[0:02] Want to welcome everyone to tonight's meeting of Greenville City Council. Nice

[0:06] to have you with us. If you'll rise now for invocation by Council Member

[0:10] Brazington, followed by the pledge of allegiance.

[0:14] » Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Would you please join me in prayer?

[0:18] Dear Lord, we gather together here today intend on doing good work. We seek to

[0:22] represent fairly and well all those who have given us this important task of

[0:26] serving the public good. May our efforts be blessed with insight and guided by

[0:31] understanding and wisdom as we seek to serve with respect for all. May our

[0:36] personal faiths give us strength to act honestly and well in all matters before

[0:42] us. Dear Lord, we ask for your continued guidance as we carry on in our

[0:47] collective work and we offer thanks for the many blessings that you have

[0:51] afforded us. It's in your name we lift this prayer. Amen.

[0:55] » Amen. I aliance to the flag of the United

[1:00] States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under

[1:06] God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[1:12] » Thank you. Thank you all very much.

[1:17] That was a vigorous pledge. Thank you. >> Very good. Clerk will now call the role.

[1:23] » Council member John Dewin. >> Yeah. Council member Lillian Fleming

[1:27] » here. >> Council member Ken Gibson.

[1:29] » Council member Will Breington >> here.

[1:32] » Council member Tina Belgi >> here.

[1:34] » Council member Dorothy Dao >> here.

[1:36] » Mayor Knox White >> here. You have the minutes of August

[1:40] 10th, 2026, which will stand approved as submitted. Unless there are any

[1:43] objections. Seeing none, they are so approved. We

[1:48] have a few folks who signed up to speak to council tonight. Uh we have a

[1:51] threeinut rule. So there's the clock on the wall there. So, just keep an eye on

[1:55] that and I'll take comments at this time. Uh, let's see. Elias Ryan.

[2:02] Yes, sir. Thank you. Good afternoon, council. My name is

[2:07] Elias Ryan. I'm an electrician. I live in the Pleasant Valley neighborhood on

[2:11] the south side of town. And today, I'm addressing the council in regards to the

[2:16] ALPR camera system, uh, mostly most commonly known as block cameras. Um, I'm

[2:21] here today to speak about two issues primarily. One of them is the potential

[2:27] for abuse from this camera system that our city employs and the other one is

[2:32] something that I've called tourism vandalism. And I'll start with that

[2:37] because I think it's the more immediate issue. Um the flock camera systems that

[2:43] the city uses are u they're not difficult to find and people who are

[2:49] seeking to uh vandalize the cameras are going to start uh taking action in the

[2:55] city to vandalize them um and other public property. And I don't want to see

[3:00] that because I like for things to be kind of orderly and clean. And you're

[3:05] seeing a movement, especially in bigger cities, but it's trickling down into

[3:09] cities that are our size of people coming from out of town or from in town,

[3:13] but a lot of people coming from out of town uh with the intent to vandalize

[3:17] these security systems. And these security systems are not well

[3:23] appreciated by uh by the public. Myself and my neighbors don't appreciate the

[3:28] surveillance system that's in place. Um, but there are people who are uh doing

[3:33] things other than coming to speak to y'all about it that are going to cause a

[3:36] lot of problems for not just the the security system, but also for public

[3:42] property around the security systems. Um, and so I just wanted to bring that

[3:45] issue to y'all's attention because it's not something I would have thought of,

[3:49] um, until I, uh, heard a news story about it this week, uh, about somebody

[3:54] coming from out of town to a town in Texas, uh, driving across state lines to

[3:59] vandalize these cameras. And so I think that maintaining this sort of

[4:03] surveillance system acts as uh, the creation of a target for vandals and

[4:08] criminals to do damage to them and to other city infrastructure. The second

[4:12] part I wanted to speak to you about was the potential for abuse from the flock

[4:17] camera system. The Greenville County uh Sheriff's Office had to fire two

[4:21] employees uh over flock abuses, Richard Man and Lorie Wilkinson. Uh Miss

[4:27] Wilkinson was a dispatcher, not an officer. Uh nonetheless, they both

[4:31] abused the flock camera system and were thus fired. Um the city of Greer had a

[4:36] flock abuse incident a few weeks ago and uh just two or three days ago uh

[4:42] suspended their flock camera system for 90 days following this incident in

[4:46] incident of abuse. And then in the city of Malden uh another officer used the

[4:51] flock camera system to flag her ex's vehicle 166 times. Uh my wife lives in

[4:59] the city. I don't want her getting flagged by someone 166 times who's

[5:03] feeling vindictive or crazy for some reason. So, I just wanted to bring this

[5:06] to your attention today, hoping that you would uh move forward to legislate the

[5:10] deactivation and removal of the flat camera systems from the city.

[5:14] » Okay. Thank you, Mr. Billy Taylor.

[5:22] » Billy Taylor. Um, mayor, council, thank you for having me. Um, I want to speak

[5:29] tonight about the surveillance network taking shape around us. ALPRs, facial

[5:33] recognition, phone GPS location data, and private databases are not separate

[5:39] when they can be connected. I don't know if you guys are aware, but Flock did a

[5:42] firmware update last week. Anybody know what it does?

[5:46] » You guys should record. >> You should know what it does. [laughter]

[5:49] So, together, they can build a detailed record of our movements, our routines,

[5:52] and our associations. What happens? The question is, what happens to a

[5:56] generation raised to believe that the government recording their movements

[6:00] without individualized suspicion, a warrant, or their consent is simply a

[6:04] normal part of leaving home? Researchers have not yet measured the lifelong

[6:08] effects of this technology. That is precisely the problem. We are building

[6:12] an environment first and asking what it does to people afterwards. A generation,

[6:16] bless you, a generation may come to accept the innocent people belong in a

[6:21] searchable database. Is that right? Citizens and rather than government must

[6:26] now justify privacy. That's not who we are. That's not America. A plate reader

[6:31] records where the vehicle was and when. Facial recognition attaches an identity.

[6:36] Location data reveals routines and associations. Each supplies what the

[6:40] others lack. It's called text stacking. I work in cyber security. This issue is

[6:45] the power created when the they are combined. And if we are one additional

[6:50] and if we have one additional dollar in our law enforcement budget, shouldn't

[6:54] that money go toward crime prevention instead of crime solution? I would say

[6:59] yes. Here's a great example. In Colorado, Flock Colorado Flock cameras

[7:04] showed Croissa Elser's vehicle or a vehicle vehicle that looked like hers

[7:08] passed through a town near the time of a package theft. An officer then turned

[7:13] that coincidence into a conclusion. He arrived with a summon already prepared.

[7:18] Called the case 100% locked in airtight and and refused to

[7:24] hear the couple's evidence. He said that she could not, and this is his quote,

[7:29] take a breath without the police knowing it. Is that where we want to live? I'd

[7:34] say it's not. The c the uh camera produced a lead the officer treated as

[7:39] proof. She spent weeks gathering records to establish what our justice system

[7:44] should have presumed that she was innocent. The police chief eventually

[7:48] voided a summon, but not without its impact on her. See, for the government,

[7:53] that was an error. It was a search and an interference, a a summon. For the

[7:57] citizen, she had to take time off. It cost her money. It meant fear. It meant

[8:02] bullying from that police officer. It meant her expenses that she will never

[8:05] recoup. She was in a position to do that. Most people are not. So the

[8:10] efficiency belongs to the government and the burden the cost of their error

[8:14] belongs to the citizen. I ask council to pause further expansion and place a full

[8:19] public review on this agenda. Publish the contracts policies sharing uh

[8:23] sharing relationships, access rules and audit results require we need to require

[8:29] enforceable limits and independent oversight before um adding cameras,

[8:33] vendors or uh integrations. Um these are our roads. This is our city. The last

[8:38] thing I'd ask every member is, have any of you met with any of these

[8:43] surveillance companies in the past or do you plan to? Have you signed an NDA with

[8:47] them? Have you received any money from them? And if you do or have, you should

[8:51] expose all that to us or let us all know. Thanks a lot. Thank you very much.

[8:54] » Thank you, Billy. >> Mr. Tim Simpson.

[9:06] » How's it going, guys? Uh good evening. Uh my name is Tim Simpson and I'm a

[9:10] resident here in Greenville. Um and I ask you I came to ask you guys to lead

[9:14] on something. Uh right now every trip you take across Greenville gets logged

[9:18] by automated license plate readers which several of the folks here have already

[9:21] spoken about. Um and fed into algorithmic tracking and surveillance

[9:25] system into an algorith algorithmic tracking and surveillance system that I

[9:29] and many others believe is a clear violation of the fourth amendment. And

[9:33] this is why one photograph of my car tells you not a whole lot. Um, but

[9:38] thousands of them stored and searchable become a mosaic of my life. Uh, where I

[9:43] worship, who I visit, and when I see my doctor. Courts call this the mosaic

[9:48] theory. Um, and the Supreme Court has embraced its logic. It's held that

[9:52] tracking a person's movements over time is a search that requires a warrant. uh

[9:57] because the these scattered points add up to something that the government has

[10:00] no business assembling on people who are accused of nothing. And like people have

[10:05] already mentioned here, we already know that the system can be turned on

[10:08] ordinary people because it just was. Uh this summer, five employees of three

[10:13] departments around our county were fired for using these cameras to track people

[10:17] in their personal lives. They were using the system for exactly what it's built

[10:21] to do. Pull up a searchable map of everywhere a person's car has been. The

[10:26] only thing that made it abuse was who they aimed it at. Uh and the very same

[10:30] cameras are running right now, released by our own police department and logging

[10:35] every one of us and every one of you. Just last week, Aone County showed

[10:40] showed us a way forward. Their county council had voted to advance an

[10:44] ordinance that they call protection from mass surveillance. Uh the chairman put

[10:48] it plainly. We have the constitution to limit the government for a reason. The

[10:52] effectiveness of the tool doesn't outweigh the citizens right to privacy.

[10:56] And right next door, Greer has paused its own cameras program to take a

[11:00] careful look at it. Um the upstate here is already moving with this and

[11:04] Greenville can and should help take the lead on it. You guys don't have to wait

[11:09] for the legislature or county to act. That authority is already here in this

[11:14] room with you, the people that we elected. So, here's my ask in two parts.

[11:18] First, let's get these cameras off our streets. Direct your staff to end the

[11:22] contract and take them down. Second, so we just don't swap one company's cameras

[11:27] for another. Pass public rules that apply to any system like this, whatever

[11:31] the brand, no tracking our movements without a warrant, hard limits written

[11:35] into law, and a public vote before new cameras go up. A system this powerful

[11:39] aimed at people accused of nothing has no place in our city, no matter whose

[11:44] name is on it. I genuinely welcome the chance to sit down with any of you,

[11:48] share what we've learned at Deflock South Carolina, and be a resource

[11:51] however I can. You are trusted with this with this authority for exactly these

[11:55] kinds of decisions, and I'm asking it to use it. I'm asking you to use it to

[11:59] protect the people who gave it to you. Thank you.

[12:01] » Okay. Thank you, >> Mr. John Doron.

[12:12] » Hello, Mr. Mayor. Council members, good evening. I am here to uh represent my

[12:17] client on uh docket item Z-4-2026. Um we've been before you before. We are

[12:25] um wanting to just give a quick update on some of the efforts. As you're aware,

[12:28] we've we are requesting reszoning of this property to an industrial

[12:32] designation from a client. Um we have tried to follow staff's recommendation

[12:38] which did support suggest support of this. Um, we've gotten the first reading

[12:42] passed. Um, we have expended a lot of effort with uh, economic development and

[12:48] I've talked with several of you to try to understand where we are with this.

[12:52] Um, we have looked at no less than four additional parcels

[12:57] for those efforts and we have not been able to find anything uh, that's going

[13:00] to be suitable for the potential land swap or sale, however that would need to

[13:05] work. So, we are asking for your support tonight to uh provide a reasonzoning of

[13:10] this property to I or IG designation uh allowing my client to um advance work in

[13:18] the same area which he lives and work and has for many years and we hope we

[13:22] can gain your support tonight. >> Okay. Thank you.

[13:25] » Thank you. writing. We have a couple presentations tonight to make uh 8A

[13:33] contest.

[13:43] [laughter] >> Hi, how are you?

[13:45] » Yeah, good to see you. >> Good evening. Uh mayor, city council,

[13:49] excuse [clears throat] me. My name is Josh McGee and I am a senior uh special

[13:53] events coordinator for parks, recreation, and tourism department. It

[13:56] is my honor tonight to introduce you all to Leon Franco. Leon is a 13-year-old

[14:02] powerhouse vocalist, musician, and stage actor. And uh recently he's been taken

[14:07] the upstate by storm. Uh after first captivating audiences in the musical

[14:13] theater debut in the South Carolina Children's Theater production of Juni B.

[14:17] Jones, Leon has continued to shine on other stages across the region. And this

[14:23] summer, he soared to new heights in the city of Greenville as he was named the

[14:28] winner of the 2026 Give Me the Gig Battle of the Bands competition.

[14:41] Leon is the youngest performer to ever compete, let alone win the competition.

[14:46] Uh he beat out almost 20 other local music acts uh to claim his spot as a

[14:52] performer at this year's concert series in Noma Square. A student at Rudolph

[14:57] Gordon School, Leon is already nationally recognized for his

[15:00] extraordinary vocal range, earning a coveted spot among the top 14 singers in

[15:05] the nation at the National Association of Teachers of Singing Competition.

[15:11] Leon star continues to rise with recent honors such as being named Rookie of the

[15:16] Year for his showstopping performance as Olaf in the Wildcat Players theatrical

[15:21] production of Frozen. He's also selected by the South Carolina

[15:26] Children's Theater as a featured performer at the 2026 American Alliance

[15:31] for Theater and Educational Awards ceremony. It's amazing. Um, no. Up next

[15:37] on Horizon for Leon, he'll take center stage as the lead role as James u in the

[15:42] South Carolina Children's Theat season opening production of James and the

[15:46] Giant Peach. Um, and uh, like we mentioned, the Give Me the Gig. We

[15:51] invite you all to join us this Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in NMA Square as Leon takes

[15:56] the stage as and performs as the 2026 Give Me the Gig Competition winner.

[16:02] Please join me in a round of applause for this impressive young man.

[16:17] » Go right ahead. I would like to say thank you to the

[16:21] community and to the city council for this opportunity in order for me to come

[16:26] here and um be recognized here cuz this is a

[16:31] great opportunity. I love singing. Singing is my passion. It's what I want

[16:35] to do with my life. And I'm so grateful for everyone here, all you community

[16:40] members, and even everyone over here because

[16:45] because this is just this is just a dream. I never would ever think that

[16:49] this would happen to me in my life. So, thank you guys so much.

[17:00] » We look forward to hearing him on Thursday. You said this Thursday. Okay.

[17:04] You can overcome your shyness. I think you'll really go far. But uh but

[17:08] congratulations. Speaking of another shy person,

[17:13] Dave, I believe uh are you the one?

[17:20] » You want me to follow that? Huh? >> All right.

[17:22] » Really? >> I'm not that guy.

[17:24] » You guys have talent, too. >> All right,

[17:28] we're going to start.

[17:36] Excellence is not an act, it's a habit. It's in the name public works. We

[17:44] Excellence is not an act, it's a habit. >> It's in the name public works. We

[17:48] [music] are here to help the public. >> We just ensure we give the residents

[17:51] what they're paying for, the best quality service we can give them. for

[17:54] 30,000 agencies that are in inside this APWA [music] organization, about 300 of

[18:00] them are accredited, which means that [music] puts us at the top 1%

[18:05] of the nation. [music]

[18:11] We've always said we set the bar and now we've proven it. All the divisions here,

[18:15] everybody at [music] public works works together as one cohesive unit.

[18:18] » On a daily basis, I'm picking up roughly [music] around 700 trash cans. Um, I

[18:24] call it if they ask me, I'm picking them up, putting them down.

[18:26] » I look at the [music] parking garages as kind of the gateway to our city.

[18:30] Greenville is a walk-in city, but before you can walk it and experience it, you

[18:33] have to park your car first. So, we want to provide a great experience to begin

[18:37] with. >> Wastewater, we do a lot of investigating

[18:40] and [music] maintain all the city's sewer systems.

[18:43] » Getting to know a lot of people, knowing that you help them with their repairs,

[18:47] their inquiries, and all the maintenance of their vehicles, making sure they're

[18:50] safe. Excellence specifically for us is something that we we try to achieve

[18:54] every day. [music] It's something that we try to repeat. We go out there, we

[18:57] give everything we have to make sure that we're serving the community here uh

[19:02] over and over again. And that's one of the reasons why this accreditation

[19:04] [music] is so uh great is because what we did is we documented how well we did

[19:08] this so it's always something that we can repeat every day.

[19:11] » Not only are we providing a place to park, but you know, our maintenance

[19:14] [music] staff, they keep the garages clean. It just makes it just a nice

[19:17] experience all the way around. It's [music] things that people and citizens

[19:20] take for granted are the stuff that we help maintain and keep in order and make

[19:25] sure that it's okay because if there was no public works, I feel like the city

[19:28] and the community would notice it very quickly.

[19:30] » Honestly, [music] it's different experience every day and I love the

[19:34] people that I work with. >> I really enjoy the crew that I work

[19:36] with. Face a lot of different challenges every day and problem solve together and

[19:40] it's nice uh nice having people [music] to learn from.

[19:43] » What I love most about what I do is having the satisfaction that our city

[19:47] looking good. Um, we work hard at it. It just shows the community also that,

[19:52] [music] you know, we're here for them and and we just strive to be the best at

[19:55] what we do. [music]

[20:07] » Well, Mr. Mayor, council members, this is a really special night tonight. I've

[20:12] been waiting 40 years to be up here in my career, over 40 years to be able to

[20:17] talk about this. So, it's a crowning achievement for me personally, but this

[20:22] is about the public works department that we have in the city of Greenville.

[20:25] It's an amazing team. So, every one of those team members, all of our

[20:31] supervisors and managers are here, but this is no small achievement. As you

[20:36] heard James say, less than we're number 231 out of over 30,000 agencies in the

[20:43] country. >> Okay, less than 1%

[20:50] have achieved this. The other two cities I worked at, there was no way. I mean,

[20:54] they were just it's just too much work. It's too hard and it takes too long. But

[20:59] we persevered and here we are tonight celebrating this. So it it reflects our

[21:06] strengths, our perseverance and unity of everyone involved, all the city

[21:11] employees. So Shannon, thank you Brandon, Tara for your support getting

[21:16] us to this point. I know it's been a challenge. Uh had a little bit of a

[21:21] segue there with our friend Helen coming to visit. So, that was a challenge. But,

[21:26] » and I know I'm in the South, so I should probably talk about the national

[21:28] championship, but I'm going to talk about the Super Bowl because this is our

[21:33] Super Bowl. >> Okay, this is the Super Bowl of public

[21:37] works. So, I'm truly blessed and thankful to be the head coach of this

[21:43] all-star team. It's amazing. Okay, I I can't thank enough. First, I'm going to

[21:49] start with my the guys in the white shirts. All right, those are the

[21:53] managers of the divisions, the major divisions. So, of course, deputy

[21:56] director Ben Carroll right there. Well, I guess he's in a white shirt underneath

[22:00] the jacket. >> Solid waste recycling manager Hal

[22:03] Crawford. Uh, Bill Foster, our parking manager.

[22:09] Where's Brad? Brad's over there somewhere. There's Brad Rice hiding back

[22:12] there. Our facilities manager. And then, of course, our all-star fleet manager,

[22:17] Scott MacGyver. Um, your commitment, patience, and

[22:22] leadership often happen behind the scenes,

[22:26] but the impact is front and center. You serve as the backbone of our team,

[22:31] guiding, mentoring, and encouraging all of our team members to be the best each

[22:36] and every day. We also have all of our supervisors over

[22:41] here in blue shirts, I think. So those outstanding supervisors and team team

[22:47] members are all the heartbeat of this city. As you saw in the video,

[22:52] yeah, we do a lot of it behind the scenes. People don't know until we do

[22:57] something wrong or something happens, then they call us, but they don't call

[23:02] us and tell us, you know, you did a great job picking up my garbage today.

[23:05] But anyway, every challenge, every long day has led to this and to our success

[23:10] today. I'm so proud of that. You guys are the best and you are true champions.

[23:16] You deserve the Super Bowl. But every Super Bowl has an MVP

[23:22] » and we have that MVP here with us tonight. Jennifer Simpson is our

[23:27] business and finance administrator. She's the reason we're here tonight. She

[23:32] put in hundreds of hours, nights and weekends, dogged every one of these

[23:38] managers in the field, everybody until we got every single one of our

[23:43] accreditation points done. >> It's amazing. So, you raised the bar,

[23:48] set the tone, and inspired all of us. Jeff, great job. Um

[24:00] and finally really together all of us the whole city and the mayor council

[24:05] managers all the departments and of course all the public works team members

[24:10] who all contributed to this. This is an incredible outstanding achievement very

[24:15] rare. I can count on one hand how many cities have an accredited police

[24:20] department, accredited fire department, accredited public works department, and

[24:25] an accredited zoo. And hopefully we'll have public work or parks and wreck next

[24:31] year. So, it's an incredible achievement. We're really proud of it.

[24:36] So, congratulations to all of my team. Let's celebrate. Let's [clears throat]

[24:40] carry this momentum forward and continue to strive for excellence each and every

[24:44] day. Thank you.

[25:00] Good evening, mayor and members of city council. First, I just want to say I'm

[25:04] so proud to work here and to be a part of this team. It's it's a wonderful

[25:08] place to be. Tonight, I want to express my deepest appreciation to the many

[25:11] individuals and departments who made our APWA accreditation possible. This has

[25:16] been a long journey. Thank you to Helen. And we could not have achieved this

[25:19] milestone without a remarkable team behind us. I also want to extend a

[25:24] heartfelt thank you to the APWA members from our local, state, and regional

[25:28] chapters who have joined us tonight to mark this occasion. Your support,

[25:32] guidance, and partnership throughout this process have meant so much to our

[25:35] team, and we are grateful to celebrate this accomplishment with you.

[25:39] to the following individuals. Jana Sains and Athena Miller with human resources,

[25:43] Christina Junker and Laura Marfield with finance, Mike Svenelli with legal and

[25:48] Morgan and Mary Pate with risk, Joe School meers and Mike Jan with IT and MJ

[25:53] Simpson and Beth Brotherton with communications. Thank you for all your

[25:56] help developing policies and procedures and for the time you took to out of your

[26:01] regular responsibilities to meet with the evaluation team this May. Many other

[26:06] individuals throughout most of our city departments were also instrumental in

[26:09] helping us put the necessary policies and procedures in place. It truly takes

[26:13] a city to go through this process. A special thank you also goes to Taylor

[26:17] Talbot and Pam Lambert for their assistance with the technology and

[26:21] logistics during the evaluator visit in May. Their behind-the-scenes support

[26:25] helped everything run smoothly. To all of you, thank you. Your willingness to

[26:29] give your time, share your expertise, and go the extra mile was tremendous

[26:33] difference. Within public works, especially to me,

[26:37] our operations managers and superintendents were invaluable. In

[26:40] addition to fulfilling their already demanding responsibilities, they

[26:43] documented procedures, created manuals, and captured institutional knowledge

[26:48] work that ensures we continue providing exceptional service for years to come.

[26:53] If I have inadvertently left anyone off this list tonight, please know that it

[26:56] was certainly not intentional. There were countless people who contributed

[26:59] their time, knowledge, and support throughout this journey, and we are

[27:02] sincerely grateful to every one of you. And last, but certainly not least, thank

[27:07] you to our head coach, the Vince Lombardi of Public Works, Dave Dar.

[27:11] Under Dave's leadership, we are inspired to aim high, set the bar for excellence,

[27:16] and serve the residents, visitors, and employees of the city of Greenville with

[27:20] pride and purpose. To everyone who helped get us here, thank you. The

[27:24] accreditation belongs to all of us and we are proud to serve alongside each of

[27:27] you.

[27:39] » Now I'd like to introduce a past national APWA president, Mr. Bill

[27:44] Spearman, right from our own state of South Carolina.

[27:47] » All right. >> Thank you, Dave. Folks, mayor, council,

[27:52] staff, citizen, it's with great pleasure that I'm with

[27:57] you tonight. I think the last time I address council was probably in 1991

[28:01] when we were implementing a storm water act.

[28:04] » This is by far more pleasant and I get smiles today when what's the state doing

[28:11] to us? But regardless, so glad to be here. You've heard a lot about this

[28:15] process. You were evaluated on 241

[28:21] practices. Just think about it. Just even having that many practices is

[28:25] remarkable. And it was done a peer review. This is not people like me or

[28:31] others consultants coming in. These are public works folks who understand these

[28:36] folks who every day and how hard it is to do what they do every day. My mantra

[28:43] when I was president was the public works because of public works. And think

[28:49] about it, Florida and other people like to do is the first responder and that's

[28:53] very important. But that public works, I mean, think about COVID. Think about the

[28:58] solid waste folks out working during CO. >> They gave us a semblance of normality

[29:04] that we really needed. And then Helen, who could have imagined [clears throat]

[29:09] that a storm like that would have that impact? But you know what you guys did?

[29:14] You recognize them and let them lead the parade.

[29:19] » Those quiet folks that don't get any recognition, only notice when something

[29:24] goes wrong, but you've made them proud. And today they're wearing an accredited

[29:30] seal on their chest that everyone will be wearing. That's a sense of pride.

[29:35] That's a pride in their community. And you've got a lot to be proud of in this

[29:39] community. My grandfather owned a house off the Lounge Hill Road and I had two

[29:44] aunts that lived there years ago when I was a toddler. Hard to believe, but we

[29:50] would ride the bus downtown to shop. You know, think about Mayor Heler, Mayor

[29:56] Workman, you staff, Mayor Knox, what you guys have done for this city. And you

[30:02] know, it's a perfect example of what you have done in the public works

[30:06] department. You've made this a place where people want to live

[30:10] » and you've supplied them. One of the most impressive things I've ever seen in

[30:14] public works is when they move their equipment from the old facility to the

[30:20] brand new facility. And I have to tell you that new facility is the envy of

[30:26] everybody in the state and for most of the country. and y'all invested in that

[30:31] and you gave them a place to be proud of where they could do their work so much

[30:36] better. So, you know, and not only did they have to do the 241,

[30:42] this peer review group also recognizes other things that are done and they

[30:47] actually saw seven practices that this public

[30:52] works department does that they're going to put out there that maybe some other

[30:56] department needs to do this around the country. So, you're leading the way

[30:59] there. You know, I'm very, very proud of you. Very, very proud to say I've been

[31:04] in Greenville for many, many years and loved what's going on here. But I also

[31:09] have to say one thing. >> Yes.

[31:12] » Your coach >> is in the Hall of Fame. Number of years

[31:17] ago, he was named as a top 10 public works leader. So when you can see the

[31:23] leadership and I had the pleasure of knowing this gentleman when he was in

[31:27] Florida and when you brought him here gave him the opportunities. Oh, I said

[31:32] where is this place going to go? It's only going to go up. So I and he's a

[31:36] symbol of staff just like he has everywhere else. But so today I'm very

[31:41] very happy to present today the black

[31:49] that signifies your entrance into the accredited agency hall of

[32:21] There is nothing more to add than what you said. Thank you so much for bringing

[32:24] that message. Uh thank you so much. We are so proud of this department, proud

[32:29] of Dave, proud of all of his team. Just words don't express though. You said it

[32:33] better than anyone else can. But uh I I think her I'm glad you mentioned

[32:37] Hurricane Helen because the day-to-day work that makes neighborhoods shine. It

[32:41] shows our commitment to neighborhoods. It's all expressed by our commitment to

[32:44] public works. But boy, when Hurricane Elaine came by, that wasn't a test. You

[32:49] know, do we have that kind of organization and we passed that test in

[32:52] flying colors. Thank to public works and everyone else in the city. So, thank you

[32:55] for bringing that up as well. Well, we're proud of everyone, but thank you.

[32:59] And accreditation to all the all the different teams. We'll have to play that

[33:03] as a team sport. Yeah. >> Thank you so much. Okay, council.

[33:08] Getting back to our agenda now. We have a we have a No, we have a public hearing

[33:10] first. We have one more. Yeah. Public hearing.

[33:12] » Yes, sir. >> We have a proposed 75% annexation method

[33:15] of property located on Woodruff Road, Interstate 385, Smith Hines Road, Love

[33:20] Drive, and Praau Way.

[33:26] Right.

[33:30] » 75% annexation method um for various properties off of Woodruff Road.

[33:36] Proposal is to bring them into the city limits. Um so pursuant to state law,

[33:41] there are a couple of things that we have to go through for this public

[33:44] hearing. So just going to go through these slides and make sure we cover our

[33:47] bases. Um this item is relative to item 15F on your agenda. So, first reading

[33:54] later this evening. Um, the 30-day public notice public hearing

[34:00] requirements requirements have been met. Um, the petition exceeds the

[34:04] requirements with 84.6 of the property owners signing petitions owning 97.6%

[34:11] of the assessed value in the annexation area. We have provided a copy of the

[34:16] petition for public inspection with the clerk's office and that's been available

[34:19] in their office for review. Um public notice was properly provided to uh

[34:25] newspaper of general circulation in the community. It's posted on the city's

[34:29] bulletin board and mailed notice was provided to all required parties

[34:33] including taxpayers of record, chief administrative officer of the county,

[34:38] public service and special purpose districts for the area and all fire

[34:42] departments in the public in the annexation area.

[34:46] The property description is available in the lobby for review. another state law

[34:51] requirement have to have it here at the meeting. Um then these next five maps

[34:55] show the annexation boundary. So um various part portions of uh Woodruff

[35:02] Road um including the I85 interchange visible here on the screen. Um if you

[35:08] want to go through these next couple of maps just just focuses on different

[35:12] areas of the annexation territory um including the Sam's Club property. Next

[35:17] slide. uh Maravan uh business and distribution park.

[35:24] The southern end of Maravan is also on this screen. Um got Smithhines Road,

[35:30] which is another bridge over I85 or 385, excuse me, as well as Contender

[35:35] Development there at the southern tip. We got the shops at Maravan Shopping

[35:40] Center, um which includes Dave's Hot Chicken and several other businesses

[35:44] within that area. and then uh various other properties along Woodruff Road as

[35:49] well. So um the proposed zoning on the next map is a combination of BG, BH and

[35:56] EX which are zoning districts inside the city of Greenville and um there's more

[36:01] details that we will go over for the annexation as a part of the uh ordinance

[36:06] reading later this evening. So um services to be provided by the city upon

[36:12] annexation um are single family duplex triplex and residential weekly solid

[36:18] waste recycling collection and street cleaning as well as other public work

[36:22] services. Um they will also be subject to the city's jurisdiction for police

[36:26] and fire coverage. They'll receive planning, permitting and engineering

[36:30] services and uh participate in municipal elections.

[36:35] Here are the associated taxes and fees. These properties are currently in tax

[36:40] district 790 and we'll move to tax district 500 which is for the city of

[36:44] Greenville. That mayor, I will turn it over to you

[36:48] to conduct the public hearing. >> Okay. Thank you very much. This is the

[36:52] public hearing. So if anyone wishes to speak on this matter, this is the time

[36:56] to do that. Okay.

[37:01] All righty. So it concludes the public hearing. Thank you.

[37:05] Now we are ready for the consent agenda. Madame clerk.

[37:10] Have a motion and a second on the consent agenda.

[37:13] » So moved. >> Second.

[37:14] » Motion. >> Second.

[37:18] » Did I hear it? Okay. >> I said second. Sorry.

[37:20] » Okay. Clerk, call the role. >> Council member Dewarkin.

[37:23] » Hi. >> Council member Fleming.

[37:25] » Hi. >> Council member Brazington.

[37:27] » Hi. >> Council member Belgi.

[37:28] » Hi. >> Council member Dao.

[37:30] » Hi. >> Mayor White.

[37:31] » I. Okay. Regular agenda 14A, >> an ordinance to reszone approximately

[37:38] 5.06 acres of real property located on Fork Scholes Road from RHV to IG.

[37:48] » Okay. Is there a motion? >> Motion. Is there a second?

[37:55] » No. Second. >> Second.

[38:00] » You may have a second for discussion if you discuss. Do we need discussion?

[38:06] » Okay, go ahead.

[38:08] » Um, so this is sort of an item that's come

[38:12] back to us a number of, well, not a number of times, but we deferred at the

[38:16] last reading. And just as a recap, um, this property was annexed from the

[38:22] county into the city a little over a year ago, June of 2025. Mhm.

[38:27] » It sits at the at the perimeter of SCAG. It was zoned residential in the county.

[38:37] We annexed it and zoned it residential in the city, which is

[38:43] general procedure, right? A like for like zoning. Um

[38:49] my understanding is while there was an attempt to develop as residential,

[38:53] uh an unforeseen requirement by Riwa, um caused that to be not feasibly

[39:00] possible. >> This property is fully wooded.

[39:06] Uh it does have a slope to it. Mr. Deron has done some great work in outlining

[39:11] that and I appreciate you being here. Nonetheless, it does drain towards a

[39:18] creek bed fed from Connesty Park.

[39:23] And it's it's really an issue of philosophy for me and this is why I'm

[39:27] opposing it that we annexed it in as residential and

[39:33] residential is a priority for the city. We recognize we need more housing at all

[39:39] levels. Residential won't work on it. Um, it

[39:44] could serve certainly to to serve our green space priorities. It's full of

[39:49] wooded next to our cherished Connesty Park.

[39:53] That doesn't work for the property owner. And I understand the property

[39:56] owner has been everybody opens the conversation with, he is delightful to

[40:00] work with, which believe me isn't something we always hear. And I really

[40:04] appreciate hearing that over and over consistently. Um when it came up for

[40:09] second reading, we tried to um find a pathway forward to find another site for

[40:15] the property owner. He wanted to uh develop it to park his um industrial

[40:21] vehicles on and and so our economic development group has worked hand inand

[40:27] with him over time along with Mr. own to try and find another site within the

[40:32] city zoned for such and that has not been successful. So here we are. It is a

[40:40] parcel that I can't in good conscience support reszoning to industrial from

[40:45] something that was annexed with the intent of residential serving one of the

[40:49] city's priorities with the prospect of being kept as green space which would

[40:54] also serve one of the city's priorities but certainly not as a surface parking

[40:58] lot for industrial vehicles that would discharge ultimately into this creek.

[41:04] Um, you know, I think everybody tried really hard on it and I appreciate

[41:08] everyone's efforts. I know there are a number of partners interested in

[41:13] purchasing the property from the owner to preserve it. However, they like a

[41:17] city are limited to appraised value of the property. Cannot pay a premium for

[41:23] that. So, that's, you know, that's a decision point for the property owner.

[41:27] But because of those reasons, I will be voting no tonight. But a a deep level of

[41:32] thanks not only to the business owner but also to our staff that has worked

[41:36] very hard to to make this work for everybody. We just couldn't get to it.

[41:41] » Any other any other comments? >> I'll just add in um uh first of all John

[41:46] thank you so much for being here and appreciate your client as well. Um I'm

[41:51] I'm of I'm always the I think everybody on this dasis understands a lot of

[41:54] people out there know I'm always someone that tries to get to yes and if you

[41:59] can't get to yes try to find an alternative pathway to find a solution.

[42:06] Um and uh I you know I I'd love to just see you know what other opportunities we

[42:13] have but I think we may have ended up exhausting those. So [clears throat]

[42:17] it's it it I think for all of us up here, we do try to find a pathway to yes

[42:21] or at least a pathway to an alternative instead of saying no because I think

[42:28] we're just we all have the personalities up here of especially with good good

[42:32] people. We have the personalities up here of trying to find a pathway

[42:36] forward. Um I don't think we have found one. Um so because of that I'll you know

[42:43] I I would love to defer but I don't know. I think if you defer, I'm not sure

[42:47] we're going to get we might just end up same place in a month that we are today.

[42:52] Um, so I'm I'm disappointed we couldn't find a path forward with it. So

[42:57] » yeah, I was just going to echo the same. I mean, we have our 2040 plan to go by.

[43:02] We have future land use. I mean for the case of the exercise, like is there an

[43:08] ability to when something goes to be annexed in the city look a little more

[43:12] critically at the flu and we have to go by residential to residential or and

[43:17] also just for practice, why was the original staff recommendation

[43:23] for for this if it doesn't quite fit with the change?

[43:29] » So, a couple points there. Um it's usually kind of a like forl like

[43:34] reasonzoning. It's not always the case. >> Um for a lot of our annexed areas, there

[43:38] is no future land use map recommendation.

[43:41] » So um we look at a variety of factors kind of existing development patterns in

[43:45] the area, growth trends um as well as some of those future um or some of those

[43:51] existing like major uses. um balancing the nature preserve with um with the

[44:00] location at the end of the SCTAC runway there. Um and so going through our

[44:06] analysis, the work that they would have to go through with the aeronautics

[44:09] commission for eventual site approval. Um staff did recommend approval.

[44:14] Planning commission supported that that recommendation and um then there obvious

[44:20] concerns over reasonzoning to industrial council. So

[44:24] » so maybe if it's not always having to be like for like I don't know maybe we

[44:27] could do like a postmortem on this a little bit and see how when something's

[44:31] annexed do we create an additional parcel? I mean you have to I don't know

[44:36] if you have to adopt a whole new flu every time a new parcel. can't do that.

[44:40] But, you know, something to just to make sure we don't end up back in the same

[44:44] space. But I really appreciate staff's work on this too and um council as well.

[44:49] » Okay. Any other questions? Okay. Well, clerk will call the role.

[44:54] » Council member Dewarkin. >> No.

[44:57] » Council member Fleming. >> No.

[45:00] » Council member Brazington. >> No.

[45:03] » Council member Belgi. >> No.

[45:06] » Council member Dao. >> No.

[45:08] Mayor White. >> No. Okay. Thank you very much.

[45:13] Uh 15A, new business. First reading.

[45:17] » An ordinance to appropriate 30 $38,98 in the miscellaneous grants fund for the

[45:23] FY2025 Edward Fern Memorial Justice Assistance

[45:27] Grant Program. >> So move.

[45:29] » Second. >> Motion second. Cl.

[45:33] » Council member Dwarkin. >> I.

[45:35] » Council member Fleming. >> Hi. Council member Brazington.

[45:38] » I, >> Council Member Belgi.

[45:40] » Hi. >> Council member Dao.

[45:41] » Hi. >> Mayor White.

[45:43] » Hi. >> Uh, 15B,

[45:46] » an ordinance to appropriate 8,279,571

[45:52] in the utility undergrounding fund for the Augusta Street undergrounding phase

[45:56] 1 project. So moved. >> Second.

[46:00] » In a second. Clerk, call the RO. >> Council member Dearkin.

[46:04] » I. >> Council member Fleming. Hi,

[46:06] » Council Member Brazington. >> Hi,

[46:08] » Council Member Belgi. >> Hi,

[46:10] » Council Member Dao. >> Hi,

[46:12] » Mayor White. >> Hi,

[46:15] » do want to make one comment. This is certainly one of the most one of the

[46:17] more significant burial of undergrounding we've done some time now.

[46:21] So, I'm pleased we're finally making some progress on that on Augustus Road.

[46:25] So, thank you. 15C, >> an ordinance to abandon a portion of

[46:30] rightway on Spartanberg Street AB3. >> So moved.

[46:34] » Second.

[46:37] motion in a second. >> Mr. Mayor. Yes. If you don't if you just

[46:42] uh allow me just a moment that uh I I do think we um uh continue to uh need to

[46:49] look at this part. This is not Spartanberg Street, but just this part

[46:53] of Stone A. We need to continue looking at I'll I'll see manager I'll keep

[46:57] beating the drum of u continue need to look at that section of stone a where

[47:02] it's you know 11 feet wide or 12 feet wide and big old trucks going down

[47:07] there. So lots of solutions unrelated to this but appreciate you and Clint

[47:12] continuing to look at seeing what we can do there.

[47:15] » It might be harder than 14A to find a solution. I don't know. Okay, clerk will

[47:20] call the role. >> Council member Dwarkin

[47:22] » I. Council member Fleming. >> Hi.

[47:24] » Council member Brazington. >> Hi.

[47:26] » Council member Belgi. >> Hi.

[47:28] » Council member D. >> Hi.

[47:30] » Mayor White. >> I.

[47:31] » 15D. >> An ordinance to annex approximately 0.18

[47:36] acre of real property at 41 East Fifth Street and 0.02 acre of adjacent rideway

[47:42] and to provide the zoning designation of RNA.

[47:46] » So moved. >> Second.

[47:48] » There's a piece of it on the edge of the city. Okay.

[47:53] Clerk, call the role. >> Council member Dwarkin.

[47:56] » Hi. >> Council member Fleming.

[47:57] » Hi. >> Council member Brazington. Hi.

[47:59] » Council member Belgi. >> Hi.

[48:01] » Council member Dao. >> I.

[48:03] » Mayor White. >> I.

[48:05] » 15e. an ordinance to annex approximately 0.51

[48:10] acre of real property at 200 Minus Street and 202 Minus Street and 0.15

[48:17] acre of adjacent prop right ofway and to provide the zoning designation of RNA.

[48:22] » So move second >> motion in second call.

[48:27] » Council member Dwarkin >> I.

[48:29] » Council member Fleming. >> Hi.

[48:31] » Council member Brazington. >> Hi.

[48:32] » Council member Belgi. >> Hi.

[48:34] » Council member Dao. >> Hi. Mayor White.

[48:37] » I 18 F.

[48:41] » An ordinance to annex approximately 87.46

[48:45] acres of real property and 47.60 acres of adjacent rightway comprising the area

[48:51] partially commonly known as Maravan Center uh etc. And this is AX212026.

[48:58] » So move >> second. And I have a question.

[49:00] [clears throat] >> Motion and second question.

[49:02] » A question. Can we get the aerial aerial I'm sorry aerial view up, Michael? Okay.

[49:09] Question for you. When you look at the Maravan Center area,

[49:15] the teeny tiny teeny tiny green dot in the middle.

[49:20] Are you with me? >> I see it.

[49:22] » What's the story there? >> Is that a cell tower? Yeah. It's usually

[49:26] a cell tower or a billboard. This one. >> So, it doesn't it doesn't count as being

[49:29] annexed in with everything else. So that will stay in the that will stay in the

[49:32] county. >> Well, I hope nothing goes wrong with it.

[49:36] » Mr. Mayor, I do have a question. >> Yeah, go ahead. Uhu.

[49:38] » So, assuming this uh item passes council momentarily, um sizable acreage wise,

[49:45] where does this fall in terms of annexation considerations historically

[49:49] in the city of Greenville? It's a bigger proposition. So this uh represents our

[49:54] largest annexation um exceeding some of the other previous

[49:58] ones that we've done in recent years including Cherryale um cemetery. Um so

[50:04] um this actually crosses us over the uh two square mile mark since we really

[50:09] started focusing on annexation efforts back in 2021. And that's a huge kudos to

[50:15] the whole planning team, city attorney's office, um, city manager, uh, city

[50:20] council, um, and then all of our departments that go in and provide

[50:24] permitting and public work services for these annex territories. Um, so really

[50:29] pleased to be able to bring these to you and then to be able to provide those

[50:33] services after the fact. I do want to also, of course, recognize um, Austin

[50:37] Rutherford for all of his work in particular.

[50:45] It's like the super super bowl of annexations, right?

[50:49] » That would be true. Yes. That's right. Thank you, Austin.

[50:52] » Wait a minute. Let Austin stand up. >> I know. Austin, stand up, Austin.

[50:56] » All right. There you go. >> Oh, come on.

[51:00] » Yeah. The people have have just worked on him and just gave him pure age. Bless

[51:06] his heart. >> And sometimes he brings us Sometimes he

[51:08] brings us like 0.25 25 and all that kind of stuff, you know. So, this is really a

[51:13] » good work. >> And this is the super

[51:15] » every little bit. >> Yeah. Clerk will call the clerk will

[51:18] call the role. >> Council member Dwarkin.

[51:21] » Hi. >> Council member Fleming.

[51:23] » I. >> Council member Braington.

[51:25] » Hi. >> Council member Belgi.

[51:27] » Hi. >> Council member Dao.

[51:29] » Hi. >> Excuse me. Mayor White.

[51:31] » I. >> Okay. Thank you very much. 15G. We got a

[51:35] few more annexations to do. an ordinance to annex approximately 0.16 acre of real

[51:41] property at 101 Mason Street and to provide the zoning designation of RNA.

[51:47] » Some moved. >> Second.

[51:48] » Motion and second off traction. Okay. Clerk, call the role.

[51:54] » Council member Dwerin. >> Hi.

[51:56] » Council member Fleming. >> I.

[51:58] » Council member Brazington. >> Council member Belgi.

[52:01] » Hi. >> Council member D.

[52:03] » I. >> Mayor White.

[52:04] » Hi. 15H,

[52:08] » an ordinance to annex approximately 1.20 acres of real property at 111A street uh

[52:15] and the streets that are listed before you and 0.36 acre of adjacent rightway

[52:21] and to provide the zoning designation of RNA.

[52:23] » So moved. >> Second.

[52:25] » Motion to second. Got your map on this one to roll up.

[52:30] There we go. Yeah. Tip ends. Mr. Clerk will call the role.

[52:35] Council member Dwerin. >> Hi.

[52:37] » Council member Fleming. Hi. >> Council member Brazington.

[52:40] » Hi. >> Council member Belgi.

[52:42] » Hi. >> Council member Dao.

[52:44] » I. >> Mayor White.

[52:45] » I. >> Okay. 15H.

[52:49] » An ordinance to annex approximately 0.11 acre of real property at 22 Draper

[52:54] Street and to provide the zoning designation of RNXC.

[52:58] » So moved. >> Second.

[53:00] » Motion and second. >> [clears throat]

[53:04] » Clerk will call the role. >> Council member Dwarkin.

[53:06] » Hi. >> Council member Fleming.

[53:08] » Hi. >> Council member Brazington.

[53:10] » Hi. >> Council member Belgi.

[53:12] » Hi. >> Council member Dao.

[53:13] » Hi. >> Mayor White.

[53:15] » Hi. Okay.

[53:20] That it reports. [laughter]

[53:25] » We're exhausted. >> I know. But this is some more good news.

[53:28] So, if you can just give me a couple more minutes, Mr. Mayor. I have several

[53:32] recognitions to share with you this evening. First, I'd like to recognize

[53:36] our Green Link employee, Cat Morland, and William Flake. And Cat's here with

[53:39] us tonight. Cat, who is Green Link's finance and compliance administrator,

[53:44] was named to Mass Transit Magazine's annual 40 under 40 list.

[53:49] » Congratulations.

[53:55] The list honors individuals in the mass transit field who have shown the

[53:59] capacity for innovation, demonstrating leadership and a commitment to making an

[54:03] impact in transit. Cat has 18 years of experience in the transportation

[54:07] industry before joining the Green Link team in August of 2025. She spent more

[54:12] than 13 years as senior associate director of parking and transportation

[54:16] services at Clemson University. We're so glad to have her here. Congratulations.

[54:21] » Nice. Next, William, who is Green Link's transit projects coordinator, has been

[54:26] named the 2026 support staff of the year urban system by the Transit Association

[54:31] of South Carolina for his extraordinary impact on Greenville's transit system.

[54:36] In just two years, William has accelerated ADA compliant bus stop

[54:40] upgrades, improved systemwide on-time performance, modernized writer

[54:44] information tools, and introduced the innovative afternoon in sync program

[54:49] that dramatically reduced misconnections. So congratulations to

[54:53] William. Also,

[55:00] I also want to recognize the public works department

[55:04] and specifically the solid waste team who recently received two national

[55:09] recognitions for excellence in solid waste management. Mhm.

[55:12] » First, the solid waste division received the safety award for workplace wellness

[55:17] from the solid waste association of North America recognizing its commitment

[55:21] to employee safety and well-being. A large part of the award was based on our

[55:26] citywide wellness and safety programs. In addition, the division received the

[55:31] Tim Mccclure award for outstanding corporate leadership from the National

[55:35] Recycling Coalition, honoring its leadership and measurable impact in

[55:39] recycling, organics management, and advancing a circular economy. These

[55:44] awards recognize the dedication and innovation of the public works

[55:47] department and its solid waste division house here to highlight Greenville's

[55:51] commitment to workplace wellness, sustainable resource management, and

[55:55] exceptional service to the community. Congratulations to our solid works team.

[56:06] Mr. Mayor, I think we saw tonight just what a great team of city employees that

[56:10] we have here and what they commit each and every day to providing outstanding

[56:14] community and public service and I could not be prouder to work with the amazing

[56:19] individuals that work for the city of Greenville. So, thank you.

[56:22] » Awesome. They're proud. Thank you. >> We agree. Um, if you don't mind, madame

[56:26] man, I want to recognize James Keel, uh, hosted helped bring to South Carolina,

[56:31] excuse me, bring to Greenville, the South Carolina Public Transportation

[56:35] Association >> first time in Greenville they've ever

[56:39] met. So, that was a great thing. And James is president, so they may have

[56:42] something to do with it. You know, we appreciate that. It's an honor to speak

[56:45] to them. And, uh, Clint, where are you? C, can you tell everybody about the

[56:48] conferences? We have one of the largest conferences perhaps ever to be in

[56:52] Greenville. >> Big deal.

[56:53] » And they're here now everywhere. And it's a good story to hear in light of

[56:57] our new conf downtown conference center we hope to build because this may be a

[57:00] little hint of the future to come. So tell everybody what

[57:03] » Yes. So this is um hosting SE DOT is hosting the Sashto conference. Uh it

[57:09] started last Friday, went through through the weekend, lots of events and

[57:13] networking um activities and events and that sort of thing. and it runs through

[57:17] Wednesday of this week, but it's um essentially about 15 different state DOT

[57:22] organizations um throughout the southern region of the United States. It actually

[57:27] extends out to Hawaii and Puerto Rico as well. They're they're included. Um but

[57:31] uh a large number of DOT um agency representatives are here as well as the

[57:37] consultants and contractor community. Uh but somewhere between a,000 and 2,000

[57:41] people that are that are here um visiting Greenville and we're getting so

[57:46] many compliments. Uh everybody's having a great time enjoying things um and

[57:50] really getting out and seeing our beautiful city. So,

[57:53] » and you heard that right, nearly 2,000 delegates here for this. They're meeting

[57:56] at the Bonsor Center, the Peace Center, taking over, I believe, every hotel in

[58:00] downtown. >> That's right.

[58:02] » Unprecedented. But just a hint of what is what our future could look like.

[58:06] » Mr. Mayor, think about all those people, not only the DOT personnel, but all the

[58:12] contractors and vendors, all those people that have never been to

[58:16] Greenville before >> and now they have, right? How many

[58:20] people have never been to Greenville and now they've seen what Greenville is

[58:23] about? That's a big deal. >> Talk to probably five people today says,

[58:26] "I I've never been to Greenville. It's a beautiful city. Y'all are doing great

[58:29] things here." It's a whole southeast. It's Texas and Arkansas all the way to

[58:32] West Virginia and >> Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama,

[58:36] Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina.

[58:39] » I sent Clint a little note yesterday because I did a little welcome to one of

[58:42] the dresses. Basically, what are you where are you? What are you up to? And

[58:45] he said just what we said networking, [laughter]

[58:49] » whatever that means. Okay. >> It's been good though. And they're

[58:52] they're having a great time. So, and thank you for your help with this,

[58:55] mayor. >> Okay. We look forward to the national

[58:57] public transportation group coming here too, James, in the future as well. We

[59:01] get that group. Thank you very much, C.

City Council Formal Meeting

Agenda

Transcript