City Council - Regular Meeting

so council met an executive session and no votes were taken we will move on into item 1c continuation of call to order right invocation pastor kelly gabriel from ocean drive baptist churches are you here thank you so much will you lead us in the invocation my pleasure thank you for having him let's bow together before the king

Heavenly Father, we come before you this day with humble hearts, acknowledging that you alone are the sovereign creator and ruler of all things. Everything belongs to you, Lord. You have established your authority, the family, the church. and civil government, and each one is your design and each one answers ultimately to you. We thank you for the gift of family, for the calling of parents and households to raise their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. We thank you for your church, the body of Christ, called to proclaim the gospel to the nations and be salt and light in this world. And Lord, we thank you for the civil government you have ordained, that it might restrain evil, protect the innocent, promote justice according to your standards of righteousness. And Lord, we pray that those who serve in this chamber answer to you for the trust you have placed in their hands. Give them wisdom that comes from above, pure and peaceable, full of good fruit. Guard them from pride, partiality, from any decision that would dishonor your name. Help them remember that authority is a stewardship, not a possession, and that one day we will give account to the one who judges justly. May your will be done in this city as it is in heaven, and may righteousness exalt this community of North Myrtle Beach. May the people flourish under leaders who fear you. We ask these things in the strong name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.

Amen. Please stand for a Pledge of Allegiance. we'll move into minutes we have uh minutes um city council meeting monday july 20th 2026 and city council workshop wednesday august 5th 2026 to have a motion to approve motion second there's a motion a second all in favor say aye aye We'll move into communications and we have a presentation for the 2025 audit presentation by Green, Finley, Cauley, LLP.

Good evening. My name is Emily Sobchack, and I am back this evening to present the results of the fiscal 2025 financial statement audit. As you'll recall, when I was presenting the fiscal 24 results just a few months ago, I was hesitant to commit to a timeline because I knew what a tremendous undertaking it was going to be for your finance team to get 25 closed out so quickly after wrapping up 24 and so i'm very happy to be here this evening i'm very appreciative as i know you are too to their commitment for seeing it through and getting us to the point where we are tonight So before we get into the financial results, I do want to remind you again that the financial statements are the responsibility of the city. So all of the numbers and disclosures in there that is the city's responsibility. And so it's important that you have good policies and procedures in place to ensure that that financial information is complete, accurate and reliable as we are. Auditing that information, but also you're receiving information throughout the year and making strategic decisions on behalf of the city based on the financial information that you're receiving. So having those strong policies and procedures, including good internal controls, will mitigate the risk of misstatement in the information you receive. Our responsibility when it comes to the audit is to issue an opinion, we have issued an unmodified opinion again this year that opinion provides reasonable assurance that the financial statements are materially correct. So reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance, however, it's not absolute we're not looking at every single transaction that occurred during the year and we're also using materiality in designing your audit procedures. So we'll look now at your financial results for the general fund. As of June 30, 2025, the general fund reported fund balance of $25.6 million. That was a reduction of $2.6 million compared to the prior year. Included in that 25.6 million, we have non-spendable fund balance of 665,000 that represents prepaid balances as well as inventories. So balances for which the cash is already out the door, but the expenses will be reported in future years. We then have restricted fund balance of about 800,000 for public safety that primarily represents your 1% firefighter revenues. And so those are restricted by state law on how they can be spent. And the remaining fund balance of $24.2 million is classified as unassigned. When looking at that unassigned fund balance, we like to compare it to your operating expenditures to gauge how healthy that fund balance is. And as you can see, you're looking at about 29% of your 2025 operating expenditures in your unassigned fund balance. We provide a benchmark here that comes from the Government Finance Officers Association. That's a national organization, and they say that you should maintain fund balance of at least two months of operating expenditures. However, we believe that there are a number of reasons why it's important that you maybe keep that unassigned fund balance a little bit higher. So some of those reasons are listed here. A significant factor to consider is the timing of when your property tax revenues, your most significant revenue source, come in. We're measuring fund balance at June 30th, but those property tax revenues won't start coming in until December or January. So you're looking at about six months of cash flows to get through, and having a healthy fund balance allows you to do that without having to issue short-term debt. Having a healthy fund balance also allows you to be better prepared for emergencies, of course, as a coastal community you're especially at risk to natural disasters and so having fund balance allows you to meet any emergency cash flow needs, while you await things like grant reimbursements. or other ways that you can cover those unexpected expenditures having a healthy fund balance also allows you to achieve better interest rates when you issue debt so that of course saves the city money over time. We'll look now at your general fund revenues. They totaled 71.4 million for the year. That was a 10% or about a 6.4 million increase compared to 2024, and that increase, as you might expect, was primarily driven by increased property tax revenues. As I said, those are your most significant revenue source, and they did increase primarily as a result of increased assessed values. In addition to your operating revenues, the general fund also reports net other other financing sources of 8 million that represents your transfers from the local accommodations and hospitality funds less transfers made to cover future capital projects. On the expenditures your general fund expenditures totaled 82.2 million for the year. That was an 11% or about an 8% or i'm sorry $8 million increase from the prior year and that increase was primarily a result of increased personnel costs partially due to wage increases given but also due to an increased number of employees. Now when we look at all of your governmental funds combined, so we'll take your general fund and add your state and local accommodations funds, your local hospitality fund, your capital projects, and your debt service funds, we're looking at total revenues of 115 million and total expenditures of 141 million. That discrepancy, that increase in your expenditures is primarily related to capital outlays, so planned capital expenditures reported in your capital projects fund. And then we have net other financing sources of 30.7 million a portion of that represents your transfers from the water and sewer fund, but the bulk of it 27 million represents debt proceeds related to the debt issuance in June 2025. We'll look next at your enterprise fund, that's your water and sewer fund. As you'll recall, your enterprise funds are reported more like a business, so they are reported on a full accrual basis. That means that whereas with our governmental funds, we focus on current assets and current liabilities, your water and sewer fund will also report long-term assets and obligations. So the water and sewer fund had an increase in that position of 3 million for the year bring total net position to 97 million, but because we are reporting capital assets on that fund it's important to note that the majority of that net position 92.7 million does represent your investment in your water system. Next we'll look at capital assets for the city as a whole. You have governmental activities capital assets of $216.5 million. That was an increase from the prior year, primarily as a result of increases related to capital projects. You had capital additions of $52.9 million, which exceeded your depreciation expense for the year. Much of those additions did relate to the construction of the sports complex, which was still in process as of June thirtieth, and was reported in your Cip on the business type activities. Those total capital assets were ninety three million. That was an increase of four point two million for the year, as your additions of seven point six million exceeded depreciation expense. Moving next to your long-term obligations, you have governmental activities obligations of $28.9 million. That was an increase from the prior year as a result of issuing that $27 million GO bond in June 2025. On the business type activity side, we had total long-term obligations of $680,000. And that was an increase of $108,000, primarily related to an increase in compensated absences. Remember, compensated absences are your earned but unused vacation and sick leave. Next, we have your less traditional long-term obligations, starting with your net pension liability. Remember, this relates to your participation in the state police officer's retirement system. And so this liability of $19.5 million represents not a direct liability to the city. Rather, it is your proportionate share of the total unfunded actuarial liability. liability of the system. So a couple things to keep in mind there. One, like I said, not a direct liability, not something that you're expected to write a check to pay off, but also it's an actuarial liability, which means it's an estimate. And so rather than focusing on that large liability of $19.5 million, the more important factor to consider is the employer contribution rates. Those rates are mandated by the state, and those do have a direct impact on your cash flows and your operating budget. um and so for fiscal 25 we were at a rate of 21.2 percent that's a significant increase um over the past you know 10 or so years they were increasing that rate we did reach a reach a rate like i said of 21.2 percent that was consistent for fiscal 26 and no rate increases have been put in place for fiscal 27. so that's good that it's not increasing further however that rate of 21.2 percent is significant so it's very important that you keep that in mind when you're making personnel decisions that you're not only focused on the salary piece, but also on the significant fringe benefits. Now, similar to the net pension liability, we report the net OPEB liability. This relates to your retiree healthcare plan, and so it is similar to the pension liability in that it is also an estimate. However, unlike the pension that you have no control over, because it's controlled by the state, the city does have its own retiree healthcare plan, and so council does have the authority to amend plan terms or benefits. And so the net OPEB liability was $20.5 million as of June 30th. And remember, these liabilities, because they are long-term obligations, are only reported on your full accrual financial statements, meaning your government-wide financial statements and your water and sewer fund. They are not reported on your general fund or other governmental fund-level statements. Finally, we come to the compliance piece of the audit. So there's two parts to the compliance section. The first relates to government auditing standards and our requirements under those standards. And the second is, so that piece is always in there. The second piece relates to the single audit. That is only required for years in which the city has federal expenditures greater than the single audit threshold, which for fiscal 25 was 750,000. The city did exceed that threshold for 25, and so we performed the single audit. That's the additional compliance audit required by the federal government. For that year, we tested the COPS program, and I'm pleased to say there were no findings related to the single audit testing. Under government auditing standards, we are required to report any significant deficiencies or material weaknesses in internal control or any material instances of noncompliance that are identified during the audit process. The two findings that are noted should be of no surprise since the city was aware of these issues. The first, of course, being lack of timely financial closeout, which the city is making significant strides to correct that as evidenced by my appearance here this evening. The second is the proper classification of inner fund balances, there were some issues with how the city was reporting certain accruals as part of its pulled cash reconciliation. Our understanding is that that has been corrected and we don't expect it to be an issue going forward. So again, we appreciate all of your finance staff's help in correcting issues that were out there in getting things closed out, you know, as timely as they can and in continuing to move the city forward. In addition to your financial statements, we also issue a management letter each year that includes required communications from us to management and to council and kind of give some highlights of the audit process and results. So I encourage you that when you do receive that, please make sure you give it a read. And that brings me to the conclusion of my presentation, but I'm happy to answer any questions y'all may have.

Anybody on council have any questions? I think you're very thorough. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

So we'll continue in communications to item B and department monthly reports for July 2026 are available online. Are there any announcements by mayor and council? i will say i went to music on maine thursday night and i've missed them a lot this year but um i don't know if how many people in the room here make it there but uh it's really a great event there's um so many people when people bring their golf carts and so many people line up with their chairs and um it's a good time so recommend it's every thursday night right every thursday night i don't know how long as much as how much longer it's gonna last but it was great to see so many people out of our residents out there enjoying the musical main so we'll move into item five is consent agenda and if it's okay by council we'll take these all together we can always discuss you know discuss them after i've read them by title is that okay with everybody okay okay item a is um resolution to approve evaluation of salary of ryan fabry city manager item b is a resolution to appoint keith hemingway to horry county solid waste technical advisory committee on behalf of the city of north myrtle beach Item C is a motion to approve Richmond Shag Club annual Tim Sullivan Memorial Beach Ball on September 22nd, 2026. And item D is a motion to approve Snifari on the Grand Strand on November 7th, 2026. And I think most of those are pretty much explain their self. The solid waste authority, we have to put somebody on that board to replace somebody else. You got the shag thing, and this is, you know, Nefari. On the item A, to approve the valuation salary of Robin Fabry, I would like to say a 5% cost of living adjustment was included in the 2026 budget. which was proposed or which was um approved in 2025. all city staff has received this increase um already ryan is the last one in line here but this is a common thing in government and cities that um based on increased cost of living to keep employees and compete against your competitors that you do a cost of living increase. And so that's what this is about. I'd just like to state that. Are there any other comments by council on either one of these four items?

yeah i just want to make sure that everybody understood that this was something that was approved in 2025 on the 2026 budget so it was already approved this is just um you know implementation of what was approved um you know i know that we do have some positions here in the city that have not been filled yet i would like to say thank you to ryan for his diligence in trying to fill those positions unfortunately it's hard to find qualified people we may have lots of candidates that apply but that doesn't mean they're always the right fit. The qualifications could be outstanding, but it's very costly to hire people and then them be the wrong fit. And, you know, somebody can turn a team upside down very quickly. So we've got to be very diligent in hiring, but we've also got to look at the candidate that we're hiring. We want to make sure we hire the right person. So Ryan, I appreciate you, you know, working hard to do that. But I think also moving forward, I think, i would like to see as a city council person i know things have been done differently over the years but we've kind of got a new board now and what i would like to see is that the people that we employ as a city council that moving forward they have a merit evaluation in combination with a cost of living um evaluation so i i'd like to recommend that we do that moving forward and obviously we can discuss that i agree with that are there any other comments by council

Well, we're going to need a motion to approve all four of these items. We're still in our discussion. Do we have any comments regarding either four of these items that are on the consent agenda by anybody else on council? Okay. Are there any comments from the public regarding these four items? Hearing none, we'll take our vote. All in favor say aye. Aye. Aye. All against? Ayes have it. We'll move into.

Hold on. We didn't get a motion. Oh, I'm sorry.

Dang it. I thought I did that. So we need a motion to approve or deny items A, B, C, and D. So moved.

Second.

So there's a motion and a second. And there was comment already made. There was comment. No comments from the public. All in favor say aye. Aye. All against? Aye. As have it, we'll move into unfinished business ordinance second reading amend chapter 22 vehicles for hire regarding towing from private property. And I am going to recuse myself as I have in the last several or most every meeting we've had regarding this issue because i have a potential uh a person in this towing business that wants to potentially lease a piece of property from me so to avoid appearance of a conflict i'll recuse myself and i'll return it i'll return turn it over to our vice mayor pro team fred coin thank you you want to read that by title

Yeah, I think, you know, it's probably best to kind of go over where we're at, and how we got here, and what this includes. So everyone's aware of what's included. So this item was initially reviewed during our March twenty-fifth workshop, and then we received first reading and approval on May eighteenth, and it has since then been deferred in June and July. And that's just to kind of tweak some definitions and a couple of the fine details, and I believe we got it to where it's ready for final consideration. So just to let you know, upon adoption, the primary operational and regulatory changes uh included in this are um so they'll no longer be police authorization so the police department will no longer authorize private property non-consensual toes authorizes the authorization and liability now rests entirely between the private property owners and the towing companies There is now an option for lot patrol contracts, so that is tow companies may now enter into contracts with private businesses to patrol lots and initiate the toes directly. So that's just an option if the Private properties want to be the ones that still initiate the toes individually, they have that option, so now they have two ways about going about it and that's worded that way, and the ordinance. there's a requirement for electronic reporting via tow book tow book is a software platform that we've looked into that. kind of streamlines and it's much more organized so that way, instead of calling dispatch to operators must log every non consensual toe electronically via toe book within 30 minutes so that's written in the in the ordinance. standardize no tow fee the way it was before was $40. We felt that wasn't adequate. We didn't really know what was an adequate amount. So it was determined that if the driver arrives after coupling, but before the truck leaves the premises, the operator may charge a no tow fee, which we've established as 50% of a standard tow. So it's significantly higher than $40, but not nearly as high as what a full tow would be. We also aligned all the fees. They're in line now with the rate set by the South Carolina Department of Public Safety. So there is no longer a non-consensual towing rate, which is what we had previously, different rate for non-consensual tow. Now they're all the same, and they're all established by the state of South Carolina. So as those change, our rates will change. And then the last was on-scene payment options. So tow companies must accept cash, credit, debit card, or common digital payment on scene. So if you have someone who comes to their vehicle while it's being towed and they would like to pay the no tow fee, it's not just cash or nothing. everyone carries cash now they have the ability to use a credit card debit card whatever to resolve that before they tow the car off and those are um those are the high points in the ordinance i don't know if chief sellers wants to add anything or if uh if kristen ray would like to but they're obviously here for answer questions if you have any all right let me uh the chair will entertain a motion to put this on the table i make a motion second i got a motion a second

Brian, you did a good job of kind of summing this up. So this is exactly what this is. This is private property tow business. And I think that we should give the private property owner the choice of how they want to handle their private property or private business. I think we put some strain on a lot of our private businesses and this gives them the choice because I think they know better than I do on what works best for their private business or their private property. Also to keep in mind, we do still require signage on any private property or business that's gonna enact a tow company to be able to tow off of that property to let the public know, hey, if you park on this property that's signed, you will be towed. So, but that's all I really have.

Anybody else?

And if it becomes an issue as we discussed, then we would revisit this.

I absolutely agree on that, because there's a reason how we got here, and typically the best predictor of the future typically is the past, and I just hope we don't get here again to have to reconsider making other adjustments, especially along the non-consensual toes. But that being said, if there's no other comments up here, I'll be glad to open it up for public comment. Hearing no public comment, Chair, we can take a vote now. All in favor say aye. Aye. All in favor say no. Ayes have it.

Okay, we'll move into item seven is new business. Ordinance first reading, an ordinance to convey a 1.70 acre parcel of city property located on Long Bay Road to North Strand Helping Hand. Is there a motion to approve?

Motion. Second.

There's a motion and a second. Are there any comments by council?

Can we get just a little explanation on the history? Sure. Yeah.

And I'd like to, I'll talk a little bit about it, Ron, if you want to add something, that's fine. But, um, it's been many, many years ago. Seacoast hospital was buying out the property where helping hand was, And the city had some property over west of the waterway that was not being used. It was for a future that things that may not even come to fruition. But we leased a piece of property to the helping hand, and they built a building there. And they do a tremendous amount of things for people that need help in our city. However, we had that lease. It was like a dollar a year or something like that. I can't remember. So now, go ahead, Ron. You can expand on that, please.

yeah so they've got a um so they approached us about six months ago because the city does have a long-term lease 20 years it's five dollars a month so it's 60 bucks a year it's really um nominal amount it's not just a way for the city to provide them with that opportunity um and they asked if we would be interested in um possibly Conveying the land to them, because they are at a point where they need to make some capital improvements to their structure. And you know, I get it. They don't feel comfortable investing in a facility that they don't know what the future holds after their lease would have expired. So the way we approach it, talk to Council, and if there was any interest in basically working out a deal that's very similar to what we've done with the north myrtle beach historical museum which is convey that property to helping hands and as long as they continue to use it for that purpose or a non-profit purpose it's theirs if at any point in the future they cease to use it for those purposes there is um it would um it would go back to the ownership of the city so um and yes they're operating on this the piece of piece of land off of long bay road that's owned by the city they have at least a portion of it like i said for over a decade and this would be conveying about 1.7 acres of that land to helping hands right are there any other comments by council

Are there any comments by the public? Hearing none, we'll take our vote. All in favor say aye. Aye. All against? Ayes have it. We'll move into item B, ordinance first reading, amendment chapter 12, health and sanitation regarding the sale, use, or distribution of single-use carry-out plastic bags by retail establishments within the city. Is there a motion to approve? So moved. Is there a second?

Second.

There's a motion and a second. Is there any comment by council?

This has been long coming.

It's been a long time. Long time coming. And I will say this, just to make the first one gesture, is we did this years ago. we passed a ban on plastic bags, and it's for the environment, for the health of not only our sea life, but so many things, our solid waste authority, the landfill getting full. There was a lot, a lot of reasons behind this, but then... As happens sometimes, people found some loopholes, and some people didn't abide by what we did. But most people have. Most everybody now has paperbacks, almost everybody. But some people found some loopholes and things like that. So we're just coming back kind of to cover that up and finish what we started a long time ago.

I wanted to say that it's more about leveling the playing field here, and rewarding the folks that have complied with it and with the intent of it, opposed to the ones that just try to work around it a little bit. But this really kind of levels the playing field, and I think it's a compliment to the ones that adhered to it the first round.

That was kind of kind of be my comment to kind of. Wrestled with the ending of this mainly just because any of y'all have pets probably know that the thicker bag that Walmart uses is a lot better for picking up the poop out of the backyard. But with that also being said, everybody assumed to inform to the new ordinance, especially our smaller business, except for a few bigger box stores. So I think that it's time to kind of close this, put it to bed and.

and it's kind of my thought on it i'd still like to see us encourage people to bring their own bags but that's that's just a habit i say that and i went to the store yesterday and didn't have one were there any other comments by council hearing none of any comments by the public

Regarding this issue, yes, sir, please come down and give your name and address. Damien, we moved the microphone on you over here. A little bit further over to the other side of the room.

Before Damien speaks, I just want to point out that this, you know, we had first reading of this two years ago. And it was, you know, the idea of are we going to allow the two point two five mil bags, or are we going to remove them and go to what the original intent was? We are the way this is written. It is very consistent with what Charleston County City of Charleston has done. It's worded exactly the same way. But that is removing the 2.25 mil bags as considered a reusable bag. So Walmart is really the only one that I'm aware of that uses it. There might be a couple other retailers that do, but it's important to note that this is first reading because it is distinctly different enough that it's like we didn't want to just throw it out there oh second reading so this is first reading um so there still will be 30 days between now and the next meeting uh for the public to comment on if they uh if they want the opportunity to do so but i do believe at this point this community is pretty used to operating in a world where plastic bags are not allowed so it shouldn't really come as too big as a surprise

Uh, Damian Trial Air, 902 Perrin Drive, North Myrtle. I guess that's what I just wanted to, in layman's terms, to understand what the change is. Number one, I'm extremely proud of our city that There are very few cities that have an ordinance like this, and we've been doing that for many years. And I like the idea of leveling the playing field. So does that mean are we going to not allow the two point, the thicker bags?

So the way this is worded, they're no longer allowed. So it's not considered a reusable bag. A reusable bag is going to be what we all traditionally know what a reusable bag is. It's kind of that stitched handle. Have you ever been to Trader Joe's or any of these places where they sell these reusable bags? We know what it is.

Those are real reusable bags.

Correct. I mean, I have some from 25 years ago.

Yeah.

So they are reusable.

This is wonderful. This is fantastic. I'm so glad. And hopefully, I guess we can hopefully encourage people to... Just put a couple bags in your car. And I know I don't do that myself. So because the paper bags can be challenging, but it's wonderful that we're addressing this. And like you say, leveling the playing field so everybody can comply.

Correct. And the other part of this, you know, is enforcement, right? Like we have a couple that do use the thicker bags, but we all who live here know that there are a few retailers that have just said, we're not going to do anything. And we know who they are. So it's on us to enforce it. So once, yeah. That's step two. And then educating the public because we want to make sure that we'll work with the chamber to make sure that we put together a campaign so that people who come here on vacation, they're aware that that is what the new rule is and to prepare and come with their own reusable bags.

That's great that we're gonna put energy into educating the public. That's wonderful. Thank you.

Thank you, Damien. Does anybody else from the public like to speak? Please come forward and give your name and address. We have a three-minute time limit. Thank you.

Hi, my name is Pam Gibson, and I live at 2700 Avenue, Ocean Boulevard. um i have a question about this because some of your retail stores that you're talking about i understand the grocery stores but retail stores are not providing any bags at all so when you go to into tj maxx or wherever you get no bag you have to carry your merchandise out the door are we going to run into that problem with any grocery stores or anyone not providing any type of bag i mean i can understand you're not going to carry all your groceries out but what about the retail stores that say we don't provide bags

so i will say that we're we don't do question answers and public comment but i appreciate your comment but i will tell you that most everybody's already complied and they use paper bags almost every store here every store you go into so um but you're welcome to send us an email you can send it to me you can send it all our council and staff and we will we will reply to you and get you the answers that you need

So when you say all stores, are you also talking about stores that we shop in for clothing and places like that, like Burlington and all those places? Because I can guarantee you they're not providing bags.

Okay. I understand. Thank you.

Some of them don't, Jay. No.

Some of them don't. I understand. Okay. Thank you. That's the merchants.

Yeah, that's the merchants. Merchants' choice. Yeah, it's their choice. That's what I'm trying to find out.

We're not mandating bags. Okay.

All right. Great. Thank you.

Thank you. Is there anybody else from the public would like to comment? Yes, sir. Please give your name and address.

My name is Bob Sookie. I live at 504 Fifth Avenue South and I'm here tonight to address safety concerns concerning contingent construction at a neighboring property near my home. we have we've had an ongoing unresolved decimal problem since two hvac top discharge units were installed in a five foot setback corridor area using our setback as their clearance.

This public comment is only for the plastic bags. We're getting ready to move into public comment for anything in just a minute.

Sorry about that. Just take a seat and then we're talking about this one issue right now concerning plastic bags. Once we finish that, we'll open up the public comment. I got kind of confused there for a second because I thought we were talking about something else before too. But anyway, is there anybody else got public comment regarding this issue on plastic bags? Is there any other comment from the public regarding this issue? Hearing none, we'll take our vote. All in favor say aye. Aye. All against? Ayes have it. Now we'll move into public comment. Sir, please, you come first. Sorry.

Thank you. All right, again, my name is Bob Sokey, I live at 504 Fifth Avenue South. and I am here to address safety and quality of life concerns created during 10-month and continuous construction at the neighboring property at my home at 504 Fifth Avenue South. We have had an ongoing unresolved decimal problem since two HVAC top discharge units were installed in a five-foot setback corridor area using our setback as their clearance. These older condenser models emit low frequency structural vibrations and decimals near four large windows when there is 15 foot available on the other side of the home and in the rear of the home. These units destroy the quiet enjoyment of our home and vibrations over time can actually damage a home. Our main concern tonight is a stick-built propane fireplace and chimney built inside the five foot setback, less than three feet from our six foot vinyl fence. The heat and exhaust from the back of the chimney is located less than three feet from my property line, lower than my vinyl fence, and located under a canopy of trees. The fireplace flat top will be directing heat and carbon monoxide gases toward my vinyl fence, my backyard, my pool and outdoor area. All involved city departments have stated that the installations is compliant. The city also indicated that absence of records in response to FOIA requests does not mean that the required checks were not performed. I am requesting assistance and transparency since I want to ensure that the installation was permitted and inspected appropriately and that it meets state LP gas safety standards because safety is our biggest concern. And I want to leave council with one final thought. The amendments were surely not intended to grant new construction the unilateral power to place loud equipment and potentially dangerous structure near an existing neighbor's property line when viable alternatives exist. In practice, this allows one property owner to maximize their project at the expense of their neighbor's peace and well-being, especially when loud and potentially dangerous equipment is installed without consequences. We urge council to enforce safeguards to correct these failures and protect our most at-risk residents from these unreasonable consequences. I have a picture that I could pass around that would be self-explanatory of the fireplace if I could do that.

Sure, if you can bring it over here to Council Skidmore and then we'll give it back to you.

And I would like to thank you so much for your time.

Thank you, thank you too. Have you sent an email out to us about this? Have you sent an email to us about this? Yes. You have?

Several.

Okay, yeah, I think I've been to your house. But not since this situation. But I think we met one time. But thank you, too. Are there any other comments by the public?

Is there a projector? Shannon Robinson.

It's my time.

Good evening. Due to the time limit, I'm gonna chuck Schumer this and read straight from my notes. This meeting is regarding 13th Avenue North and Wendell and Wendell Drive. I'm here to discuss the disregard to our several emails and lack of action from city manager Fabri is not just disappointing. It's unacceptable. I have maps illustrate an area view of the critical area with links. Legal owners stated per county record. Back in early June, we met with three members of the city, including Mr. Favre, to address how tenants on Wendell Drive were losing access to their parking spaces to people who have no right to be there. We described the unsafe conditions for pedestrians, poor visibility, and the daily risk that families and residents face of the ongoing parking violations and pedestrian safety hazards along 13th Avenue. along with the impact on tenants living on Wendell Drive. During that meeting, we laid out our problems very clearly and Mr. Favre asked us to provide photographs, documentations, and contact the police which will provide recorded documentation of the violations and safety concerns we did exactly that we sent multiple emails each with clear photographic evidence showing cars along and mostly in the street of 13th avenue north vehicles ignoring the signage and pedestrians navigating unsafe conditions and yet despite the meeting evidence and following every instruction we were giving we've heard nothing from mr fabry let me be clear this was never a restaurant issue nor a business-related issue. This is and always has been a city matter. Matter of fact, one of the establishments has used their own time and cost to assist in alleviating some of the burden, but this was never an issue that was pushed towards them due to the legalities that is a city matter. The role the city manager is a service chief financial officer and this girl right here was walking in the middle of straight putting a purse around her neck and here we are months later and we have nothing has we've not saved not one email from you this has left a hardship between myself and a business establishment and I do not take that lightly Our community deserves leadership that follows through, shows up, and takes responsibility for city he serves. I'm asking the council to ensure that the city manager addresses these issues. Residents and owners have, as you are the ones who appointed them, the residents in the immediate area that utilize 13th Avenue North and Wendell Drive should not have to keep fighting for basic safety and access to their property. This includes residents along Waterway Drive and into Sunset Harbor. That's another one with the guys walking down the middle of the street.

These are pictures of... Shannon, I don't want to cut you short. We do have a three-minute limit to give everybody respect to speak, and I know you're close, and I've already seen... And that's my... Yeah, you responded to one email from... Yeah. i i understand and i i have seen and i'd like a chance to certainly respond because i've seen your pictures a lot of them and and we i i thought we had this issue fixed actually i thought we had addressed it and fixed it and but since you brought it up that um our city manager had to email you back i mean i feel like i should turn it over to him because i know you had a lot of stuff you shared with me and councilman skidmore and we've been over there multiple times in person witnessed what's going on and we took action and i think you met with the owner um and and the manager of the restaurant or your husband did and i thought y'all had this worked out i really thought until

today well right now we had this going on for a long time but just like i said the issue is they don't own that lot right there

okay what i'd like to do and and and in order to be transparent and consistent with everybody here we allow three minutes so what i'd like to do is schedule a meeting with you okay if if we could come in um if you can call you you i think you have my cell phone email or email email me let's schedule a meeting next few days let's come in let's all meet let's brainstorm together what we're going to do about this issue

yeah like i said part of it has been done but again i didn't it wasn't a an issue that was pushed on any establishment in that area i understand i'm glad to have a meeting email me and we'll have a meeting some of this falls on me too because i think ryan where i was communicating with your husband and then the property owner and and ryan was helping me yeah but this has been going on since june the 9th i think so and and yeah i got some correspondence back from you right but i never got one from the city manager okay not one we'll we'll meet i mean i just want to clarify is that so the whatever we've done to this point has not rectified the issue Well, it kind of blew up one night, and I do not take that lightly.

I don't know anything about that. Because we did move the signs.

We moved the signs from the site right...

There are signs, and...

the establishment was kind to put some wooden yeah right right so i thought y'all would work this out anyway but it did it blew up okay so that was done but everything that happened so fast in one day well i did not know that it blew up but will you please email me tomorrow or today and tell me whatever day you want to meet this week and we'll set it up okay thank you let me say one thing okay bill if this would have been handled quicker

we wouldn't have got barred from boardwalk buildings. We got barred, but 15 minutes later, he retracted it and let us come back. But that should have never happened.

I got you. Well, thank you, Bill. I appreciate it. Are there any other comments by the public?

please give your name and address, even though we know you so so barb mckinnon three twenty three fifty ninth Avenue north and you know all know I was very pleased to see the plastic bag issue come back on the agenda tonight and to see the vote tonight. Um, I will remember once again that it was Jerry Ferguson who started this. many years ago there have been a lot of iterations and some angst on the issue but i think now we're on a good path and i'm happy to see it go forward but i will reiterate what baba said the issue is bring your own bag it's not no plastic bags it's bring your own bag but i'm glad thank you for tonight thank you too we finally got it done

Please give your name and address.

Richard Pate, 1014 Ann Street, North Myrtle Beach. I just have a few things to clarify. I want to say I thank council for working with this and working with the tow companies in the city. We appreciate your input. We appreciate everything y'all have done for us. Thank you. I just have a couple of things that I wanted to clarify. I didn't know whether to do it now or do it later on the actual ordinance that's wrote up. It's not right. Could I walk over and see Ryan right quick? If I could do that.

Right now would not be the time to come over.

Okay. I don't think it's going to be an issue, but I just wanted to make sure that everybody understands.

I recuse myself. Are you going back to the towing ordinance? Because I recuse myself.

It's nothing to do that. It's just some things should have been. For instance, y'all got like an hour. There's 24 hours in a day. Y'all got 34 hours.

I would probably maybe set an appointment. Yes, set a time with Brian.

Okay, and there's a couple other things. Or send an email to clarify those things, get those clarified. That's all. Okay, thank you so much. And I just wanted to bring that to y'all's attention. Thank you. Are there any other comments by the public? Please give your name and address and we have a three-minute time limit.

James Pease, 1221 Tidewater Drive, North Myrtle Beach. I am the immediate past president of the North Myrtle Beach Rotary Club and the chairman of our park of honor. Wanted to give city council, first we'd like to say thank you to the mayor, city council, Matt, Parks and Rec for giving us McLean Park for a month. This year we were able to do a little over $9,000 to our local police and first responder organizations with North Myrtle Beach Police Foundation receiving a good portion of that. And over the last three years since we started this, thanks to Fred, we've been able to donate over $30,000 to those organizations. We know that we had a little bit of an issue with the grass. We were there for a month, and we think we've got a way to solve that for next year. We'll talk with Jim Granger and Matt about that. But on behalf of the North Myrtle Beach Rotary Club, I want to thank the city for everything you've done for us with the Park of Honor and to let you know how it went this year. Great to hear.

Thank you so much. Are there any other comments by the public?

Damien Trialaire, 902 Perrin Drive. And I just want to mention that if people can speak a little closer to the mic, because it's a little hard to hear if you don't speak right into the mic.

Sure.

But just wanted to... it's it's not a well-known as you know we've been working on preserving weighty's island and little river neck for coming up on seven years now jay jay was out there seven years ago right after we got the ingram dunes preserved right and then mayor hatley went out there and the governor has been out there twice But the good news that and it's she didn't want to blast it all over social media, but Jackie Boyce, one of the family owners, Tillman Boyce family owners, she sold her land on july 9th to the state of south carolina it's momentous um it's it it is still more to go half the land is still to be sold but this was huge and we're hoping that this is a big momentum shift that she sold her land And then about two weeks ago, we were invited to the governor's office in Columbia, the Office of Resiliency. And Ben Duncan, who works for the governor, spent the whole day with us honoring her. And she has a life estate. She can live there the rest of her life. But it's the land right before the causeway, as well as some of the land on the island itself. So we are very hopeful. And I just ask everybody here to... really send your prayers it's about half the land still needs to be bought sold to the state there's one large landowner riverstone that is in negotiation with the state but please just send your prayers prayers actually work They worked on the Ingram Dunes. Please send your prayers that all of Wadey's Island will be preserved and Little River Neck will be preserved. This is going to be one of the most beautiful state parks, a more restricted state park, but one of the most beautiful pieces of land in all of South Carolina. I think anybody who has been on a boat knows what it is out there. Absolutely. So that that's pretty much the main thing I wanted to say. Just, um, just let's let's hope it continues. And the governor absolutely 100% would love to have this done before he leaves office in January.

Lot of headway made. Thank you, Damien. You're welcome about that.

Thank you all.

Thank you too. Are there any other comments by the public? Hearing none, do I have a motion to adjourn?

So moved. Second.

All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? Ayes have it. Meeting's adjourned.