City Council - workshop

Council? I think it's just good to hear that the building's in a lot better shape than I was thinking. I mean, I'm being told that there's no bad things in the walls and in the ceilings and around the pipes. That's a good thing. And here comes Dr. Kilmore. Good morning. There he is.

Anybody else? Your first part of the ask of the money is, if we can go back to that slide. I just want to be sure. So your initial goal was $150,000 with an additional $350,000 in total? No.

No, I understand that. I just wanted to know what we need to do to get there, because this is a worthy project and we need to make sure it happens.

south of Third Avenue South down to 12th.

So Jason, one of the things that stuck out to me at the beginning of your presentation specifically about your feedback that you had gotten was safety perception. So it wasn't necessarily the people in that area feeling unsafe, but it was the perception maybe of their visitors and others. And were there constructive thoughts from folks specifically about perception in that area?

Let's get back to the reaffirmation that, hey, we have a plan. That's a great idea the more I think about it. We do need to remind people, not just our residents but our businesses, but also the potential businesses that might be looking at us from the outside to know what's going on. And in the it seems to build category, maybe we can take advantage of our creative services folks who do a great job and put together something that can be available online or be available to be sent out or just to keep it in front of everybody because the idea that we have a plan is a nice thing but let's keep i

Yeah. Adding to what Bill had brought up, I agree with the revisiting the downtown vision plan and specifically like having a, matrix of what were the key goals, what have we accomplished, what have we started and what hasn't been started, kind of what we've done, what we've completed and where we're going next to see if there are any changes that need to be made to that as well. Any adjustments, because plans always need to be adjusted.

I completely agree with Mr. Lauder on that, dissolving it as soon as possible. How many owners are we talking about?

Charlie, would you go back again? You said there was a staff recommendation that we go back to MUH or whatever. That's their recommendation. What's behind that?

Let us take a moment to pause and reflect. As we gather to serve the people of Myrtle Beach, may we be guided by wisdom, humility, and a deep sense of responsibility. May our discussions be thoughtful, our decisions measured, and our actions grounded in what's best for our community. As we navigate the opportunities before us, maybe do so with clarity of purpose, openness to collaboration, and respect for differing perspectives. Let us remain mindful of the privilege it is to serve the impact of our choices and the shared goal of strengthening the quality of life for all who live, work, and vi

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands,

Let's vote on this one and then move into what they have to say.

I guess the other question is, are we setting a precedent by doing this?

Okay. Just for clarification here. Okay, so currently what would be collected? Currently.

And it seems to me like we're, oh, are you finished? That we're swapping, if you could, Ken or whoever, if you could go back to the picture of the alleys, like we're basically taking those two alleys and they're still oceanfront. Correct. And now it's a much bigger, wider public space. Which seems to be a good public improvement to me where I would be okay with reducing the amount there.

At a minimum. What do we have it down for now?

I thought y'all were requesting the 650. No. 1.3 million.

I've got one quick question. How many units are you going to have in the new building? 230. 230.

You want me to withdraw my second? And you're going to make another motion?

Just to be clear, what is the total number again?

Now, I would ask staff to come back with handwritten. I want it.

Yeah, repairs. I know in the city there are a couple of areas looking at bike paths, right, where you're on this nice bike path, and then all of a sudden it ends, and you're thrown out into the street, but you've got another 100 yards before you get to the end of that street. So this could be used to... possibly solve those situations as well?

Michelle, there used to be $200,000 yearly put in the sidewalk account. Is that still?

I don't mean to be thick, but what is the point, Mark?

Mark, I'm curious, what was the point of that?

Mark, as an aside with regard to construction, this is kind of finance. Did we ever get anywhere, and we can get an update later with regard to state proviso appropriations. I know some towns did get a couple million dollars. I know that's a discussion for another day, but I don't ever want that to go away.

Are those numbers hard with Senate and House appropriations?

I always like to know. We always like to know.

And Brian, how long have you been with the group? Is it 10 years? 11 years and seems longer. Because I remember I asked you one time the per fee rate, $4.76 for a fee from Conway to Myrtle Beach, and you admirably defended that. I won't ask again.

And this position is... New events or? Yes. Okay. So new events.

But are we looking for someone to work mostly on what Troy's been doing or sports tourism or what?

Who would this person work for directly?

And to whom do these responsibilities presently fall? We don't really have. Yeah, we don't have a promoter of events at this point.

A couple of questions. the type of individual that we're looking for. What are the credentials that we're going to be looking for? In other words, not just maybe past history, but are they certified, that type of thing? Are we really looking for a coordinator or a planner or both? And then my last question is, what's going to be the compensation range?

There are certification programs for coordinators and event planners, that type of thing. I personally would like to note that they... besides the on-the-job training, for lack of a better description, that they have the educational backgrounds to deal with what we're looking for.

And we've got, as Councilwoman Attlee knows, I mean, we've got some tremendous opportunity out there. We want to make sure that we get this right out of the gate.

That's right. Most resort tourism majors have special event components in them as well. So not just special certifications, but also degree programs have that specifically as part of their program.

I guess I'm just thinking, we talk about special events. Are we looking to do more? Now, I hear us one minute say, you know, we're doing too much, or we're asking too much of our employees, and now we're talking about creating...

So this person is going to concentrate on more smaller events and not trying to bring more?

I think that's the answer to the question, is that we know that at certain times of the year, we are just wearing our people out. We've talked about this a lot. But if we have this type of person, I mean, part of their objective would be to look at what are the open opportunities that would not impact our personnel as much in different parts of the year. You know, we're still talking about and dealing with a new type of concert that might be coming to the city. You know, maybe if we had an event coordinator, that person could have already looked at where the conflicts might be and say, okay, w

Mayor, my concern is growing with regard to what lies ahead. In the mid, not way down the road, but next year, the year after, I share some real concerns with business folks statewide that tough times may be upon us. and whatever we can do to prepare, and if that involves a coordinator to help garner new business, we have to continually look what is new on the horizon. We live in scary times right now. We need to be prepared.

That's exactly why we need to be focusing on this position. You're right.

Council? When we did the... Sports Center, for instance, in discussions about allowing us to do the funding model as we did, we pointed out to state leaders that they were the primary beneficiary of that building with regard to sales tax, et cetera. That leads me to my question here. Is there been or has there been, and I'm sure there must have been discussion with state leaders about being a potential funding source, particularly in the world of earmarks in which we live presently. That is one question. My first question, and you can answer it before now in second reading if this should pass,

Well, that just seemed like two outstanding opportunities, and I think we all want the 21st Avenue corridor to be a signature thoroughfare, and this, without fully understanding all the ins and outs, this would appear to be one way to achieve that goal. Again, I think what we all guard against is a situation where we privatize profits and nationalize losses. We want this to be a win if it goes forward for everyone. I don't know a lot about this, but it's exciting. Tourism folks may know much more than I do.

Well, you've made an outstanding presentation. Well, thank you. I can't wait for day seven.

I think, too, that just through... reiterated is that the monies that we're talking about the city would be putting into this project is the last dollar in. And as we've discussed, something goes awry along the way, we're saved harmless. We've got that protection behind us. I think it's very important for everybody to understand Anybody else? Just a statement. Yes, sir.

So do I. I kind of have to piggyback off of all the comments that Dr. Render had stated. Myself, and I'm going to go ahead and tell you, I'm going to vote no for it today. Today. Because I still have some heartburn with putting a project, us putting this much money into a project that is on privately owned land. That's just my issue with it, the main issue. The timing of it and everything is not adding up for me. I would like us to see it a little bit further down the road and also get along the input from county council. So that's all I have to say.

So Josh, I think, and I appreciate Councilwoman Hatley's thoughts on that. One of the things that we've talked about is general benefit, public benefit. And though it's on private property, And I think you've done a good job laying out in Section 1 the agreement that the estimated, and I'm thinking these are the estimated benefits or conservative estimate, a conservative estimate of $10.5 million in annual employee income 58.1 in total onsite spending, the 12.7 in additional offsite, over 44,000 room, nights, annual visitors, and in my estimation, just with the revenues to the city without the

So this is going to be critical for us to have the potential ability for the funding, special bond revenue funding. Yes, ma'am.

Mayor, I'd like to make one request. We have a couple of members on council who command a great deal of respect from members of county council. And I would like to ask if Mr. Lowder and Mr. Chestnut would reach out to our friends on county council personally. Sometimes that has great impact. This is so important that the personal touch cannot be discounted here. And they've solved problems before, and I think they can do it this time. Gentlemen? Just a personal plea.

I don't have no problem with talking with anyone. Thank you.

I'd like to make a motion that Thomas Bitt be reappointed. Second.