[0:00] Hello Hanahan. My name is Chrissy
Reinwwater and I am blessed to be the
[0:05] mayor of the city of Hanahan. Welcome to
the state of the city address for 2026.
[0:11] I am so excited to share with you all
that we have accomplished in 2025 and
[0:16] also give some sneak peaks to what's
ahead.
[0:32] The first thing you've probably noticed
is all the beautifification going on
[0:36] downtown. Well, it's not quite beautiful
yet, but we're getting there. The
[0:41] construction going on represents new
storm water drainage that is happening
[0:45] throughout the downtown area. We're so
grateful for that for some flooding
[0:49] issues that we have faced that this
should help rectify, but also the
[0:52] beautiful curb, gutter, and landscaping
that will now be aligning all the
[0:57] sidewalks, which will lead you to the
really cool new businesses and
[1:01] restaurants that you will find all
throughout the downtown area. Well, last
[1:06] year in 2025, we saw an increase of
nearly $1 million in business license
[1:12] revenue. What that means is funding is
coming into our budget that is not
[1:16] resting on the shoulders of our
homeowners. It's people that are coming
[1:20] to live, work, and play here. So, it
might be you. You might be enjoying the
[1:24] quality of life by just driving up the
block instead of battling traffic all
[1:29] around Charleston to do your shopping or
to eat with your family. But it's also
[1:33] other people from other areas coming
into Hanahan to do their shopping and
[1:38] dining as well. Everybody gives a little
bit and it contributes to the bottom
[1:42] line which helps save our homeowners
money in their pockets. Some other
[1:47] things you will also find in our
downtown area and throughout other areas
[1:51] of Hanahan is our murals popping up. Art
brings life and vibrancy. And we're also
[1:57] offering a grant not only for the murals
but also for facade. So if there's a
[2:02] business in our area that is looking for
a little facelift, we can help. Now, if
[2:07] you're a business located in the city of
Hanahan, or maybe you're a business
[2:10] owner and you do business in Hanahan and
throughout the Low Country, well, we
[2:14] want to make sure that you're invited to
our business mixers. We've done those in
[2:18] the past and they're about to ramp back
up for 2026. We provide space for
[2:23] everyone to network and share the
opportunities that we have to support
[2:26] fellow people in the city of Hanahan.
You can comment below or reach out to
[2:31] the city to make sure you're on the list
for that information. Now, addition to
[2:35] our business owners, we have some other
people that have gotten heavily involved
[2:38] in the city of Hanahan through our
citizens academy, our very first one
[2:43] that we hosted in 2025. This group of
dedicated residents came together every
[2:49] week to do a deep dive into what's
behind the curtain. How do we do what we
[2:54] do to accomplish what we accomplish? I'm
so happy that they got to learn more,
[3:00] but also get more involved. So many of
them have stepped up to volunteer in
[3:03] different ways and have just cheered our
staff and our council along now that
[3:08] they know exactly what really is
happening in the city of Hanahan. If you
[3:13] missed out on our first, there's a
second class coming in 2026 that you'll
[3:18] also want to get on the list for if you
so wish. Another crosswalk that you will
[3:23] see appear is going to be right in front
of City Hall. Our citizen of the year,
[3:28] Caroline Evans, made a suggestion. She
attends all of our council meetings and
[3:33] offers great input. After doing really
good research, she came to our council
[3:38] and expressed how she felt not as safe
as she could as she came to one of our
[3:43] city council meetings one month and how
we can improve that by a crosswalk. I
[3:48] love how she jumped in with research and
positive advocacy to get it done. It's
[3:54] something that can be modeled for
everyone throughout the city to continue
[3:57] to make a positive difference in our
community. There is also a traffic study
[4:01] that's going to be done on the corner of
Yemen's Hall and North Rhett. And of
[4:06] course, we don't own any roads in the
city of Hanahan. So, I have to give a
[4:10] shout out to our partners at SE DOT and
Berkeley County who are assisting with
[4:14] all of these things. You're also going
to see a lane widening coming up on
[4:18] Snake Road and a roundabout to get us
out of one of our most popular shopping
[4:23] centers where the Lowe's Food is located
at the entrance of Tanner. Safety is
[4:28] important. Helping with congestion and
infrastructure is important and the city
[4:32] of Hanahan and our partners are working
to make life a little easier for each
[4:36] and every resident. One of the most
important things we do as your city
[4:40] council and staff is steward taxpayer
money. Well, I'm excited to report that
[4:45] we have a strong fund balance. God
forbid there were to be an emergency,
[4:49] we've got you covered. And just as
exciting is our audit. It came back
[4:54] perfect. So, to know when someone does a
deep dive into the city finances and get
[4:58] that result is exactly what you want to
hear. Hannah Han's Park and Recreation
[5:03] Department served 5,143
people throughout our community. That is
[5:10] a broad range of people over ages young
and old. One of the most exciting things
[5:17] that happened in 2025 was the opening of
Hanahan's newest park, Creekide at
[5:23] Stewart. I'm curious, have you been
there yet? Have you enjoyed the kayak
[5:27] launch, the fishing from the pier, the
fireplace in the pavilion, the
[5:32] all-inclusive park? Whether you're just
looking to stroll by for a sunset or a
[5:38] sunrise or looking to take place in one
of these activities, we highly recommend
[5:42] you get there if you haven't already.
One of the things we're very excited
[5:46] about is the new stadium seating at the
Hawks Nest. You can now sit comfortably
[5:51] as we cheer on all the programs, young
and old, that are taking place on our
[5:56] turf field. We also have added something
for our furry friends. The dog parks
[6:01] located there have new shade structures.
Or actually, maybe they're more for us.
[6:06] While the dogs run around, we can sit
comfortably in the shade. Throughout the
[6:10] year, we had a variety of community
events that brought everyone together
[6:14] for all different reasons. One of the
highlights was the Hanahan Artisan
[6:19] Farmers Market. We're going to be
shifting some dates and times for 2026,
[6:24] so keep an eye out. But the success that
we saw from the farmers market in 2025
[6:29] was awesome. From the smiling faces of
the families grabbing food to eat to the
[6:34] vendors selling the things that they had
personally made, the live music, face
[6:38] painting, petting zoo, and it was free.
So getting there and having fun was
[6:43] awesome. Walking away with some items
that have now supported our local
[6:47] vendors, and going home was even better.
We invite you to come to our 2026, which
[6:52] is soon to launch. Hanahan's park and
wreck program supported sports for young
[6:57] and old in the city. We also had wreck
night where we partnered in with Hanahan
[7:03] High School to invite our younger kids
in to see what our older kids are doing.
[7:07] It's so cool that we funnel that program
from our youth sports into the high
[7:12] school program and continue to partner
with them. So, well, our summer camp
[7:17] program was also a hit. The kids got to
come every day, go on a variety of field
[7:22] trips, learn different things, and have
fun together. It took a whole group of
[7:27] extra employees to host them and they
did such a great job. One of the
[7:32] highlights for this year was the
introduction of Hanahan's newest
[7:37] resident, Mohawk. The city now has its
own mascot that you will find at all our
[7:43] city events. Be sure to come see him in
2026. Snap a picture, post it online,
[7:50] #mohawk.
We're so excited to have him as a part
[7:53] of our Hannah family.
Hanahan loves their seniors and that's
[7:58] because we have the best ones around
every time I step foot in the senior
[8:03] center. They're doing really cool things
with big smiles on their faces. If you
[8:08] are over the age of 50, you are welcome
to join. Whether using the gym,
[8:11] participating in their programs, or just
having fun with the others around you,
[8:16] we encourage you to get involved because
it's one of the coolest places in the
[8:20] city. Speaking of the senior center,
that location as well as all of our
[8:24] others, the amphitheater, our parks and
pavilions, they are up for rent. So, you
[8:30] are welcome to check those out and use
them for your next event. If you are
[8:34] interested in renting one of our
facilities, you're going to want to jump
[8:37] over to the city of Hanahan's web page
and get more information on there. We
[8:41] love our first responders. We are so
grateful for the work of the Hanahan
[8:45] Fire Department. In 2025, they saw a 13%
decrease in volume with 2,818
[8:53] calls. They saved lives. They got to
work. But even more importantly, they
[8:57] did some pretty cool proactive things to
help. In 2025, we did see an increase in
[9:03] structure fires. So throughout 2026,
we'll have a stronger focus on education
[9:08] with a campaign on fire safety
throughout our communities to help keep
[9:12] you safe. The city of Hanahan's fire
marshall has had partnerships with
[9:17] service master of Charleston as well as
the state farm on Remount Road to
[9:22] provide grant funding for smoke alarms.
We've received 150 of those to
[9:27] distribute throughout the community to
help with safety and it also provides an
[9:30] opportunity for additional education. We
have already installed 35 of those in
[9:35] the city of Hanahan and are happy to do
more in 2026. So reach out to the city
[9:40] if that is something that would benefit
you and your family. Our firemen are the
[9:44] best with over 10,000 hours of logged
training and they have also had a lot of
[9:50] fun in our community. Did you get to go
to the haunted firehouse this past
[9:55] October? If not, you're going to want to
get ready to go in 2026. We had over 200
[10:00] people come through. Not only did they
get a scare, but they had a great time
[10:05] and also had an opportunity to learn
about fire safety. The program helps the
[10:10] 1% firefighter fund. So, in addition to
being a blessing to our firefighters,
[10:14] it's also a blessing to the community
with everything involved. Continuing
[10:19] with our heroes, we also love our
Hanahham police officers. They do such a
[10:24] great job of community policing, but
also being reactive when they need to.
[10:29] We are up to 32 sworn officers, up from
21 in 2023. That has also allowed for
[10:38] our fulfillment of theou with our drug
task force in partnership with Berkeley
[10:43] County. You're going to continue to see
awesome community events come from our
[10:47] Hanahan Police Department. This past
year, they included the end of school
[10:52] year bash, the holiday police delivery
Christmas outreach program, coffee with
[10:58] cop events, and our social media has
increased by over 2,000 followers since
[11:03] 2023.
The battle of the badges blood drive
[11:07] between both our heroes, Hanahan Police
Department and Hanahan Fire was a
[11:11] success, saving so many lives. So many
exciting things happened in 2025. And
[11:17] I've already shared so much that is
coming in 2026, but I would be aiss to
[11:22] not mention the old Hanahan Trail that
will be running from West Veco Park to
[11:27] Bishop under the power lines. It's going
to be a great spot for exercise, getting
[11:32] from point A to point B, and just
enjoying all that Hanahan has to offer.
[11:37] As I close out our state of the city
address, the one thing that I want to
[11:41] focus on is the culture in the city of
Hanahan. There are so many projects that
[11:46] we could add and so many things that we
could do, but I truly believe that the
[11:50] thing that sets our city apart is the
hometown culture, the spirit of having
[11:55] each other's back, the positivity and
the excitement of smalltown America
[12:00] right in our backyard. That is something
that we'll continue to focus on as a
[12:04] city council and a staff. But I
encourage you as residents to hold tight
[12:08] and to continue to be the awesome people
that you are, checking on your neighbor,
[12:14] working together, and making Hanahan the
best place in the world. So, God bless
[12:19] you, Hanahan. God bless South Carolina,
and God bless the United States of
[12:24] America.