City Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening and thank you all for being here at this North Charleston City Council meeting. Uh for the date of May 14th, 2026, the council meeting will be called to order. We ask you all to please rise for the invocation that will be said by Councilman Mike Brown and then we'll have the pledge of allegiance.

Let's pray. God, it's another day that you have given us and that you given us some responsibilities and that is u to be of loving one. Another one you said is to be of service. We have done that and we hope to do it even much more as member of council and know also of this city. God grant us this will that we continue to be of service to the members of this community. In your name we pray. Amen. Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

I know. We'll have the introduction of new employees. When I call your name, please come to the front. Building inspections, Christopher Rogers. Fire Dylan Cunningham, Daniel Leadford, Johanna Fickandi, John Laz Lzixki, Mason Ruckers, Hayden Sabesma, police, Bana Slark, public work, Daryl De's, Traymont Smith, Devonte Carson, How y'all doing this evening? Everybody's good. Uh on behalf of city council and and our mayor, I'd like to be the first to to officially welcome you as new employees of the city of North Charleston. Uh we hope that you have a long and prosperous career. Um you know, the folks that that you're serving um our constituents, um you know, that's a very vital role to our city. You know, whichever particular role you may perform. If you'll turn around real quick and look at the folks behind you, uh these are our city council members and our mayor. And uh they're also really good to get to know because those are the people that approve your your increases and your pay increases. So you might want to get to know them. Um at this time, I'm going to ask the mayor to share a few words with you.

Just want to thank you all tremendously for not only being a part of city North Charleston, you're loving it enough that you want to be a part of this family. If you turn around, turn around. Those are your number one priorities, the citizens. Work hard for them every day. Think about them every day. Serve them in the best way you can. And uh if you would like to go, you don't have to stay. But we thank you all tremendously. God bless you. Mr. Jim Neil from APWA, will you please come to the front?

I just I want to just say a few words. Um, I'm Jim Neil. I'm I'm from the American Public Works. I was on the national board and they asked me to come down here and do this presentation uh to honor uh this this this city and and you know, and it's an honor to have such a a great public works department that's been accredited. you know, it shows that they're professionals, that they know what they're doing, they know their job, uh, and they know uh, how it gets done. They've committed to continuous improvement and and they've worked hard to become accredited. I was fortunate enough to be in Charleston County. We were able to be accredited. Uh, we were the 63rd accredited agency. Um, they joined now only one other city in South Carolina, that's Mount Pleasant, has been accredited. uh Charleston County. The first was Anderson County, Georgetown County, Charleston County, and Buford County is now accredited, but that's those are pretty pretty big units, pretty big organizations. Y'all are not quite that large, but you have true professionals that that that care about continuing to improve and to support the citizens of North Charleston. And I think they understand what you just said, that that's their that's their role, and they do a great job. I'd like to just mention some names if I could of the of the team. First off, your your public works director and leader of this this group, Michelle Lloyd. Fantastic. uh the the I talked to the uh one of the the two guys who came down to evaluate and said that you have a true gem in your public works director and Melissa Pate uh the the accreditation manager uh and assistant director but just that's the hardest job during accreditation is the person who has to go and tell everybody hey you're missing a piece of paper oh you're missing a signature you didn't do this

right and making sure everybody's on the game team and and I know that she did a great job. And they asked me to to to to give you a list here of the guys who really put it together. Henry Smoke, the street superintendent, uh Dan Gover, the stormwater superintendent, Tim Hutcherson, uh horiculture, Brian Clinger, garage superintendent, Teresa Brooks, fleet and claims coordinator. Stacy Miller, information systems coordinator. Thomas Law, the garage assistant superintendent. Uh, Sierra Gabrielli, the admin assistant, Tom Davl, admin assistant lead. James Shaw, assistant streets. Uh, Van Delaney, assistant stormwater superintendent, and Brian Welch, the horicultural crew lead. I think they're here in the audience. They just did a great job. And and I would like to to thank, Mr. Mayor, I'd like to thank you and the council for you. you helped them get a model practice, one that we want other agencies to do. And that is you approve their vision and mission and did a proclamation for that to show that you you really are behind your public works department and the people that are here. And I think that's just speaks volumes for the city and and for y'all. So, thank you very much. Yeah, Michelle, come on. Come on, Melissa. Come. Um, when I came in, we became the mayor, I I I got with Michelle. Listen to Michelle coming from the law enforcement side. We have Delmar Johnson and he experienced going through Kalia. We wanted to be uh not only just all right, we want to be just as good as the best. And I and I say that to you. I said we're looking to be accredited. Dave Tito got with you, Melissa. Y'all sat

down and y'all grind hard for the city of North Charleston. We are no longer going to be that that the city that everybody says, "Oh, not them." We prove it every day that we're just as good as anybody else. And guess what? We we we better than the rest. But we have to prove that. I want to thank y'all tremendously taking this this initiative on because it it it proves once again good things come out of the city of North Charles. It does. Go ahead and say this up. Let me see ambulance. Come on.

Didn't know I had a speech but I will start with approach immediately incredible team. A lot of moving parts here. All the hard stuff comes organizing everybody that fantast brand new met that challenge.

Our first item on the agenda is a requism. Yes. Yeah. We y'all didn't get dismissed.

Julie, y'all come on up here now. We we got we got to recognize uh I call them OG's, the old gangsters back in the day with us. You know, uh Delmare was the deputy chief of police with us for 30some years. Denise ran, she was one of the special assistants to the mayor uh with the development side and Julia Elmore was number two and she ran in this city and did a lot of things with our department heads for a long period of time. We want to thank y'all for all the work that y'all did.

I know you did. I know. Hey, guess what? I've known him for 37 years and I can call it like I call it. Thank y'all. Thank you all so much. Thank y'all. The first item on the agenda is a request to approve the April 23rd, 2026 city council meeting. Move for approval. Second. Second. We have a motion second. Any changes or corrections? Hearing none. Madam clerk, please call the role. Mr. Perry, I. Mr. Rome, I. Dr. Ganoway Paisley. I. Dr. Palmer Roberts. Hi. Mr. MD. Hi. Miss Brown. I Mr. Hudson. Hi. Mr. Skipper. Hi. Mr. Brown. Hi.

Mayor Burgess. I the next item on the agenda is the final reading of an ordinance authorizing the mayor or his design to execute a memorandum of understanding between the city of North Charleston Stadium Residential LLC and Ashton Charleston residential LLC regarding a retention pawn on city-owned properties TMS number 48614 parcel 43 and parcel 45 in council district 3. Move to approve. Second. We have a motion and second. Any discussions? Hearing none. Madam clerk, please call the role. Mr. Perry, I. Miss Jerome. Hi. Dr. Ganway Paisley. Hi. Dr. Palmer Roberts. Hi. Mr. MD. Hi. Miss Brown.

I Mr. Hudson. I Mr. Skipper. Hi. Mr. Brown. Hi. Mayor Burgess. Hi. We have the first reading of an ordinance off reszoning the properties addressed as 1452 Sar Avenue, Charleston County, TMS 47314, parcel 136 from R1 single family residential to R2 multif family residential in council district 8. Move for approval. Second. Tim is going to present. Yeah, Tim is going to present. Yeah, I'm sorry. First reading. Sorry. That's right. Wake up, Miss Rhonda.

Thank you. Uh, good evening, uh, mayor, councel. Uh, this is a proposed reszoning of the property at addressed as 1452 Sumar Avenue. Property can be seen here, highlighted in blue on Sumar Avenue. Uh, the property is currently zoned R1 and they are requesting R2 multifamily residential. Uh, the property is currently a cleared vacant lot. You see the zoning here. R1 is in light yellow. R2 here in the orange. Uh it's consistent with the area. Uh this property is designated as traditional neighborhood development. Uh in the comprehensive plan for the town, R2 zoning would be consistent with that designation. And that designation uh is for properties that are smaller, more compact, uh more for residential and a mix of uses as well. So, uh the principal use is uh mixing including single family residential, smaller lots, attached residential structures such as duplexes and town homes, and smallcale multifamily development. You can see here uh the subject property cleared vacant lot as well as uh adjacent lots. Adjacent lots are currently developed as a multifamily unit directly next door as well as an R2 unit uh two houses down. This is located in the Charleston Farms neighborhood which was zoned R2 multifamily residential until 2003 when uh there was a large downzoning from R2 to R1 single family residential. The area is developed with a mix of single

family and multifamily residential uses. Staff's recommendation uh is based on support from the comprehensive plan and the residential character of the neighborhood. Staff does recommend the reszoning of the property from R1 single family to R2 multifamily residential as well as the planning commission agreed and made a unanimous vote to recommend approval as well. Okay. Without objection, this item will be referred to the public safety committee for further review and consideration.

We have a request to approve the appointment of Miss Tange Williams to the North Charleston Housing Authority Board and she's from Council District 5. Move to approve. Second. We have a motion and second. Any discussion? Hearing none. Madam clerk, please call the RO. Mr. Perry. Hi, Mr. Rome. Hi, Dr. Ganway Paisley. Hi, Dr. Palmer Roberts. Hi, Mr. MD. Hi, Miss Brown. I, Mr. Hudson. Hi, Mr. Skipper. I Mr. Brown, I, Mayor Burgess. I, we have two speakers tonight.

When I call your name, please come to the front and state your name and address for the record, and you'll be given three minutes. Carlos Jones. Okay, our next speaker is Monica Mummy.

Good evening, Monica Mummy, 2474 Vestavia Road, North Charleston, 29406. First, I want to thank our councilwoman for bringing some guests to our civic league meeting on Tuesday. We had asked for some updates on the plans for the lakes and northwoods estates. So we had members of public works and we had members of the re river reve group there to answer questions. Um Northwoods Estates has three lakes that are on city properties in our community. The city lakes flooded in August of 22 and I came here in 22 to address the flood, the foul odors, the failed culverts and the foul and the failing drainage system that created the floods. It was not a It was not a hurricane. It was just heavy rains. Whenever we have heavy rains, public works is required to come and manually remove three boards from Lake One to prevent flooding in the community. Um they're very good about coming when we call. It just seems ridiculous in 2026 to remove wooden boards to prevent flooding. The city spent over $412,000 on surveys with the River Group. Initially, they recommended drainage and dredging with the water and sludge being removed to the Ridgeville dump site because of the toxic levels of fecal material and road runoff at a cost of $7 million. I was told that would not be addressed until the 24 budget. I went to that 4-hour budget meeting. Um they continued to do surveys until they came up with a $700,000 plan to eliminate the flood risk only by replacing culverts under three streets and addressing the board lift at the um lake one and end does not address the toxic water or sludge that creates both a health hazard and is just a terrible odor at this point. The water levels are currently so low that they're um because the lake three outlet the big lake outlet is completely blocked. So none of the water is draining down. So with the drought on top of that, you can actually walk across areas that should be lakes.

My community is in danger due to the city's failure to maintain these properties and it's a failure of funding. Um they are not able to evidently drain and dredge with public works equipment because of the size and shapes of the ponds. They haven't kept the flow clear. They haven't maintained the culverts. Um, and like I said, one is completely blocked at the Green Ridge Road site. When the community pressed the representatives at the meeting, um, we were met with a remark that really upset me, and that's why I'm here tonight. We got the, "Well, if we do something like that, you're going to have to pay more taxes." And that is the easiest way for politicians to shut down a community that's seeking action from their city. Um, is to threaten increased taxes. This is not our burden. This is a burden placed because city properties have failed. In 22, I contacted Nancy Mace's office because we were in district 1 and there was grant funding available and I was told I couldn't write for the grant because it's city property. So, it had to be the city grant writer and city council to write for that grant. Our council woman has been working diligently on this and I understand that there's still process, but this has always been a matter of not funding this project. We've seen you fund projects and vanity projects for skate parks and golf carts, but not make this a priority. We'd just like to see something more than just a band-aid on such a major project. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Mommy. Any other business? Mayor, I just wanted to publicly thank um I know Michelle Lloyd. Yes. Working with her since I've been elected. She's been nothing but great. We've done ride alongs. her entire staff has been in these trucks with us. Every time I ask for something, she really does a great job. She's extremely professional. So, I just wanted to on the record say I'm I'm act I'm very happy to have her as the director for public works and she's an asset to the city. So, thank you. Thank you, Councilman. Appreciate it, Mr. Mayor. Yes, ma'am.

I also since we're in the business of thanking people, I want to thank Mr. Darvis Brigman who has worked diligently with District 3. I know he works with all the districts, uh, but he certainly answers phone calls, uh, after 5:00 p.m. and he addresses issues when it's brought to his attention. So, I do want to applaud him and thank you. He's a wonderful public servant in the city of North Charleston. Thank you, ma'am. Uh, Councilwoman, thank you. Do you do you think we need to give him like a max raise? I I I I I think some of that money you have left over in that $86 million cuz some of that can go to him.

Yes, sir. You know the numbers. Yes, ma'am. Um, anything else come up for the body? I do want to say something else, Mr. Mayor. Um, I want to address something that Miss Mummy uh mentioned in regards to the taxes. I I just want to make sure that we're clear and understand that when Mr. Darvis mentioned that uh that's one of the possibilities uh outside of also having a grant that it was also clear that that is not on your agenda to raise taxes. Yes, ma'am. And it's not on city council's agenda to raise taxes. So, we're going to do whatever we need to do without having to burden the citizens with raising taxes. Yes,

we have two great grant writers who's been diligent in finding money and I do want to applaud them as well because it's just two and they have done really well covering the needs in the city of North Charleston. Uh but I assure you that raising taxes is not on the agenda. Uh we want to try to find money other ways than to burden the cities uh the citizens in the city of North Charleston.

Yes, ma'am. any other but we want to we want to uh uh say such a special uh congratulations to Dr. Charmaine Palmer Roberts um 2026 College of Charleston's masters in public administration alumni of the year. Give it up. Give it up. Uh Dr. Palmer Robins, would you like to address the citizens? Sure. Absolutely. Um, it was an honor and a privilege to be recognized for that achievement. I truly appreciate the College of Charleston and my M's program for considering me for the honor and I look forward to living up to those expectations and setting example for those to follow.

Thank you ma'am. Thank you ma'am. Hearing none this meeting is ajourned.