City Council - Regular Meeting

I 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.

Does the Mayor make a motion that we approve the Consent Agenda? Second.

Mr. Davis, I truly thank you for the presentation and I truly thank you for what you're doing on Bethlehem Drive. I just want to know, do you have a long waiting list for people to getting new homes?

Thank you. Thank you for that. Any other questions? Mr. Mayor, I would just thank you, Raymond, thanks to you, your team, your board, your volunteers, your supporters for all that you do for the people of Spartanburg and helping so many realize the dream of home ownership. And I just want to particularly comment on the evolution of the design. I think that is such an important element of what you're doing. And even since I've been on council, I've seen there were a couple built on Ponce de Leon that are really nice homes. And the evolution of the design to the ones that you showed us tonight,

Mr. Davis, as a mom who had to crawl under my house yesterday, my 70-year-old house army crawl to change my air filter, I very much appreciate that. You mentioned the 163 homes that y'all constructed, and it seems like a majority of those are in the city, which we love for our residents. I'm just curious what conditions enabled the majority of those to be done within our jurisdiction, even though you mentioned that your GSA is the whole county.

Yes. I just want to thank you for your presentation. And just out of curiosity, are you prior military?

I don't really have a question. I just got a comment. You know, we all love Spartanburg very, very much. We want Spartanburg to be number one in the USA. But somehow we are failing with our major highways and our side streets. with unkempt weeds, grass, and other things on our thoroughfares. So in order to get into the downtown area, you have to come off I-26 at US 221, Highway 29, and 296, which is John B. White Boulevard. And I want to talk about John B. White Boulevard. It is ugly. And if I had to come visit this town and look at this ugly one more time, I wouldn't come back because that ma

And along those lines, I mean, that's something Kevin and I talk about a lot. And I think that's certainly an area of concern. I think I even pointed that out to you the other day. But also, we need to be looking at our neighborhoods as well. Yes. Because I think we have in just about every neighborhood some neighbors there that aren't the best neighbors in the sense that they don't tend to their properties like they should, which I certainly respect their rights to tend to their properties as they deem fit. to the point where it doesn't infringe on their fellow neighbors. And so, you know, I

I was about to call you Mr. Mayor, but that's not your name, Chris. Question about fireworks, because we see this a lot. And I know that they're not allowed for individuals to do in the city. And I'm thankful and glad about that. But when it comes to private events at the baseball stadium, and I'm thankful that our social media team has been sharing that so that neighbors can be prepared as someone who has a pet that very much freaked out as well. What is our relationship or how does... that communication flow happen? Is anyone able to do fireworks at private events, whatever they want? When p

Do we restrict what time those are allowed to go off? I know Friday nights that's at the end of the game and beauty of baseball is you never know when it's going to be over, but for private events. Do we try to work with them within a certain time frame or they have kind of freedom over that as well?

So right now, would they be allowed, not schools back, would they be allowed during the week also at any time before 11 p.m.?

I don't know if y'all get comments, but I would certainly be us opening. I would welcome us working with them to come up with a plan that seems to work better for the community. The community I hear from. I'll say that.

Yes. I attended the Robert Smalls event on Saturday, as you were there as well. And I was surprised. I feel kind of guilty. I had never driven all the way back there. I didn't know the place was as large as it is. And I am still saddened by the people, though, that they don't have central air that they're using, window units. But... I applaud the city for the work that was done on Saturday. Everybody worked very hard. Kim and Kathy, everybody, you know, they were working like they were really expecting a bonus or something. You know, it was a very nice event. And I could tell that the tenants,

That's correct. Is it right to assume that most of the sidewalks, the issues will be on closing Broad Street versus Main Street?

Thank you all who has come out to tonight's City Council meeting. I only have a few things. I did attend the Citizen Academy. Welcome to the project. And I think those who are in the Academy is excited and thrilled and learning. Also, I had the opportunity to witness the naming of the new hotel, which is called the Morgan, that will soon be finishing in a couple months, I assume. And lastly, Beth, is it Beth Richardson?

Went to her retirement and we're going to miss her because she was a great person and she worked, I think, how many years, Hannah? 20 plus. So we'll miss Beth for being with us. Other than that, I have nothing else.

Councilman Farmer. Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Also had the opportunity to meet with the Citizens Academy. That's always a fun opportunity for us as council. And I think for the eighth or ninth straight year after the meeting, I was voted their favorite councilman. I appreciate them for that award. I'm pretty sure. But appreciate that. Also want to recognize the chief and the department once again, the men and women of our fire department who do an outstanding job to keep us all safe and to get the recognition that they have received through certification is no easy task. And it's a big de

watched him shoot at the Morgan Square Madness event downtown. And now I've seen him play pickleball and sadly is a one player sport. Football I think was his only real game because the others he doesn't have much juice. It was fun nonetheless.

Mayor Pro Tem. Yes, I want to congratulate Beth on her retirement. I wasn't able to be there because I was attending another event. And so I congratulate her on that. I want to plug our city team. We have a hard working city team and we are grateful for the people that we have working for us. And so that said, that's all ma'am. Thank you. Councilor Rogers.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you all for being here. As you can hear from all of us, it's been a busy number of weeks and lots of events for Council. I also had the privilege of being at the Citizens Academy class. Councilman Fulmer, I could challenge your statement there, but I'm just going to leave it at that. But it was really just a privilege to stand up with fellow council members, speak to just eager members of our community that are looking to step up, know more, be more a part of who we are and what we are. And it was just perfect timing. I was standing in the checkout line at a grocery

Yes, I did get to call bingo rounds, and it was a stark difference from Mr. Mayor's very strong voice. Please, I do not have the same voice. So everyone, you know, help me. And it was really sweet. There were a number of women that just would repeat every number that I said. So very successful. Lots of winners. It's great.

I don't even know where we have a bingo hall.

Oh, okay. Yes. Yes. But the alarming stat on the video that you just referenced is that three out of every four of our stolen guns have come from unlocked vehicles. Yes. So if you, which, think then of what those guns are then used to do. We've talked so much about youth violence and drive-by shootings, and so many of our youth have been shot. Well, think about where they get their guns from. Let's not make it easier for them to get in their hands. So, yes. Thank you for that video. I was not at some of these events because I was moving my son into College of Charleston, where his random roomm

I was out of town. Thank you for that. I was consulted on the date by the mayor. Wow. So it was gracious and let me plan the route.