City Council - Regular Meeting

Spartenberg City Council meeting to order. We're going to stand for a moment of silence and I would ask if you would just remember Miss U. Millie King, uh Jay Van King's wife. J Van Pass was funeralized on this past Saturday and um retired from police force August of last year. Pillar in this community uh SRO at Norman for years and just the allaround good guy. So remember his wife and uh this moment of silence. Let us stand. Amen.

Mayor Pro 10, would you lead us in the pledge? [snorts] I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you.

We have item three, approval of the minutes of the October 13, 2025 city council meeting. Second. All in favor? I oppose. Eyes have it. Item four. We have approval of the agenda for the October 27, 2025 city council meeting. So move. All second. All in favor? Any that oppose? Eyes have it. We have a public comment um this evening from Andy Draw. Andy, when you come up, you have two minutes, sir. Um, it will start after you give us your address.

Hello, my name is Andy DR. I live at 525 Parent Drive. And I just want to say again, I love this city. Uh, voted today and it was a reminder of just how grateful I am for each of one of you for your service to our city and all the other public servants that are on the ballot. I wanted to mention just how special I feel like the carfree zone is in Morgan Square. It's one of the things that first kind of caught our attention when we started hanging out in Spartanberg. It's a place that we bring our family and our friends and uh people who talk to us about possibly joining us here in Spartanberg. And I thought since the project has been delayed, I would uh on behalf of Strongtown Spartanberg, which is a people oriented sort of uh advocacy group that we're a part of, uh would just encourage perhaps the consideration of expanding the car-free nature or going back to uh the plans that that made even more space for pedestrians. I think it's just really special to have that kind of plaza uh you know pedestrian people oriented place at the center at the heart of the city. It's just really cool and it seemed like maybe that Morgan Square was like getting put on the back burner. So I thought I'd stand up and just like say thumbs up to Morgan Square when the time comes. Thank you very much.

Thank you sir. Thank you. See for public comments. Wow. Item six. [laughter] Item six. Let me let me stop. Item six, update on the uh road infrastructure improvement presenter tonight. Yes, Mr. Travis Brown, Spar County Public Works Director. Thank you. Let's see. Here we go.

So, thank you. So, yes, sir. My name is Travis Brown. I'm the director of public works for Spartanber County. Uh so in Spartanber County, we have several different divisions. We got the solid waste department, roads and bridges department, our engineering department. Uh C funds is also under uh public works. And then we've got our new transportation department. So that department was actually formed to manage the capital penny projects. Uh capital penny, just as a reminder, that took effect on May 1st in 2024. So it's going to last for a period of six years. Uh the way we categorize those projects were in tiers. So when you hear me talk about a tier, uh you can really relate that to a year. So right now we're in year one. So this would be tier one projects. Um 2026 will be tier 2 projects. 2027 will be tier three projects. Uh before I really dive into this, I also like to give people some some resources. Um if you go to Spart Countyy's web page and go to Spart County under departments under our purchasing department, we've got what we call our project letting schedule. So you can go there and you can see all of the projects that we've got coming up for bid. We really wanted to do this for two reasons. one obviously for the public um so the public can actually go there and see all the projects that we have coming up but we also wanted to do this for our contractor base. So with the amount of work that we have coming up we wanted our contractors to be able to go there and really see everything that we've got coming up for the next year. Um also we've got a county project viewer. So if you go to spartc county.org our departments and then under public works you can pull up that project viewer. It's GISbased so you can look at different things on different layers. You can click on the project. It'll tell you if it's an intersection improvement project, a paving project. It'll tell you the tier. Um, and it'll also tell you uh um how much the project is expected to cost. Uh and lastly is a DOT project viewer. So, same type of concept there. You can go to the DOT's web page uh and it'll show you all the projects that are that are coming up. [clears throat] Uh before I get into too much more of it, I wanted to put this up on the up on the um screen. So, this really shows all

of the projects like that are in within the city. Uh I'm sorry. Uh also the funding for the city as well too. So, um over over the next six years, the city of Spartanberg is estimated to get a little over $9.8 million. Goodness, excuse me. We have several projects that we finished uh to date. Uh the first is uh the resurfacing of highway 290 and that's from Reville Road all the way to North Danler uh North Daniel Morgan. So that's just right behind the courthouse, West Main Street and St. John Street as well too. Uh the remainder of tier one project so um we've actually bid Reval Road. So that that project starts at 290 and goes all the way to East Blackstock Road. So that project has been awarded. Um, uh, Rogers Group has actually got that project a little over $6.9 million. And then, uh, the tier 2, so, uh, that'll be bid in in in, uh, 20 No, I'm sorry. Excuse me. I apologize. Uh, tier 2, so that'll be bid in 2026. Uh, so that's highway 29 from Reval Road all the way to the Cherokee County line. So, that project will likely be broken up into into two sections. Um, one will probably start in Cherokee, go to about Zion Hill Road. The second will go from Zan Hill Road and go all the way to to Reville Road. [snorts] Uh county municipal paving. So right now we've got about $15 million that are under construction. Uh so that includes Fair Force Road, Ballinger Road, Bryant Road, Victor Hill Road. Um I I won't read all of these. Uh but those are currently under construction. We're we're planning to actually finish those projects by the end of this calendar year. Uh we've got about $5 million under construction for the municipal projects. So that includes projects in Woodruff, Inman, Cowpens, Reedville, Lyman, Packlick, Greer, Duncan, Landram, Welfford, and also the city of

Spartanberg. Um, actually going into next year, we've got about $20 million for our tier one county paving. Uh, so that's 12 million within our subdivisions, uh, or I'm sorry, about 12 miles within subdivision roads, 11 miles on the county through roads. Uh, we've got $5 million in our pavement preservation projects. So that's our crack seal, HA5, uh, rejuvenator capill projects. And again, we'll have about $4 million in just our municipal projects. So that'll be Landram, Campabelloo, Inman, and the city of Spartanberg as well, too. [snorts] Uh county corridor reconstruction projects. We've got a number of those that are under construction right now. Uh Se Road, so that's in the Bowling Springs area. So that project is actually finishing up a little over $6.5 million. That's a Reeves construction project. Uh Fourth Street, so we have just bid that project. That probably that project will actually not start until probably next year, but that represents about a $3 million investment there. uh Belchure Road. That project is actually out for bid right now. Uh so that project likely will not start construction until next year as well too. Uh several other county corridors that are um in the design phase, Hanging Rock Road, Lightwood, Knot, Frase Drive. Um so again, those are those are spread out across the county. And just wanted to give some pictures here of what our county corridors look like when we're doing these reconstructions. So uh these projects really are so our county roads really are farmtomarket type roads. Uh so these roads that are 16 17 feet wide instead of just going and resurfacing these roads we actually want to go in there and get these roads to 24 feet. So we're purchasing property, we're moving utilities. Uh instead of just going again repaving a road, we're actually trying to completely rebuild these corridors. So that's kind of a before picture. Uh this is actually C at Clark Road intersection improvement. Uh just a two-lane to two-lane county road intersection there. Uh and this is what it looks like when we're done here. So again, uh you know, taking these little just farmtomarket roads. um actually rebuilding those uh to 24 ft wide. Uh another picture here for for C- Road [snorts] and then the final product there for for C at Clark

uh intersection improvements. So again I I won't read the list but I will highlight Zion Hill Sloans Grove just right outside the city boundaries. So that project is complete now and that project is open. Uh we've got Clark at Bishop a couple of other ones coming up this year as well too. Um Brian at Flatwood that one's done. in West Cleveland. That one's done as well, as is Old John Dodd at Belure Road in the Bowling Springs area. So again, just a before picture and then what the product looks like afterwards. Uh Clark at Sugar Ridge. So that's another roundabout just giving you another example of what those intersection improvements look like. And then we also have what we call a Capitol Penny safety improvement program. So, we really like these intersection improvement projects, but a lot of them are one and a half,2 million, $2.5 million a piece. Uh, and they only, you know, they're just at one point in time. So, what we wanted to do is we wanted to take that money, we actually wanted to spread it out across the county. And that's what we're trying to do here with these safety improvements. So, that's striping of roads, rumble strips, guardrail. Uh, you can take relatively small dollars and spread those out in in a larger format. So, we've uh we've also got another million dollars coming up in in 2026. uh that that million dollars will also be in each year through the remainder of the penny. [snorts] Just highlighting a couple other projects that we've recently completed. So that's a Clark Road Bridge project. Uh we've got the Belchure Road bridge project and also the Kiss Road Bridge project for our CTC department. Um we've got a couple of projects that we've recently completed. Uh so I'll I'll flip through these pretty quickly here. Uh that's a forestry of Valley Falls. Uh we've got Clark or I'm sorry, Gary Armstrong at Highway 29. Uh Victor Hill Chapel, another intersection improvement. Uh Barry Scholes at Highway 290. [snorts]

And then lastly, we've got Apple Valley at Barry Scholes. CTC.

CTC's. Yes, sir. So that's it's called the county transportation committee. Uh what that is is it's actually state gas tax. Uh so each county operates a little bit differently. Uh in Spart County, we've got two committees. We've got the advisory committee and we've got the full committee. Um, but it's a legislative delegation program. Uh, but in Spart County, we get about $7 million a year from the state gas tax. So, that's it's divvied up a lot of different ways across the state. Um, but a part of it, it comes to the CTC's. Um, it's actually for uh it's it's the C program. So, back in the day, the the DOT had A roads, it had B roads, and had C roads. So, these C roads are are what this program is for. and it's really for local secondary type type of the network. Um but with this money we can work on any public road uh as long as it's own publicly owned and maintained we can work on it through the CTC.

So this is not necessarily um the sales tax because it gas tax. This is the gas tax. Yes. So this is separately. Yes sir. This is different from spats. This is different than spats. So spats is actually federal money.

Okay. Uh so with the CTC in FY25, we approved about $10 million worth of paving. Um again, I won't I won't read through that list there. Uh and for 2026, we've got a number of intersection improvement projects coming up. So we just awarded the Berry Souls at Tucka realignment project. Uh we've got several intersections of improvement on Yukat Road. Um Upper Valley Falls roundabout, Barry Souls at Duncan Real roundabout. Uh we've also got some work that we're going to do in front of the Wilford landfill. So, if you've ever been to the landfold, um really anytime, it's pretty busy out there. Uh but we're going to put some turn lanes on on Little Mountain Road, help that traffic actually, uh get out of the middle of the pathways there. Uh so, not only are we doing that, in Spark County, we've actually gone after several grants. Um last year, we were awarded a $10 million grant for storm water infrastructure. Um so, we've got about 13 different coverts that we're replacing. So, we really focused on um our what we call CMP, so it's corrugated metal pipe. Um, so you can imagine what happens when you put metal together with water. They don't like it. It rusts. Um, so we're going in there and replacing it. So these are just some pictures of before and kind of the product that we're looking at afterwards there. Our safety action plan. So in 20 uh I'm sorry, last year um we actually went through on the county side and we evaluated all of our roads. Uh we looked at crash data uh particularly fatal and severe injuries. Um and we came up with our safety action plan. Uh so what this does is it actually highlights what we call the high injury network. So it's where uh most of our crashes particularly fatal and severe injuries are happening on the roadway network within Spart County. Um so our council actually adopted what we call a vision zero. And so it's our goal on within the county to have zero fatalities on our roadways by the year 2040. Um as part of that too, we uh submitted a federal grant and we were awarded that grant uh for the US DOT. So it was $20 million in total. So it was $16 million from from the DOT. uh $4 million in local match

money. Um Asheville Highway and North Pine Street were were the two headline projects there. Um so and then uh we've also got some money for educational campaign and what we're calling spot safety improvements. So again, these are kind of lowerc cost improvements that we're looking at for intersections trying to spread that money out in a lot of different places. Um but we're still working on the grant agreement with the DOT. Uh the county has executed that that's back into the hands of the DOT. So, we're hopefully getting that back here soon and we can start both those projects, particularly uh the Pine Street, North Pine Street and the Asheville Highway project. Uh workforce development. So, as you can see, we've got a pretty big body of work. Um this is a a very ambitious program that we have and simply put, if we're going to be successful in this program, we've got to have the people to do it. Um, so we've we're really trying to work uh with our local education system and our local industry uh to give folks opportunities uh to have jobs within the construction industry. Uh we've partnered with uh Spartanber Community College. U we've actually donated equipment to the community college. Uh so right now you can go get a CDL. Um you can get a ACDL or you can get a class B CDL. Class A in four weeks, a class B in two weeks. Um there's also grant money that folks can have. It's called SC WS dollars. So you can apply for this money. Uh these programs are essentially free. Uh so the community college now they also have a heavy equipment operators training program. Uh they've got a foreman program and they've got a superintendent program. So again these are all certifications. If people are interested in getting into the construction industry they can go to the community college they can get those certifications and essentially it's 100% job placement right whether it's with local government or whether it's is with private industry. Uh there's enough work here in Spart County that people can have careers with with opportunities for advancement.

Awesome. Great. Um we've also got other partnerships as well too. So with one Spartanberg um their initiative with workbased learning um and internship opportunities um our goal is to create a 100 uh internship opportunities uh for the summer of 2026. So we're working with local construction industries to bring those folks make sure they've got a seat at the table uh to give opportunities to high school students uh build for a better future foundation. So this is also an initiative that the city um has partnered with us as well to uh give them um uh resources to build for a better future. Um our goal here is to place 50 high school students within the construction industry over the next two years. Uh there's also a scholarship foundation as well. So uh last year I think it was $16,000 was given out to local uh high school students. Uh they could use that money either for higher education or they could use that money if they were going into the construction industry. So, if they needed to buy tools or supplies, that sort of thing, they could use that money for that. Um, our goal this year is to actually double that. So, we're looking to give away $32,000 in scholarships this year. Um, and again, our goal is to place 50 students within the construction industry over the next two years, working directly with the career centers, directly with the high schools. Uh, we've actually got a breakfast tomorrow at One Spartanberg. So, we've got, I think it's we're up to 40 folks from the local construction industry that's going to come. Uh we've got members of uh the DOT, Spartmer County, uh city coming as well to uh OneSper to talk to the construction industry about all the opportunities that they have. Um opportunities with the scholarship um as well too. Uh what we're going to ask them to do is we're going to ask them to give us uh job descriptions um uh incentive packages for the folks that they're looking to hire. get that directly to the schools and help the schools uh so they can identify students and then really try to cut out that middleman and make those make those connections uh directly with the students and with the construction industry. So certainly appreciate the city's uh cooperation and partnership there. Um you know it's not too many times I think that you can have the city uh Spart County. Um we've got state

level organizations like uh the asphalt association and the um CAGC which is general contractors association uh working with us as well. one Spartanberg, we've got the community college, local educational uh industry as well too. So I don't think there's too many uh areas that you can go to where everybody comes and partners together pulling in the same direction for for one cause like that. So with that and and I apologize I kind of fumbled it through the beginning of this but happy to go over anything again. Um I think I had a slide up there. I didn't really go over it, but a lot of projects happening uh within the city of Spartanberg and and do want to highlight those if I can get back to it. Mr. Mayor, while Travis is uh calling up that slide, I just wanted to share what I think is obvious uh that the that the pace of road work is dramatically increasing uh in and around the city. among the corridors he mentioned are are heavily most heavily traveled. Uh West Maine, East Maine, St. John, um WAL, Union Street paving is is is imminent. Um future looking work on North Pine, Asheville Highway. And then effectively what you heard there was a doubling of the of the pace of routine resurfacing on city-owned streets um through through this. So, just to bring bring those all that data home, it's a it's a dramatic increase in the in the volume of road infrastructure maintenance work um in and around the city and of course all across Spartanber County. We really value our at the staff level really value our partnership with

SC DOT and Spartanberg County. Um uh I know the mayor serves uh on spats. I serve on the the the C fund committee, the CTC. Uh Jay and his team are on the advisory committee and routine daily interaction with uh the county and DOT trying to stretch these resources as far as we can as fast as we can. Gotcha. Travis, you had one more thing you wanted to add.

Yes, sir. I just wanted to bring up the slide really reiterate what Chris was saying there. So I think uh this so this really shows the capital penny projects that we have coming up over the next six years um particularly in the city and just right outside of the city. So, um, again, as you can see, Highway 29, Real Road, 221, South Church Street, um, uh, 295, these are all projects that we've got planned over the next six years just through the Capitol penny and, um, really try to coordinate these efforts with the DOT and, uh, even working with the DOT, I think, uh, they're going to be able to shift some of their money from their primary system to their secondary system. And it's because of mechanisms like this with with the D, with the capital penny, um, that we're able to do this work that they can actually take those resources and put them in other places. Thank you, Council.

Yes. The slide that you skipped and that was the one uh Union Street was there. Go. Would you go back to that slide if you would please? Um yes, ma'am. So, I don't have Union Street. So, Union Street is separate from the Capitol Penny. So, that's a project that's being managed directly by the DOT. Okay. But you showed it there cuz you just skipped it. Uh I don't believe I showed Union Street. Yeah, it was Union Street there. You went by real fast. Uh, it was on the one that had a long list. Well, I believe if I'm not mistaken, that the Union Street paving is imminent. They've done the milling work. Um, so,

okay. But I wanted to see the streets that were there. I think where that was would have been I I don't believe I had Union. I saw Union Street [snorts] and you said that we'll skip this one and you kept going.

Yes, ma'am. So, the these were the slides that that I had up. So, these are the projects that we've just recently completed. So, this was uh 290 North Daniel Morgan West Main Street in St. John. Um these are the projects that we've actually bid. So, so we've bid and awarded Reval Road from 290 uh all the way to um East Blackstock Road in East Main Street. Uh so those projects have been awarded to Rogers Group. They'll probably will not start those projects until until next year. And then we've got our tier 2 projects. So we'll bid those in 2026. Uh those projects really are it's mainly Highway 29 is what that is. It was the slide. Okay. Now you're working on Union Street now, you know, but they're working on now. Yeah, it was a slide that had

uh projects under or resurfacing done or or projects done in 2025 and then then you had 2026 as well. It may have been earlier in the presentation. No, maybe I'm wrong, but it you definitely had a slide that had it in there. Um, I guess my question about

Union Street and and maybe obviously it's not relevant to this presentation, but but I've had conversations with some of the staff about making sure that as we move forward with that Union Street um resurfacing that we make sure that um we're we're doing everything we can to stripe that road better for pedestrian access uh both across cross Union Street and and the side streets because of the critical importance of the connectivity of Union Street to the rail trail. Yes.

Uh and also [clears throat] the school in in some instances. So just want to make sure that that you know we're working with DOT or whoever is managing that project to make sure that we're we're making the the the necessary improvements to the crosswalks. The the other thing I saw a slide where you mentioned you've dedicated some uh resources for additional striping and and safety features, guardrails and things like that. Yes, sir.

And I hope that that in the city that would mean that we would spend some some resources and time on some of our traffic calming devices. I think many of our traffic calming devices have aged and and they're hard to identify. They're not I mean the the paint has faded on them and so even if you know they're there you sometimes come up on them because you just don't see them in the in a on a sunny day or you know [clears throat] really even anytime um because they're not very well well well identified or marked at at this point. Um so I'd hope we we'd take uh some some time on that. And then just to clarify, [clears throat and cough] you mentioned all these projects that are underway and then you also mentioned this $9.8 million. Those are separate. So the city is allocated 9.8 in addition to these projects that you've already talked about that we have at our discretion to make improvements on the roads for resurfacing and things like that. Is that correct?

That that is correct. Yes, sir. We we have um basically the the roadways you travel, the biggest ones are owned and and maintained by SC DOT. Um the small neighborhood streets um are owned and maintained by the city. And for those that pot of money allows us to basically double the pace of resurfacing of of those. Um so when we get that resurfacing schedule that we see on an annual basis that there we should expect double the the volume.

Yeah. Well it's double the resources but we've also seen some inflation. So Jay would be careful to say probably won't be quite double the distance but uh that's um that is the purpose of those dollars and uh and that's what we um have been programmed for. So

I just have one question. Um I know [clears throat] that DOT is responsible for some roads, county is others, city is another on uh Blackstock Road and John B. White. Um I think it's East Blacktock and West Blackstock. Who's responsible for that median in that road on John B. White? Would that be the county or the DOT? Because when you're turning off a black stop on to John B. white.

This is from I 26. It is hard to make that turn, especially at night for people having problems and when it's raining. So, who's responsible for that road, that corner? Yes, ma'am. So, that would be the DOT. DOT.

Yes, ma'am. So, um uh the easiest way to tell who maintains a road is to look at the street sign. Um so, if you look at the street sign and there's a red bird on it, it's maintained by Spartner County. Um if you look at the street sign and it's got a state seal on there. It's maintained by the DOT and then each mun municipality has its own different sign that that's on those. Um I can tell you if you're within a municipal boundary um Spartman County does not have any roads that they maintain within any municipality. So it would be either it could be a municipal road, it could be state road. There are obviously some private roads as well too. But we we'll check on that and talk to the SC DOT about about that particular concern. Mr. Mayor. Yes, Mayor.

Um, Mr. Brown, two questions. It's clear y'all have been extremely busy and your work is great and obvious, and on the the road behind the new courthouse, there's a sign that says brought to you by the penny or paid for by the penny or whatever whatever it is. Um, and you have done some social media videos to talk about the work that's been done. Um, it almost doesn't matter what we post online. Someone's going to post, "But what about the roads?" You know, we could post about Dickens of a Christmas and why spend money on Christmas. What about the roads? Um, so all that to say, I encourage you whenever at all possible to put those signs paid for by the penny, brought to you by the penny because I think that just reinforces um not only are is the work being done, but that you can trust government to spend the money that we have allocated um for this project for that. [snorts] My question is um and it's not a road that's within the city, but I represent the west side and we have part of school district 6 in there and back in April there was that tragic car accident that killed three Dorman students off of um Fair Forest Cleaveale Road and I was curious, that's one of those roads where we have some of the big tractor trailers that come out. Is that a road that's been identified as um needing any additional security measures to get to that zero by 2040?

Um so I' I'd need to check on that road specifically. Um as of right now, we don't have any plans for a particular project on that road. U but it's certainly on our radar. So so one other thing that we're looking at as well too is developing a dashboard um so that all this information can be made available to the public. So, um, and it's crash data that we get from, uh, uh, the Department of Public Safety on a monthly basis to show crashes in Spark County, particularly fatal and severe, uh, injury crashes and how we're doing. And, you know, the hope is is that, um, one, we can do these projects, but then two, uh, actually have an educational campaign as well, too, so we understand the demographic folks that that have these types of accidents. Um, so that we can go to them, right, and, and do an educational. So, uh, just the roadway improvements is only a piece of that. Um it's going to have to be a holistic approach to this. Um the education [clears throat] of it, the understanding of actually what led to those accidents is a big part as well too.

Okay. Thank you. And and [clears throat] also I think we need to make sure that we're overcommunicating um particularly in the city. We you know work through road projects either as a city or with our DOT partners. I mean Union Street's a great example. make sure we're overcommunicating so people know what to expect and are prepared for, [clears throat] you know, not only the progress that that brings, but but the disruptions that can be caused as a result of it. Yeah. You know, I joke that um so I've been public works director for about 10 years now. You know, people call me and say, "I've lived here for 50 years. You never touched my road." Now people are calling me saying, "How dare you, you know, do construction on this road? I can't get to where I'm supposed to go." So, [snorts]

um but no, uh um if we're going to get complaints, I'm glad people are complaining. We're actually working. Yeah. Well, I don't think it's necessarily a complaint. I just think people need to be, you know, made aware of what to expect as that progress takes uh takes effect. Uh, one other quick question I I would have to ask, you know, been employed by school district 7's campground road, the bridge. Yes. Any updates?

Uh, so, um, it's not being managed by the county, um, but I did speak with the DOT. Uh, it's my understanding that construction is supposed to be complete by the end of this calendar year. full warning. Um we've got a couple of other projects that are coming up on Canon's Campground. So we've got Canon's Campground at Floyd Intersection Improvement. Um so that's a tier 2 project. We plan to bid that project next year. It's going to be roundabout. Um so they'll be construction and then um we've also got in tier three it's cannons at Gossip. So right now the plan is another roundabout there as well too. So unfortunately there's going to be more construction on Canon's campground for the next couple years. But um you know if if we can live through a little bit of pain you know we recognize that that is a major corridor particularly for the east side department there's not a great way to get to 85 right so um that's why we looked at those two intersections and then ultimately we've got Floyd Road uh Plane View Drive those are two other corridors that we've got planned for uh improvements throughout the Penny as well too. So

no Travis thank you for that update. Thank you for that information. No appreciate y'all being patient with me. Sorry for the flowing at the beginning of it. But uh thank you all. Thank you. Thank you. Good. Good. One Spartanberg, Inc. Economic Development Updates. Presenter, Mr. Alan Smith, president and CEO of One Spartanberg. Mr. Smith, thank you. Mr. Mayor, members of council, appreciate the opportunity to be here. Have two minutes.

Well, you have the gabble, so I will do as told. Uh, I do appreciate following Travis because Travis outlined some differentiating investments, different differentiating projects. You know, if you'll remember, we've had neighboring counties that have tried to make this investment and could get couldn't get it over the line. So, what we're doing in partnership with the county and all the municipalities is really going to be differentiating uh over the next few years. All 577 projects are either in design or being bid or under construction. So, these things take time. And so, I think I've spent enough time to give Christopher uh the opportunity to get my presentation up there. Um, and now I'll spend the next 18 seconds I have left giving my presentation. But in all seriousness, I do uh appreciate being here. Um, we're in a special moment right now uh in the city of Spartanberg, particularly downtown. And so, I want to quickly uh run through some slides. We have something that we've [snorts] been working on. It was actually completed over the weekend. Uh a new economic impact report. I want to share that with council as well uh and the general public for the first time. But before we dive into downtown, I think it's important to appreciate and understand what's happening across the county from 20 to 20 24. 7.4 4 billion in new investment, 152 new projects, and the most important stat, 8,611 new jobs for the people that call Spartanberg County home. That is a number one in South Carolina run. And when you see those kinds of numbers, you think that's absolutely remarkable. And then you get to this year, 3.35 billion in new investment since January 1. Again, number one in South Carolina. And one of the most important stats is the most important stat is the 882 new jobs. And I will tell you, of

those jobs, there's one project that's nearly 300 new jobs paying an average of $99,000. So, a lot of the things that we've been talking about as a community in terms of raising peri per capita income for years, we're beginning to see that happen. and we're beginning to see it happen at scale. And what's even more important is, and I'm so glad my friend and colleague Katherine O'Neal is here, our chief economic development officer at One Spartanberg, Inc., because she has really embraced the fact that we have to diversify our economic development approach. We can't have all our eggs in the advanced manufacturing basket. That is our bread and butter. We've won in that space and we will continue to win in that space, but we have to continue our partnership with the city. uh we have to continue to think about life science projects, white collar projects, regional back office, so on and so forth. And so when you look at our portfolio and what we're working on collectively with our partners, this is what you see. And you don't see this for other economic development organizations throughout the county. Most of them are fairly niche or they're myopic. So in our shop, we're we're thinking about downtown. I see Laura Ringo is here. We're thinking about trails and entertainment and multifamily uh because we know in order to be sustainable, we've got to diversify our approach. And so I want to take you back to 2016. In 2016, we knew that we needed a comprehensive datadriven community and economic development strategy. So we started the process of building one Spartanberg vision plan. Uh and a part of that process is we conducted a survey. Another part of that process was literally outside firm pulled economic data about our community for three months. That survey 3,100 people participated in that survey. And the one

thing that I'm proud of is uh we partnered with the library system and so all the libraries across the county in order for people to access the free Wi-Fi they had to take our survey. So [clears throat] that drove up participation, but more important, we heard from people that typically don't have a voice, people that were going to the library to use free Wi-Fi. They told us what they wanted to see. And in 2016, when all that feedback was entered in, we generated this word cloud. Let me go back to what the question was. Imagine that you went home, packed your bags, and didn't return to Spartmer County for 10 years. What would you want to see different about the community when you return? That was 2016. We're almost 10 years from asking that question. And by a margin of five to one, the most commonly used word was downtown. People wanted to see downtown Spartanberg improved. People wanted more housing options in downtown Spartanberg. They wanted multifamily options. They wanted restaurants. You see all the words that were mentioned, but people expected us. People expected their local governments and they were hopeful that the private sector would also lean into downtown Spartanberg. And that's exactly what has happened. The data back from that first report, 2017, 2021, was pretty damning. uh residents aged 25 through 34 rated 10 of 14 quality of life factors lower than other groups. They said from an entertainment perspective, they'd actually prefer to live somewhere else. From a housing perspective, there just weren't many options. And in fact, that age group was voting with their feet. From 04 to 14, it only grew by

3.8%, 8% the lowest among all our peer regions. Lower than Chattanooga, lower than Hamilton County, Tennessee, lower than Fort Wayne, Indiana, lower than Rock Hill, South Carolina, and lower than the state average today. That demographic is our second fastest growing demographic behind 65 plus. They also said we had a long way to go in terms of residential development, multifamily, really all kinds of options for housing from affordable to workforce housing all the way up to executive. In fact, in 2016, there were 461 multifamily units in and around downtown Spartanberg. We are now right in that 4 to 5,000 range. And so here were some of the recommendations from those early vision plans. Support multifamily housing development particularly in downtown Spartanberg. We need more class A office space if we're going to recruit more higherp paying white collar jobs. Create a favorable climate for development in downtown Spartanberg. This council has done that. invest in entertainment and cultural amenities to attract and retain talent. If I would have told folks uh back in 2017 that we're going to have a minor league baseball stadium that's going to be programmed 85% 80% of the nights, they would have said, "You're crazy. That'll never happen." Well, back then they were they were asking us to really double down and invest in entertainment and cultural amenities. And I think if you can't find something to do in Spartanberg these days, it's your problem. [laughter] And then we've all seen all these pictures, but I want to show them again because it really ill illustrates the fact that [snorts] this vision, this aspiration for our community is

literally coming to life in front of our eyes. So you see the planetarium there. You see the courthouse. Well, why is the courthouse important? These are lit literally office hundreds of office professionals uh that are having coffee, eating breakfast, spilling out into downtown during lunch, so on and so forth. Having this many people concentrated in one space is a huge economic driver across downtown. And then I mentioned the minor league baseball stadium and the unbelievable investment that the Johnson's have made and continue to make in the city of Spartanberg. It is a differentiator. It is a level of investment that's drawing investment from others. We're seeing Lat Perer do one, two, three projects out of Charlotte. We're going to see a multif family developer out of Indiana. We're seeing investment come from outside areas because our people, our local people believe in what we're building here in Spartanberg. Speaking of that, this is Project Core. And I think most of you all have seen these renderings, but I'm aruck uh every time I see them because because this is really what momentum looks like. And then of course this is the city county complex also made possible uh by the 2017 penny. It's important to point out the day the courthouse was done the people of Spartanber County had no debt. the people of Spartanberg County uh had a building that was completely paid for with no uh increase in the property tax rate and 30% of the revenue came from people that don't even live here. That's what the penny did for those buildings. That's what the penny is going to do for our roads and that's what the penny is going to do for the city county complex when it is done. Another example too of impact in downtown Spartanberg as those people spill out on the streets uh and patronize our local businesses.

111 Main Street. Again, more multifamily development, more housing options. This is a little bit of a busy chart, but we've heard a lot of conversation about hotels. Do we need more hotels in Spartanberg County? This chart and the next one says absolutely yes. We have an occupancy rate right now of 71.5%. That's higher than Myrtle Beach. Uh that's neck andneck with Charleston. It's higher than Birmingham, slightly higher than Colombia, and higher than Chattanooga. Year overyear occupancy rates are going up. In other words, year-over-year, our hotels, our existing hotels are fuller and fuller and fuller. So last year, we saw occupancy go up by 9.3%. More than every single community listed on that graph. Revpar, this is revenue per available room night. Once again, you see Spartanberg at the top. Once again, when you look at year-over-year change, our revpar almost went up 20%. More than any of these communities on this chart. So, if people say, "Well, we don't we don't need another hotel." Well, the people that invest in hotels and understand how this work, they look at the data, they look at charts like this, and the justification has been made for more more hotel product uh in our community. and glad to see that downtown with the Fairfield and then the next one uh downtown is going to see more hotel product. And so this is all about momentum. Yesterday's investment led to today's projects. Today's projects lead to tomorrow's investment. But how does that really impact the community? How does that help everyday people here in the city of Spartanberg? So Dr. Bob

Brookke over with Clemson uh PRT program. We've commissioned an economic impact um study and I want to share that with council tonight. Um before I do, this is a little bit uh technical, but just some of the definitions that you'll see in the study. Direct effects, I mean, I think that's pretty obvious. The number of jobs that will be supported by all the economic investment in and around downtown Spartanberg. Labor income is all the money that will be made through those jobs. And then economic output is really the total economic activity. And so this is what the report told us. When you add up all the projects uh in or around downtown Spartanberg, you have a total of $1.2 billion dollar in new investment. And then you go to the very very bottom and you see what kind of impact that's going to have just in the city. Then you go to the very bottom and you see how it's going to spill out into the county. and then all across the state of South Carolina. So the state as a whole will see almost a $ 1.9 billion economic impact by what's happening in downtown Spartanber. And keep in mind these are not additives. So the 1.4 billion is the measured impact just in the city, 1.7 just in the county, and then the 1.8 just for the state. But as I always say, the most important thing is the jobs. So, the economic impact will support 11,389 jobs in the city of Spartanberg, 13,000 or so in Spartanberg County, and then almost 14,000 across the state of South Carolina. The top lines are as follows, and this is mind-boggling. combined downtown CBD projects will support slightly more jobs than those onsite at BMW Plant Spartanberg.

13,76 jobs supported by the investment in downtown Spartanberg. That expanding tax base will hire teachers, build schools, fixes our roads, supports first responders. Talent, talent, talent. Talent is a currency of economic development. If we have talent, we will continue to win. If we don't have talent, we will not win. And when we do not win, we know what that looks like in this community 40 or 50 years ago when textiles left. Our people won't have jobs. And they will either have to move or they have to drive 45 minutes to an hour to get those jobs. So, you know, there's there's some angst around growth. And I and I get that and I appreciate that. But this is a community today where you can lose your job on a Monday and you can get another one on a Tuesday. That's a blessing because there are a lot of communities in South Carolina right now where you can lose your job on a Monday and you have two choices. You can move or you can plan to drive an hour to and from work every single day. That's just not the reality for people that call Spartanberg County home. So, [snorts] with that, I'm happy to take any of your questions.

Thank you. [clears throat] Thank you, Alan, for that presentation, man. That's some good numbers. Impressive numbers. And I'm sure we have a couple questions. Councilwoman Smith.

Um, thank you, Alan. Not a question, but more of a statement or just to doubleclick, as my boss likes to say, on what you said at the at the very end. Um, I think that you all do such a wonderful job celebrating Spartanberg and not just celebrating it, but but making what we celebrate happen. [clears throat] You know, Katherine is the magic behind so much of what we do here. Um, we love to cut the ribbons. We love to show the numbers. Um, but one thing that I've been reflecting a lot on on the since the whole clock tower conversation is there are a lot of people that those numbers are are not clicking with. Um, when we talk about we talk about momentum and those people feel left behind and that means that we're not doing a good enough job at helping people understand why a new hotel downtown is a good thing. Um, I had the privilege this past week of speaking to a Wford class and I see one of our our students, Sydney, back there. Um, and we talked about this. We talked about how a city has, you know, two options to raise revenue. You either raise taxes on your people or you bring in new businesses to help generate new revenue. Um, and no, none of us want to raise taxes on our people. We want to bring in new new businesses and new revenue. And what can we do with a larger budget? How can we support new um like you said, first responders and put new police on the streets, you know, but that takes new business,

but that that takes a lot of words to say. Um and people are after the fast clicks, the easy jab. Um but we've got to figure out a way to get that message across to people. Um, so I mean I'm speaking to myself as well, but figuring out a way to do that I think will make our job easier, y'all's job easier, but I mean, you're right, there's a lot of angst around growth because we can't make that connection. There are people who live in this city who will never go to a baseball game, but how do we help them understand that that is still good for them? You know, we were last week at the Upstate Talent Forum where we heard um from the Prophet of Doom who talked about um some scary numbers when it comes to not having enough people in the workforce to take care of an aging population, for example. Um, so helping people understand that having younger people move to Spartanberg is a really great thing, especially if they can get involved in health care because then that means you're going to have someone who can take care of you when you're older. But we have to help make [clears throat] those connections and that's it. It's just a statement. And so there's smart people out there, marketing folks, Christopher, you know, all those people. But it's something that we need to do a better job at. Can I speak to that?

Of course.

So, I mean, that's I I I'm hoping that some of that came through in our presentation, just the availability of jobs. And, you know, there was a day in time where it was we want jobs, jobs, jobs. Well, now now we're at a moment in time where we say we will we will as an organization in partnership with local government recruit quality jobs. And so wages are up as a result of that. Per capita income is up. You mentioned a lot of people not benefiting and and that that is the case which is which is why I'm delighted that while youth unemployment is too high, we have something in Spartanber County that we're looking to address that we hope will address that issue. And that is the fact that through 120ome employers and our partnership with SAM and movement 2030, we now have 600 workbased learning opportunities available to high school students. That's so important because they get active and they get engaged and it might light a spark and that might lead to them going to college or it may lead them to fill one of these many many jobs. It may lead them to realize I don't want to do what I'm doing right now and seek out something differently and that is just beginning. That's only 18 months old. And so we see that scaling in a way that would matter. Labor force participation rate is not what it needs to be. I think this group realizes that transportation is a barrier and you that is a priority of yours. We understand that child care is a barrier to labor force participation rate and we've been given the opportunity really to lead the state of South Carolina in in introducing some innovative and effective policies that we hope will be embraced in Colombia and we can begin to see some scale change as far as that. But economic development is the engine that sustains communities. And so just to reiterate what I was

saying, we are in a community where if you find yourself without opportunity, it's proximate here. You don't have to move. Uh you don't have to drive an hour. We just got to get people ready to take those opportunities. Proximity. I love that, Alan. Um just one other quick. Um Travis mentioned it as well, the internships and you were just mentioning and as you you go back and you said in 2016 461 jobs 461 multifamily units. Oh uh I'm sorry and yes because now we're up to in between 4,000 and 5,000 right

multi uh family units. But again, retaining the talent in order to uh occupy those family units is what what what we're looking at. And I do so appreciate the opportunity you guys are giving the high schoolers around Spartanberg County to participate in your internships um um here in the city. So I know we're hitting on 600 this coming summer, right? Correct. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Yeah. Alan, thank you and and Katherine and your entire team for all that you do for our community. Um, you know, I read one time years ago the great banker Hugh McCall once said that cities are like banks. You know, you either grow or you die. And and so, you know, growth is an essential component of of what we're trying to do as a community. And and growing in a responsible way is is critically important. and and you know that's why we invest so much time in our comprehensive plan and and get the public engagement involved in that and and so many of these other things that we do our approval process that we have for these for these major projects and and you know I think Eric mentioned it at our last meeting but but as a a both a parent and a graduate of Wford uh during a fall football season I have the benefit of of seeing folks that are like you just proposed pack their suitcase and left Spartanberg 10 or 20 years ago who've come back as alumni uh or parents to to to see what's happened in our community and they're blown away. I mean, they can't believe that this is the Spartanberg that they went to college with, you know, in my case 10 years ago or in Chris's case 30 years ago. But, um it's it's just amazing. I mean, it it really is. and and I was speaking to a group last week and and you know I used a lot of the same visual slides that you used in your presentation because I think one of the things that that has dawned on me is that people you that they know these projects are going on and they're and they're you know they're they're excited about them generally sometimes they're frustrated by some of the disruptions that are created but I don't think that there is is wide enough understanding of the visual component of what how our how our downtown in in particular is going to change over the next five years. So so to Megan's point,

you know, if we can if we can have a concerted communication effort, I mean, just the slide that, you know, shows what Project Core will look like when it's completed. I mean, you know, the the city county complex, if you're looking at it from Grouchos down the street, I mean, you know, those things excite people. And so in addition to to conveying the the the economic impact, the real uh the real world impact of jobs and things like that, you know, connecting people to what Spartanberg will look like in in 3 to 5 years, I think would would go a long way to to bolstering the the excitement that that I think all of us feel about these projects and and I know you're working on it on a day-to-day basis, but all the excitement about what these projects would mean to to uh to the citizens of our community both now and in the future. And and you know, I have three boys that are rapidly approaching that fastest growing demographic that you that you showed and [snorts] and you know, I want them to to see opportunity here so that they want to, you know, live here and raise their families and and that's what this work is all about and and that's why it's so exciting to me personally.

Well, thank you. and and I think a differentiator again and we also take this for granted how well we work together in this community. We have a city council, a county council, you know, we've celebrated wins in Woodruff and we've celebrated wins in Landram and Enman and so on and so forth. Uh and not only that, we have a willing private sector, a willing local private sector that's willing to invest, which causes people from Charlotte and and uh North Carolina in general to take take part. Eastern North Carolina, Greenville, North Carolina make an investment uh here in Spartanber. And so that public private partnership we say it and I think when we're in it all day every day we don't appreciate the fact that it does not happen like this in other communities. So that that too Jamie is special.

Yeah. Counciloman Little John. Yes. [clears throat] Alan I just want to make a comment. I moved back here. I moved away from here in 1975 and I moved back here in 2007 and I was really shocked regard to see the way that things were in Spartanberg because it had kind of gone down from the point that I knew it as being. And then when you and Katherine came on board, I don't know, it was like a roller coaster or you two just began to make things happen and Catherine's hair was black going out. [laughter]

So, so now you Thank you. Yeah, you know, between you two and the team that you have that's working with you and the city of Spartanberg, we are making things happen here in Spartanberg and I am so proud to say that I live in Speberg. Thank you all. Thank you.

Yeah, I mean uh [laughter] I may have had hair back then. No, no. Great. Uh Alan, again, thank you for the presentation. We do appreciate the partnership and that's the collaborative effort of Spartanberg and that's how we continue to make these things move. Again, even talking with Travis from the penny, the collaborative effort amongst the uh uh uh parties that are involved with all of these. So, we we do thank one Spartanberg, we thank the county, we thank our uh uh private sector partners as well. And uh again, [snorts] just just seeing what Spartans moving, man, I I I am so excited being being a native born and raised here. It's it just excites me every day uh when I wake up and think about what's going on in Spart. So again, thank you.

Thank you. We're honored to partner. Thank you. All right, Mr. Mayor, I'll make a motion we approve the consent agenda. All in favor? I I [laughter] any that oppose? Eyes have it. Thank you. J Squires, we are about to award a bid of the Mary Hright Greenway Trail phase two. Squires, [clears throat] public works director.

Yes, sir. Mayor, council, um yeah, so staff received the bids for the Mary H. Wright Greenway phase two. Um I think everybody is sort of familiar with what phase one was. it it'll pick up right there on South Converse Street and kind of connect that southside corridor to the existing trail system. So, the project will consist of larger pedestrian walkways and um protected bicycle lanes as well, sort of similar to what was completed on that stretch of Daniel Morgan as well. So, it'll kind of look like that as well. So, very excited about it. Um we had three um uh uh contractors who uh who submitted the bids. Community First Developers out of Anderson was a responsive load bid at 365228.95. Um if you probably you you're probably familiar with them. They actually completed the Mary H the Mary Black resurfacing back um almost two years ago. Wow. It's been a long time. So um staff's reviewed the bids. We've we've uh we've considered all three of those bids and we we determined that community first developers is responsible bid. The project should take about 45 days to complete. They'll like every other project will have detour routes uh depending on the complexity of the project and [snorts] how it impacts the roadways as well. Um we allow we we're asking the the council to allow the city manager enter enter into a contract with community first developers for the completion of the project. And the good thing, like you said, bottom, state funds will be um used to complete the project.

Councilman Foreman. Yeah, I love the state funds. That's great. Um it's such a wide range in the bids. Yeah. What I'm blown away. I mean, it's a $600,000 delta between uh the high and low. The [clears throat] just just the the the last one there, the Foothills Contracting Services, we've we've never dealt with them before. I think um central South Carolina the the the location the farther away from your your your your kind of hub you probably have a um a number that's going to peique your interest. So I think they threw that out there but but we're we're confident that community first can deliver on the the work and Okay. And you just stated they did the resurfacing at Mary Black, right?

They did. They did the Mary Black completion this time of year. So we were very pleased with their progress. They they [clears throat] got it done pretty really relatively quickly and on time and on budget. Any other questions? Mr. Mayor, I make a motion you approve. [clears throat] Second. All in favor? Any that opposed? Eyes have it. Item 10, staff update. Mr. Story, [clears throat]

Mr. Mayor, just a couple of things to um cover quickly. your your staff is following closely the u the discussions in Washington and uh working with our nonprofit partners about the potential local impact of uh an interruption in SNAP uh supplemental nutrition assistance program uh benefits that uh affect a large number of residents about across all of Spartanberg County it's about 38,000 uh residents I don't city specific data, but our we would assume that it'd be roughly proportional um uh to about one in 10 uh residents um in supported by u [snorts] u monthly uh SNAP um benefits. So we are engaging with uh nonprofit partners and and um mobilizing strategies. Um obviously we don't know um the certainty of an interruption and how long it might be. Um but we want to be um as proactive as we can. A first step on that [snorts] um begins actually tomorrow um at I believe it's 10 maybe it begins at 11 um at the uh Dr. TK Greg Center a resource fair community resource fair. A lot of the uh major nonprofit social service providers in the community will be on hand for folks that are concerned about that and may be able to find other tools and resources to um to um uh address needs. um that um includes a unique element, the Fifth Third Bank Ebus, which is a financial literacy um and financial stability, educational and resource tool that that goes around different sites will be there [snorts]

as well as um the United Way and a number of our partners. Um obviously one event is not the uh but it's it's merely one first step um into thinking about how we might support uh folks if there is a uh uh sustained interruption in in SNAP benefits. So we'll continue to work on that. I'll continue to have additional updates for you at your next meeting and we'll be moving u aggressively um to marshall any available resources u to ensure that we minimize adverse impact on the community. Chris, is it correct that wick is being funded?

That's my understanding, but again there's not we don't we don't have [snorts] great information. Um and and some of the things I'm reading from from DC have shifted. So Okay. Um but that's my understanding. So you're saying is women, infants, and children. So if you're pregnant or have a small child, that's a separate federal fund that helps with formula and food. But it it will be funded. You're saying Well, that's Chris is saying I had heard that it would be, but Chris is saying that maybe there's conflicting information, right? not 100% sure. Uh just to be candid. Um it's a separate Yeah.

pot. It is a separate program all al all together and I'm just not sure. Um but we're going to do all we can and and and fig you know find the best strategies we can to be supportive of the in the in the community and and like you said this is a first step here you know just to try to get the conversation started. I'm just curious. You're having it at TK Greg. Is this just for the partners or this for the community? Oh, it's for the community to come and learn about resources that are available. Information has been sent out to them.

Yes. Well, we've we've put it together quickly, but we're pushing it out through all of our various channels. Um uh and and so are our partners in that. and it's just a first step for folks to to learn about additional resources uh that are available locally. Uh we will probably replicate the similar type of communication and that kind of thing. So if you know if you have friends or family that you know are particularly at risk um if SNAP is interrupted, this would be a good time to learn some things that might be great participation this week. you were tried again and again and again. Yes, ma'am.

But I'm sure some of our friends in the media, some of whom are here tonight, would be willing to help us uh get that get that word out and and amplify that as quickly as possible. And actually, I think Kim, I don't think I know Kim Brown is on a radio commercial with one of the local radio stations as well as well getting out the same information. [clears throat] Mr. Mr. Mayor, that was my primary um update to cover, but certainly any questions on any topics are welcome. That's great. All right, that sounds like city council updates. Councilwoman Smith.

Um [clears throat] yeah, if there's one thing that Spartanberg does well, it's rally around each other and for each other in time of need. So, I'm glad that that that is happening. Um before we meet again, we will have an election. So, encourage everyone to go vote. Every single vote matters. Um, we only had six% show up for the state senate. Um, which is a terrible amount. So, really hope that we can show um that the city is much more engaged than that. We'll have a new uh council person. Um, and best of luck to my fellow council people who are running. So, go vote. It's up to me.

Yes, ma'am. You know, I was just thinking a little while ago for you up for reelection and Christie is running for re-election. If I could vote for you all, I'd vote for every one of you. Well, thank you.

Because I think you are just great. Anyway, um I went to vote on last week. I took my aunt. There were nobody in there but me and my aunt. And this was at 11:00 in the morning. There were nobody cuz we walked right in and I asked the lady that was there are people not coming to vote and she said they are not coming in to vote. I don't know go what's wrong with these people that are not voting but I tell you what with everything that's going on in the world right now if you do not vote cuz you don't only have yourself to blame cuz if things don't go the way that you think that they should. Um also on October the 16th I attended the Boots and Pearls um event [snorts] and it was wonderful. Congratulations got to all of the honores on October the 17th. Uh the planetarian uh uh had their grand opening and congratulations to Todd on his accomplishment. Uh, and on October the 20th, and I hope and pray that none of us could walk around Governor Chip or Matt with somebody. I was at a function with Jay Van King. He and his wife shared the table with me and my husband and James Tally. on October the 20th. One month from that day, he was gone. I never would have guessed that he would be gone. That was a wonderful evening. So, I encourage everybody that if you have a chip on your shoulder with somebody, go and straighten it out because life is too

short cuz for you to be walking around Matt, you never know when death is going to knock on your door. Um, he was a great guy. I just love Jan. Uh, and then the grassroots uh had their graduation on October the 23rd and congratulations to all of the graduates. And I just have to pat my mayor on. I just don't know how he does it. I thought I did a lot, but everywhere I [laughter] go, I see him. He is always showing up. And thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Councilwoman Sally, thank you.

I want to say that uh on last week, I believe first of last week, we went to tourway Village. I was very impressed, very uh pleased with the fact that we had as partners has joined in to make sure that our citizens who are homeless will have a place to stay. and gain some respect and get back out into the working world to help themselves. Also, um she mentioned Boots with Pearls. It was a beautiful event. It was held at the Fifth Third uh park and um it was magnificent, beautiful evening and congratulations to those who were awarded. We also celebrated the Park Hill neighborhood where we got the chance to get involved with what Swatburg has to offer. And to each and every one of the staff that was there who was there for advice to share [cough] our services, I thank you and I appreciate the neighbors that did come out and to enjoy the festivities. Um I also that following day went to Chapman Culture Center to which to witness Cap pillow. I think I'm saying that right. And it was fantastic. I thought I could read the whole story of the event and I was I did and it was fantastic. And I hope that you all will take a chance and go to the culture center to check in some of the programs that they offer. Uh on last this past Saturday, [snorts] we very the young man J. V King officer who was a gentle soul who was a part of my life as a church member. Um he really helped me with my child at Dorman High

School. So he will be truly missed to the family. My deep deep condolences. Uh also we recognize Mr. Ralph McCullik who was instrumental in providing his hand and his handiwork for Highland Home. They honor him and congratulations to his family for a plaque for his services that was rendered. Um and if you get a chance and and you it's it's safe, it's sound, and it's beautiful and it's on Beacon Street. Um, I can't remember the corner street name, but you need to go and and see the uh plaque that was presented to the family and is on the brick work. And yesterday we did a recognition for Miss Kitty Black Perkins who was uh the person responsible for the first black Barbie doll and all the princesses and angels came out to be with her. It was the cutest tea party ever. I enjoyed it. Of course, I did have on my my former affair, but it was lovely. Thank you. Thank you, Council McB.

Uh yeah, Mr. Mayor. Uh first of all, I just want to thank the uh Spartan Fire Department. Uh they came out yesterday uh to my father's house. Normally, they come when he tries to cook, but but uh in in this instance, he had a carbon monoxide alarm that that the sensor triggered and they came out, took a look at it. It was identified as a faulty battery, but but I think they gave him a new one and um you know, gave him good peace of mind. So, I appreciate them for for doing that and and the service they provide to all of us. Um, also like my colleagues, I want to send my thoughts and condolences to to Officer King's family. Um, terrible loss and I know uh his friends and family will will feel that very deeply. And then finally, we're sitting here in the county council chambers tonight and and uh we lost uh former county council chair Jeff Horton last week. uh he was a great champion for our community and and Allan was talking about collaboration and and the things that we do working together in Spartanberg and I think I think uh Jeff was a was a key instigator for bringing our our uh county together and and starting to move us forward and so he leaves a a lasting legacy and it's also a reminder to all of us that um you know we we take for granted sometimes that collaboration and the successful uh spirit spirit in which we all share and move our community forward. But it is also very fragile and and we need to be very good stewards of of the trust that's and placed in us to to help move our community forward and Jeff is a is certainly somebody that served as a as a great [snorts] example of that. We should be grateful for him and our thoughts go to him and his family as well.

Thank you for that Jamie. I I truly forgot. Uh Mayor Pro Tim, Mr. Mayor um been out of town a good bit, so I've missed quite a number of events, but uh I do want to extend my condolences to Officer King's family as well. I always remember him, you know, when he was off duty, but still on duty, always leading, you know, the the electric slide and the line dancing downtown and always really engaging with our young people. And um he just had a smile that would just

brighten up a room. So, he will be truly missed. and uh we will be thinking of him and his family. Um also Jeff's family as well. He had a huge impact on you know over what 25 years on council for county council and um you know really helped us

get that needle moving in the right direction with regard to um how we have grown as a community. So he will also be missed. um had an opportunity to attend the Bridgeway uh event uh with uh Councilwoman Sally and and you Mr. Mayor and Megan. Um I think this is going to be a really good opportunity to help our most vulnerable. Um you know that the this particular project, a tiny home project will be assisting women and children um and they will have you know case management and um have access to uh financial literacy and job training. And so it's a really good opportunity um to see what we can do. Um it's more of a pilot program, so it's going to start small, but I think that it's going to be a really great opportunity to um help help these women get back on their feet. And I'm looking forward to seeing where that goes. Um and as my favorite president said, don't boo, vote. [clears throat and laughter]

Yes, ma'am. Thank you. I'm sorry. I do have one more thing to say and I want to say congratulations and tell the police department I am very pleased for their work and they have worked well in solving some cases that has been uh thrown in in a side and I am very proud of them also. Please get out and vote. You have one more week of of early voting and after that you have an official date. Appreciate you all.

Thank you. Thank you for that. um get out to vote uh was at the top of mine as well there. There are over 300 uh elections within the state of South Carolina. So, it's a lot of election. Of course, you know, you have the county and local elections here. So, definitely get out to vote. Um uh my condolences truly go to Jeff Gordon's uh family as well as Jay Vans. Uh Allan, thank you again for that uh update with the economic impact. Travis for the roads. We do appreciate that. And uh Andy, you heard all that good stuff about Spartanberg. So let let's keep pumping it. Thank you for what you do. Um Kitty Black Perkins, if you um she was there at the uh ribbon cutting on that Friday, but we also had a personal uh conversation with her because she was present on Miles with the mayor for you guys that missed it. Uh and and we had an awesome time with her. She is uh she will be at Spartanberg High School on tomorrow uh talking with students uh as well. So I mean she's letting her uh presence be known uh here in Spartanberg. And it's just just what we do uh in this community uh bringing everyone to the table. Um Pride had their uh celebration Saturday as well. And again, we just want to make sure everyone is welcome in Spartanber. We we we're not uh about any division. We want to be inclusive to uh all we do. So with that, do I hear a

motion to move into executive session? Second. All in favor? Any that opposed? Eyes have it. Thank you guys for coming.