it brings people to the table to work together for the betterment of our community. And the transparency and the clarity is going to be there going forward. And that's all I need to say. So with that, other comments from council?

Mayor, if I could. Ms. Bryson? This will be the sixth time I've addressed this issue. The first time was in November of 2025 at a meeting with a consultant for the chamber on their strategic plan. And I pointed out at the time that the proposed pillars, the new pillars, did not comply with our core values. On December 9, 2025, there was a DMO marketing report and I addressed the same issue. When the town council approved the new contract with the DMO, there were some special items in there that I pointed out and they are the following. One is that there was a lot more financial transparency. The requirements, determination provisions, a limited time period. Also, request for qualifications within the term of the contract. Also, current industry metrics, marketing of local events, which is included. I tried to have an amendment for no additional grants for ATEX money because we need to provide those funds to our local organizations that did not pass, but all the other kind of detail. And what I specifically pointed out is that article six of the contract has specific language about the marketing focus. And I'll read this language because I think it's essential. And I hope my colleagues will listen carefully to this. It says in article six, paragraph I, the marketing plan shall, not may, shall demonstrate adherence to the promotion of the town's goal of sustainable and responsible tourism practices in alignment with the town's strategic plan by promoting, and there are five of them, ecotourism, arts and culture, Hilton Head Island history, wellness, and recreation, herein the core values. In addition, under Article 6, paragraph Roman numeral 2C, the marketing plan shall include specific local events. So there is a provision for local events as well. If we can go back to, I think it is page 16 of the presentation today, the marketing plan. Yes. So if you look at this, it's extraordinarily confusing to me. It's an effort to use the new pillars proposed, which up at the top with the colors, as I understand it, of the core values. Instead, it is the core values which should control and the others underneath there. I particularly noted culinary and dining, which has the subcategory, I guess, of wellness. And then under wellness, it says local seafood and waterfront dining. Now, my question is, how am I going to say to my friend who has shellfish allergies that we're going to sit outside in the summer with the mosquitoes? How is that wellness? I know that's an odd example for me to point out, but just to say, by moving these colors and categories around does not comply with the strict language of the ordinance. I've said it before. I think this is a material term, material terms, I should say, of the agreement. And if we let the DMO slide around on this one, how can we hold their feet to the fire on other compliance with this agreement? If we are going to adopt these new pillars, then we're going to have to amend this contract to change the language because there could be clearer language than in this contract. If you look at what is a value and what has been marketed before, if you look at the 2025-2026 Hilton Head Island Destination Marketing Plan, it says demonstrating our values, ecotourism, arts and culture, historical heritage, wellness and recreation. Those are the core values. If you look at the 2026 official vacation planner, Island values, arts and culture, eco-tourism history, recreation and wellness core values. We entered into this contract in December, 2025 on March 31 of this year, a little more than three months later, clear language, clear core elements, clear material compliance with the contract was changed. If you look at Condé Nast Traveler, which we were provided at that time, the focus there is on our environment, outdoor adventure, bird watching. It's all about the environment. It is not about some of these new elements that have been introduced. If you look at Bill Miles, the CEO of the the Chamber, our DMO, sent us an email yesterday at 322 p.m. about a report, an update from a recent meeting of the Futures Board of Advisors of the Chamber, a voluntary group of nationally and internationally recognized leaders in tourism, hospitality, business, technology, marketing and cultural preservation. And it said, the purpose of the group is to help us continue shaping and starting a welcoming world-class community that embraces, listen to this part, embraces our natural environment, celebrates our cultural heritage, and promotes economic vitality through thoughtful place-based and sustainable tourism. It goes on to say, the group applauded our continued focus on, listen to this list, wellness, ecotourism, recreation, arts and culture, history, and destination stewardship. This reinforced the importance of preserving and elevating the authentic experiences that distinguish our community from countless destinations across the country and around the world. He goes on to say, perhaps most importantly, the group reinforced we should continue advocating for what makes this community special. our natural beauty, rich history, cultural heritage, environmental stewardship, and exceptional quality of life because they remain powerful differentiators in an increasingly competitive marketplace. A couple of weeks ago, it's already been mentioned, I had the opportunity to sit at a workshop with advocates for the Cultural Arts District. It was a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the culture and arts on this and the history on this island. I know there are a couple of representatives from organizations here tonight to listen to this discussion. If we intend to adopt a cultural arts district, which we have supported, we need to be able to market that. There's a blend of cultural and heritage. If you look at those core elements, then they shouldn't be all mixed up in this chart. They should be the focus. They are the focus of our agreement, not this chart. So, Mayor, I took some time to try to find a compromise between what was proposed. And I'll ask the clerk, Madam Clerk, do you have available the language that I sent?

Not from the screen. She does not.

She does not. I had requested that. So I will have to read it out. because to me it is essential. And I don't understand, are these our new pillars? Is this page 16, our proposed new pillars?

These are how we're taking the pillars that we have discussed here that were the ones you just read and we're bringing them to the visitor. Okay, so again, I just want to reiterate that we're not abandoning these five. We're bringing them together in packaging them or showing that they can all work together, that no one independently is coming for culinary, but they might be coming for culinary and culture. So we're just bridging them all together and bringing them out into the out market that way.

But underneath these new five pillars, coastal outdoors, golf, rec and wellness, Culinary and dining, cultural and heritage, and events and communities. Those are the five new pillars. Is that correct? That's what was proposed at finance administrative and what was proposed at our March workshop.

And these are the ones that we are, so to answer your question, we are using these in our efforts to out-market. But we are still keeping these as our foundation. And this is how we're talking about them to our community. That in our community, that we have chosen these five. and we held hands on these five, but when we're bringing them to the out market, to our visitors, this is how we're collaborating and putting those together in the examples that we showed previously. Okay.

So Mayor, I shared this proposal with all of the town council members, and I also shared it with town staff. And this morning I shared it with the DMO. So I move, Madam Clerk, this is my motion. I move to amend the marketing plan by replacing page 16 with the following. And Madam Clark has a copy of this. Number one, ecotourism, core values, commitment to environmental protection and experience, including sustainability, beach protection, sea turtle nesting, nature preserves and parks, birding and wildlife viewing, coastal discovery museum, and oyster shell recycling. Number two, arts and culture. Core value, a deep sense of place rooted in creative expression with the following elements, Gullah traditions and art, cultural trail, coastal arts center, art league gallery, public art, musical concerts and venues, poetry trail. Number three, Hilton Head Island history and heritage. Core value, recognition of unique stories and landmarks with these elements. Historic Mitchellville Freedom Park, Gullah Museum, Gullah Tours, Heritage Library, Fort Howell Historic Site, Cherry Hill School, Green Shell Enclosure, Zion Chapel of Ease, Historic Gullah Churches. Number four, recreation and wellness, core values. Focus on opportunities for outdoor activities for fun and fitness, including the elements. gold level bicycle friendly community, championship golf courses, tennis courts, pickleball courts, extensive bike pathways, kayaking, paddle boarding. Number five, local events, core value, celebration of islands culture and community. elements, music and art festivals, food and wine events, sports tournaments, including RBC heritage PGA golf tournament, local traditions, signature Island events. Finally, number six culinary and dining core value featuring a diverse and thriving food scene shaped by sea land and culture, including the elements, local seafood, low country cuisine, chef-owned restaurants, waterfront dining, gull-inspired cuisine, and farmers markets. Because I believe, based on exact language coming from our DMO, based on exact language in our contract, that this should be a part of the marketing plan and not this confusing page 16. And I would ask for a second so we can at least discuss this.

Is there a second to the motion? Seeing none, motion fails.

And Mayor, I would further say and apologize to our cultural arts community. I tried my best to reflect what was discussed. When folks come to this island and they experience what we value here, it is a different experience. There are folks who have been here, who are born here, and they sustain the values on this island, culture, land, sustainability, the environment. Those who come here experience that. And we turn into stay heres because you experience that special vibe when you live here, when you visit here and you live here. And the core values that are in this contract that I have detailed tonight are why people stayed here, come here and move here. And we need to market what our community values. And if we confuse them with this list, you know I travel a lot. And what I have seen tonight, and I'm not a marketing expert. I'll never, never admit that. But when my husband and I look for places to go, it is based on the kind of core values I'm talking about. It is not based on this chart. When we travel, we look for culture, we look for outdoor adventure, and yes, we eat. We look for the experience that people have when they come here. And unless and until we can value places like Island Recreation, we had visitors and they wanted to go swimming, and we were able to get them day swimming during the winter time because we offer those kinds of opportunities. We're going to be participating in oyster reef rebuilding, and we have Juneteenth coming up and we have all kinds of wonderful local events, which is a key element. It's here, it's called events and community. I don't even know what that means. I know what promoting local events means because we have them, we do it. And I do thank the DMO for measuring those now and for offering the opportunity for our local groups to provide data for their applications to ATAC. That is wonderful. Thank you very much for doing that. But we need to remember what we're here for. We are not here to say, yes, we'll do whatever you tell us to do.

Ms. Bryson, we need to move on. I mean, you're saying that we're not valuing a lot of these different things and I totally disagree with you. You have had your moment to make your motion and it was denied. So I would like to move on with others if we could.

That's fine, Mayor. I wouldn't spend this kind of time if I didn't think it was important. And I appreciate that I've had my say. But it's so important that I couldn't help myself.

I appreciate your passion.

Keep drumming. Keep banging on this drum.

Other comments, questions, concerns? Ms. Packer?

I just want to make a quick comment. First of all, thank you all for all the work that you've done. And for someone who has been coming to and part of Hilton Head for the, I just did the math, 43 years, which is unbelievable because I'm only 29. But, you know, I came here for everything that Hilton Head offers. Quite honestly, I didn't need any of this to tell me that this was a special place. But the hard work that you've done takes everything that we have all experienced in the increasing numbers of experiences that Hilton Head continues to offer. and you lay it out in a very simple form, something where someone like me who just wants to go someplace that's peaceful and beautiful and holds a cherished history can identify what I might be able to find when I get here. I love what you've done. I think it speaks to the average person, and I think it'll help us in the future with marketing Hilton Head. So thank you for the hard work.

Thank you. Ms. Donner?

So tonight we are focusing on approval of the marketing plan, the budget and the metrics. And so I would acknowledge that that's why we're here tonight. And we've had several opportunities to discuss those in great detail. So I have a few comments. So the marketing plan and the accompanying budget provide more transparency than what we have had in the past. And so I appreciate that. In addition, I'm pleased by the additional services that you're going to be providing our nonprofits in regards to marketing through the events calendar and data collection, which is going to be huge, a very good benefit. And that information can be leveraged for the ATAC submission as well as their own learnings. From a metrics perspective, I have the same comments you're spending by group versus visitor from the University of Charleston analysis and always use comparisons to the numbers presented so we can understand trends. I was very interested in your comments about culture and culinary. I think that is a great opportunity. I look at myself, it's something that we started probably about 10 years ago. Now when we go to new cities or new countries, we do food tours. And what they do is allow you the opportunity to taste the regional cuisine as well as learn history. Whether it's self-guided like Hawaii where you rent a car and you drive around and you hit all the food trucks or Savannah, which we've done several times, we're on a walking tour where you get the history and the food. And I just think there's so much opportunity here on the island to pull those two pieces together. So I'm very excited about that. Food is important to people and they do look for that when they travel. So from the approval perspective, I'm comfortable with all the pieces along with my comments. So I want to kind of change the conversation just a little bit. This is our first year, it's going to be our first year of the contract. We're just getting there. And there's going to be some learnings. And I wanted to talk about a couple of things that I have been thinking of. I have mentioned one in the past. But I want to let you know that these are the things that are on my mind. And they really are focused on the opportunity to have some conversations with your new CFO. So one of those items are how you allocate expenses. to the town of Hilton Head's 30% funds. So you showed on the slide that we are $3.7 million out of a $12 million organization. And as part of the new contract, we have been asking you to now show actual expenses moving forward. But as we saw with your presentation, right now you're showing the gross amount. meaning the total amount and not the amount that is allocated specifically to Hilton Head based off of our 30%. And so I think there's an opportunity to improve process so that you allocate those expenses along the way. Right now, the only opportunity that we have had in the past to see how expenses were allocated was through your annual audit. And when you look at the annual audit, what it shows you is that the revenues equal the expenses and the net income is zero. And that, so for example, last year we had $3.9 million in revenue of the 30%, and there were $3.9 million in expenses, zero net income. And this was the case for all the other entities, Bluffton, Beaufort, and the cost share marketing program. And the Chamber's membership showed something different. Revenues were greater than expenses. So here's my concern. It makes me wonder when we make changes and eliminate expenses, do I really end up with more of a benefit? Or am I just receiving a larger allocation of expenses that were already spent? And let me give you an example. So Hilton Head is no longer going to be paying for the creation of the marketing planner. We'll be paying fulfillment, but not the creation. And based on the audit, it said we spent $122,000, or at least that was charged. That wasn't the total cost. That was what was charged to Hilton Head last year. So in this year, Will Hilton Head be getting $122,000 in new spend or will we just be receiving a larger allocation of other expenses? And so that's what goes through my mind when I see this. So again, I think you can avoid those types of questions by allocating along the way so that we can see what we are spending and what your allocation methodology is. And so again, I think it's an opportunity to talk to the CFO. about, you know, listen to these comments and, you know, she's got experiences from other areas, you know, what would be her recommended process? And the second area of things that I'll be looking for in the future in, although we didn't list it in the marketing plan, you know, we may wanna consider it moving forward in future years is travel expenses. So I will be interested to see how much Hilton Head is charged for travel internationally and for conferences as we move forward. So those are just a couple of things that I'm thinking about and I'm wondering about as we move forward. But overall, in regards to the question for the evening, it is evening, yes. I am comfortable with the marketing plan, the budget and the metrics, you know, along with my comments. Thank you.

The issue I want to raise is much more simple than what's just been discussed, for a change of pace. I'm looking at what the public sees about what the Chamber does, and they have a lot of information, they have a lot of misinformation. My understanding of the thrust of recent year's effort is to reduce the number of tourists and increase the spending per tourist. In a sense, it seems to me that in the past year, and what your report that was in our packet shows, is yes, the number of visitors in the past year is down somewhat. We are in an interesting economic political situation where international and Canadian travelers in particular are less likely to come to the United States, and where the economics are causing middle class people to be more conservative on their spending. At the same time, upper income class people probably don't care about the current conditions. They'll spend their money anyway. uh and that's that is kind of uh seems to me to be supportive of of that part of the objective in terms of increasing per person expenditures it seems to me that while tourism numbers may be down the revenue may be up and it's a little harder for me to determine that but IF I READ YOUR MATERIAL CORRECTLY, THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF THE LOCAL ECONOMY WAS UP LAST YEAR, AND THE A-TAX RECEIPTS WERE UP LAST YEAR, WHICH SUGGESTS THAT PERHAPS WE ARE GETTING MORE MONEY FOR LESS TOURISM. THAT'S THE KIND OF THING I THINK THAT THE GENERAL PUBLIC WHO DOESN'T GET INTO THE NITTY-GRITTY OF IT WOULD BE QUITE INTERESTED IN, IF THAT IS CORRECT.

THANK YOU. THANK YOU. MR. BROWN, ANYTHING?

Yeah, I got this quote sort of ringing through my head right now. It says that, success breeds complacency, and complacency can breed failure, but only the paranoid survive. And I feel that this journey that we've gone on here with renegotiating this contract has had paranoia on both sides. Paranoia on the side of us policymakers to make sure that we can answer the transparency question that the public has been wanting answered for a very long time. And paranoia on the DMO side, not knowing if the contract was gonna be renewed, and being very concerned about our tourist season being a jeopardy if we were to continue to be at odds. So I'm very pleased with what we've come up with as far as the contract is concerned. I'm very pleased with the new visuals that you are bringing forward and the new metrics, okay? I would check the math, though, on the Lowcountry-Gulf two circles coming together. But with that being said, I'm very appreciative of the new efforts, okay? And I know that's been uncomfortable. I agree with Ms. Turner. As we... roll into a new CFO, we've got a new CFO, I think there's tons of opportunity for us to have more qualified discussions about transparency and understanding our spend, okay, and our allocation. And the last thing I'll leave with, which to me is very positive, I appreciate the effort of reaching down to the grassroots with our nonprofits in the local events. And you had a metric up there that dealt with engagement versus getting to the end user. And by my rough math, it's like 80%. That's huge, okay, that you're putting something out there and then it directly affects one of our local events at an 80% rate. That to me, I'd like to know what other communities of our size rate is, okay? So I encourage the chamber to continue to bring forth new metrics so that we can understand and we can be very transparent as to this return of investment, okay? And I think it's $3.7 million. I heard 8 million earlier. It's $3.7 million that we are allocating to this effort. So again, I commend the chamber and I commend the staff And everybody on this diet is to work so hard on that contract. And obviously we're going to have a ton of support behind Councilwoman Turner as she sits on the marketing council to help bring things forward. So I will leave leave with that.

Thank you. So we have a consideration of a resolution to adopt the Destination Marketing Organization, Physical Year 27 Marketing Plan, Budget and Industry Metrics. Motion was made by Ms. Becker, second by Ms. Tonner. All those in favor, signal by raising your right hand. Opposed? Passes five to one. Thank you all very much. Next, we have consideration of a resolution authorizing the renaming of the rowing and sailing center at Squirepoke Community Park to Hilton Head Island Fishing Cooperative Park. Thomas Boxley, executive director of the Gully-Keechee Historic Neighborhoods Community Development Corporation, will be conducting the presentation. Mr. Boxley.

Good evening. Good evening, Mayor, Town Council, Mr. Manager. The proposal that we have before you today is the consideration of renaming the Rowing and Sailing Center Esquire Park, renaming that to the Hilton Head Island Fishing Cooperative Park. little bit of background information. The proposed name change is directly in line with the Historic Neighborhoods Community Development Corporation's mission of stabilizing, protecting, and promoting the historic and culturally sensitive communities of Hilton Head Island, along with Town Council's strategic goal number seven, which is protecting the Gullah Geechee culture. The fishing co-op was formally organized in 1966 and created an opportunity for native island fishermen to pool their resources. Through this effort, they built docks, ice house, processing facility, and the ancillary space necessary for them to participate in the seafood industry. They were also able to negotiate fair pricing for their catch, And not only that, they were instrumental in blocking BASF, the multinational petrochemical company from relocating on Victoria Bluff, which would have definitely created pollution. And we probably would not enjoy the Hilton Head Island that we all described or that we heard described earlier that we all have come to love and enjoy. As the CDC, we began this process in October of last year, proposing it to our board of directors, proposing the renaming, and we spent the balance of 2025, November and December, reaching out to some of the founding members, the descendants of the founding members of the Hilton Head Island Fish and Cooperative to get some feedback. OUR FEEDBACK WAS OVERWHELMINGLY SUPPORTIVE, SOME OF WHICH EVEN SAID THIS IS LONG OVERDUE AND WERE PRETTY EXCITED ABOUT THE POSSIBILITY OF RENAMING THIS CULTURAL LANDMARK IN THE STONY COMMUNITY ON SQUIRE POKE ROAD TO REALLY, REALLY HONOR THE HISTORY OF THAT SITE. I WOULD LIKE TO to also recognize our Office of Cultural Affairs for the work that they've done in the past by working to utilize CDBG funding to pull together the mural as well as the kiosk that honors the Hilton Head Island Fishing Cooperative. And I would also like to take a moment to call out the names of those family members that started the fishing co-op. So we had Davy Jones, one and two, Freddie Chisholm, James Cleveland, Thomas Bryant, Henry Dreesen Jr., Arthur Stewart, Jacob Dreesen, John Henry Chisholm, Luke Cohen, Clifford Gadsen, Frank Gadsen, Benjamin Miller, Joseph Miller, Arthur Orridge, Eugene Orridge, Joseph Simmons, Benjamin Stewart, and last but certainly not least, our very own surviving member, Mr. Tom Barnwell, who is present with us tonight. So with that, I will sit down and allow any questions and thank you for your time this evening. Thank you. Do we have a motion?

I move adoption of the resolution. Second.

We've got a first and second. Kim, has anybody signed up to speak on this?

Mr. Williams.

I'll pass. That's all I have.

Other than saying it's a good idea.

You steal all your time. I'm sorry, was there anybody else? No. Mr. Barbaro, do you want to say anything? Thank you.

Thank you.

So, you know, Mr. Boxing, I'm bringing it back to the dice, but you talked about for Hilton Head Island, and I'm sorry, but this co-op is really for the low country of South Carolina and Georgia. Had BASF come in, it would have destroyed the waters in this area. When we were at the Rotary Club, they honored Captain Jones. And his granddaughter, I believe it was, did an amazing job of telling the story. And what we learned was great. And I wish we could have had her here tonight to tell some of that story, but hopefully in the future we can. This was a grassroots effort that protected the environment in a way that we can't be thankful enough for them doing it. So I just want to relay that because it's not just a Hilton Head Island aspect. It is a Lowcountry Regional direct effect. Other comments, questions? Ms. Pricey.

Positive words from me. Thank you so much. Appreciate you and your team's work. And thank you, Mr. Barnwell, so much for your work and to those heirs of those wonderful folks on the boat who took the petition to the United States to say, no, protect our waters. Thank you forever.

Thank you. Any other comments?

All right, seeing none, we have a consideration of a resolution authorizing the renaming of the Rowing and Sailing Center at Squire Pope Community Park to Hilton Head Island Fishing Cooperative Park. The motion was made by Ms. Bryce and seconded by Ms. Becker. All those in favor, signify by raising your right hand. So moved, six, zero. Next, we have consideration of a resolution to authorize execution of the wetlands impact documents, including a declaration of restrictive covenants and a wetland and a stream mitigation purchase agreement for Patterson Family Park project. The Finance and Administrative Committee reviewed the documents on May 11th, 2026, and raised questions which will be answered on an attachment from the staff. We have Mr. Sean Gillen, Assistant Town Manager, to make the presentation.

Mayor, council, Mr. Manager, thank you very much. And I'm going to invite Don Datum to join me in case we get any detailed questions. Don has really done the heavy lifting on this issue. this initiative. So what we're asking the council to do is two things. One is to place restrictive covenants over the wetlands at the area where we're gonna be constructing the Patterson Park. The second is because we still have a very small impact on wetlands, we have to purchase one credit. We presented this to the finance committee and there was a couple of questions, some very good questions that came up. And we answered those in the responses from the Corps of Engineers in attachment two. Basically, yes, we have until next March to get that wetlands and back construction piece done. very strongly that that is possible. That's just that portion of the construction that needs to be completed. If there's any additional questions on that, we'll be happy to answer.

Okay. Do we have a motion?

I'll make a motion.

Thank you. Second.

Awesome.

Kim, do we have anybody signed up to speak on this agenda item?

No, sir. Okay.

Bring it back to the dice. Any questions, comments, concerns?

I was the one who raised the two questions that addressed in attachment two. So thank you very much. And with regard to the agreement, sorry, mine won't scroll, with Weyerhaeuser, I always wonder why are we helping out a timber company, a former timber company, but I understand there are only so many of these banks and we don't have wetland mitigation banking program here. And I understand that limited area that we have. but I do appreciate your taking the time to address those questions and thank you.

Thank you. Any others? All right seeing them we've got a consideration of a resolution to authorize execution of wetland impact documents including a declaration of restrictive covenants and the wetland and stream mitigation purchase agreement for Patterson Family Park project. The motion was made by Ms. Tonner and seconded by Ms. Becker. All those in favor signify by raising your right hand. Opposed, so it's 6-0 approved. Thank you. Next, we have consideration of two resolutions authorizing the mayor and the town manager to execute and deliver contracts, one for the purchase of 1.7 acres of the corner of Beach City Road and Dillon Road, and one for the sale of 4.667 acres on Union Cemetery Road, as well as consideration of two ordinances, first reading, one authorizing the long-term lease of improved real property to St. James Baptist Church, and the possible reconveyance of real properties to St. James Baptist Church and one authorizing the conveyance of 4.667 acres of real property owned by the town of Hilton Head Island to Beaufort County, South Carolina. Ben Burrow, thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, Mr. Manager, members of council. I'm gonna provide a high level overview of the transactions that are enabling the relocation of the St. James Baptist Church, as well as the Cherry Hill School. I have with me Zenos Morris, and Zenos prepared some slides for us that are gonna really help bring this everything together. And Zenos has been serving as the project executive for the past three years for the town. working very closely with town leadership, very closely with the church, as well as with the county. I can say, I don't think we would be here today without all the work that Zenos has done. If there are any technical questions, I may defer to Zenos. If there are any legal questions, I'll defer to the town attorney. We know the background, the St. James Baptist Church and Cherry Hill Schools are located within the Hilton Head Airport Runway Protection Zone. And the current mitigation effort addresses this condition following the airport's 2018 runway expansion. This is also listed in Town Council's Strategic Action Plan, which includes relocating the church, and the Cherry Hill schools as a priority. And to support this effort, the town, the St. James Baptist Church and Beaufort County have collaborated on a strategy involving the acquisition and conveyance of property to achieve mutually beneficial public outcomes. This illustration helps show where the church and the school are located. The first transaction, which is the first action item for council, is the resolution authorizing the acquisition of these two properties. They appraise for 1.29 million, and that money will be used towards the construction of the new church on the town's property that will become the county's property, that will become the church property, that will make perfect sense when we're going through these slides. Thank you. Here is the, we all know the Mid-Island Track, the old Planners Row Golf Course. We have almost five acres on Union Cemetery Road. It's 4.667 acres. And to enable the transaction, the town is gonna transfer this property to Beaufort County. And then the church will lease the property that they're selling to the town on Dillon Road for a nominal fee during the construction of the new church on the Union Cemetery property, which will become the church's property following construction. And to look at the funding sources helps better explain the story. But if we go here to funding, The total cost to relocate the Cherry Hill School as well as build the new church is estimated at 9.84 million. If we look at the funding sources, we have 4 million from the state. That was money that Senator Davis helped secure for this project. We also have another 750,000 for the fellowship hall, also money that the Senator helped secure. We have the town county grant of 300,000 that has been primarily used towards the design. We have the construction escrow. That is the 1.29 million that the town is paying for the new, is paying to acquire the property on Dillon Road. and then after the town acquires it, the church will lease back that property during the duration of the construction on Union Cemetery Road. Zenos has prepared a detailed project schedule, which I'll share with you in just a second. It's anticipated by March of 2028, the new church will be completed, so in less than, So the church will be able to lease the current church and school during the duration of that construction time. And then the proceeds from that acquisition will go directly into the construction of the new church. And the Beaufort County general obligation bond of 3.5 million. So we'll go through this in the schedule in just a second, but right now this has been bid and the bid came back 200,000 under budget. The county's contract with the general contractor also includes a 13% contingency. So we're feeling really good about budget right now. Zenos assures us that if there ever were any budget constraints, there are some opportunities to do some value engineering. But right now, everything is looking good for budget. And if we look at the project schedule, We have town, county, town, county, but the town, the DRB has approved the site plan and the elevations. The DPR is currently under review. The building permit application is currently under review. Beaufort County passed an ordinance allowing the county to acquire the 4.66 seven acre property from the town, that's from the Planners Road property. Beaufort County awarded the construction contract to D Anderson Construction, a local construction firm, and Beaufort County passed an ordinance allowing the county to transfer the almost five acre property to the church following construction. Those have been approved by the county. Now we have in front of us today the town's actions. We have the resolution authorizing the town to acquire the 1.7 acre St. James Baptist Church property. We have the resolution authorizing the town sale of the almost five acres on Union Cemetery Road to Beaufort County. We have first reading of an ordinance for a long-term ground lease, the St. James, and we have first reading of an ordinance authorizing this sale of the almost five acres to Beaufort County. So those are the four action items today. We'll have two more action items in July, and those are second readings of the two ordinances.

We- I'm sorry, can I, while you have that slide, can I have a quick question? Yes. You say the county passed an ordinance. They require three readings. Have they been through all three readings? We know if the county's adopted on all three readings. Thank you.

They have. Their third readings were in late May.

Great question. Thank you. And when we look back, we have the rezoning. Right now, this property is zoned PD1, it's zoned golf course. It'll need to be rezoned to accommodate the use of the property. So that will go to the planning commission in July. Committee, council first reading, council second reading, for a second reading and final approval in September. Groundbreaking to be determined. That's a joint groundbreaking with the county, town, and church. And then commence construction. The goal is to start construction in October. It's anticipated to be a 17 month build. So that has us completing construction in March, 2028. And then the final slide, which is Zenos' favorite slide, shows the elevations, shows the approved site plan. This is what's been approved by the design review board. It has some project details, almost 12,000 square feet, 250 seats sanctuary church and fellowship hall. The building structure, the top of the roof is the peak is a little over 39 feet. Zenos tells us it's about another 10 feet for the steeple. And then there are 93 parking spaces, and it includes the relocation of the Cherry Hill School, which as many of us know, is located on the National Register of Historic Places. So I thank you very much for your consideration. And if you have any questions, I'm sure we can address them.

Yeah, I want to, Curtis, ask you a question. I should go through each one of these separately, vote on independently, do one, then do the other one.

I mean, I would go through them separately.

Yeah, I just want to make sure. So I'll be looking for a motion for consideration of a resolution authorizing the mayor and town manager to execute and deliver a contract between the town and St. James Baptist Church for the purchase of 1.70 acres at the corner of Beach City Road and Dillon Road and to take all access to complete the transaction described in the contract.

I will make that motion. Second. Second.

Kim, if we have anybody signed up on this? No, okay. Any discussion from council? Oh, that did. He saved us up.

Mr. Williams. I'm not gonna pass this time. I'm Chester Williams. I'm a local attorney and I've represented St. James through this process. I was looking back through some of my old files. prior in the part of the meeting and come November, it'll be two decades that I've been working with St. James. because that's when the first time I got noticed that the town and the county wanted an avocation easement. And I've been back and forth with the county. It's high time that this get done. And I appreciate y'all's cooperation or assistance. Mr. Coltrane's been very helpful through the entire process. And if there are any questions that y'all have that I can answer, I'll be more than happy to. But let's get it done. Thank you. Thank you.

All right.

Discussion?

Comments?

Ms. Bryson? Quick question. First of all, I'm totally in support of this. Thank goodness. And thank all who helped out with this. Just a quick question. I think you showed the source of funds for our purchase and I'd asked before, but I think it'd be helpful for the community to know the source of funds for our purchase of the property. on where it was. Previous, maybe the slide before. Source of the $1,290,000 to purchase.

Great question. The real estate transfer fee.

Thank you.

Other questions, comments? Mr. Alford?

I appreciate the very clear explanation of a very complicated project that Mr. Brown just made. I'm happy to hear that bids have come in on the low side, but in the remote event that the cost of the project exceeds the $9.84 million, what happens?

I will give the short answer and then I'll turn it over to Curtis to provide a legal answer. But that is, it's the county's project. It is the county's responsibility to make sure that this project comes in within budget. Do you have anything to add, Mr. Attorney?

No, and that is addressed in the text of the contract.

Any other, Ms. Donner?

Yes, no, I'm just going to make some.

Ms. Coltrane, could you repeat that? I'm not sure Mr. Alford got the last piece of it.

I said, no, that, yeah, what Mr. Brown said is correct. It's county's project of runs are the counties, and that is in fact addressed in the town county contract and in our contract where it addresses how the funds are spent.

Thank you. Ms. Donner. All right. So I know we've got two motions that we're going to make, but these, my comments are going to be overarching. So first of all, this has been a long time coming and Chet, thank you for mentioning that it was 20 years because I wasn't sure I'm not sure how long, and I think some other people probably would say it was even longer than that. But this is an important milestone to be voting today on the structure of making this a reality. When I've talked about it at community meetings, I've talked about it almost like a chess game. You have to lay out each step of the process, understand what move goes where and when, in order to get the sequence right to complete the transaction. And it has been so well thought out with all the contingencies in case something doesn't go as planned, there are contingencies related to that. So it's just extremely well thought out. And there have been so many people involved with this for a very long time to make this happen. I'm probably the newest member of the transition committee. And so it was my honor to be placed on that. I actually raised my hand and said I wanted to be involved because St. James sits in ward six. And even though I came in at the very end of the process, my number one focus was what happens to the land, the property that St. James Baptist Church is currently located on today. Because the original plan was to use FAA money. And FAA money would have meant that there were a lot of agreements and promises that we would have had to live into. And our collective fear was that that land would then be fenced in and become part of the airport, as opposed to leaving it as green space that would be accessible to people within the community to honor the history of this land. And so with the change in strategy, of having the town purchase the land versus the FAA. We were able to make that a reality so that this land will be open space for perpetuity. It won't be behind a fence. It'll be accessible to all. And so I think that is just a really important component of this plan. I know the community is also very interested in understanding the land aspects of where the new church is going. And there are going to be restrictions on that land on Union Cemetery Road. And so it has been laid out that it's for religious use, accessory use of the fellowship hall, et cetera, as well as public and government uses. So that land that the new church is going on is going to have those restrictions that are really important. And lastly, as I said, there's so many people that have been involved. And what I have seen through my short time of being involved, I just wanted to call out a few names. First of all, Mr. Ford. He has represented the church with passion and an unrelenting focus to get this moving forward. Senator Tom Davis, who provided a significant funding, as you have identified, is making this a reality. Beaufort County Council and staff have stepped up with funding, and Jared Frailechs has done an excellent job in regards to the project management, and the town of Hilton Head has stepped up as well, including Zenos, who has done the project management from our side, as well as all the art, beautiful architecture and design, making sure that it lives into our low country feel. So it is gonna be a happy day when that shovel is in the ground and we are all looking forward to that. So thank you.

Thank you. Other comments, Mr. Becker?

Just real quick, it has been a long time, and having sat on council for the last almost eight years now and watching this project as it's developed, there were so many hurdles. There were so many issues that had to be worked through, and I just wanted to take a moment to thank everybody who was involved in getting those resolved, but also want to make a large and sincere shout out and thank you to Senator Davis, because if it wasn't for his initiative to bring that money in and change the course, we might still be waiting here today and not moving forward as we are. And so it's all good, but I wanted to make sure that Senator Davis gets a special recognition.

Mr. Brown, anything to add? Ready for the questions, sir. So There, yes, Ms. Turner, there were a lot of people and Mr. Ford will tell you it's been going on for 50 years. There were more than hurdles along the way. There was wants, desires, lack of wants, lack of desires. And finally the right people at the right time came to make a decision. But had we waited on the FAA, we would still be waiting on the FAA. And then we'd have to go through the NEPA process. Then we'd have to go through all these other things that we know that take forever. Senator Davis coming in with the funds was a huge step forward. But I really, the idea of the actual transaction came from Mr. Rolando. And we need to celebrate the people on our staff that pulled these, challenges together and make them successful. So it would be remiss without saying that. So I do want to say that. And then also going forward, if we don't mind, I'll just go through each one. And we know that unless Mr. Williams wants to use his saved time, forego public comment on each one, if that's acceptable, because they're all related to the same thing. So, yes. I'll give you three minutes again.

I'd add to your list of people, Perry White. Perry was instrumental for many, many years in blocking any deal with the county. I mean, he was dead set on, you know, we were here, don't mess with us. But I don't recall exactly when it is, but at some point it seems that Mr. White had an epiphany. and realized that there was a substantial danger to the church being in that location and he flipped 180 degrees and was all in favor of relocating the church so if it hadn't been for perry's change in attitude we wouldn't be here so again he is he is one i would put probably and and I mean, there are many other people who are involved, but he's certainly one I would include in the list. Thank you. Thank you.

So we have a consideration of a resolution authorizing the mayor and the town manager to execute and deliver a contract between the town and St. James Baptist Church for the purchase of 1.70 acres at the corner of Beach City Road and Dillon Road, and to take access to complete the transaction described in the contract. The motion was made by Ms. Turner, second by Ms. Bryson. All those in favor signify by raising your right hand. So moved, six, zero. The next one is a consideration of a resolution authorizing the mayor and the town manager to execute and deliver a contract between the town of Hilton Head Island and Beaufort County, South Carolina for the sale of 4.667 acres on Union Cemetery Road and to take all actions to complete the transaction described in the contract. Do I have a motion?

So moved. Second.

Ms. Bryson, Ms. Becker? All right, all those in favor, please signify by raising your right hand. So moved, six, zero. Next, I'll need a motion for consideration of an ordinance authorizing the long-term lease of improved real property to St. James Baptist Church and the possible... reconveyance of real property to St. James Church upon the occurrence of certain events described in the contracts between the town of Hilton Head Island and St. James Church and Beaufort County, South Carolina, and providing for severability and effective date. Do I have a motion?

So moved. Second.

We have a first and a second. All those in favor signify by raising your right hand. So moved six to zero. Lastly, consideration of an ordinance authorizing the conveyance of 4.667 acres of real property owned by the town of Hilton Head Island to Beaufort County, South Carolina, pursuant to the terms and conditions of the contract between the town of Hilton Head Island and Beaufort County, South Carolina, and providing for severability and an effective date. Do I have a motion?

So moved. Second.

We have a first and a second. All those in favor, signify by raising your right hand. So moved, six, zero. This is a big day for Mr. Ford. I'm hoping that he's watching right now because he's a diligent dude. Oh, okay, okay. Got it. Got it, thank you for that. So next time we'll move to public comment on agenda items. Kim, do I have anybody signed up to speak?

No.

All right. Thank you. So, Mr. Orlando, do we have a need for executive session?

Yes, Mayor Perry, as shown on agenda item 13A. Excuse me. B, C, D, and E. Okay.

Do we have a motion?

So moved.

Got a first and a second. All those in favor, please signify by raising your right hand. So moved. We're in executive session. second all those in favor signify by raising your hand uh wait a minute where's kim she's right there mr brandon you raise your hand yeah so uh we're out of executive session mr brown do we have any action coming out of executive session yes sir i move town council make the following make the following reappointments

with the term beginning July 1st, 2026, and ending June 30th, 2029. Accommodation Tax Advisory Committee, Cecil Eck, Barton Lesch, Keith Slago. Board of Zoning Appeals, Amy Fee. Design Review Board, Todd Theodore, Gullah Geechee, Historic Neighborhoods, CDC Board of Directors, Shirley Peterson, Andre White, Housing Action Committee, Stuart Bell, Mary Ann O'Brien, Sandy Gillis, Ajax Castellanos. Thank you. Barbara.

Susan Ann Hess.

Parks and Recreation, Mike Manasotis, Planning Commission, Joseph Dubois, and Margaret Hewitt. All right, anybody second that?

Second. It was Cecile Egg, not Cecil Egg.

Oh, thank you. Cecile. Okay. There's a motion on the table and a second. All those in favor signify by raising your right hand. So moved 6-0.

Okay, I move town council make the following reappointments with the term beginning July 1st, 2026, ending June 30th, 2030. Construction Board of Adjustment and Appeals, March Ellis, Robert Zinn, Randy May, Joe Nix. Is there a second?

Second.

Second.

We have a first and a second. All those in favor, signify by raising your right hand. So move six, zero.

One quick question. Was that a four-year term?

Yes.

Thank you. Or construction mortem, okay.

Yes. I move town council make the following reappointment with the term beginning July 1, 2026 and ending June 30th, 2032. Buford, Jasper, Water and Sew Authority, Jimmy Baker. Do I have a second?

Second.

We have a first and second. All those in favor signify by raising your right hand. Opposed? Five to one.

I voted no.

Ms. Bryson voted no.

I understand he doesn't live in our jurisdiction.

Before you go there, just as a clarification, it's not required.

I realize that, but it seems as though it would be important to have someone on that authority that lives within our jurisdiction. Thank you.

ahead i'm on town council make the following real following appointments with the term beginning july 1 2026 and ending june 30th 2029 accommodation tax advisory committee bob cosgrove housing action committee selena brown parks and recreation commission john batson of the second second

We have a first and a second. Any discussion? Oh, signal five, six, zero. Is that it? That's it. So one other note for the record is that Ms. Tunner will be replacing me on the Gullah Geechee Historic Neighborhood Community Development Corporation effective at the next meeting. Thank you for doing that. I think it's going to be a good representation since you're in a big part of that ward as well. So motion to adjourn. Second. All those in favor? We're adjourned. Have a great evening. Have a great 4th of July.