City Council - Regular Meeting

[snorts] Let us bring the uh Wow, that's loud. the uh Spartanberg City Council meeting to order. We're going to stand for a moment of silence. And as we stand for a moment of silence, just remember all of those that we recognize Veteran Day on tomorrow. I know we have u Councilwoman Little John's husband Horus, uh Mayor Pro Tim, parents, uh as well as Councilwoman Sally, husband Brolan would all serve. So thank them for our service, for their service to this community. Any of you in our audience, thank you as well. Moment of silence.

Amen. May pro Tim, you mind leading us in the pledge? I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Thank you. Item three, we have approval of the amendments for the October 27th, 2025 city council meeting. Second. All in favor? I. Any that oppose? Eyes have it. Item three. Item four, approve of the agenda for the November 10th, 2025 city council meeting. So move. Second. All in favor? I.

Any that oppose? Eyes have it. Thank you. Public comments. We have around five or so. So the way this work, um, when you come up, please give us your name and your address. And once you give us your address, speak on the topic you have written down and you have two minutes. So, uh, Adrian, come on up, buddy.

Good evening. U, my name is Adrian Wilmmont. I'm from 411 Forest Avenue. I'm a resident of Spartanberg, South Carolina, and I'm addressing a city council this evening regarding the potential to change the current recycling schedule, which is set on a bi-weekly schedule, and hopefully we can get a change to a weekly schedule, which would be of course more efficient and would decrease frustration among residents who are currently enrolled in the program. As I said before, the current program unfortunately is inefficient and and increases frustration among residents as residents within the first week of recycling have are usually filling their recycling bins up and due to the current schedule stating that it is two to three weeks for collection. Due to the last week of the month being set on a Monday, residents have to wait, of course, three weeks to have their recycling collected. A current recycling schedule for a weekly basis would of course reduce frustration and would be more efficient. As instead of of course waiting for two weeks to have their recycling collected, residents would then of course have to only worry about a weekly collection for recycling. This would of course um also negate the fact of um of potentially discarding materials as waste for recycling collection as some residents are of course due to it being waiting two to three weeks are instead discarding some of their materials that could be recycled as waste. Additionally, some residents have also taken upon themselves to order an additional recycling bin at their expense and due to of course not having a weekly scheduled pickup. A weekly scheduled pickup of course would be more efficient. It would help a lot of residents out as they do not have to worry about having their recycling collected on a bi-weekly basis. Thank

you very much for listening to my proposal and hopefully we can get it changed to a weekly schedule. Thank you. Lamaya Woods.

Hello. My name is Woods. Lamaya, pull that mic up a little bit. There you go. Thank you.

Okay. My name is Lamaya Woods. My address is 470 Hodge Drive. I'm a student at USC Upstate. As a student at UC Upstate, I've dealt with the struggle of finding affordable housing near campus. While having complexes like Valley and Alden, the reality is that the options are too expensive for the average college student. Onampus housing is limited to only two dorms and one apartment style dorm, and they fail very quickly, leaving many students without realistic choices. This forces students into a tough position. We balance tuition, books, groceries, and more needed necessities while working full-time jobs with classes, all while paying rent that often exceeds $1,200 a month in Spartanber. For many of us, that is difficult. Sharing rooms or having multiple roommates can lower the cost, but it also creates its own challenges. Overcrowded housing impacts our ability to focus, rest, and succeed academically. The lack of affordable options also increase the number of commuters. Many students have to drive 30 minutes or more to campus each day for classes. This not only adds to financial strain on gas and car maintenance, but it contributes to traffic congestion and environmental impact. The community have risk of the commuters have risk of tardiness because [clears throat] of traffic or city construction which can cause academic performance to decrease since professors penalized for missing class. Affordable housing near the campus would reduce these issues and allow students to interact with the campus life. College is meant to prepare us for adulthood and teach us independence and overall social engagement. Providing reasonable price student housing near campus would directly support academic success and improve community well-being. I would love for the council to consider the policies and partnerships that will encourage the development of affordable student housing here in Spartanberg. By investing in your students, you're investing into the future of the city.

Thank you. Brent Cobb.

Good evening, Mayor Rice. Council members, my name is Brent Cobb. I'm the current director of Spartanberry County Veterans Affairs and have a few things I'd like to discuss with you this evening. First, today is the 250th anniversary of the United States Marine Corps. So any Marines presents, happy birthday. Uh secondly, tomorrow is Armmesus Day or we now know as Veterans Day because on the 11th hour of the 11th month of the 11th day, the gun silence for World War I. With that being said, tomorrow at 4 p.m. we'll have the Veterans Day parade, our annual parade to honor our men and women who served in our United States military. Some of you know them personally. Some of them you see at the grocery store with their veteran hats or their jackets with their medals or ribbons on them. And some of them walk around as normal citizens every day with invisible wounds that you can't see. But tomorrow gives them that special pride. That one day of year to where we know when they're in that parade that we can say they're a veteran and we can come together as a community. We can honor their service. The Americanism and the patriotism that we show and teach our children tomorrow will serve for generations to come. Thank you for allowing me to speak this evening.

Thank you for that. 250 years. One of my best friend, Keith McCulla. I would definitely call him when I leave here tonight. Let's not forget that Robert Rain is a Marine. Rob Rain. Yes. Yep.

And and so is my husband, too. Really proud of that. Thank you, Mr. Collins. Appreciate that. Uh, Andy, come on up. My name is Andy Drot. I'm a part of Strong Towns Spartanberg. I live in Spartanberg at 525 Parent Drive. And this week's installment of things that the DR family loves about Spartanberg is uh Porchfest. Uh, my family and I went to Porchfest this past summer and it was just amazing. It was delightful. And in no small part, I think uh the success of that and the way that that event gathers, just an incredible diverse set of people to celebrate music and community is down to the actual neighborhood of Hampton Heights itself with the houses set close to the street and the porches accessible, you know, to throw a band on the stage of a porch. Um, and I just think that that community is pretty universally beloved. And it's really interesting when you walk around that community and see a seven-bedroom mansion across the street from a really modest uh forplex apartment uh around the corner from a cinder block duplex uh right next to a thousand square foot bungalow craftsman bungalow. And I think it's also a little depressing that should we favor that kind of diversity of housing style in this city, it would actually be illegal to recreate these days. Never just never mind the fact that you couldn't build that variety of housing types and styles next to each other. You the entire neighborhood is set closer to the street than we allow in our zoning code these days. So I know that that's not okay with the entire city of Spartanberg. It's one of the reasons we uh packed up our bags in Greenville and moved to Spartanberg was after reading the comprehensive plan.

And I know in the comprehensive plan the city has aspirations to change that to allow for more affordable variety of types of housing styles that could help students. Um, and so I just thought I'd stand up and say I love that idea and I encourage the council and city staff to follow through with uh the aspirations of that wonderful housing section of the comprehensive plan. Thank you. Thank you everybody. Dr. Octavia.

Hello everyone. I'm Dr. Octavia Amichi. I live at 108 Candler Place and the topic of my concern is a very important public health opportunity that is facing the citizens uh very quickly. Uh I have been a family and community health physician uh training right here in Spartanberg at the Spartanber Regional Healthc Care Center just up the road. I've had many important roles from family medicine director for many years to consecutive roles as chief of medical staff including during the pandemic. I now serve as the chief medical officer for the Regenesis practices and I chose to work there because of their promise and mission of community engagement. Smartburg Regional was wonderful, but there's nothing like working at a federally qualified health center whose mission is aligned with taking care of all people in all places at all times. It's aligned with what I do as a family medicine physician. I'm also a mom of three kiddos that I've raised here in this wonderful city. And I say all of this to say in all of my experiences in academic medicine, in evidence-based care, in advocacy locally and across the nation, we now have a public health opportunity that is tied to voting. I'm a candidate for Commission of Public Works and as a health care professional. This is the first time ever that we would have someone with this experience, this skill set, this background overseeing our water, its health, the accessibility, the costs, the transparency and public health uh is a major factor in well-being. So voting I present to everyone and I certainly prevent present

to the council is a public health intervention and we have the opportunity before us with early voting starting this Wednesday through Friday and election day for this special runoff election day already got 45% of the votes but we have an opportunity to make a real big difference in our community.

Thank you. Good. Good. Good. That concludes the public comment. Item six, we have the amend the 2025 uh city council calendar and approve the uh 2026 city council calendar. Present them, Miss Christy Lindsay, city clerk. Thank you.

Good evening, mayor and council. I'm before you this evening to first amend our 2025 city council calendar. We had agreed to have our meeting in December on December the 8th. However, county council has a meeting that night. So, we are asking to move it to the following Monday, which will be December the 15th. If you all are in agreement with that, the 15th, it's a Mon. It should be a Monday. We changing this year. Yes. It's okay. Yes, ma'am. We can't do it on the 9th um that Tuesday because that's the Spartanberg Christmas parade. Um so the uh next available will be the 15th.

Is that our ugly Christmas sweater meeting? Can be now we will make it. We will add it to the calendar. All right. And I move that we accept that second. All in favor? Any that opposed? No one opposed. rule. You got it. I see you looking at your calendar. And the the second item in that uh item is to approve our 2026 calendar. The dates that are marked in blue are the city council meetings and the dates that are marked in red are city administrative holidays.

Any questions? I did not list the National League of Cities um conferences on there yet because they have not confirmed dates for their fall conference yet. They have for the March conference, but not for the fall. Okay. Have we always been open for Veterans Day? Yes, ma'am. We have. Um the the county um does have that as a holiday, but the city we do not. That's not one of our holidays. Seems like we have a I would assume we have a number of police and fire department folks and probably city staff that are former veterans.

Do we know what county council plans to do in January since they normally meet the third Monday, but that is a holiday? what do they plan to do in January so we don't run into the same problem that we are in December? Um so um they generally have it on the following Tuesday like we do when it's Memorial Day. Um I will confirm again with Angela just to let her know that but um our first meeting would be on the 12th and then our second meeting would be on the 26th for city council. So county council would meet on the 20th on the 19th but generally they meet on the Tuesday after.

Okay. I make a motion that we accept the calendar as presented. Second. All in favor? I not oppose. Okay. And Christie, I'm sure our comm's team can make sure that the public knows about the change for the December meeting. Yes, ma'am. I'll coordinate with them to make sure they have something to put out. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. [snorts] The next item. Oh, sorry, Mayor. No, I I'm sorry that I'm I'm behind. I just wanted you to keep going. Item seven, board and commission appointment, public safety board presenter, Miss Christy Lindsay.

Um, yes, sir. Uh, mayor and council, we have one applicant that the public safety board is recommending to you all to be placed. Her name is Angela Jeter. She is qualified and meets the requirements to be on this board. Any questions? I'll make a motion. Should we accept uh Angela Jeter to the public safety board? Second. All in favor? I. Any that oppose? Eyes have it. Unanimous. We'll contact Miss Jeter. Yes, sir. Thank you very much. Chrissy, while you're there, do you know right off hand? I'm putting you on the spot. Uh other positions on the boards and commissions.

Um yes, sir. We have um one position on the hospitality committee. We have one on the BZA. And I believe there's one on the storm water at this time. Thank you. Yes, sir. Council, we just heard and if we can get with some of our citizens, some of our constituents and and see if they're willing to participate. Item eight, live healthy Spartanberg update. Presenter, Miss Legisa, Jalisa Jordan. I was messing with her earlier. uh coalition manager live healthy Spartanberg.

Thank you. Okay, just making sure it's working. Good evening, everyone. Thank you, Mayor Rice and city council members. It's an honor to be here today to provide you guys an update from our 2024 community health needs assessment. Please excuse my delay. I was out on maternity leave bringing life into the world and then we had to move some things around on the schedule. Um, so if I haven't had the opportunity to speak to you before, we are live healthy Spartanberg. We are Spartanberg County's local health coalition and it's our responsibility to lead communitydriven processes that identify what our health needs are. Um, then prioritize them and also understand what barriers do our residents face on a day-to-day basis when they go about accessing health and well-being resources here in our community. Um, so although I am charged with thinking about this work every day, I do not do it alone. Um, I'm so happy that the city of Sparberg is a partner with us, but so is Sparberg County, our local faith-based um, institutions as well as our academic institutions like VCOM, USC Upstate, our nonprofit partners um, along with so many more um, with of course our community members being the most important piece of that partnership. So all of us really have the mission and vision to improve health outcomes and also understand how we can create more opportunities for individuals to access what they need to be as healthy as possible in our community. Um one of the main things that we're charged with completing is um what we call a CHNA, a China a community health needs assessment. It's done every three years in a community. Um for us here in Sparberg County when we did it we collected um data from multiple resources. Um we co collected both quantitative and qualitative data mixed [clears throat] methods approach to it. We went about um sharing surveys with community members. Um but also took some

time to have some intentional intimate conversations with community about how they access resources here in our community. What does it look like for them to be as healthy as possible in our community? what does their perfect Spartanberg look like? Out of that conversation, we learned about some of the barriers. We learned about some uh unique opportunities that people have been afforded due to resources that are here. Um we also lean on data whether it come from our local partners like strategic Spartanberg um or our national and state registries um like the department of public health. Um, in addition to that, we one of the most important sessions to me um was sitting down with um youth from actually the city of Spartanberg and asking them what were some of the challenges that they were facing and as we all know some of those emergent challenges that our youth are facing here every day are uh mental and behavioral health issues. Um, so that was one session that really stuck with me and I'm so happy to see that our city, our county, our community is truly invested in improving mental and behavioral health um, issues here in our community. This is something that is very familiar to you guys. Um, I want you guys to know that it is what drives our work. um whether we are working in health, education, um or whether we're looking at homelessness in our community, um this is a data point for us that we won't see change um significantly um in this decade. Um this is our life expectancy here in Spartanberg County. Many of you may know that we have a 17-year life expectancy gap. That means that if two babies are born here today, um they will have 17 years difference in who will live longer. Um and that is within a short distance of only 3 miles. Um so someone who is living within the city limits of Spartanberg County um

over on the north side is projected to live 68.2 years whereas three miles down the road um over towards the east side of Spartanberg, they're projected to live 85 years. And it ask us, it moves us to ask the question as to why. Um there's multiple factors. We have to really peel back the onion to look at what these individuals have available to them in their community or their zip codes. Um we have to look at the e education, the economic mobility um in that community and of those families. So it's truly us all leaning on our different sectors and partners to to really work towards improving health. is not just one organization's responsibility. Um so all of those different avenues that I was explaining whether they be education, food access, transportation, um those are what we call the social determinants or social drivers of health. Um so although we're focused in on health, um health only accounts for 20% um of what it takes for us to be healthy and successful. Um, it really takes all of the these different buckets to be focused on so that we can be as healthy as possible here in Spartanberg County. When we begin to look at health outcomes in our communities, um, this slide really focuses in on those individuals who do not have health insurance. We have an estimated about 40,000 residents here um, in Spartanberg County who are uninsured. Um, so when you look at this and you think about our community, um, these are individuals who are having to make some real hard choices um, today. And this number is going to, I can tell you, increase because of what's happening right now. Um, but they were having to make some hard choices, especially if they do not have health insurance. You know, do I go and get seen about? Do I delay care? or at the end of the day, do I make sure that there's food on the table and that my rent is paid so that my family and I have somewhere safe and warm and dry to

be. Um, so these are some of the the things that our residents right here in our community are having to face. In addition to that, um, the 17% data point you see is self-reported. I mentioned surveys that were sent out. Um, about 17% of the individuals here in our community have reported that they are in poor or fair health. um in 5.6 days, you might as well say six days out of seven, individuals are also reporting that they are having poor mental health days. Um individuals in our community are dealing with um anxiety, depression, among other things. Um and this is what's bubbling up um as for us to focus on as a community. Um when we look at health disparities and chronic health conditions, obesity continues to be an area of focus. One in three individuals or just over 35% of individuals here in Spartanberg County are considered obese. However, these same individuals reported 72% of them reported having access to a way to be healthy. So, um sometimes just because they have access to it doesn't mean that they're using it. So, it's prompting our coalition to look at why. Um do they have transportation? Are they knowledgeable of the programs that both the city and the county offer? Um, you know, is it the program for them and their family? Um, when we are looking at our work at Live Healthy Spartanberg, one of the gaps we're seeing is some of those programs for our adolescent children um begin to kind of fall off and taper off, especially when we look at children who may have disabilities or those children who are um autistic. So we have to think about every single child, every single resident when we begin to implement programming in our community. Food insecurity is also um an issue that we're looking at. About 13% of residents here um are in food insecure. Um so that

doesn't just mean that they don't have access to food um but they also don't have access to healthy and nutritious food on a consistent basis. Um that's what we need to be as healthy as possible or else we're going to continue to see obesity rates, chronic health conditions. Um it's an issue that um we also are finding remedies to with our nonprofit partners. There's food banks um out. There's food boxes um out and available, but we still have some work to do, especially if you look at our more rural parts of our community here in Spartanberg County. um overdose deaths are and looking at um this data point, they've continued to increase by 40% since 2021. Um we are ninth highest for opioid misuse amongst our 56 or 46 counties. Um we've seen 153 overdose deaths um in 2022 here in Spartanberg County and we rank 15 out of 46 when we look at um substance misuse and issues in our community. Um this is an area that I am hopeful we will see some improvement in. Um we do have a county um mental and behavioral health plan that we are at the table on every single work group on and working with our partners to understand where we can match and find funding um and also implement some of the strategies um to improve this area around health. Um this slide looks at the opportunity gaps um here in our community. 14 of the SP Spartanberg County census tracks are rated very low for child opportunity. So when we say child opportunity, we're talking about that environment that that child is living in. Um are they in walking distance to a recreation center that has evidence-based programming for them? Is there an early learning center in this community? Um are there safe places for this child to go and exercise? So, it's more so looking at

the environment of that child in comparison to the actual child and family. Um, so we have a little bit of work to do in some of those areas and those are opportunities for us to work together on. Um, we have just just about 15,000 children here that are living below the federal poverty level. Um, if we're looking at 2025 federal poverty level data um on just one family, that's just under $15,000 per year. Um, so we have we have a significant number of children that are living in dire situations right now. Um, especially with everything that we have going on. Another area that we looked at was adverse childhood experiences or what we call ACES. [clears throat] Um, some of the top areas here in Spartanberg County include emotional abuse. Um, parents have been separated or divorced or they are witnessing u parents dealing with alcoholism. Um, what we know is this affects children long term and their ability to do well in school. So, it's something that we are paying attention to, especially in our resilient children and families work groups here in Live Healthy Spartanberg. So, I briefly explained some data points, but that doesn't mean that we aren't also focusing on other areas. Um, I invite you guys to visit our website. Um, I provided you all a summary. There's a QR code and we just recently updated our website where you can download that full 2024 community health needs assessment. Now, we've done the report. What's next? Um, so in our coalition, we convene multiple partners and we've been convening non-stop for the past six months to really focus in on our priority areas of access to care, behavioral health, and healthy eating, active living along with resilient children and families. Um, what you'll see different this time around when we release that report is we are really honing in on how we measure our success. We're using the results-based

accountability framework. So, we're looking at how much did we do, how well did we do it, and as a result, who's better off. I'm so excited to share that report with you. We will have it released at the top of the year where you guys can really deep dive into those strategies that we've outlined. Um, and I even challenge you to align them up with the city strategy, see where we can collaborate on some things. Um, or where did we miss the mark? We really would want to hear from you guys about how we can make some better improvements. Um but again, we also want to be a resource to you as the city of Spartanberg if there are data points that you're needing um for specific census tracks. Um we are that public health indicator area that aligns with strategic Spartanberg. Um so we encourage you to reach out to us. You have my email um in front of you and also a way to contact me on the website. Um so I appreciate your time here today and I'll take any questions that you may have. Chelisa, thank you for that uh report and I know you guys are out in the community especially getting the information you host and and and have different activities at this uh recreation at the community centers as well. So will you or your part some of your team take this information back out and give it to the uh communities as well?

Yes, we've we've started already sharing this with the different communities. So, we've gone back to every single town hall meeting we've hosted and shared it that way. Um, and also we welcome the opportunity to come to anyone. I just love the disabilities board and sharing the information there. So, anywhere we can go to share this information so that people know where it is, know how to access it. Um, we welcome that opportunity. Awesome. Councilwoman Luda.

Yes. Congratulations, sir. Um, I don't have a question. However, I just want you to know that I enjoyed the presentation as much as I did you making the presentation. You did it well and I appreciate that. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Um I know in the spring when we typically release these, we also always typically will have a data walk. Um, so in the next iteration, if you guys ever see you get a letter from me and it's mentioning a data walk, that's where we really break this data down even more, you have time to talk to the state epidemiologist and ask them questions. Um, so I invite you to join us. Um, and when we have those data walks, if we have one coming up, I'll be sure to share that with you. Councilwoman Smith. Yeah. Thanks. Thanks, Jo. Congrats on the new baby.

Thank you. Um, you touched on this briefly in the report. Is the data all aggregated up to the county level or do you break it down more and and pull out the city? We would need to come and talk to you. Yeah, it's all county level. If you would need it broken down by census track, I would need to know on what specific outcome area and we can definitely work towards doing that for you. Gotcha. Thanks, M. Yes, sir. Would it be possible for the city staff to do that? I mean it seems like they are fairly I mean we might we might get some spillover but it would be pretty accurate right if we took the cus tracks that were inside the city

right if if we have data at the census track level on all the indicators mentioned we can break out the ones that are city yeah because I think that would be helpful for us and inform you know any any policy changes that we need to enact or any initiatives that we need to support um and I would be interested you know and maybe not tonight, but at some point in you reference in this in this material you left us um to champion policies that expand access to care and improve quality of life and and I would just invite you to you know make sure to share any specific recommendations that you have along those lines so that we can be supportive.

I sure will. I I will tell you what has bubbled up in some of our coalition meetings is around mixed use agreements of different playgrounds um especially those that are embedded in neighborhoods. Um I believe in the city most of the districts have thatou in place. Um but it's deeper into the county where we're seeing some issues there. Um but as they come up I definitely will bring them to you. Thank you. Good. Thank you Jalisa. We really appreciate presentation. Item nine award bid for hangar D uh for the floor system installation. Mr. Terry Conington. Evening.

I can't get that I can't get that other N O R in there, Terry. I just can't do it. No problem at all. Thank you for seeing me tonight. So, um, this approval is for the lowest bid award. Um, back in 1970, we had a an aircraft Hannah built at the airport just under 20,000 square feet. Unfortunately, it was left to disrepair for many years until recently. We've actually got new roof, new wall on it now. So, what we'd like to do is go ahead and put a new floor in there to protect the concrete for the future. And tonight, we're looking for the uh city council to approve the lowest bid award. And the funding will come 100% from the Department of Commerce on economic development. Mr. Mayor, yes. Go.

Ask a question. Um Terry, thanks. We get this question um every now and then and I'll ask it to you again. Um, we had several biders this time around compared to some projects we just have one or you know maybe three and sometimes it's a wide range of of bids, but these were pretty close together. And you've proposed that we take the lowest bid, but how do we know other than it being the lowest cost, um, how do we know that the southern painting is the best one for the job? because the difference between them and the next lowest is just a difference of $6,000.

So, how what other qualifications did you and your team use to know that they were the best ones for the for that job? Yeah. So, what happens is typically um when we do an RFP, there's a meeting that all the vendors to come out and take a look at the job and then we spend probably two or three hours with them at the site. they can look at exactly what needs to be done and they answer questions about how do how we're looking for what needs to be done how much time do we have and so with that they gather information and go off and sharpen their pencil and to get the number there and that's how we go ahead and give them the information they need but it's a process usually takes about two or three weeks them gathering everything they need and sometimes they ask questions afterwards so therefore they're fully informed of exactly what the job is up to them they come back with the lowest bid

do so based on that information, you felt like they were most informed on what they needed to do and could do it at the best price. Yeah, they answer all the questions. So, we give them about two weeks to answer any questions. So, we we put it out there exactly what needs to be done and then they come back and say, "We can do it at this price." And do we vet them at previous projects? Yeah, they give us references we've done in the past and they send pictures, that type of thing. So, we know who they are. Yeah. Okay. I was just going to ask you uh have we used them in the past? Not this company. No, not in the city. First time.

You're comfortable with that. April 10. So the the the price is firm. So there's no opportunity for change orders. No, this is basically very simple. I'll say a very simple job. They're going to put a whole new floor system on the existing concrete. So they got the excise. they know exactly how much paint or epoxy to put on the floor, how to finish it, how to seal it. Um, so it's pretty straightforward. It's going to be inside and so we're not expecting too much of a variation in weather. Any other questions? Do I hear a motion?

Make a motion we uh accept the bid u for the tour system installation. Second. All in favor? I. Any that oppose? Eyes have it. Terry. Thank you, man. Very much. Thank you. Item 10, we have ordinance. An ordinance to amend the business license ordinance of the city of Spartanberg to update the class schedule as required by act 176 uh of 2020. Mr. Chris Story, city manager, and Mr. Dennis Lop, finance director.

Mr. Mayor, as you recall, for the past several years, we have participated in the statewide program that seeks to [snorts] minimize administrative burdens uh associated with business license tax uh collections and ensure uh enhance fairness over time across uh payers. One of the key ingredients uh in in achieving those goals is um every every two years to update the [snorts] u the balance and the the the the assignment of different business types to our different bands uh that determine uh the rates that they pay. This is done based on data received from OM in Washington, the federal government because as we know everything in business changes over time and certain industries um uh fare better at different times in in in history. So we pull that most current data um and the municipal association and all the municipalities across the state uh update their codes um based on that information uh to ensure that we are balancing continually so we don't we don't favor certain industry over another um over time. Uh so that's the purpose of these these changes in this particular year. These changes are are likely to reduce our revenue collection. There are um more uh winners if you will than there are loser uh firms in terms of this these changes because of the unique set of circumstances. Not every municipality has the same makeup of businesses and and that type of thing. Um and so but we recommend continuing

with that program again because we don't have a perfect ability to predict the future. Um if business activity occurred next year as it has this year, this update to our codes would have would reduce our revenue collections around $90,000 uh a year. However, there is growth in um in business activity and others uh you know, so we this is not this does not mean a a mid-year budget impact that's negative. Nor does it mean that year-over-year collections will go down. It's if you presume the same exact revenue by the same exact set of businesses and with an updated schedules, it would produce less revenue. But of course, new businesses are opening and things are changing continually. Um, and so we believe it's right to continue with the balancing program every two years as as initially um envisioned and uh we recommend your approval of this. Just a handful of businesses across the city are affected. Um and uh we think the the impact um is consistent with the expectation we've set with the business community.

Questions, Mr. Mayor. Um Chris, you mentioned there are a handful of businesses affected. H how do we communicate those changes to the affected businesses? I think the information that we consistently put out and what goes out with the renewals explains how this is done based on NAKES code classifications and O and OM data that comes to us from Washington. Um and uh so all of that goes reference material on all of that goes out in the annual renewal process.

I guess if it's only a handful of businesses, should we do more? because I know in in the past when we've done this, it's created some some um heartburn among those businesses that were negatively affected. Um and and so I just wonder if there's anything more we need to be doing to communicate this. The the scale at each um at each when we did the first ordinance to participate in this, there were

a lot a lot of winners and losers, right? I mean a number of businesses saw a different uh different rate with each passing year u each passing update. What we're finding is it it gets narrower the number affected. Fewer and fewer will will see a different um uh uh tier of rate change um and uh or fewer and fewer will see a change in rate period. Um, and Dennis may know off the top of his head just how many individual firms we're talking about, but it is it is not many. We will see uh if we can communicate directly uh with those and certainly give any that are adversely affected a heads up. I suspect those that are positively affected will welcome the good news at RI. Yeah, I'm more concerned about the ones adversely affected just because I think, you know, if you're planning, if you're already in budget season, you know, those kind of things can be, you know,

absolutely disruptive. Mr. Lock. Yeah. I mean, there's only a few businesses that, as you said, could be negatively impacted. This is one of our smallest classifications. That's the transportation warehousing. So, very small segment of our population. business impacted as you say in a negative way. Would would that include many storage businesses? This is transportation. I would say not. Okay.

We want to hear from them. [laughter] You know, maybe we ought to be telling them people give them to send them good news. It's the holiday season. We we do a lot of bad news. firms and better getting good news. Yes, sir. We'll pull in the specific firms. So, Chris, this is still this is optional. I thought we were all required to adopt these new business license regulations.

We Yes. to participate in this statewide portal, we need to particip, you know, we could in theory go back to doing our own. Um, but but your staff would definitely not recommend doing that. The statewide portal allows uh businesses that do business across the state to to deal with this whole issue much more efficiently. Um, and so and we also think that there's inherent good public policy in the every two-year rebalancing. Um uh but it does require an action every two years.

All right. Any other staff does recommend a uh motion? Make a motion that we [sighs] amend the business license ordinance as presented. Second. All in favor? Any that opposed? Eyes have it. Thank you, Mr. Story. Staff update.

Yes, sir. The just one and and it's a positive one. Um that's to give folks that uh just another reminder that the uh Veterans Day parade will take place through downtown uh tomorrow. Um believe it begins at 4:00 um and travels north on uh Church Street. So those in and around the downtown, I hope they'll come out and um and and support um our veterans and uh the the the traffic interruption doesn't last long. It's a great opportunity to get out and and um and uh thank our veterans um for their service. U but wanted folks to be aware as they see that activity.

All right. I'm sure we have some questions from Chris. Is our uh emergency cold shelter open tonight? Yes, the uh operated through county emergency services. Um this will be our first night of right of this season.

Chris, do you want to address the the the young man who asked about more frequent recycling schedule? Um I I would I would think the answer would be it's a it's a resource issue. It would require additional vehicle trucks, vehicles, capacity, staffing, all of those things that would make it cost prohibitive, but is, you know, is that something that would be possible? Uh, and has it been something that's been a chronic need? I mean, it's the first I've heard of it. We use it. We fill ours up every two weeks, but it's never been a capacity issue.

There there are a couple of things that that I'll offer in that regard. One is that we run our our our fleet of of what we call sidearm loaders. They the the the the [snorts] equipment that is operated with the joystick that can pick up um the roll carts. Um those that same fleet of trucks runs 5 days a week every week. Um it is it is one day of recycling and four days four individual routes of garbage collection. So in the four the first four Mondays of the month there are five times a year where there's a fifth Monday and I'll talk about that in just a second. But the the four Mondays a month um are uh the the city is divided in half. So the two halves of the city have um recycling collection on uh you one half the city is the first and third, the other half the city is the second and fourth Monday. Um and on those days the the trucks run recycling collection. Um and then uh Tuesday through Friday those same trucks run uh garbage the weekly garbage routes. Um, and of course on the fifth Monday it's there's maintenance, training, special services, that type of thing on those extra five Mondays a year. Um, so it would require an expansion of the fleet and more crews u to do that. Um, generally speaking, historically, and things are always evolving, but historically, communities have prioritized running uh, garbage collection uh, weekly because of the adverse impact that can come with garbage hanging out too long, odor, nuisances, that kind of thing. But in a single string recycling system, that is

diminished. Um and so it's really becomes a question of volume and efficiency and the the most efficient way to move move that volume from the roughly 12,000 uh uh single family residences in the city um uh to the to the uh place at which the recycling the single stream of recycling is sorted and bailed and moved moved along through the system. So it's really just a mathematical problem solving uh uh equation. As we have as we see population density increase, those things will change. Um and there we recognize that there's a service element of it. But I don't think we're in a in a position right now to say that the economic efficiencies would be improved by running more collection days. That may change. And of course that'll be a council policy decision uh when that does is how much how much priority to place on which aspects of those um concerns. But but at this point um uh we think our current system is the most efficient of the options we have available. The most common question I get about our recycling program is is why don't we take glass and and I know we've visited this question previously and it and it is not feasible. Um but do we periodically with technology advancements and and new you know new inventions AI you know uh do we revisit that periodically just to see if that's still the answer? We are not aware of uh of processor.

The the the big questions about um recycling uh relate again to you know the the the economics and the efficiencies of getting it to a place in which it could then be efficiently reused. And so um irrespective of our decisions uh locally we would need a processing partner within the region right u in other words were we to collect it still to get it reused it would then have we'd have to figure out a way to get it to somebody that's capable of of of reusing it. um and none of the the partners that that we know of in the industry are doing that now. And so it really that decision came to us from um our from the partners we utilize to take the recyclables uh that we bundle up and that we collect uh to take them the next step towards reuse. that that wasn't so much our decision as it was uh their decision to to cease to be in that business. And I know that may not make sense, but and we certainly would never want to give folks the impression that that material is being recycled that is actually not being um because um I hope all that I hope those commodity prices change such that folks get back into the business of of that and that when they do I'll we'll certainly embrace it. Uh we we know our folks want to recycle. Um, and uh, just a matter of being able to answer that question with some sort of reasonably efficient way to do it.

Yeah, Chris, um, I'm going to change the subject a little bit and you may not be the one that I should be asking this question to. In fact, I wish that because the police chief was here, I have been asked uh if we have a status on the report of the child that got killed in its bed at 3:00 in the morning, you know, go do we have any information on that? I I don't have any new information on on that case. Um uh or any particular any other investigation at at this time. Uh we'll certainly uh be anxious to release publicly any information we can about any um investigation and they do do that. It's as quick as possible in any case. But I don't have any information at this time to share. I hope that they will keep that to the top of the list because the thing that concerns me is that there has been a lot of shootings and things on the south side and it just kind of fade away, you know, but we don't hear anything else about it. So, I am hoping that the chief will keep that to the top of the list about that child.

Oh, yes, ma'am. I know that they're very concerned about that and a number of cases that are actively being worked. Yes, ma'am. I'm I'm I am certain of that. I know that there is attention and effort to it. Thank you, Chris. Mayor Pro. Uh Chris,

I wonder if you could just share with folks um the timing of of us sharing this post about our parks and improvements that we we are making with with our parks and the the tennis courts and the pickle ball courts at Duncan Park, you know, seem to fall right in line with, you know, the um the federal government shutdown and the the conversations about, you know, SNAP benefits being there's a lot of misinformation out online, but I wonder if you could just share with everyone to kind of clear up any misconceptions. Um, you know, there seems to be accusations that, you know, right when it was shut down, we voted um to fund um, you know, the the repavement of the pickle ball courts, etc. And it's just good to um fight disinformation with facts. And I wonder if you could uh shed a little bit of

Sure. um our allocation which was formula driven um of you know across the country u all state and local governments received a formuladriven allocation u of resources to help the economy pull back um uh postco uh we were like a number of communities we held public input put sessions, did survey work, did participatory sessions. I know that several of them happened at the downtown community college, met with community groups, that type of thing to produce um um allocations for that. The the some of the largest investments of those fund, well, by far the the single largest category um of investment there uh was affordable housing. [snorts] um and you've received updates over the last several years about how that pro progress is is advancing. Another large category of investment uh made was in um services to um uh parents and families in the early childhood space. That's known as Hello Family. There's been updates um on that. um and a number of of different investments. Uh the the establishment of the real time crime center, which the public has had access uh um to was was another significant investment of those funds. But included in those discussions was um a relatively small um in comparison allotment of I believe it was $800,000. Mitch Mitch or Dennis may may tell me that I'm off on

that whole figure, but of uh um a million dollars or less uh that uh was allocated towards um reinvestment in community and neighborhood parks uh addressing this a set of uh improvements and and needs um u in parks and in city neighborhoods. So that allocation was made at at some at well over a year ago and uh then the individual improvement projects have to come through city policy uh for authorization for that. So that bid was dealt with sometime back in the summer, but the actual posting of and and updates that was time to let folks who use those courts know that hey, those courts are going to be down for a few weeks. Um so no significant policy change and and and and certainly um uh decisions that were made well before there was any uh uh threat of interruption uh to SNAP benefits. Um while we are very concerned about SNAP benefits and the impact they will have on um uh uh city residents, u uh we're not a participant in that process administratively. All of that is carried out between the federal state government. Um and uh so we we certainly hope that is on its way. uh it sounds like from recent media reports may be on its way resolution uh relatively quickly. Um but it uh certainly a number of factors related to accomplishing the city's goals of supporting families and their ability to live full and prosperous lives in um communities

across a number of issues in including housing, strong neighborhoods, um uh human capital related uh uh work, uh public safety work, and economic development work. all tied to towards trying to expand opportunity for folks. Um, and that was just one small piece of a very big puzzle. And part of that that funding was half of it was from the ARPA dollars, but the other portion of that funding was because that that court was completely destroyed by Hurricane Helen. Yes, that's

and so we had to wait on, you know, insurance companies take forever um when it comes to claims and so we had to wait on the additional funding to complete. That's that's correct. We reimbursement for uh we Dennis and his team have done countless hours of work u um to ensure that we dot all the eyes and cross all the tees for FEMA reimbursement for damage to to to city facilities and that process has gone very well. Um and actually neighborhood improvement allocated.

So that's to that point, Chris, you did bring up SNAP benefits. I know a couple weeks ago we had a resource fair over at Dr. TK Greg Center. anything else that we have or when I say we partners the collaboration with other partners anything else we've done and I know we are headed maybe to a resolution with the SNAP benefits but any other updates

uh we [clears throat] are part of Kevin has been a part of this process with resiliency piece and collectively as a county we're part of a broader network and there has been an ask that we have received be participating in a process laid by the county foundation, but we're asked to support an effort to support several food banks across the county. Our emphasis is on those city. Right. Okay. Lots of partners mobilizing. Mayor, I think it's been another good example of community chipping in to address surprise needs. Oh, one last thing. Uh, we we did as you've talked with Spartanberg Housing today. Yes.

Situation at

Archer. We've we've uh been in communication with Spartanberg Housing um in relation to the there was a recent media report um about issues at the Archbage apartment apartments. Um they had uh two meetings today. Um that were group meetings for all uh tenants of the facility. Um and uh the um chief operating officer of uh Spartanberg Housing is offered to meet individually with any tenant with unressed needs. Um and there is some work being performed by contractors within the within the next several days. Um, and they've acknowledged some miscommunication, misunderstanding issues. Um, uh, but it's it's it's our impression that that those concerns and that problem is being addressed aggressively. Um, and I hope that after today's meetings that the tenants understand that as well.

Good, good, good, good, good, good, good. Thank you, Mr. Story. Yes, sir. And that's uh item 12, city council update. Councilwoman uh Smith. Yeah. First of all, I want to say congratulations to everyone on that end for your reelection. Thank you.

Glad to see you all back up here and look forward to uh what's ahead and all that we can accomplish together. Um we still have an election ahead as Dr. Octavia mentioned. Uh November 18th is a runoff. So for everyone in the city since we have the water commissioner seat um such an important seat uh the person that the people that manage our water system, we hear about how terrible that can go in communities um like Mississippi and Flint. So um having someone with a health background and some you know just show up on November 18th. And then we also have um a runoff for uh [clears throat] city council district two. Um we have one of those candidates in the room tonight, Leslie Rogers. So if you live there, please show up as well. Tuesday, November 18th. These elections are determined by a couple hundred people. So every single vote matters and every single person needs to needs to come out. Um we had someone talk about armmesist armmesus day. Um, I the mayor and I were at the siren's uh fifth year anniversary this weekend and heard the most incredible story. I can't do it justice and won't try to tell it right now, but about the history and the connection between um a group called the Harlem Hell Fighters, a group of jazz players and coming and training in Spartanberg for only two weeks during World War World War I, being sent to Europe and how they took jazz to Europe and the connection to Spartan and how even now and how they honor the the black soldiers that fought in World War I and the band director in

the US that keeps that band alive. It's actually a Spartan High graduate. Um went to high school with the mayor. It was an incredible story and I just love to learn more about the city that we all call home and I hope that someone will write it all down because it was truly truly fascinating. So, show up to vote. Congratulations, Rick. Thank you, [clears throat] Councilwoman Lud. Yes. Congratulations to everyone on my right or in your re-election, especially Jamie and you because you all had to work hard. [laughter] It was a close race for Eric. It was close. It was close.

You all had to work hard. [laughter] And then um I just want to say that my husband and his entire family got pretty much a retired military. Uh my father-in-law go was Air Force. My husband and his two brothers go are retired Air Force. My sister-in-law is retired Air Force. My son is retired Army. My daughter-in-law is army got retired. Well, because she didn't retire because she was in the army. And I have um got two nephews that are retired army and two are retired Air Force. So, we are a military family by far. And I forgot to mention that my sister-in-law is retired Air Force as well. Um, oh, got code enforcement. I won't go there. I'll call y'all personally on that. Okay. [laughter] And the south the south Converse Park. I am going to call um the police department on this too because we need more patrol there cuz people are hanging out there at night and there are no lights. Anyway, I'm going to save everything else. I'll call y'all. Expect a phone call. [laughter]

Thank you. Expect a phone call. All right. Well, I want to say congratulations to those on my left, especially Jamie and um mayor uh for their runs. And I want to say that hopefully everyone out here that lives in the city will go out and vote on the 18th and bring some ending to these two ladies lives because I know what the run is all about. [laughter] Also to the veterans, thank you for serving and thank you to those who have passed away, especially the ones in my family. Yeah. Thank you, Council F.

Uh Mr. Mayor. Yeah. Um, thank you to the voters of District 4 who've given me the privilege of representing them again uh for four more years and and look forward to serving with all of you uh here. Uh, also uh after the election, we went to Miles of Mayor out at Milikin on Saturday morning. Um, Milicanin really stepped it up. They uh they they rolled out the red carpet. So, the bar has been set really high for future miles with the mayor. Uh, I left there and actually went to Duncan Park for the dedication of the watershed Ecology Learning Center where Ruth and I were there and I got a picture with Ruth. So, I'll be in the news learning. Why not?

So, I feel like I captured the flag there. Uh, but uh but also uh since our last meeting had the opportunity to go to the adult learning center. Uh they had an event where they received a $25,000 donation from Spectrum to continue the good works that they're doing. Uh so we're excited about that. Um, and then lastly, I just want to note the passing of Elsie Wright, uh, who in our community was a very dedicated, uh, civil servant, uh, not civil servant, but dedicated, uh, citizen of our community who did so many good things and and her loss will be profound. And then finally, just to wish everybody a wonderful Veterans Day and to thank all the veterans in our community for their service to our country.

She was, she was quite the firecracker. um the pleasure of representing her.

Oh, that's great. Um I too want to thank my constituents and um for showing up for those of you that did. I heard my competitor was a real you know what, but um happy to serve another four years and um serve the good folks of District 6 as well as everyone in the city of Spartanber. Um happy birthday Marines. 250 years. Both of my parents are uh retired veterans, United States Marine Corps. Uh they both served a combined 50 years of service. Uh the line is very long. All of my uncles served in the Marine Corps. My grandfather served in the Marine Corps, served in the Korean War. Um my cousins uh served two uh tours in Afghanistan. I was the one who broke everyone's heart [laughter] and decided that, you know, I wanted to, you know, to to do something a little bit different. So, it was like a whole chain of those that served in the Marine Corps. But I'm still so proud of them. I was um you know just celebrated my one-year wedding anniversary and so proud that my dad um still fit into his dress blues this time last year and so he was able to walk me down the aisle in his dress blues and still as sharp as he was you know a a young corporal. So um thank you to all the veterans who have served today and those who have come before us. Um we are so grateful for the freedoms that we have today because of you. Thank you.

Thank you. And and thank everyone um for their votes. Um again uh to to be the mayor of the city of Spartanberg is is truly a a humbling experience for you know me and and my family. As I look back at Shay u it's it's truly a family effort here. So uh we do so uh don't take it lightly and do so appreciate uh thank you to all the veterans we made mention earlier I made mention earlier especially the ones here um the spouses and the siblings u of of of the veterans thank you and thank your spouse and and mom and dad for their service and to um the veterans of Spartanberg. Thank you uh for your service as well. I thought I had one other piece. Nope. I'll definitely try to be at the parade tomorrow to uh salute them as they go down the road. I hope you're there, too. Make sure you come out to vote. Voting is very important. Um um November 18th. And if you want to early vote, that that starts this week. So,

Wednesday starts this week. Friday. [laughter] All right. This this week. Go ahead. I

I have got one thing I mentioned. I think it's appropriate in terms of the conversations we're having surrounded, you know, by, you know, public health and and insurance and all of these things. Um, I work for a free clinic. We provide uh health care to the uninsured residents of Spartanberg County. Um, so if you all are, you know, families are are in need and and know someone who is without insurance um or needs um assistance with their medical care. Um, you know, please call us. Uh, St. Luke's Free Medical Clinic. We're we're right on Dean Street, uh, 162 North Dean Street. There are qualifications um but the only qualifications are you know you you need to meet you know a household guideline income um live in the county of Spartanberg and um not have any insurance of any kind. So um don't feel like there are there's nothing out there for anyone. There are resources in in our community. Um we take uh folks under household guidelines of 200 or less below the federal poverty rate. So, um, we are a resource to you all if if you're ever in need. So, thank you.

Thank you for that. Thank you for that important information. And again, thank you all for coming. Thank you all for being here. The next Miles with the Mayor. Jamie, you're so right. Milikin really uh raised the bar. Uh, and we're so gracious and thankful to them for hosting the uh past Miles with the Mayor. The next one will be uh the uh parade. We will walk in the parade uh for our uh monthly miles with the mayor uh session. So Christmas parade Christmas parade not not the veterans parade the Christmas parade. Um so thank you all for coming out uh this evening. Good luck to you two in the audience. And uh I make a motion we enter executive session.

Second. All in favor? Any that oppose? Go home. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you guys. He's on.