City Council - Regular Meeting

America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

We have the approval of the minutes. Christopher. So moved. Approve of the minutes for the May the 11th, 2026 City Council meeting. Second. All in favor? Aye. Anybody opposed? Ayes have it. Item four, approval of the agenda for the May 26, 2026 City Council meeting. So moved. Second. All in favor? Aye. Any that oppose? Ayes have it. We have public comment. Item five, we have a few public comment items. The way it works, I'm just going to give your name. You can repeat your name when you come up so we know that it's you. And you have two minutes after that. You do not have to give us an address any longer. So we have Vanessa Leach. Vanessa. Okay. We have Haley. Drought. I tried to put the T on it.

Hi. Hey. Hi, I just wanted to advocate for the more of the public buses. I think it's really cool that we have public buses, but with the college students, since we have seven colleges, it would be great to have like more frequency and more stops. And I think the most important part would be staying open longer because it doesn't even really go to 6 even. It stops a little earlier. And even that, college students can't go downtown to help the economy and go out to eat and have drinks and safely come back home. And if you don't have a car, you can't go at all. But even if you have a car, it would really help with safety of Everybody going downtown and I have some friends who in different towns that like have the bus systems like baked into their college tuition So it would be cool to maybe it would help the buses like gain more More money to do this if we could like partner with the colleges to Have like unlimited bus passes for colleges if the college has paid for it so I thought that could be a helpful way to make that happen and

Thank you, thank you for that. We have Ms. Gina Trault.

My daughter's much taller than me. Hi, I'm Gina Drott. And I'm just here just as kind of like a advocate for the Dan today. I'm just appreciation for the Dan. I live in Hillbrook neighborhood and there are no sidewalks there. And I've been walking that neighborhood for a year anyway, just trying to get, you know, for my health, trying to walk four miles a day. But it's hard to walk there because... lots of people don't slow down they don't get over and so um and so i started uh driving to the wildflower way instead because there's no cars there and um and i just want to say i just really appreciate you can walk four miles from the beginning of the wildflower way to the end of the river birch and back and um so i'm just advocating for more of that more connections so that we can go further and everybody has access to safe places to walk thank you

Livingston Hawkins.

Hi y'all, my name is Liv. I would just like to thank both city council and city staff for all the work that you have been doing in conjunction with CDOT to work on the East Main Road Diet. I'm really excited to see it come to fruition. I have a friend at Converse University who will be a senior next year. They do not have a car with them on campus and they have been super excited when they first heard about this project texting me and asking me questions about it because they're excited to kick off their senior year with a safe bike route to downtown because right now they've been biking to downtown but sometimes you know they have to take different ways and they have to be creative and they have to you know hit some of these really cracked sidewalks i'm especially really excited i've already seen some of the work on the curbs along that area and that's something that needed to be done regardless And I'm excited for once that project's done, how it will connect to the Hub City Hopper and then connect to downtown. And I know Project Wrap is going to be discussed. And there's some comments about trail connectivity in that project. So I'm excited to see how all that goes. And then suddenly you're bringing the West Main bike lanes in. And I think for a long time, we've seen islands of connectivity. And I think in the very soon future, we're going to see some real direct connections. connectivity that's really going to lead to a lot of good outcomes, both economic, health, just community vibrancy. So I want to thank both council and staff for all y'all's advocacy around that and bringing more infrastructure like that to our city. Thank you.

Thank you. Andy, I don't know how we got out of order, but

My name is Andy Drott and it came as a surprise to me, it may be a surprise to others, but our family has only been in Spartanburg for a little over a year. And I wanted to get up today and just say thank you to the mayor, to council, other members of the community who welcomed us with open arms. We found this place incredibly welcoming and easy to get involved. We've found places to volunteer and plug in and help start things. I know that we're in a moment where it can be easy for those watching at home or in the audience, it can be easy to feel a little nervous about the pace of growth. in Spartanburg, in the Spartanburg area. And I just wanted to remind us that if we don't continue to welcome others with open arms, we might miss out on members of the community, new entrepreneurs, new leaders, and new friends. And so I'm really looking forward to participating in the zoning, the housing changes and ordinances coming up over the next year and just wanted to say thanks for being a place that is willing to kind of stretch a little bit and make room in ways that are smart, not terribly disruptive to our community and just being a really welcoming place. Our family really appreciates it and I'm sure others will when they come too, thank you.

Thank you for that. Steve Duncan. Steve Duncan. Okay. That concludes our public comment section. Item six, consent agenda.

I make a motion we approve the consent agenda. Second.

All in favor? Aye. Any that oppose? Ayes have it. Thank you. Item seven, we have the 2050 Long-Range Transportation Plan Survey. Information only from the SPATs Committee. Daniel is up front.

Um, so good afternoon everyone. My name is Daniel Griggs and I'm a transportation planner for the spats MPO here in the county planning department. Um, and I just wanted to give a brief update on our current 2050 long range transportation plan. Um, currently we are in the public involvement period for it. And basically what it is, it's a 25 year visionary document that acts as the county's transportation blueprint. Um, this purpose is to identify the needs regarding all forms of transportation here in the county. Um, that includes roads, public transit and multimodal pass, um, and more. Um, And these projects are identified through weighted criteria, which includes public feedback, And why this is important is because our community input is vital for this document. You all know the area and you know your neighborhoods the best. So by participating, you ensure the final plan reflects real community needs and the impact directly affects daily commutes, safety, and other improvements. So how you can participate, At first, we opened up public involvement on April 21st, and it ends May 29th, this Friday. So we held public meetings in person on May 6th and 7th. So if you weren't able to make it to those, you can participate online. There is a virtual room, an online comment forum, and a survey, which is in both English and Spanish. And so we have a project website housed on our SPATS website. And there you can access all this information. There's a QR code there. And I have some handouts in the back for anybody here, if they want to grab one of those. But so please, please participate. Thank you for allowing me the time and emphasizing this importance of the LRTP. And hopefully we can continue to strive to make this community better. So thank y'all. Thank you, Daniel. Any questions, Daniel?

Yes, I think you got one. I think you got one.

Well, a question maybe, Mr. Mayor, I know Councilman Rain used to sit on SPATS. Right. Who of us is on SPATS now?

I'm still on SPATS along with Councilwoman Sally.

Okay.

Yes.

And for those in the audience that don't know what SPATS stands for, would you mind elaborating?

Yeah, of course. So SPATS stands for the Spartanburg Planning Area Transportation Study. We're an MPO, Metropolitan Planning Organization, and we're just housed within the county planning department, and we touch base on everything transportation in the community. Like I said, that could be roadways, that's multimodal paths, we look at freight, we look at transit, everything that just moves people efficiently, making the roadways safer, more efficient, and just listening to community needs and making improvements where we can.

So Daniel, how do we, and maybe this is a question for you, Chris, how do we as a city and our transportation systems, she mentioned our bus system, Sparta, something that we own but obviously operates and serves members of the county, how do those, how do our two entities interact together when it comes to implementing this plan?

Right, so basically right now, we're working with a consultant. And we get all this feedback. And we have, like I mentioned, we have this weighted criteria where we evaluate. We look at all this different data. And then we'll rank projects. and then order and put that into our TIP, which is our Transportation Improvement Program. And this is a document which actually, you know, fiscally gets projects constrained. And as far as transit goes, because it is a separate entity from us, we facilitate as middlemen and, you know, grants and stuff that come from the federal level will pass through us and we're actually able to put that into the TIP so SPARTA is able to use those funds to improve their systems.

Okay. Any? Good. Does it say that the long-range plan is for 2050? 2050.

It's a 25-year visionary document. Wow. We're looking at existing conditions right now, and then we take into account future conditions, what the county is going to look like 25 years down the line. That takes a lot of different data and population being a big one and why that's important. That's going to tell us, you know, what the roads are going to look like what areas are currently congested where subdivisions and houses are popping up and how we can mitigate that and go ahead and get on get that wrong so we can efficiently mitigate traffic in the future and just have um i guess the infrastructure in place already because we know our community is growing vastly at a crazy pace right now so good Question.

Yes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Daniel, what is public comment? Have you gotten a public response? What is the response about Mike in terms it's been open since the 21st? Have you gotten a lot of feedback and input from the community?

yes so we've gotten um lots of lots of feedback already i don't know the exact number off the top of my head of how many people have participated but obviously the more the better we're seeing a lot of a lot of comments based close and within the city boundary that's expected so that tends to be where people are seeing where they wanna see the most improvements, but we're also seeing places like Readville Road, that corridor, getting a lot of input as well. And because there's schools coming in over there and that place is growing super fast as well. So it's pretty spread out, but primarily the responses are within the city.

okay okay um chris have we have we shared this on would this be appropriate for city communications just to share that there's a public comment period sure and we i think we have pushed it out a time or two but that's one of the reasons why we invited them tonight just to continue to generate attention to the to the process because we hear a lot from the the community about it and this is an opportunity to actually make sure that any specific issues are recorded and incorporated in the plan. So we'll use this as a prompt for one more push through our various channels and of course they've been doing it through theirs as well and we'd encourage assistance from the media in getting the word out over the final week of the input period.

Thank you for coming. I frequently hear about traffic and planning in District 2, so I'm very glad that you're here. Thank you. I hope the media takes attention.

Maybe for the general public's information, how does the SPATs planning work in concert with, say for example, the penny sales tax road improvement projects and just so people understand the holistic approach that government in Spartanburg County takes to road infrastructure improvements?

Sure. The way I would characterize it is that the SPATS Long Range Transportation Plan is one of the ways that shapes the allocation of the federal funds that flow through to the area. Talking about major corridors and that type of thing. A lot of the capital project sales tax has been driven around catching up on maintenance backlog issues. Those two things, they're both important, both critical needs, but they're slightly different in that the folks with South Carolina DOT and the Federal Highway Administration, the first document they will pick up when they're thinking ahead to what major projects could be undertaken in this metro area would be the SPATS Long Range Transportation Plan. That's why it's so important.

Yeah, if I could add, the SPATs, we get a set amount of money that gets passed on federally to SEDOT, which then they split it up between the different MPOs in the state. So we're primarily doing corridor and intersection improvements rather than maintenance of already existing infrastructure, which is where those funds will likely go.

So, yeah, I want to make sure when people say fix the roads, they understand that it's multiple layers of government that go into achieving that. And then I know in previous conversations with the SPATS team, I don't know that you were part of that, but there was a lot of concern expressed about the Pine Street corridor, particularly as it related to the movement of tanker trucks near and around Pine Street School. scot scdot has been uncooperative in that um in that effort to our disappointment um is there anything else we can do through the spats conversation in the general comment period to try to reintroduce that as a concern because concerns not going away The fix, according to DOT, always was major infrastructure improvement on some of the alternative routes. They didn't deem there to be a viable alternative route unless there had been major concerns, I mean major corrections at different intersections. mainly the Reedville Road, Southport Road intersection. But are we going back and looking at that as part of this 2020 vision plan? Because as the traffic increases and our community grows, I believe the potential threat is only growing. It's not going away. So I want to make sure that we're... While we're not winning in incremental battles, we're not giving up on the greater war because I think it's extremely important.

Yeah, and anything that has previously been looked at in our other LRTPs, like our past previous LRTP, because we redo this every five years. So the last one would have been a 2045 update, and this one's the 2050. But anything that was already previously identified, we're continuing to look at and also evaluate those. So that hasn't been swept away, and looking at other improvements throughout the county is not gonna get rid of that either. Go ahead.

Send Jody Trawick to that site.

Definitely. Daniel, thank you. Thank you for your time. Thanks for your work. We have item eight, public hearing. And an ordinance to provide the adoption of the city operating budget execution for the physical period year July 1st, 2026 through June 30th, 2027. Chris Story, city manager, presenting. And Mr. Locks over there.

Yes, Mr. Mayor and members of council, this presentation and discussion will relate to item 8A, the next item up, and also item 9A. Those two are companion ordinances we do each year. The first ordinance establishes the budget, which is the spending plan for the year that would take effect the year beginning July 1. And the second ordinance there authorizes the property tax millage and the fee and revenue side of the budget. And so those two work in tandem. One's expenditure, one's the revenue side. We discussed this at the last meeting and so I'll briefly recap a number of the key points and then Dennis and I will do our best to answer any questions that you all may have. Just a refresher on the process. Tonight is an opportunity for the public to comment on next year's budget. It's also an opportunity for you to make any amendments to the balanced plan that staff has prepared. And amendments can occur tonight or at second reading. And staff's effort to put in place this balanced product, which is in your packet, is based on our best efforts to make sure that the budget aligns with your priorities and values. But you all have the final say. and whether or not it does. And so we encourage you to make those amendments. The only thing I would suggest is that in order to maintain the balance, that any amendment itself be balanced as well. The key points that drove our preparation of the staff's recommended budget is that we believe it reflects a stable, sound, financially healthy condition for this organization and frankly for our community. We believe that if you dig in to look at the areas in which additional resources are being invested, you'll see continued alignment with our priorities. Despite some archaic wording in the title of Ordinance 9, which says raise revenue, we are not proposing any changes to our property tax rate or to our household fees. That language is carried over from state law, and they presume you start at zero each year. So that's the nature of that wording. As proposed, the tax millage rate would remain the same as would the rates of our uniform household fees like solid waste fee and stormwater fee. We continue to prioritize our employees. About 66% of every dollar we expend is salaries and benefits, wages paid to the men and women who work with the city. That is our most valuable resource and it's reflected in our priorities and our expenditures. includes a cost of living wage adjustment for all employees and absorbs rising health insurance costs so that they don't make their way through on to the take-home pay to reduce the take-home pay of employees We also are prioritizing facilities and equipment. Equipment costs are rising, of course, and we think it's important that in order to maintain level of efficiency that we provide the tools and equipment to our team that they need to do the job. It encourages some additional flexibility to deal with downtown policing And otherwise keeps a very stable city headcount of about 425 employees. Just to quickly summarize, you'll see year over year growth in revenue projected to be about roughly on the order of 5%, just a little bit under 5%. and most of that is coming from our business-related revenues and property tax base growth. We're beginning to see some of the commercial developments come online and produce growth in our property tax base. We also see strong activity in business-related, business license tax revenue and hospitality tax, food and beverage sales. This is expenditures by category across our organization, and you'll see that where we're seeing the significant expenditure growth is police, fire, and public works. You see those. We've moved some functions and services around within our budget just to better align. We have some of our downtown related activities moved into the admin division of the policy and management category, which you'll see some of those changes, but it remains that our core functions of police, fire, and public works are the lion's share of the expenditures. Dennis is prepared for any and all hard questions. I'll try to answer as best I can and then he'll probably need to correct me. But we want to make sure that this plan for next year best aligns with your values and priorities and welcome any questions that you've got.

Sure. Any questions on Mr. Story? Councilwoman Rogers.

Chris, just as a reminder, can you high-level community services? What's packaged under that line?

In the community services basket, that's mostly what you'll have there is parks and rec is probably the biggest function under that heading. Okay. and community development work. So neighborhood services department and Martin's team and the like. Great.

And why does Dennis spend so much money?

Yeah.

There are always some quirks in any, you know, it's a 75-page document, and believe it or not, that's shorter than many. It's a 75-page document, but there are a lot of organization-wide expenditures, liability insurance, things of that nature that are captured in some of those administrative functions, but actually have an effect across a lot of departments and divisions.

sorry chris may i also ask um in your previous slide it was additional uh i think police presence is there more that you can give on that line because i know we've talked about it additional resources for downtown

We are the biggest constraint that we face in regard to policing is that we are constantly doing our best to recruit additional officers. And I think if you do a little looking, that's a national concern. challenge right now um and so we've always had budget room to hire and still have this budget authorizes about about 10 police officer slots that are currently today unfilled i look forward to the day where we get to the point where they're all filled and we have to come back and have that conversation about how we go beyond that number uh but we're not there today But there are some things that we're experimenting with in downtown to free up the ability to have more visible police presence downtown. And that involves some strategic use of some outside resources. in terms of additional security in our garages that would free things up. Maybe changing the way we do some of the special event support that's carried out by police. Maybe that can be carried out by non-sworn folks that would free up some additional hours. And also, when I say non sworn, that means it's just it's a little bit easier for us to recruit and hire folks that can do things that make this community safer, but may not be fully credentialed law enforcement officers. One of those things is working in the real time crime center. which can free up some, and having eyes on those cameras during peak times downtown allows the officers who are downtown to be in the spaces where they're needed most quickly. So we've got some additional resources plugged into the budget to do that, but still working with the team to figure out exactly how that manifests and works its way through. But the goal is more visible presence in the heart of the city.

Any other questions? Yes.

I noticed that the hospitality tax discretionary allotments weren't in this budget. I assume that's because the committee is still working but will be in for second reading?

Right. The space for that allocation is built into the budget. Correct. Just the numbers weren't there. Our hope is we'll plug it in for second reading the specific grant.

All right. This here also requires a public hearing. And the way the public hearing works, we will have 20 minutes each side if you're for this budget or if you're against this budget. So this is your opportunity to speak on behalf of the city's budget. And no one person can speak any longer than 10 minutes on either side. Okay, so if you would like to speak in favor of the budget, excuse me.

May I make a motion that we enter into a public hearing? Second. All in favor?

Aye. Do that approval. So we entered into a public hearing. Now, anyone wants to speak in favor of this budget? Come to the mic. Just give us your name, please.

My name is Vanessa Leck. I just have a few things I wanna mention about the budget that I do support that I was gonna add to my later comments, because I signed up for the actual general comment period, but I'm just gonna speak on the ones that pertain to the budget now.

You're Vanessa?

Yes.

Okay.

anyway so i do i definitely support the additional resources for downtown policing because there's a public drunkenness problem and it really deters i know me and others i know from frequenting the restaurants and walking down there freely i've seen men down there multiple with coolers filled with alcohol and they're just drinking one right after the other getting smashed in the streets on the sidewalk i saw it as early as like 10 a.m in the morning after i got done with an event and i was going to have brunch and this is your view from the restaurant we were at, and the restaurant didn't want this either. And then a friend of mine, she was being harassed by a man in the street, her and her friend when she was trying to go into a restaurant, and it ruined their experience and they weren't able to do what they intended on doing, which is having lunch there in peace. So I definitely support additional resources for downtown policing, it's definitely needed, as well as the cameras that were mentioned or something, that sounds like a great idea. And I also support the no tax increases on property taxes and household fees.

Thank you, ma'am. Anyone else who's still speaking in favor of the budget, proposed budget? Anyone want to speak against this proposed budget? No one person can speak over 10. You have up to 20 minutes. Anyone would like to speak against the proposed budget? Do I hear a recommendation to close the public hearing?

Mr. Mayor, I recommend that we close the public hearing for it.

Second. All in favor?

Aye.

Any that oppose? Ayes have it. Hear a recommendation for the budget.

Mr. Mayor, make a motion that we approve the adopted operating budget as read.

Second. All in favor? Aye. Any that oppose? Ayes have it. Budget passed. There, ordinance. And Mr. Story made mention there, ordinance to provide for the adoption of the city operating budget.

Oh, I'm sorry.

No. I'm reading the one up top. No. An ordinance I was going to read the ordinance to raise revenues and he made clearly that we're not raising any for the city of Spartanburg for the physical year of 2026 to 2027 to levy taxes on all real estate and personal property except such as exempt by law in the corporate limits of the city of Spartanburg for the corporate purposes of the fiscal year of 2026 and 2027 to provide penalties and delinquent payments of taxes levied and provided. Chris Story, again, has explained that. Any other questions of Mr. Story?

Mr. Mayor, I just want to make it clear. I think I mentioned it the last meeting. If I didn't mention it, it was on my mind. When we did the reappraisals and reassessments in, what, year 2023, 4?

I'd have to check to be sure.

We rolled back our millage rate so that we didn't add to the outside of appraised value of property. We didn't increase the tax burden from the city's perspective on any city taxpayer as a result of that. And so that continues this lower rate from when we readjusted.

That's correct. Yes, sir.

Mr. Mayor, I make a motion that we adopt the ordinance as read. Second.

All in favor? Aye. Any that opposed? Ayes have it. Now B, ordinance to amend the code of the City of Spartanburg, South Carolina 2020 to include a provision regarding obstruction of public property. obstructing public properties. Mr. Kennedy, I'm sorry.

Evening, members of council. This item is an ongoing effort by staff to clarify our codes to enable a quick and appropriate resolution to neighborhood and community issues. We've had a few incidents in the past related to the obstruction of public property, and it required staff to look at our ordinance and what it provides is guidance to address these items, and we found that the code language was not adequately clear, and so this ordinance would address it. It will ensure that public spaces within the city of Spartanburg, including sidewalks, parks, plazas, public right-of-way streets, and other city-owned areas remain safe, accessible, and clean for residents and visitors. Specifically, the ordinance, clicker, Oh, I'm sorry. I just read it. The ordinance notes that the amendment of the city code provisions regarding obstructing public property as follows. It shall be unlawful for any person to obstruct any street, alley, park, square, public right-of-way, or sidewalk intended for free movement of pedestrians or vehicles by placing any personal property. B, it shall be unlawful for any persons to obstruct any street, alley, park, square, public, right-of-way, or sidewalk intended for free movement of pedestrians or vehicles by prolonged congregating without special event or picketing permit. So this code and the provisions, it shall be effective upon the adoption of city council in the ordinance supersedes any other inconsistent ordinance. In this particular matter, it would be section 30-156 of our code that previously was the tool we used and we saw that it needed to be revised to give us the ability to address these issues in the appropriate time. and the appropriate response.

Yes. I guess it's a twofold question. How and if it does, does this relate? to you mentioned sidewalks so for example you know we have some neighborhoods who have issues with their trash bins yes um is does this sort of clean that up so that people understand you know your trash goes out your roll cart goes out but at the same time you know Yes. Once it's picked up, it needs to go back up to your property line, is that?

Yes.

Does that relate?

Exactly, that's a good example. And the enforcement of this would be carried out by our property maintenance office and our environmental services office. The example that you just noted would be carried out by our environmental service office.

I have one question. Sure, go ahead. I'm sorry. What if someone is having their yard service and the person who's doing it put out yellow tape?

Yellow tape.

Yes, to deteriorate traffic coming through while they're doing that. That's obstruction.

Yes, it is. And our code permits with property, personal property. You're given 72 hours to address that item. And so they would be noted of the violation in the personal property. You're given 72 hours to remove it. unless it creates a safety measure which allows us to address it in a manner more efficient if it's creating a safety issue for the public.

Mitch, I know in neighborhoods like Beaumont where there's always been an issue with cars on the sidewalk or obstructing the sidewalk, does this ordinance make it sufficiently clear, for example, for people that are parking in their driveway that blocks the sidewalk in their own driveway? Correct. Yeah, okay. Yes, sir.

Mr. Mayor?

Yes.

But Mitch, to be clear, these would be code violations, not criminal violations that the police department would handle.

The enforcement would be carried out by property maintenance. Most of these concerns do happen in residential districts. So property maintenance, environmental service would be the tools of enforcement. In those cases where they're noncompliant, The city has the ability to abate the situation when it comes to personal property. We can abate it, meaning we can remove it at their expense. So there's never any involvement by law enforcement. If a vehicle fails to be removed, we would tow it at the owner's expense.

So I am not a bike rider. I own a bike, but I have not ridden it. The tire is flat and we'll just leave it at that.

I need some help.

But I don't know how bike riders store their bikes. I know there are bike racks, but I sound really dumb right now. But I imagine maybe Liv might prop his bike up outside the coffee bar, so to say, to go inside to get a coffee. is that then obstructing the sidewalk?

It doesn't allow free passage of pedestrian, then it is obstructing it.

It doesn't allow free passage. So a bike propped up is certainly allowing free passage.

Mitch. Mitch to a bike rack. For clarity, I know that the rule was as long as a resident could bring their garbage bin off the curve, you can still leave it out front, because as long as it is not on the sidewalk. But now the new rule that you are stating now is that you have to bring it back to your resident.

This is specific to obstructing public right-of-way sidewalks. This is not related to the other ordinance regarding the storage of your roll card. This is specifically to the sidewalk matter. And if it's placed on the sidewalk, if you're not able to pass that sidewalk, then it's a violation of obstructing the right-of-way.

I am waiting for the day that we have a strict rule, you know, for people, gosh, to bring their garbage bins back to their residence and not leave them out in front.

So we recently, within the last six months, added a process in addressing that. And we have a staff person in the Environmental Services Office that has been working hard to address that item separately from this code.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I mean, I know Mitch, I know this is one ordinance and I know Kevin, we've got other ordinances that we're looking to clean up over time. And I'm all for providing clarity and additional ordinances that allows us to enforce the codes because I think from my perspective one of the things that that we can improve on as a city is code enforcement as a whole i mean you know for example you can't i mean i can hear it in just about every neighborhood in my district the the loud vehicles that go down pine street for example at all hours of the day including late at night either racing or without mufflers. You can't go downtown at any point and sit outside without hearing a loud vehicle go through. Sometimes it's mufflers, sometimes it's the stereo. And so I think as we improve these ordinances and codes, I would hope that we will do more on the enforcement side of these because just passing an ordinance makes us feel good and it makes us feel like we're cleaning up things and providing clarity. But if we're not going to if we're not gonna enforce it, it really is gonna have no impact on our residents.

Yeah, to be clear, that's part of the drive behind this revision is having the codes and the ordinance as the structures around how we operate, but the people problem solving the real issues and addressing it, so we're having conversations around it.

Any other questions? Yes, sir, yes, ma'am, I'm sorry.

yes i just wanted to say that uh... this ordinance in the topics that covers i know kevin you and you have helped me with the number of you know residents in district two that have issues that this would address uh... so i appreciate bringing this to council and uh... just providing you know that the city team with clear concise ordinances to actually just support our community and shared space.

Thank you.

Do I hear a motion?

I move, Mr. Mayor, that we accept this ordinance to amend the code of the city of Spartanburg, South Carolina. Second. Do I hear a second?

Second. Council Member Lewis-John? Go ahead. Great. All in favor? Aye. Any that oppose? Ayes have it. With item C, ordinance authorizing the execution and delivery of development agreement by and between the city of Spartanburg, South Carolina and Barrett Realty... relative investment incorporated with respect to a misused development at 145 west broad street in downtown spartanburg and other matters related there unto mr stories back up yes sir mr mayor uh members of council this is our um

this project is consistent with our strategy to try to get multiple benefits of each major investment or minor investment for that matter that we might make in our community what are the what are the ways in which it can be executed to create multiple layers of benefit So as you know, for a number of years now, we've been working alongside the county to build South Carolina's first joint governmental complex on South Church, just a block off of Morgan Square. And this project that I will describe tonight and discuss the proposed development agreement, will complete that block in a way that is intended to accomplish multiple aims. The first is to make sure that the facility we'll share with the county has an attractive, positive context surrounding it. We want to, with this project, continue to meet the housing demand in our community because we know if we don't provide new downtown housing, with the growth pressures we are experiencing as a community, the effect of that will change the character of our neighborhoods around that nearby. So we want to make sure that there are housing choices for folks who want to live in the heart of the city so that we don't experience any displacement in our neighborhoods that ring downtown. We want active street edges in our downtown. We think that's terribly important. It's the pedestrian experience that the park wants to do multiple things kind of ability that really makes downtowns great. And we want to make sure that when we have major public investments that they're aesthetically pleasing. And I think you'll see that by incorporating some private development within the block, We take what would otherwise be an exposed parking facility and allow it to be, the parking that's part of the joint government center facility is absolutely necessary. it's important to to the men and women that that work with the city and the county and the folks that go visit to do business with them it's also important to the surrounding area downtown but parking decks aren't the most beautiful thing in the world so uh this this allows us to to add some um attractive elements to it. And importantly, it's using a public-private partnership to grow our tax base. This project will generate a lot of local government revenue down the line. And importantly, it will help us fulfill our obligations. As you know, part of the process in identifying the site for the Joint Government Center did have the effect of displacing the downtown business, Blue Moon. Their business will have a home, a permanent home, and they'll own a portion of the private development that I'll show you here in just a minute. So we're fulfilling that obligation with this agreement. And we're building on the whole Morgan Square area of our downtown as a restaurant and retail hub by adding additional spaces there. So I wanna share how this project came together. We did a national search for developers that had a significant amount of experience in complex public-private partnership. We're building a full block redevelopment, most of which will be owned publicly and some of them will be owned privately. It is important to have a partner that has done similar work before on that scale. Over the course of some time, we connected with the Barretts who are from Indianapolis area that had done some extensive projects of a similar nature in the Midwest and were looking for a flagship property project in the south and this aligned very well. After speaking with my peers and their communities that had worked, our confidence grew that that was the right group. I'll orient you to this first image so you can get a sense of this. In the lower edge of the image is the intersection of Broad and Spring Street. and you see shaded out in white, although the building will actually be red brick, but it says the city administrative complex. That is on the Church Street frontage and just beyond that is the new planetarium expansion of the library. And the interior of the block is almost a thousand stall parking garage. That's the structure you see now coming out of the ground with the big concrete walls that you can see on broad and spring. Those concrete walls will be in the interior. The white rooftop that you see here is the private development of which this agreement prescribes. This is a look at the project from the intersection of Kennedy and Spring Street. So just looking at it from the other side and you can see how the private development will wrap the garage on all sides. That was important aesthetically and to street life and to some of those goals discussed. This is more of a street level view of that first intersection there. And this is the second intersection, the street level view. This is just a sidewalk of how the walk from Hampton Heights up Spring Street, the sidewalk that is now currently a less than desirable pedestrian way right now with barricades and the like, I think will be very pleasant on the other side of this work. And this gives you a look at how it all comes together. The big rectangular, on the bottom half of the image, the big crosshatch, diagonally hatched rectangular space is the parking garage. The blue units are residential units. The yellow and... What color is that? Tan? I'm colorblind. That is restaurant retail space. And of course on the top of this image is the building that will be occupied by the city and county government where future city council meetings will be held and things of that nature. This largest restaurant space will be a plaza that will be situated between the projects and overlooking that plaza and overlooking Broad Street will be the home of the new Blue Moon there on the street. and also overlooking the plaza so it'll be a great three-sided space there and additional commercial space there. So we're pleased with how this design all came together. This is really complicated stuff when you're sharing entries and exits and underground infrastructure and things of that nature. All told, the Barretts will invest about $70 million and they will pay a series of tax payments that will escalate over the life of the 20-year agreement um and i was meant to highlight the top end number it'll take me a second to find it um it is a substantial uh project in this substantial um addition of uh quality development and uh tax revenue to the downtown and we're pleased that it's come together as well as it has um it is uh let's see uh the revenue to be generated um Let's see, 84,000 in year five, 425,000 by year eight, 672 in year 10, 1.25 million in year 15, and 1.9 million in year 20, escalating every year in between, just to give you a sense of that curve there. So this is a win-win from our perspective, and we recommend your approval of this development agreement.

welcome any questions that you have questions chris i'm excited about uh this project for so many reasons uh one i mean having a group like the barrett's come in i think many of us have had a chance to meet them and and they're extremely you know high quality developers and and seem to be great people and and that type of investment in sparkberg is is I think validation from the outside that Spartanburg is on the move and Spartanburg is a place where people can feel comfortable investing their resources, so that's exciting. And also this project just looks tremendous. It's a great, great project that will be a tremendous asset in our downtown. And me personally, I'm thrilled that Blue Moon returns to downtown in such a prominent location and excited about that. Does the tax incentive component of this also apply to Blue Moon in terms of any taxes or fees related to their conduct?

that's they will own their portion as a condominium and it would be covered by the multi-county park structure that the deal is in so and how many units uh residential units does this project have 220. and they all they all are rentals yes ma'am yes ma'am it's uh uh and these are large uh high quality apartments with uh the amenities that have come to often be seen in projects of this nature. I don't know if you can really see it in this image, but there's an open, you can sort of.

Right here at this corner, you see those

open railings yeah that's a pool deck for the for the residents there um and some of their other amenity spaces on that'll be on the kennedy street side on the kennedy street edge we are planning to be able to accommodate the dan connection on the the kennedy street side and of course big wide sidewalks and other pedestrian infrastructure on all sides

Yeah, Chris, do you know the square footage of these units and the number of bedrooms?

I do. I mean, I have that information. I don't have it. I don't think we included that as an exhibit in the agreement, but it's a variety of bedroom counts up to three bedroom units. There are not many of those, but most are two bedroom units. And I will get you the spreadsheet that shows the specifics of the units. I'm sorry, I didn't bring that file.

And do you know the...

costs because the rental price starting I these are these will come online in about two years and they're likely to be the highest rents we we have in the downtown market do you have an estimated it varies by the unit and square footage but i don't want to suggest that a a figure not knowing exactly what the the latest developer expectation is but these are uh high-end luxury units okay mr mayor so so the the units for this particular project are all market rate i assume there will be no designated That's correct.

Workforce housing rates. But on the, I guess we'd be going east end, the new project on Kennedy.

right that will be all affordable that's correct that's a 48 unit uh all affordable uh development and you know we're we are continuing to work on a number of downtown possibilities for affordable and mixed income uh projects we believe we need all of the above

And that project on the east end would be 50% to 60% AMI, is that correct?

Correct. That's a LIHTC low-income housing tax credit deal targeting that income range.

I do wish there was a component in this project, but I am encouraged. that we will see just a block away, sort of that missing middle median income that we often talk about. Most of these projects are 80% workforce. Those that receive vouchers and things of that nature, but that 50 to 60 is what they consider the missing middle, so I'm encouraged to see that we'll see a project like that in downtown as well.

thank you mr mayor um the part that you just read chris about the kind of escalating payment and taxes the sentence right before that says the final payment schedule shall be determined once project costs are finalized does that mean we're to expect a final development agreement later at some other time we've never really seen it phrased like that it's always been a year

year by year you know exhibit at the end that's because i haven't given up on it being higher than that curve of that is in there so so this will be interpreted to establish a floor okay right and and and so i am optimistic that it that it will be in excess of that floor um but i wanted to go ahead and establish a low-end bracket for the minimum amount that it would be so then

does that mean we'll need to revisit this or that then just becomes the what we give you as a city manager the freedom to well it would technically it would technically ultimately be executed by the county when they uh so i can talk with the the county about how we best

do that and and they have been this project given its complexity with all the construction and the infrastructure and stuff like that we've literally been meeting weekly for a year and a half on it uh and uh so we're we're we're deep in it and the county's been heavily involved in getting to this point and so we'll we'll figure out but there will be a a published uh detail of that that will be in excess of these numbers in this uh when it when it gets finalized in a couple months okay does the county pick this up after we voted on it twice or do they pick it up as soon as we've voted on it once it typically uh will since you all have to consent for there to be any alternative treatment of anything it's usually it usually happens when it's final So they'd be dealing with it. I would expect late summer, fall, something like that.

Okay. I'm just thinking timeline with elections and everything.

We are going full speed ahead so that the private development side of construction can begin at the earliest point at which the public construction would allow for it to. That's the tricky part. There's a lot of in each other's way and on top of each other stuff that we're trying to ferret out on the front end.

Chris, this isn't specific to this project, but when you think about, going back to our budget um and i meant to ask this question earlier but but it's appropriate asked now when you talk about timelines and and meeting all obligations to start the building which is permits and approvals um are are we looking at in our building services and our developmental services team, adding additional headcount to, you know, handle the anticipated increase in activity related to all of these different projects so that, you know, we have projects that have gone through the the process of development agreements and things like that. I mean, that's sort of the first hurdle, but then the next hurdle can become all of the other things that are required to get something up out of the ground. So are we looking at that hard enough to make sure that we're not creating bottlenecks and having bandwidth issues in some of those areas?

we there's twofold answer to that one is that the budget does include authorization for an additional in-house plan review uh position we but we currently and have been in this recent wave of activity um using contracted additional supports from credentialed third-party firms. And that has enabled us to, what we wanna do is staff for what we think is likely to be the sustainable volume. And then when we have additional, a bulge of activity, use some contracted additional resources so we don't delay those projects. And that has served us well over the past year.

just want to make it we hear anecdotally from time to time oh they're waiting on the city for this or waiting on the you know it's it's never a very specific um you know um uh complaint but but i do think you know it is a is a relevant point that that we want to make sure we want it done right and we want to we want to be You know, very diligent about making sure we're getting the quality projects that we all want. But I think we also want to move as fast as we can. And so and so, you know, I would I would make sure that we're spending a lot of time thinking about those resources, whether it's additional headcount, contract, temperate, whatever it is. to make sure that not only are we viewed as a community people want to invest in, but we take it to the next level through delivery of service and excellence in every aspect of what we're trying to do to bring this quality. Because I think that will help attract additional developers as well. I mean, a lot of times I think people will shy away from communities where there's a lot of hassle and red tape that, while important, can be used to slow the process down bureaucratically. And I think we need to be very mindful of that.

Yes, sir. And I've been real pleased with the team's effort. We have a whole lot of work coming out of the ground right now. They have been flexible and nimble and diligent in getting all the key schedules met.

And that's been the overriding theme. I don't want it to come across as any kind of negative comment. That's been the overriding theme, but I think it's just something that we need to keep thinking about.

Absolutely. Awesome.

Awesome, awesome. So we need a motion here in item C. Can I make a motion that we approve the development agreement?

Second. All in favor? Aye. Any that opposed? Ayes have it. We have Mr. Story up for 10. Staff updates.

I'm sorry, Mr. Mayor. I don't have any substantial updates, but I welcome any questions that you have.

Mr. Mayor?

Yes.

Andy mentioned in his public comments about the zoning ordinance updates. I like to occasionally ask if you have an update on us about that process and thought it would be a good time to ask about that.

Sure, sure. We are very close to a final action plan in terms of the chart of the sequencing of public meetings and the like. and are working on your schedules. I know we've got a couple of other things that are pulling additional time from council members, but for a briefing on that process with the consultants, because it will be a first point of input, and then there'll be various ways for public and stakeholders, neighborhood leaders, the community to give input to that, and then there'll be iterations from there. But that work is dialed in, planned out, ready to go.

We have hired a consultant group. Yes. That's excellent. That's great.

But the hard work's still ahead. Sure, sure.

No, that's good. That's good news. Another question I like to occasionally ask about is our COVID, no, the Helene money from FEMA and if we've had any update on being reimbursed by the federal government.

Have you gotten any word? I'll be back.

Most of the reimbursements back. We can't ever hear you, Dennis, unless you come to the microphone. The people online can't. So that's excellent news that I think you should speak into the microphone.

Yes, we've got most of the reimbursements back. We were eligible for about $1.5 million. We've got back a little bit over $1.2 or $3 million so far.

Well, hot dog. It's a good name. All right. Thank you.

Yes, Councilman Rodgers.

Mr. Mayor, if I just add, I can personally attest that there is fencing along some of the trails and public spaces that we know and love because of that FEMA money. So thank you.

Yes.

I just want to know that have we utilized all the funding to clear up any city-owned property that has healing damages?

That we know of that is city-owned. We're also, and I'll ask Martin for a more thorough current update, we have I think some remaining homes that are private properties that qualified for the relief that we are administering that can be utilized on private property that are still working their way through the system. But I think we've done what we understand to be achievable on public property.

Mr. Mayor, Chris, the young lady mentioned in her comment mentioned the buses and the connectivity to the colleges. I've been encouraged and excited about our micro transit pilot because I think that's going to be the future of of our public transportation system for a city like the size of spartanburg and so um my question is specific related to colleges or in our pilot do we go to all of our colleges in the city of spartanburg currently

Those in the city limits, yes, sir. We'd like to get out to the community college main campus and to USC Upstate, but we don't currently do that with microtransit.

Well, and that might be a way to then engage with those institutions as they look to move you know their students into downtown the the other question i have is that you know maybe it's not maybe it would be in a in an upcoming meeting where we have a lighter agenda uh than this but to get some updated statistics of the micro transit program because i think you know i mean i i've been promoting it um but but so many of the neighborhoods in my district approved bans yet. And so I know people would be excited about the possibility of using that. So I'd like to know kind of where we stand with the statistics of use, but then also what would be our barriers for expanding it even more. Because I think we're gonna get some useful information from our pilot, but we're really never gonna know the efficacy of it until we open it up across the city.

Yes, sir. And we're working actively on that analysis of the pilot. And we'll have that information for you subsequently.

I just want to tag on to what he's saying. And I like her idea about. them going downtown or coming downtown after hours because our transit stopped at a certain time and I know that the newest part of us has got the same kind of schedule. So maybe you can look into that as well for the students.

But the great thing about the microtransit program is that the Sparta buses require a different license and certification, which makes staffing more difficult, whereas microtransit makes it easier to bring in available resources to manage the fleet.

Spartanburg Methodist College is just barely outside the city line, so let's not forget about that one. That one is a residential campus as well.

councilman rogers i just wanted to add a reminder that it does go from door to door i think that is also different than the buses and it creates safety and yes it's great for for our youth and our college students but i've had a number of more elderly members of our community truly lean into the opportunity to use a transit you're talking about drugs

i have really is part of their website and i have been playing right my children actually he said my oldest will take them around uh... from place to place after practice actually yeah i mean i could see it mean you know any neighborhood around town group going downtown for dinner you know i mean it and particularly now with parking you know uh... evening you an issue uh... you have that is an additional tool in addition to the shuttles and the valet and all of those things. It's just another tool in the belt.

If we can get Councilman Farmer from joyriding on the shuttles. That would be great. I wasn't joyriding, I was going to my car.

good good stuff good stuff awesome thank you mrs uh story which side was i starting councilwoman salad starting with you with city council updates i'm just so happy that we have rain because we've been so dry and i want to say thank you to all those who are in the audience tonight and i have no other um oh yeah i do yes um i believe you may May I mention it, or one of you all may?

But you can mention it.

But the Monumental Wall talk starts Monday at 5.30?

Yes. Councilman Foreman. Yes, sir. Mr. Mayor, I just want to mention, you know, this is one of the meetings that we have on an off day on a Tuesday, primarily because of the Memorial Day holiday. And I just want to recognize those in our community who have given the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our freedom and those who've lost loved ones as a result of that as well. Thank you for that.

Mayor Pro Temp. Well, I went to Florida last week. I went down there for a birthday party. There are friends of ours, twins, that had this birthday party. And we were supposed to be going to the party. But then after we got down there, we were staying with some friends, a friend. And it didn't end up the way we were. I only got to spend about 45 minutes at the party. And that's because the friend that we were staying with was grieving because she had lost her husband, and then she lost two sisters on this year. and so and i ended up um staying with her up until about an hour before the party ended because so i only got to spend 45 minutes at the birthday party because so that's what my weekend was like and um get out and vote everybody i'm not telling you who to vote for but i'm going to say get out and vote thank you thank you for that councilwoman rogers

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Yes, I want to echo Jamie's message about Memorial Day, just taking a moment and thanking the families and loved ones of those that have really, really served our country and served the life in which we are all here to support and protect and also grow. i did want to note there have been a number of remembrance uh ceremonies um but there is one upcoming the flags for heroes the boy scouts are doing in duncan park it will be june 18th at 5 30 p.m in duncan park my next my next point is just at the end of our meeting a reminder to participate in the spats public comment period uh you've got until the end of this week to to voice your opinion on our transportation long long-term plan um and also be safe in this uh weather it was it was definitely interesting driving over here so please be safe and enjoy the rain councilwoman smith

Yeah, real quick, just thank you everyone for being here. It's been a good day slash week to be reminded that advocacy still works. Thinking about Liv, you, and you used your comments to talk about the DOT road diet and the advocacy that you made for some changes to the DOT plan, so thank you. thank you for using your voice and for everyone who spoke up about that um and then for everyone who who oh no my sticker fell off i had my sticker on you didn't really vote oh there it is i was number 564 today at noon south carolina broke records today for early voting on the first day of early voting I won't go into it too much, but hopefully you saw that the Senate did not have enough votes to pass the redistricting map, which would have split the city down Pine Street into two different congressional districts. Many of our own representatives voted for that, which I think would have damaged the city's influence we talked about the importance of federal funds and anyway if you want to talk to me about that after i'd be happy to but thankfully um who you vote for today will be the same person who you vote for on June 9th. And we won't have to change congressional districts here in the city. So that is good news this year. Yeah, this year, right now. So thank you for everyone who showed up to vote. And please do get out to vote. We have a lot of really important elections at the local, state, and federal level for these primaries.

Councilman Brown.

Mr. Mayor, thank you all for being here. Yes, it is important to make your voice heard no matter which way you vote. It's very important that you show up. People fought for us and died for the right to vote, so it is our civic duty to show up each and every election. I was very pleased with the outcome this afternoon. taking off my council hat and I'm putting on my private citizen hat. Kevin, I mentioned this to you in the meeting a little bit ago when I was whispering. I know at one point when we talk about our parking garages and some of the challenges, at one point we had the top part of the parking garage which had become sort of a mini racetrack I believe that barrier has been taken down because, of course, folks need somewhere to park. We've had baseball games and lots of events downtown, and so those parking garages, that one is filling up, I suspect. But the one over at, I guess it would be St. John, the George Dean Business School, that top part has now become the new mini racetrack. So I hope that is something maybe we can look into. Friday night I was just, you know, sitting on my balcony just trying to enjoy, you know, nice weather and it just was non-stop and the screeching of the tires and i don't know maybe it's for like influencer for the gram i guess as the kids say these days so um perhaps that's something we could look into i don't know how full that particular garage becomes um but we we need to put an end to that so and thank you all for being here and try to stay dry thank you

Thank you. Thank you for that. Also, we did just celebrate Memorial Day, and that's why we are here on a Tuesday. Again, echoing Jamie's comments about the ones that gave the ultimate sacrifice. We just want to thank them and their families, the military soldiers.

I'll make a motion that we go out of existence.

Not yet. You're cutting me off. I also want to thank all the graduates. The graduates have, I mean, I think Wofford was the last school to graduate. So all of the graduates here locally, colleges and high school and even little people. Thank for those graduates. Also, I want to recognize we are proud to announce City Community Relations Manager Kathy Hill was recognized with the legislative resolution um at the state house house bill 5696 honest kathy for her 35 years of dedicated public service to the state of south carolina and to the city and county of spartanburg and so that's a great honor on behalf of kathy thanks to our uh senators own uh stopping the passing of the redistricting and and and we we all have our own thoughts and and reasoning behind what what we say about redistricting but redistricting is supposed to ensure fair representation and this is these are my words and we all have our own fair representation as populations grow and change but when district lines are drawn for political advantages instead of fairness communities like Spartanburg can lose their voice in government In South Carolina, unfair redistricting has especially harmed minority communities by weakening their voting power. In areas like Spartanburg, where communities are diverse and growing, district maps can be manipulated to divide neighborhoods and concentrated minority votes into limited districts. The impact reaches far beyond politics. Representation affects our funding for schools, healthcare, healthcare access infrastructure improvement public safety housing and economic development of the communities are unfairly divided their needs are easily ignored spartanburg has a rich history a strong working population a diverse community that deserves equal representation Every resident, regardless of their race, income, or neighborhood, should have equal voice in choosing leaders who represents their interests. Fair district maps should keep communities together, reflecting the true population of the region, and protect the voting rights of all citizens. Politicians Politicians should not be allowed to redraw maps in ways that weakens minority voice and guarantee politics outcome, political outcome. So just my few words on that there, but thank the State House, thank the state senators for standing up and making sure this doesn't go forward right now. It's important to vote. Get out and vote. So now, Ms. Luda-Johnson.

Well, I'm glad that we were not finished, but thank you for that message. I make a motion that we go into executive session. Thank you. All in favor?

Aye. Any that opposed? Ayes have it. Ms. Vanessa.