City Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you. You're first. You're out again. Thank you. Thank you. Hi.

Good evening. How are you all doing out there? Man, it's a blessing to be alive, isn't it? Amen. We're ready to start the City of Newark-Charleston City Council meeting for August the 13th, 2026, 6.30 p.m. Can we rise? We're going to actually have the invocation. That's going to be done by Councilman Greg Perry, and then we'll have the Pledge of Allegiance.

Kind God, we thank you, we praise you, and we magnify you. We thank you for this day, for this is the day that you've made, and we will rejoice and be glad in it. We thank you for every individual in this room. We thank you for every council member. We pray, God, that you would lead us and guide us during this meeting and that you would cause us to make the best decisions for the city of North Charleston. It is in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Our first presentation will be from the North Charleston Police Department for the Police Citizens Academy.

Good evening. Mayor Burgess, city council members, chief of police, acting, Chief Scott Perry. North Charleston Police Department is proud to announce the second North Charleston Spanish Citizens Police Academy, which started as a simple idea, has grown into something much more meaningful, a chance to bring our officers and the community together, learn from one another, build relationships that will continue long after these eight weeks are over. And I might add a long eight weeks. The success of this academy truly was a team effort. Officers and training staff all over our department, as well as other departments throughout the city, within the city, generously volunteered their time, shared their knowledge, and helped create an experience that our graduates could be proud of. Whether they are teaching class, demonstrating a skill, answering questions, or working behind the scenes, every person who contributed played an important role in making this academy a success. Their dedication, support, and willingness to share these expertise helped make this experience meaningful for our graduates, and we are truly grateful for everything who made it possible. I would like to give special recognition to William Leon, our community liaison, a Spanish interpreter for the city. William played an important role throughout this academy, helped bridging the communication between our department as well as the Spanish-speaking participants throughout the course. His dedication and commitment helped ensure that everyone felt welcome, included, and part of the North Charles Police Department family. I also want to recognize a prior graduate, Brenda Marquez, who stepped up to serve as a liaison between the class and our instructors. Also made my job a whole lot easier coordinating this. Her willingness to give back to the program she had previously been a part of is a great example of the relationships this academy creates. I also would like to thank MPO Damala, who cannot be here tonight, for her social media coverage throughout the academy. Her work helped us share these experiences with the broader community and showcase relationships being built throughout the program. This is going to be a quick list I'm going to read through. I just want to thank all the instructors, Lieutenant Joseph Sherwood, Sergeant James Oden, Sergeant Diego Lizarazo, Sergeant Ron Metrogine, MPO Steven Riviera, MPO Jeremy Woods, MPO Natalie Perales, PFC Juan Estrada, PFC Jennifer Aguilera, Detective Ashley Gonzalez, Detective Christian Bravo, Patrolman Juan Diaz, Evidence Technician Melissa Frentes, and Clerk Court Maria Munar. Lastly, over the last eight weeks, our graduates learned about case law, community policing styles, traffic stops, firearm safety, emergency vehicle operations, building clearance, force on force scenarios, and many other aspects of law enforcement. But if you ask me, the most important thing they learned wasn't in the classroom. They got to know the people behind the badge. They saw the dedication, the challenges, and responsibility that comes with being a North Charleston police officer. And in return, our officers had the opportunity to get the people to know behind the faces they see every day in our community. That is the real success of this program and this academy. At the end of these eight weeks, our graduates are no longer just citizens who attended a police academy. They are people we know by name, people we have shared experiences with, and people who now have a better understanding of what our officers do every day. To our graduates, thank you. Thank you for giving us your time, asking questions, sharing your experiences, and allowing us to get to know you. You came here willing to learn from us, and I hope you leave knowing that you also have taught us something about the community we are so proud to serve. On this last note, you are now ambassadors for your communities, a bridge between the North Charleston Police Department and these citizens we serve. We hope this is not the end of a relationship, but the beginning of something that continues to grow. On behalf of the North Charleston Police Department, congratulations on completing the 2026 Spanish Citizens Police Academy. At this time, we'd like to recognize our graduates and present each of them with their certification of completion.

Good evening, Mayor Burgess, council members. Before we proceed with the certificates, I would like to recognize someone special and present to this person a Civilian Achievement Award. Brenda Marquez. It is a privilege to announce that the award committee has unanimously selected Brenda Marquez for the Civilian Achievement Award for the month of July 2026. This recognition speaks highly of her performance and dedication to the citizens of North Charleston. Ms. Brenda Marquez is a distinguished graduate from our 2025 Hispanic Citizens Academy, whose continued commitment to our community has made a lasting impact. During 2026 Hispanic Citizens Academy, Ms. Marquez voluntarily stepped into the role of liaison between the Academy participants and our instructors, serving as a reliable point of contact throughout the entire eight-week program.

Ms. Marquez attended every class without exception and consistently made herself available to assist both instructors and participants in any way possible. She maintained a regular communication with every member of the class, ensuring that she stayed informed, accounted for, and prepared for each session. Her dedication and leadership contributed greatly to the success of this academy. In addition to her service with the Hispanic Citizens Academy, Ms. Marquez is an active participant of NCPD recap walks Further demonstrating her commitment to strengthen the relationships between the law enforcement and community, she's a valued member of our community whose selfless service, leadership, and dedication set an outstanding example in orders to follow. Let's all congratulate Ms. Marquez for a job well done. Now the woman we were waiting for.

Adriana Zavala.

Juan Adrian Navas Dukan. Jose Luis Romero Beltran.

Carlos Cardenas Becerra. Oneida Noriega. Daniel Villalobos.

Gibson A. Gavidiasse.

Annette Glover.

Which one is that? No, okay. Jessica Palacios Mendez.

Okay.

Jessica Palacios here? No?

Jessica?

Orly Miranda. Erica Pedraza Diaz. Erica here, no? Okay.

Salomon Torero.

Erica, Erica, Erica. Salomon Torero. Sandra Gonzalez. Daylin Marquez. Alba Vargas. Tuber Castrillon Jaliano. Lorena Kamal. Nancy Turcios. Where's Nancy? I saw her here. Juan Menendez. John Martinez. Ana Bermudez. Jamie Suyapa Ponce. Mayra Gomez Palomino. Juana E. Cajamarca-Lopez. Rosel Ruiz Tamayo. Jenny Velasquez. Rosemary Del Valle Ortiz. Sami Cajamarca Carzon. Eduardo Diaz. Josefina Gonzalez. Yolimar Prado.

Class of 2026.

okay let's take a picture and then we'll give it okay you got to get in here will Just smile, everyone. Sonrisa, por favor. Good?

Here's the city of North Charleston. Thank you. Class of 2026.

Mayor Burgess, if I might, I dropped in on this academy

And I was quite amazed at what these graduates went through. We actually have one that wants to be a police officer that we're going to work with. And a lot of them had no idea what police officers do. So I am so proud. I know you noticed a lot of names. And I'm proud of every one of them. They were excellent.

Thank you, Councilwoman, because before you became a Councilwoman in 1993, you were walking on Star Road trying to help Hispanic, Latino citizens realize that the reason why they're being robbed is because they're not putting money in a safe spot. That's right. And you got the banks to help them to put that money up, and those robberies went down almost 60%.

Absolutely.

Thank you so much.

I encourage all of our council members to go to the training division and just look at what they do. You will be amazed.

Thank you, ma'am.

Before we start, I want to be able to say hello to some people that haven't been in a while. Can you hear me now? Is it good? All right. Ms. Bob King, wife. I'll call her Ms. King. I don't call her by her first name. That's the way I was raised. That's a former city council member, wife right there, who's been in my life a long time. Thank you, Ms. King, for being out here today. Thank you, thank you. Then we have Councilman Epps. He was a judge. His wife is out here as well. And I thank you, Ms. Epps. Thank you. If I don't recognize anybody else, don't blame my heart. Blame my head, please. Okay. Thank you.

Now we have the North Charleston Fire Department Tech Camp.

Mayor Burgess, members of City Council, I'm proud to share the success of North Charleston Fire Department's fifth annual Teens Aiding the Community, or known as TAC Camp. TAC Camp is more than a summer program. It is an investment in our young people and the future safety and resilience of our community. The goal of TAC camp is simple. Empower teenagers with the skills and tools they can use to help their families, their schools, and their communities during an emergency. This year, 16 students participated in hands-on training and certification, which included basic first aid, adult child and infant CPR, good babysitter, teen community emergency response team called CERT, stop the bleed, and fire extinguisher training. One of the most valuable aspects of TAC camp is that our students didn't just learn from a textbook. They learned from the men and women who actually respond to our emergency calls. This program would not be possible without our partnerships, though. We are grateful to every agency and individual who volunteered their time and expertise to teach these students what to do during an emergency. So thank you to the following departments. North Charleston Police Department, Charleston County Consolidated 911 Dispatch, Charleston County Emergency Management Department, Charleston County Volunteer Rescue Squad, Dorchester County EMS, Joint Base Lindsey Graham Fire Emergency Services, Michelle and Madison Goossens from Somerville Medical, and Service Masters of Charleston. In addition, I would also like to thank the city employees for stopping by during camp and talking to the students and instructing during camp. Chief Munn, Deputy Chief Gay, Deputy Chief Delaney, Dr. Love, and Special Assistant to the Mayor, David Cheadle. For my staff that helped me during this camp, I can't thank them enough because I wouldn't have been able to do this camp without them. I want to thank Fire Investigator Goossens, Captain Bunch, Captain Cahill, Firefighter Wilson, And then our administrative staff, Karen, Brooke, and also Kristen. They helped me feed the children, move the children, teach the children. If you've ever taught 16 children, all teenagers, food is important to them. So the most important thing was getting the food during TAC camp. Now, without further ado, I would like to present 2026 TAC camp graduates. Students, when I call your name, please come up front.

Alex.

Alfred, Caleb, Edward, Jack, Kaliana, Kimberly, head to the front, Madeline, McKay, Naomi, Natalie, Stefan, Suri, Trevelyn, and Phineas. Students, is this on here?

Students, I'm short, sorry, there we go.

Students, I'm proud of you. I know I kind of gave you a rough time, not paying attention certain times. I tested you with different challenges of medical questions and scenarios. But thank you for spending one Thursday every week for nine weeks with me. So I'm proud of you. Congratulations. You are now certified in basic life-saving skills, and you're going to get a medical bag when you guys leave here today. Mayor and Council, this is your response team for the teenagers around the Tri-County area. Thank you. All my rest of my family's at Tide Camp.

They're going to be going downstairs in just a minute to go get your graduation. Thank you very much.

Courtney, we're good? Yes. All right.

We're actually going to go now. Sorry. Thank you.

Follow us downstairs to the Montague Room.

Our next item on the agenda is the recognition of new employees. When I call your name, please come to the front. With facilities, we have Jose Vega, the fire department, Cameron Baker, Connor Cleen, Ryan Krav, Jess Dustin, Brian Evans, Herman Hampton, Norman Rich II, Andrew McAllister, Trevor Thornton, William Wetmore. Police Department, we have Steven Duran, Christian Easterby, Frederick Hoose, Michael Lorick, Derek Rodriguez, Logan Turner. In Public Works, we have Joseph Langley, Daniel Mitchell, Russell Smalls, and Marshall Spells.

What a fine-looking group we have here. On behalf of City Council and our Mayor, Reggie Burgess, I'd like to be the first to welcome you as new employees of the City of North Charleston. I hope that each of you have a long-lasting career. And as the Mayor says, you know, serving the public and serving our constituents is a very high calling. At this time, I'm going to ask you to turn around and face the Council. And these folks you might want to get to know because every year they're the ones that approve the budget that has your raises in it. So they're also good people to know. So with that, I'll ask the mayor to share a few words with you.

I just want to say to you all, thank you all tremendously for investing in this city. I really, really thank you because you guys are going to help us to continue to improve our quality of living in this city and also keep us in an all-American city status. It all comes together. But the most important, People in this city, turn around. Turn around. Those people, the citizens, that's your number one priority. Take care of them. Listen to them, learn from them, and serve them. Thank y'all. If God doesn't want to, you can go ahead and leave. If you want to stay, you can stay. All right. God bless you guys.

Shelby, please come to the front. I have a proclamation. Whereas Overdose Awareness Day is recognized around the world on August 31st as an occasion to acknowledge those who have experienced an overdose as well as loved ones who have been affected. And whereas Overdose Awareness Day aims to publicly challenge and reduce the stigma associated with substance use disorders and sends a message to those who are currently struggling or have struggled with substance use that their lives are valued. And whereas the City of North Charleston and the North Charleston Police Department recognize the dedication, hard, and sometimes dangerous work of our community non-profit partners, as well as our fellow law enforcement, fire, and emergency services departments who tirelessly strive to saturate our community with information, harm reduction kits, and connect those suffering with substance use disorders in our community. And whereas it is important to recognize that substance use disorders touch people of all backgrounds, despite race, religion, education, or socioeconomic class, people from all walks of life have suffered from addiction or known someone who has. And whereas the people who suffer from substance use disorders are mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, and friends to many, and it is up to our North Charleston community to make strides to reduce the stigma associated with substance abuse to bring about education and healing. Now, therefore, be it resolved, I, Reginald L. Burgess, Mayor of the City of North Charleston, do hereby proclaim August 31st, 2026 as Overdose Awareness Day.

um good evening i always i'm so sorry um i always get nervous i know i talk to all of you one-on-one but when you're a whole group it's a little more intimidating um good evening mayor burgess and the women and men of our north charleston city council thank you for officially recognizing august 31st as overdose awareness day Beyond this proclamation are actual boots on the ground, real works being done throughout our city, county, and state. I have a single candle tonight. The single candle represents the light that overdose awareness shines onto an otherwise awful and horrific disease that continues to take too many from us too soon. I'd like to give you just a little data because numbers are fun. So Courtney had printed out a slide for you guys to take a look at. As you can see, there is a marked reduction in OD deaths and suspected non-fatal overdoses throughout Charleston County. Why am I showing you all of Charleston County? Because overdose knows no jurisdictional lines. And really, the amazing men and women that I work alongside belong to a myriad of agencies, organizations, and nonprofits, both here in North Charleston and throughout Charleston County. I know that Asa, I saw you here, Asa is with favor, Judge Condon with Drug Court. Anyone I'm missing? Thank you for coming, thank you for being here. This amazing coalition works across the greater Charleston area every day to expand free access to and training for naloxone, partnerships with local agencies to ensure treatment resources are visible and accessible to all, and support funding for community-led prevention and peer support networks. Why all these strategies? Because these are the best practices from data gathered from around the country that shows they work. The bottom line, overdose is preventable and one overdose death is one too many. No family should have to face this grief. Thank you for the opportunity to continue the work to help make our city a place of compassion, education, and zero stigma. Thank you for your time and leadership and your dedication to our North Charleston.

Mr. Mayor, may I say something please? As we recognize overdose awareness, Judge Cunningham was mentioned, so I also want to acknowledge the important work of Charleston County Drug Court. Drug Court recognizes that substance use is simply not just a criminal issue. It's also an issue involving treatment. So every person who enters recovery must first have the opportunity to survive. And I just want to publicly thank the Charleston County Drug Court under the leadership of Judge Irv Condon. Thank you.

Thank you.

Will members of the North Charleston United Methodist Church please come forward? Whereas North Charleston United Methodist Church received its official church charge in 1920 and has faithfully served the spiritual, educational, and charitable needs of the North Charleston community for 106 years. And whereas throughout its history, the congregation has remained steadfast in its mission to worship God, make disciples of Jesus Christ, and serve its neighbors with compassion, grace, and generosity. And whereas for more than a century, North Charleston United Methodist Church has been a beacon of faith, hope, and love, ministering to generations of families while strengthening the fabric of our community through worship, outreach, fellowship, and service. And whereas the church continues to honor its rich heritage while looking towards the future, preserving its history and inspiring future generations through faithful ministry and community engagement. And whereas the city of North Charleston is honored to recognize the enduring legacy and positive impact of North Charleston United Methodist Church as it celebrates this significant milestone. Now therefore, be it resolved that I, Reginald L. Burgess, Mayor of North Charleston, do hereby proclaim August 30th, 2026 as North Charleston United Methodist's 106th Anniversary Day.

Mr. Mayor, I am a member of the United Methodist Church. I'm going to come down and join my members.

Yes, ma'am.

Our first item on the agenda is a request to approve the July 23rd, 2026 minutes. Move to approve.

Second.

We have a motion to second. Any changes or corrections? Hearing none, Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Mr. Perry. Aye. Ms. Jerome. Aye. Dr. Ganaway-Paisley. Aye. Dr. Palmer-Roberts. Aye. Mr. Emdy. Aye. Ms. Brown. Aye. Mr. Hudson.

Aye.

Mr. Skipper.

Aye.

Mr. Brown.

Aye.

Mayor Burgess.

Aye.

We had the first reading of an ordinance rezoning the property addressed as 4937 Durant Avenue, Charleston County, TMS number 47115, parcel 76 from R1 Single Family Residential to B1 Limited Business in Council District 10.

First item is a proposed rezoning of the property addressed at 4937 Durant Avenue. They are requesting rezoning from our one single family residential to be one limited business. The property can be seen here by my cursor highlighted in the blue outline at the corner of Durant and Errant Street. The properties currently zoned are one single family residential, and all of the surrounding properties are currently zoned the same. The subject property is designated as traditional neighborhood development by the comprehensive plan, and this designation is used for areas that can support a mix of uses, smaller lots, higher densities. which would include single family residential development, duplexes, town homes, and where opportunities exist for infill, that would be encouraged as well. This would also support small-scale neighborhood business zoning at the site, and that would be consistent with the designation of the comprehensive plan. We can see here the subject property is currently developed with the church on the corner. The adjacent properties are developed as single family homes and across the street is an elementary school on Durant Avenue. The traditional neighborhood designation supports walkable neighborhood units in addition to appropriately scaled commercial uses, given the subject property's corner location, the adjacent institutional development, and support from the comprehensive plan, Staff recommends approval of the request to rezone from R1 single-family residential to B1 limited business. This property had a public hearing at the July 13th Planning Commission meeting where the Planning Commission recommended approval unanimously.

Without objection, this item will be referred to the Public Safety Committee for further review and consideration.

The next item on the agenda is an ordinance rezoning the property addressed as 1984 Forest Avenue, Charleston County TMS number 46612 parcel 211 from R1 single family residential to R2 multifamily residential and council district 10.

As stated this is a request to rezone the property from our one single family residential to our 2 multifamily residential, you can see the subject property here highlighted in the blue. The property is currently a vacant and cleared lot. The. Surrounding properties are zoned generally R1 with the orange representing an R2 zoning district. The red is B2 zoning and the blue is B1 along Spruill Avenue. The property is designated as traditional neighborhood development within the mixed-use corridor of Spruill Avenue, as well as within a mixed-use node of a station area along the LCRT line. This designation, again, supports smaller lots, higher densities, and a mix of housing types. More intensive multifamily uses are appropriate when in proximity to a mixed-use corridor or a mixed-use node. The mixed-use corridor designation is intended to provide for commercial retail office and higher density housing adjacent to principal transportation corridors. And the subject property is also within a mixed-use node, as I stated before, and the comprehensive plan defines these as primary target areas for future mixed-use development. Transit-oriented development is encouraged in these locations to create compact, walkable, mixed-use distinct centers within a short walk of transit stations. As I said earlier, this is the subject property has been cleared and is ready for future development. The area surrounding the subject property is developed with a mix of single-family and multi-family uses. The property to the west is zoned R2 and functions as a duplex. And to the west on the corner of Forest Avenue and Cosmopolitan Street is a small apartment complex. Given the nearby residential uses, an expansion of multi-family uses would not be out of character with the subject property surroundings. Given the subject property's location in proximity to principal transportation corridors, the neighborhood's mixed residential development, and the support from the comprehensive plan, staff is recommending approval of the proposed rezoning of the property from R1 single-family residential to R2 multifamily residential. This case also had a public hearing at the July 13th Planning Commission meeting where the Planning Commission made a recommendation of approval unanimously.

Okay, without objection, this item will be referred to the Public Safety Committee for further review and consideration.

Adam McConnell. The next item is a resolution supporting the Vision Zero approach to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries within the city of North Charleston, and Adam will be presenting.

Good evening. Council, a few months ago, the city was awarded a Safe Streets and Roads for All grant through the Federal Department of Transportation. That grant is there to establish a safety action plan, a comprehensive safety action plan for the entire city. We've engaged a consultant, Meaden Hunt, and we've done a lot of preliminary research, and we wanted to present you briefly some of the initial findings of that research And also you're looking at a resolution which is called, I forget the exact name of it, but we'll call it a Vision Zero Resolution. That is basically making a commitment to reducing serious injuries and traffic fatalities by 2045. I have my friend, Inez, here, who has been working very diligently with a very talented team of people, and a lot of our public and community members engaged in the process. And she's going to give you just a very brief presentation, and then you can take a vote on the resolution. Thank you.

There's one right here.

Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for your time and the opportunity to work with the City of North Charleston. And before I start with the data, I really want to thank you and the staff members. They are a wonderful team of people to work with. So thank you. Thank you, Adam and Meg. And also to the community. We had a survey that gathered a lot of input. So this is part of it. So I'll share the data analysis as well as public input, sharing some of the themes that we've seen. And this is part one. So when we come back, we'll give you a full picture of the comprehensive safety action plan, what we've seen, and also what the recommendations are. So the purpose of the Comprehensive Safety Action Plan is to reduce roadway fatalities and serious injuries through proactive and the data-driven safety strategy, and to improve safety and accessibility for people of all ages, disabilities, as well as travel modes, so those who walk, bike, as well as drive or use transit to go to work or their activities throughout the day, as well as address high crash locations, find strategies to reduce unsafe driving behaviors as well as address systemic transportation safety issues. Our goal is to advance equitable access to jobs, schools, healthcare, transit, and community hubs. Through this process, we'll develop recommendations and projects that we'll prioritize and make sure that they're implementable and also develop policies that will deliver measurable safety benefits and position the city for future implementation funds. So that map is one of the maps that we developed at the beginning of the safety analysis study, and it shows concentration of fatal and serious injuries on major roadways. So as you see, Dorchester Road, I-26, Reivers Avenue, Ashley Phosphate, 526, all those are major roads, and that's where you see the highest concentration of fatalities and serious injuries. And between 2020 and 2024, we saw 131 lives lost on roadways. And that's the goal of the Vision Zero Resolution. And to go deeper on that, and I love numbers, 80% of those serious injuries and federal crashes occurred on high injury network. High injury network are 58 miles of the 600 miles that you have throughout the city. That's less than 10% of the miles in the city. That's where you have 80% of crashes. So when we talk about recommendations, our goal is to focus on those high corridors and make sure that we have safe behaviors and we can save lives. Public input, my favorite part, because you can look at the data, but you also need to get firsthand experience from the public. Between April 1st and July 31st, we received 430...

Let me make sure I have that right.

413 survey responses as well as 772 interactive map points. Those are points you see on the map where people will put either a point of walking or biking or driving or railroad crossing and put in a comment of what they have experienced. And themes in terms of what they're highlighting includes speeding. Speeding is an issue. Unsafe driving behaviors, that's the top causes of fatal and serious injuries. Rail crossing creates safety concerns. And they also express the need for sidewalk. Can you move to the next, please? Thank you.

Next.

So those are the themes that I'm referring to. Speeding and safe driving are the top concerns when it comes to roadway fatalities. Railroad crossing can sometimes be an issue when it comes to pedestrian connectivity or delays in terms of traffic or even EMS response. to make sure that they're safe. Multimodal gaps, address, sidewalk, and bike and ped infrastructure where we have people walking and biking to school or in the neighborhood to libraries and community centers, and they want to make sure that they're safe. pavement markings to make sure that lanes are visible and drivers can tell which lane they're in and also where to turn and things like that. Just making sure that lanes are clear and drivers know what to do. And then truck and freight traffic. One of the comments we received is to reduce freight traffic on neighborhoods, neighborhood roads. So with the Vision Zero Resolution, our goal is to establish, this helps us establish the commitment to eliminating traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2045 and recognize that traffic deaths and serious injuries are preventable and should not be accepted as inevitable part of transportation. This also affirms the city's support for a safe system systems approach that combines safer roadway design, public public education, targeted enforcement and enhanced emergency response. And this also supports the development and implementation of the city's federally funded Safe Streets for All Comprehensive Safety Action Plan. So this is what will come back in later once we've finished the plan for you to we're putting together a focus group. The application will be open. It's actually open right now, but we'll post it tomorrow. And we'll gather a group of eight to 12 public members, members of the public, to give us their opinion as well. We've worked with the steering committee. We've had two different meetings and started to develop objectives and strategies. So we want to refine them through public opinion and public input. In October, we'll continue refining those objectives and develop the action plan. And early 2027, we'll bring the comprehensive safety action plan to you for adoption. Thank you.

Move for approval.

Second. Second.

Okay, before we go to motion, I want to be able to say that Meg, who works in our projects team, she was thoroughly involved with this. Who is Meg? Thank you, Meg. She's doing a whole lot of work with the Raleigh Institute and a lot of other agencies to find better ways for connectivity and just really making this city an easier city to get around. Thank you, Meg. Katie Zimmerman? Well, here you go. That's the bike person right there. Katie fights all over this county, all over the state, so we can have connectivity for bike riders and pedestrians, and we thank you so much. We chose to move. Thank you. All right, we have a motion and a second. We have a question.

Thank you guys for the work you've done. There's just one question that I have. This grant that you received, this is just for the planning stage of it?

Yes.

At this time?

Yeah, so the grant itself is to come up with the comprehensive safety action plan that we'll be bringing back to you guys for adoption. At that point, there'll be a prioritized list of improvements, and those improvements will then, we'll need to find money for, right? Yeah, that's a question. So this sets us up for additional grant funding from whatever source that may be in the future, and that's really... An example, Mount Pleasant Way, have you heard about this project, Mount Pleasant Way, where they're trying to get basically a multimodal path throughout the entire town? They received $17 million in additional funding through this program. And so those are available to us if we can get our house in order and get our plans prioritized and get better safety outcomes for our people. I know the resolution in front of you seems a bit ambitious, zero traffic fatalities by 2040, but I will say that Hoboken, New Jersey last year had zero fatalities, which is an incredible feat if you think about it. And I think that we're better than Hoboken, New Jersey. In fact, I know that we are. So let's get to work and get to the work of keeping our people safe.

One North Charleston.

That's right.

One North Charleston.

Forward together.

Always. Right. We have a motion and a second. Any other discussions? Hearing none, Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Mr. Perry.

Aye.

Ms. Jerome. Aye. Dr. Ganyway-Paisley. Aye. Dr. Palmer-Roberts. Aye. Mr. Emdy.

Aye.

Ms. Brown. Aye. Mr. Hudson.

Aye.

Mr. Skipper. Aye. Mr. Brown. Aye. Mayor Burgess.

Aye.

Our final item on the agenda is a request to approve the cooperative agreement with the County of Charleston for the city to regain a participating jurisdiction under the county's urban entitlement program.

Move for approval.

Second.

We have a motion and a second. Any discussions? Hearing none, Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Mr. Perry? Aye. Mr. Rome? Aye. Dr. Ganaway-Paisley? Aye. Dr. Palmer-Roberts? Aye. Mr. Emdy?

Aye.

Ms. Brown? Aye. Mr. Hudson?

Aye.

Mr. Skipper?

Aye.

Mr. Brown?

Aye.

Mayor Burgess?

Aye.

We have five speakers tonight. When I call your name, please come to the front and you will have... Three minutes, state your name and address for the record. Madeline Kuzminski. Maggie, Miss Maggie.

Hi, I'm Maggie Kloniger, address 2 Leone Lane in Hanahan. So again, my name is Maggie Kloniger. I'm the president and co-founder of a nonprofit called Hope for Feral Hearts. So what we do is we TNR large colonies through North Charleston, Town of Mount Pleasant, and City of Charleston, partnering with Charleston Animal Society to try to completely sterilize full colonies to stop the continued reproduction of these cats. It's kind of the gold standard of TNR. The reason I'm here today is it's become known in kind of the TNR universe around Charleston about a situation at Red Cross where a feeder is not doing things quite the way we would approve. We don't condone the behavior. We've been aware of some no trespassing. items that are going on with her. I went to the property myself to try and see how I could help to TNR the cats, help the business with the issues they were having with these cats getting in their vehicles and getting mangled in the engines. No one wants to deal with that. That's horrific. I was told if I came back, I would be pressed with trespassing charges as well. So I did not go back, tried to get in contact with the property owner, haven't been able to do so. So I'm here to ask the council to work together with my team. I have all my board members here. We all trapped together. Collectively, we trapped and TNR'd 335 cats in the past two years. And with that, you get a microchip, they get vaccinated in their ear tip to stop the reproduction. We currently have 12 to 15 appointments every Monday with Charleston Animal Society to help with this situation. The problem is if businesses don't want us on their private property, these cats aren't just going to go away. They're going to continue to reproduce and become an issue. They're going to get sick from starvation. Their immune systems get low. they're going to get rabies, they're going to spread diseases. We don't want that to happen. We want to be able to sterilize every colony cat in North Charleston, really in all of Charleston County, so the population can slowly dwindle and we don't have a community cat crisis on our hands anymore. um so again we would love to be able to meet with you mayor burgess to discuss what we might be able to work together with with animal control we have um a database that is confidential where we track the colonies and we can track as they you know they die off we we have all of them tnr'd making sure that we are stopping this from continuing We have done apartment complexes. We actually, one of our members, she T&R'd an entire colony behind a gas station in North Charleston. When she started, Lori Reed back there, the cats were out of control. They were in the garbage. They were causing issues and spraying, you know, being a nuisance. Over four months before we had our mass appointments, she T&R'd 20 cats. The gas station doesn't even know those cats exist. They come out for their feeding time at 7 p.m., they go back behind the fence, and they don't bother anyone. So that's kind of the gold standard of what we are looking to bring to North Charleston. We don't want businesses to deal with nuisance cats. We love the cats, we want them to be taken care of, but we want to be sure that we do continue to make North Charleston a better place for everyone, and we work together to be compassionate for these animals, but also taking into consideration the business owners and where they're living at.

Thank you. Thank you. Dave, can you talk to her? Thank you.

Betty C.?

Good evening, Mayor Betty C. 2413 Eagle Drive, North Charleston. Good evening, Mayor Burgess and city officials. I stand before you tonight on behalf of the Millen Park Star Road Civic Community to address two important issues. The noise wall along Millen Park Road and the replacement of our community center. First of all, the noise wall. This has been a long-standing concern for our community. Our meeting minutes show that this most recent issue has been discussed as far back as 2014, with additional discussions in 2014, 15, 25, and most recently July 21, 2026. At our July meeting, we were informed that the noise wall would not be included in the proposed November 2026 referendum. We understand that North Charleston has many needs and that funding can only address so many projects at one time. We also understand that there has to be consistent follow-up, advocacy, and keeping these issues routinely and not intermittently before City Council, which is necessary to keep our community priorities moving forward. We intend to continue doing just that moving forward. However, we also need to know from the city if the noise wall cannot be addressed through this referendum, what is the contingency plan? When will the next opportunity be available to fund and construct this wall? We don't want this issue to simply be postponed without a plan. Second, our community center. We are grateful that we finally have approved approval to move forward with the new community center. And we appreciate everyone who has helped bring us to this point. However, our community continues to struggle to receive clear information about the project's timeline. I contacted Rick Combs, and received a response, but unfortunately it did not provide the clarity we need to understand where we are in the process or when we can reasonably expect completion. The sale of our previous community center without meaningful community input remains a sore spot for many residents. While we cannot change what happened, we can make sure that moving forward, the community is informed, involved, and kept updated. Therefore, we are respectfully requesting a documented project timeline, including the major phases of design, permitting, approvals, construction, and anticipated completion. We are also asking for consistent communication and updates with our civic group throughout the process. Mayor and city officials, we are not asking for special treatment. We are asking for transparency, accountability, communication, and a clear plan. Our civic group is committed to continuing and follow up and advocacy because we understand that community priorities must remain before the council until there is a resolution. We want to think, we want to work with the city. We want to work with the city. And if I can, I have exactly what we are asking for, outline data and also a copy of an email that I sent to Rick

Yes, ma'am. Thank you.

Thank you.

Ms. Marcy Duane? Duane?

Please wait. I'm slow. Yes, ma'am. Thank you, Mayor and Council, for allowing me to speak tonight. I want to speak on the same subject as Betty, the noise wall. And I want to thank our neighbor, Randy Lassiter, that was so helpful in his penmanship. He wrote, He wrote letters to our former mayor, Keith Summey, to our former governor, Mark Sanford, and former senator, Ernest Hollings. And he... He was just passionate. He moved to Midland Park in 1967, and he, right at the end, his house is right at the end of South Kenwood, where it butts up to the interstate. And he realized the noise was horrible. He got out there, spent his own money to plant some bushes, trees, to try to helped block the noise. Well, when DOT decided to widen I-26, they cut down his trees, cut down his bushes. And so then he had the noise again. And he's 90 years old now, or soon to be. Most of the people that live right there by the interstate are in their late 70s, 80s, and 90s, including us. And it's heartbreaking for me because Menlo Park is a passion of mine. I've lived there probably 38 years now. And of course, I was not homegrown. I was raised in Idaho, and the weather is awful. But it's South Carolina. And it's just a different temperature. But anyway, I have some pictures that I took to make. I'm sorry.

Go ahead. Take your time, Ms. Newhall. Take your time. Thank you. Take your time.

I'm slow and I'm old. You're here. You're here, though. But anyway, I had some pictures here that there was an accident on I-26 right there where the trees and bushes were cut down and the car ended up off the interstate and overturned on South Kenwood right there by Randy's house. And there's a newspaper clipping in here that shows the car. But it's dangerous. It's just really dangerous. And the noise is awful. And I hope that the city can help us out with one or the other. Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am.

Ms. Jeanette?

Good evening, Mayor and City Council members. My name is Jeanette Craparata. I reside at 6927 Raymond Avenue, North Charleston. I have lived in Midland Park for over 30 years. I am standing here tonight to express my profound disappointment. For the three decades, our neighborhood has been left completely unprotected from the relentless noise and toxic pollution of the interstate. The reality of living near the interstate, three decades of neglect for 30 years, Midland Park residents have watched traffic and pollution grow without relief. Severe noise pollution, the roaring highway traffic disrupts our sleep, lowers our property values, and ruins our peace. Air quality crisis, generations of our children and elderly neighbors have breathed in hazardous exhaust and fumes daily. I'm an avid gardener and I can attest to the pollution from it all. Unacceptable delays, 30 years of patience is more than enough. Our community has been ignored for far too long. what we need the council to do, end a 30 year wait, treat this as an urgent public health and safety emergency that it is, allocate immediate funds, dictate the necessary budget to build this quiet wall without further excuses, commit to a date, provide the Midland Park community with a firm official timeline for breaking ground. I thank you for your time. 30 years is a lifetime to wait for clean air and peace. Please act now. Thank you, ma'am. You're welcome. Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor.

Yes, yes, ma'am.

If I may, there are many members of Mellon Park that live here. If they would stand up, please, to show their support. I told you when all this began that Midland Park was not going to stay quiet, and they're not. This is the beginning because they have waited. When all of this happened, Northwoods was not even built. these residents deserve the peace and quiet that they've waited for, that was promised to them, that the money was allocated for and misspent by the state, they should not be held prisoner to that. And I told you, I will fight to the death if we don't get this wall, and I will.

Yes, ma'am, thank you.

Yes. That's right. 1998, Jeanette and I started the Civic Club when all of this started. I wasn't even on council. They came to the meeting, said it was funded, and then the money went elsewhere. And that was in 98, 99. So, long time ago. Enough is enough.

Thank you, ma'am. Thank you, Councilwoman. Thank you all.

Mr. Mayor, before we conclude, if I could have a moment.

Go ahead, Councilwoman.

I am fully aware that we've had a lot of inquiries with regards to the former chief's resignation. I was contacted by several media outlets. I did not provide a statement because I didn't have one to provide. I felt that the statement provided by the mayor was sufficient, and I typically do not speak on matters when I don't have the facts. to give an adequate statement. But a statement was made, and as I respect every council person's right to their opinion, I want to clarify that I am not one of the leaders of this city that's confused or was frustrated or felt blindsided. If Ron Camacho, as the higher chief for this city, felt that he could not work alongside our mayor and the work that our mayor has put in as the former chief of police to gather and reaffirm community relations in the city of North Charleston, then I accept his resignation. because we will not go backwards in this city. We will go forward together. And we spent a lot of time in community relations. I'm a community-minded person. I work in grassroots nonprofits, and I'm out every day helping other people. And if he cannot lead our police department in a direction for this city, then we bid him farewell, and I wish him well. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you.

Mr. Mayor, if I could have a motion to go into executive session to discuss a potential resolution of a pre-litigation employment claim against the city and provide legal advice regarding handling employment notification of those employment resolutions. So moved. Second.

All right, we have a motion and a second. Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Mr. Perry.

Aye.

Ms. Jerome. Aye. Dr. Ganaway-Paisley. Definitely aye.

She said no, go ahead, keep going. Aye. Aye. Aye. Okay, okay.

Dr. Palmer-Roberts. Aye. Mr. Emdy. Aye. Ms. Brown. Aye. Mr. Brown. Mr. Hudson.

Aye.

Mr. Skipper. Aye. Mr. Brown. Aye. Mayor Burgess.

Aye. We shall return.

Yeah, just show me. Yeah, Mr. Mayor, it is 8-13. We are back from executive session. After discussion and legal advice, no votes were cast or decisions made.

Copy.

If I could, I'd ask for a motion to authorize the city's attorney to negotiate the settlement of any current and future claims regarding Rolando Camacho in the amount not to exceed $67,000. So moved. Second.

We have a motion to second. Any changes or corrections? Hearing none, Madam Clerk, please call the roll.

Mr. Perry. Aye. Ms. Jerome. Aye. Dr. Ganaway-Paisley. Aye. Dr. Palmer-Roberts. Aye. Aye. Mr. Emdy? Aye. Ms. Brown? Aye. Mr. Hudson? Nay. Mr. Skipper? Aye. Mr. Brown? Aye. Mayor Burgess? Aye. All right.

Anything else that come up from the body? There's nothing? This meeting is adjourned. I meant to say that. That's what I meant to say.