[0:29] Madam Clerk, would you please call the

[0:30] roll and do we have either of our fellow

[0:33] council members on remotely?

[0:36] They are not.

[0:37] They are overseas and hope to join.

[0:39] Whether they are able to do so

[0:42] remains to be seen, but I note the

[0:43] presence of a quorum in any event.

[0:46] Here.

[0:57] Uh Madam Clerk,

[1:00] uh just been advised that the Council

[1:02] Member Kay has joined remotely.

[1:07] Um

[1:09] the uh first item of business is

[1:11] approval of the minutes of our last uh

[1:13] Council meeting of July 7th. Uh fairly

[1:16] extensive, they've been circulated to

[1:17] Council members in advance in advance.

[1:19] Any questions or comments or further

[1:21] edits to the

[1:22] uh minutes?

[1:23] >> I had a minor edit that the clerk made.

[1:26] >> Incorporating that uh without any other

[1:28] changes, uh the minutes are deemed

[1:29] approved.

[1:30] Uh the next agenda item is citizen

[1:32] comments on agenda items only.

[1:36] Are there any citizen comments?

[1:40] Um so the next agenda item is uh

[1:44] Oh, I'm sorry.

[1:45] Mr. Wolahan.

[1:47] >> Larry Wolahan, 406 North Regret. Hi.

[1:50] Good afternoon. Um first I would like to

[1:52] thank Craig Harris. I know it's not on

[1:53] the agenda, but for his uh

[1:56] work with the fire departments on the uh

[1:58] fire alarm blitz. It's a

[2:01] really good project and this help is

[2:03] very much appreciated. Some people on John's Island maybe here, I don't

[2:08] know, use kerosene for cooking and warm

[2:10] water doesn't have fire hydrants, etc.

[2:12] So,

[2:13] fire alarms are very important. Anyway,

[2:15] I'm here to address the conservancy

[2:17] project. I don't really expect any

[2:19] answers now, but uh

[2:21] I have some questions and comments.

[2:24] Um currently we have the Sea Island and

[2:26] Charleston conservation programs. Um

[2:30] The island in the past has actually

[2:31] benefited from Charleston

[2:35] conservancy

[2:36] um items. We we had a

[2:39] fishing dock, 120,000,

[2:43] and some of the facilities granted in

[2:45] the past. So, why would we have these

[2:48] two? Do we need to have our own?

[2:51] And what's the driver for this proposal?

[2:55] Um

[2:56] Second in the proposal, um

[2:59] there's a mention of

[3:01] zoning

[3:03] requirements

[3:04] cannot be achieved because they might be

[3:06] amended in the future.

[3:09] So, is that a really a good reason for

[3:11] taking

[3:12] potential change to this away? I mean,

[3:15] I'm just reading the comment. I may be

[3:16] wrong in my interpretation.

[3:18] But if that's the reason, you know,

[3:21] zoning will be can be amended.

[3:25] Future people might want to amend

[3:26] zoning.

[3:29] Um obviously a lot more detail has to be

[3:31] done, but you know,

[3:32] » [clears throat]

[3:32] >> there's no mention of scoring tri-

[3:34] criteria, which brings me on to the next

[3:37] program

[3:39] comments. The committee for approval or

[3:42] initiation of the projects

[3:44] is largely drawn from those from an

[3:46] environmental background.

[3:48] I would just question where's the

[3:49] balance? I know the board has to approve

[3:52] you know decide on what's actually

[3:54] submitted to the board.

[3:56] >> [clears throat]

[3:56] >> But if there's no balance in what's

[3:57] submitted

[3:59] and people are from an environmental

[4:00] background and I'm all great I'm all for

[4:02] the environment.

[4:03] But again, is there a balance to the uh

[4:07] committee coming up with these ideas?

[4:11] Another comment is it looks to me like

[4:12] it basically a sixth of the land covered

[4:14] by this conservancy is actually Kiawah

[4:17] land. I may be wrong in that, might be a

[4:19] fifth.

[4:21] Um so, why are we going so far out? I

[4:23] know we border a big area and because of

[4:26] the rivers, etc.

[4:28] Um you know,

[4:30] really is is it really to the benefit of

[4:32] the island?

[4:34] And again, I have no problem in helping

[4:36] out other bits of the community, but

[4:39] I still have that question. What is the

[4:41] administration cost likely to be?

[4:44] And what is the scale of the funding

[4:45] likely to be?

[4:47] Also, a comment once a year reporting of

[4:50] the fund, which is separate to the

[4:51] committee advisory committee.

[4:54] Is one year reporting in the early

[4:56] stages adequate?

[4:59] And again, um

[5:00] I mentioned other resources um you know,

[5:03] for you know, we we had funding from

[5:05] Charleston before.

[5:07] Um I noticed notice Folly Beach got 10

[5:10] million in 25 and 2 million in 26

[5:13] uh from Charleston for drainage

[5:15] projects. And again, are we getting

[5:18] enough resources from

[5:21] other other funding opportunities to actually

[5:25] look after the island. Thank you.

[5:28] >> Thank you, Mr. Wolahan, for those

[5:29] questions and comments. I anticipate

[5:31] that uh many if not most of them will be

[5:33] touched upon during the discussion uh

[5:35] later in the agenda. Any other citizen

[5:38] comments on agenda items?

[5:41] Uh seeing none, uh we next have a

[5:43] presentation and update uh from from

[5:45] count town count from Crown Castle and I

[5:48] will turn to

[5:51] Council Member Spencer to kind of frame

[5:54] the where we are in this process. It's

[5:56] been ongoing and under his

[5:59] leadership and working with the town

[6:00] staff. So, please Council Member

[6:02] Spencer.

[6:03] >> Thanks and we have Kyle Davis from Crown

[6:05] Castle today as well as representatives

[6:08] from the carriers.

[6:10] Many of you recall we're about 2 years

[6:12] into trying to address and improve our

[6:15] telecommunications cellular in

[6:16] particular in this aspect infrastructure

[6:19] for public safety, quality of life for

[6:22] alternatives for broadband connectivity

[6:24] in our homes, things like that. Crown

[6:27] Castle as well as American Tower and

[6:29] others have been

[6:31] very helpful in assessing and looking at

[6:34] ways that we can make improvements to

[6:36] our cellular infrastructure. Crown

[6:38] Castle has four sites on Kiawah. There's

[6:41] also one American Tower site. There is a

[6:44] site that is hosted by Berkeley Electric

[6:47] and then the the final site that's

[6:49] actually on the island proper is um

[6:55] Yeah.

[6:56] For resort guest primarily, but it does

[6:58] have coverage for the surrounding area

[7:00] as well. The island's plagued with huge

[7:03] coverage gaps

[7:04] mostly LTE coverage which is pretty

[7:06] inferior to the demands of modern

[7:08] communications today for emergency

[7:10] response, for quality of life like I

[7:12] mentioned, things like that. Crown

[7:14] Castle's been a really strong partner as

[7:15] well as American Tower and the carriers

[7:17] in helping us first of all understand

[7:19] what kind of constraints the community

[7:21] was putting on them that was prohibiting

[7:23] investment which is they pay for this

[7:25] infrastructure. So, prohibiting that

[7:27] investment. And that resulted in

[7:31] updated ordinance for cellular

[7:33] infrastructure that the planning

[7:34] commission ultimately town council

[7:35] approved right about this time last year

[7:37] to recognize what takes to provide

[7:40] modern communications that our community

[7:41] needs.

[7:43] We've been going through the not so

[7:44] glamorous parts the last year or so

[7:47] since then.

[7:48] Site assessment, site planning, all the

[7:51] stuff that goes into getting it right

[7:52] when we actually do it. So, Kyle and

[7:55] team are here to give us an update where

[7:57] we're at cuz some things are going to

[7:58] start happening. It's still about a year

[8:00] or two where we're going to start seeing

[8:01] the first site come online, 15 months,

[8:03] cuz it takes a while. There's

[8:04] construction, there's planning, there's

[8:06] a lot of things that move to make it

[8:08] happen. Kyle step that through through

[8:10] that a little bit and then be available

[8:12] to answer any questions that anybody

[8:13] might have. I will add one more thing

[8:15] and thank you to Mr. Taylor who's been

[8:17] my partner in crime on this. Um, that um

[8:20] the planning commission tomorrow, which

[8:22] you'll probably touch on, Kyle, is

[8:24] looking at a zoning implications, very

[8:26] minor, but we're adjusting a boundary.

[8:27] The resort has been a great partner, uh,

[8:29] Plamondon in particular in helping us

[8:31] assess the sites cuz the four Crown

[8:33] Castle sites, which I'm hoping I'm not

[8:35] taking too much of your briefing, um,

[8:37] are hosted at the resort. Um, so working

[8:40] through some property line changes which

[8:41] result in a little minor zone change and

[8:44] adjustment that the planning

[8:45] commission's going to review tomorrow.

[8:46] So, Kyle's going to catch us up to where

[8:48] we're at and where we're going.

[8:49] >> Wonderful. Thank you so much for that

[8:51] background, Lance.

[8:51] >> And and do you mind introducing your

[8:52] team real quick?

[8:53] >> Absolutely. It's a great backdrop. So,

[8:55] um, my name is Kyle Stewart. I work as

[8:57] public

[8:57] >> I called you Davis. I don't know why I

[8:58] did that.

[8:58] >> No, you're fine. You're fine. I I

[8:59] There's no offense taken.

[9:01] Um, my name is Kyle Stewart. I work as

[9:02] public policy manager at Crown Castle. I

[9:04] assist with external and government

[9:06] affairs and today I our team, our

[9:09] subject matter experts are in the room

[9:11] and I just wanted to make sure as we

[9:13] work through our agenda today, we'll be

[9:15] able to go through those introductions

[9:16] with our team. We'll be able to review

[9:17] some of those sites that Lance talked

[9:19] about. We'll go through a timeline, an

[9:21] estimated timeline of our lead site,

[9:23] which is called Ocean Course, and we'll

[9:25] show that new or the replacement tower

[9:28] example as well as what that coverage

[9:29] will bring to the island. So, without

[9:31] further ado, with me here, um, is Jason

[9:34] Martin to my left, is Akim Muhammad to

[9:35] my left as well, and Aaron Wilson.

[9:38] Jason's our site acquisition manager,

[9:41] Zaki's our RF engineer, and Aaron is

[9:43] very close to the project and

[9:45] understands a lot of the complications,

[9:46] a lot of intricacies of the island, and

[9:48] it's great to have all of us here today

[9:50] just really just give you a background

[9:52] of what is on the island and what we're

[9:55] intending to do with replacing the

[9:57] current coverage here in some of these

[9:59] towers.

[10:00] So, on this slide you'll see Lance

[10:01] already um kind of shared a little bit

[10:04] about where we're at on the island.

[10:05] You'll see we're um located in Ocean

[10:07] Course. We have a site called Cougar on

[10:11] uh Kiawi Kiawah Beach Drive.

[10:13] We have a site named Turtle on One

[10:15] Governors Drive, and we have a site

[10:18] called Osprey on 700 Governors Drive.

[10:21] For the purpose of our presentation

[10:22] today, we're going to focus on Ocean

[10:25] Course. Ocean Course is the lead site in

[10:28] all of in our um on all of our towers

[10:31] here on the island. We anticipate

[10:33] working through updating Ocean Course

[10:36] with the other three sites to follow um

[10:38] shortly thereafter that completed

[10:39] timeline.

[10:41] So, what we'll see here is our estimated

[10:43] timeline with Ocean Course, and really

[10:45] wanted to point out so last week, 2

[10:47] weeks ago, we were able to sit down with

[10:50] John and Lance and some of our industry

[10:52] partners and really review some of the

[10:54] needs on the island, but also it allowed

[10:56] us to kind of reestablish our

[10:58] relationship and um share with not only

[11:01] John and Lance some of the progress

[11:02] we've made, but also what um our

[11:05] commitment to the island and what we're

[11:06] ready to really jump right into um

[11:09] leading off with this estimated timeline

[11:11] at Ocean Course.

[11:13] So, here we are. It's August. We're

[11:14] presenting to Town Council, and and next

[11:16] month we're going to get right into our

[11:18] pre-zoning administrative side, which

[11:20] will include balloon testing. And so, we

[11:22] really wanted to make sure the community

[11:24] was aware as we moved on to the next

[11:26] step of this project timeline that

[11:28] you'll probably start seeing some

[11:30] balloons pop up in your community. Now,

[11:32] we have to put a balloon up at these

[11:34] sites for a 10-hour period to make sure

[11:37] we can understand some of the physics as

[11:38] it relates to the coverage of the area.

[11:41] And so, I wanted to make sure that it

[11:43] was one of the first things we mentioned

[11:44] to everyone here today is that we're here, we remain committed to the

[11:48] community, and part of that is going to

[11:50] allow us to put some balloons up on our

[11:52] assets and really understand the

[11:54] coverage areas. And it's going to be

[11:55] happening soon. And and so, just making

[11:58] y'all aware as we move into the

[11:59] timeline, you'll see our zoning review

[12:01] will occur in October.

[12:03] And at this at this time, we also put in

[12:05] some of our regulatory and environmental

[12:07] reviews that really take 6 months and is a big piece of how we can move

[12:12] forward in some of our next steps. So,

[12:15] as we go through our zoning review here

[12:16] with a town of Kiawah, we'll also get

[12:19] into some post-zoning engineering in

[12:20] December, and we'll be applying for our

[12:23] building permit early next year in

[12:24] February. And we are anticipating with

[12:27] this estimated timeline by March, all of

[12:30] those reviews will be complete. And when

[12:32] those reviews are complete, we'll be

[12:34] able to move forward with our

[12:35] pre-construction like side of the house,

[12:37] and we'll be able to get all of that

[12:39] administrative stuff done

[12:41] with the goal in this estimated timeline

[12:44] is to move to tower construction in

[12:45] October of 2027.

[12:47] So, there's

[12:49] a couple different pieces that are also

[12:51] are at play here. And when we think

[12:53] about some of the

[12:55] environmental factors that happen,

[12:56] whether it's migratory birds or some of

[12:58] the other um kind of factors that

[13:02] really kind of help us like understand

[13:05] what's best to to build and when to

[13:07] build. We know that there is um

[13:10] like a nesting season from March to

[13:13] October. So, we really can't start kind

[13:16] of

[13:17] touching some of these towers till after

[13:18] that nesting season's over. And so,

[13:20] you'll see this estimated timeline kind

[13:22] of really just um

[13:24] takes that into consideration, and

[13:26] beginning in October of next year, we'd

[13:28] love to

[13:29] be constructing our tower and by the end

[13:30] of the year our carrier customers will

[13:32] be moving onto that tower as well.

[13:35] >> Kyle, I just one quick question.

[13:36] >> Yes, sir.

[13:37] >> To go back, how does a balloon testing

[13:38] help you understand your coverage area?

[13:41] Are you putting radios in the balloon or

[13:43] are you doing visual or how do you do

[13:44] this?

[13:44] >> great question.

[13:45] >> It's more visual. It's It's not to help

[13:47] with the coverage, but it's more for the

[13:49] community to see what the

[13:52] proposed tower, the height will be. So,

[13:54] we're going to um

[13:55] have a balloon test at each one of the

[13:57] sites. They will be at the

[13:59] stated height of the proposed tower and

[14:02] they'll be there for 10 hours. So, it

[14:03] just gives the community uh the chance

[14:05] to have a visual of what this tower, the

[14:07] height that it's going to

[14:09] >> aesthetics for us, not great. Thank you

[14:11] very much.

[14:13] >> Appreciate that clarification.

[14:14] >> And just just on on that point and I

[14:16] don't know what the discussions we've

[14:18] had about uh um coordination and

[14:20] communication. It's going to be

[14:21] critically important that we get the

[14:23] message out to the community and when

[14:25] those balloons are going to go up well

[14:27] in advance.

[14:28] >> 100% and we'll be sure to communicate

[14:30] that and another point of us wanting to

[14:32] talk about that today was to really just

[14:34] make sure you're you all are you all are

[14:36] aware of that as we kind of move forward

[14:38] here.

[14:39] >> I would add in the communication that if

[14:41] they see the balloon, that's a good

[14:43] thing. It means they'll get better cell

[14:44] coverage.

[14:45] >> That's fair. That's a fair point.

[14:46] >> That's the probably the main thing you

[14:46] want to emphasize. They want to see the

[14:48] balloons.

[14:49] >> Yes, absolutely.

[14:51] And so, we'll we'll anticipate, you

[14:53] know, by the end of next year that we'll

[14:55] hopefully have the Ocean Course this

[14:58] estimated timeline complete and coverage

[15:00] at Ocean Course really increased and

[15:03] that balloon testing, right? We're going

[15:05] to do them on all four sites. So, while

[15:07] we are specifically

[15:09] um you know, zeroed in on Ocean Course

[15:11] today, that

[15:12] those balloons will be um popping up on

[15:14] all of those four sites that we um

[15:16] previously shared in the slides.

[15:18] >> Kyle, I've got a question from Council

[15:19] Member Kay. She says she can't

[15:21] communicate in, but she's hearing us.

[15:23] >> Okay.

[15:23] >> Um and this may be more for the staff,

[15:25] but um she's asking uh since nesting

[15:28] season varies per bird population, are

[15:30] they involving Aaron, which is our town

[15:31] biologist, in the process? So,

[15:34] I I think the answer will be yes, if it

[15:36] isn't already. Is that correct, John?

[15:39] Yeah. Okay.

[15:40] >> Yeah, we have a whole migratory birds

[15:42] team, so we we do work with a lot of our

[15:44] experts in house to make sure that we're

[15:46] following the environmental regulations

[15:48] and then we're

[15:50] following everything to the T and and

[15:51] making sure that we can really access

[15:53] the sites and

[15:55] really take the next steps to build our

[15:56] capacity to build those sites.

[15:58] Thank you. Of course. And so here you'll

[16:00] see a little bit of what you've already

[16:02] done. And and so this is

[16:05] a completed, in progress, and next step

[16:08] kind of review of where we where we're

[16:09] at with Ocean Course.

[16:11] And so we've done our site walks, we've done the pre-preliminary tower and

[16:15] ground design.

[16:17] We've also kind of reached terms with

[16:19] some of our with the resort, and we've

[16:22] identified the need to rezone the

[16:23] parcels. So, that rezone is happening

[16:25] currently.

[16:26] And that is what we're really moving to

[16:28] the in progress section now. And and so

[16:30] we're meeting with our proposed business

[16:32] terms with our carrier partners. We're

[16:34] continuing those conversations

[16:36] with council and and our stakeholders to

[16:39] coordinate these efforts. And a lot of

[16:41] the ground lease documentation

[16:42] preparation, the stuff that happens

[16:43] behind the scenes is currently occurring

[16:46] right now.

[16:47] And that means

[16:49] really getting us closer to our next

[16:51] steps, which is going to be able to

[16:52] obtain a carrier approval terms. We're

[16:54] going to be able to execute our lease

[16:55] documentation and advance our zoning and

[16:57] permitting

[16:59] shortly,

[17:00] really next month and and as we move

[17:02] towards the future.

[17:04] I'm going to pause there. I know I've shared a lot of information, but

[17:06] I'm going to pass this presentation over

[17:09] to my counterpart Jason, who's going to

[17:11] review our replacement tower examples.

[17:13] We wanted to give you visuals for what

[17:15] you all can expect as these replacement

[17:17] towers take hold in the community, and

[17:20] what kind of benefits those will bring

[17:21] to the community as well.

[17:22] >> As Jason comes up, um

[17:25] are you going to run the other towers in

[17:27] staggered parallel, or will they all be

[17:28] in series?

[17:29] >> Great question.

[17:31] >> Yeah, so as as Kyle mentioned, Ocean

[17:33] Course will be our first first path, and

[17:36] then

[17:37] we would like to submit the other three

[17:39] as quickly as we can.

[17:42] If we can do them

[17:43] in parallel, that would be ideal for us.

[17:46] But we'll just have to see how that

[17:47] plays out.

[17:48] >> Yeah, I know there'll be some

[17:49] staggering, but that would be great.

[17:50] Yeah. Thank you.

[17:51] >> And if I can just add to that, cuz

[17:53] they're talking to Crown Castle right

[17:54] now. The American Tower tower is

[17:57] sufficient height right now,

[17:59] and I believe they've confirmed they

[18:00] have the appropriate radios on that one.

[18:03] The resort continues to work the

[18:05] modernization around the sanctuary.

[18:07] The Vanderhorst tower, we're in

[18:09] discussions with Berkeley on that right

[18:10] now. There's some things we need to work

[18:12] through with that one, but

[18:14] that's the the final

[18:16] cap filler.

[18:18] >> And the hope, and maybe even

[18:20] expectation, is that we'll truly have 5G

[18:22] all over the island.

[18:23] >> Yes, that is the intent.

[18:28] » Good [clears throat] afternoon.

[18:29] >> And soon to be 6G.

[18:31] >> Okay.

[18:33] » I'm sorry. Mr. Martin?

[18:36] >> Yes.

[18:36] >> Could you move closer speak in the mic?

[18:38] The council member Kay cannot hear you.

[18:40] Thank you.

[18:40] >> Is this better?

[18:41] >> Yes, please. Yes, project.

[18:43] >> So, once again, I just want to provide

[18:45] some examples of what you may be able to see.

[18:49] On the left [clears throat] of the

[18:50] screen, this is an existing 160-ft

[18:52] monopole, which is just up the street on

[18:55] Maybank Highway on Daniel Island.

[18:58] So, you can see from this picture,

[19:00] there's some mature canopy around this

[19:02] 160-ft tower, which helps conceal it.

[19:05] Uh Kiawah Island, you have some some

[19:07] beautiful

[19:09] old growth

[19:11] canopy here on

[19:13] and

[19:14] we as Crown Castle, we believe that the

[19:16] 150-ft towers that we were proposing

[19:19] at these sites will also be concealed

[19:22] by this canopy.

[19:24] Um

[19:25] on the right-hand side, I've got a split

[19:27] screen. The Ocean Course, which is 70-ft

[19:30] is taller than the small

[19:32] smaller,

[19:33] which is on the left-hand side.

[19:35] >> [clears throat]

[19:35] >> And what we're proposing photo

[19:37] simulation is the 150-ft

[19:39] uh on the right-hand side.

[19:41] You can see um

[19:45] the Ocean Course is a stealth site. So,

[19:49] meaning the carriers, which we only have

[19:51] two currently, is on the Ocean Course,

[19:53] and the equipment is internal to the

[19:55] tower.

[19:56] >> [clears throat]

[19:57] >> It is restricted from a from a wireless

[19:59] perspective. Okay, they can't add so

[20:01] much capacity due to the limitations of

[20:04] the stealth design.

[20:06] On the right-hand side, what we're

[20:07] proposing is three distinct uh mounts or

[20:11] carriers. So, one

[20:14] uh major aspect between the two, you go

[20:16] from Ocean Course, which only has two

[20:18] wireless carriers today, and what we're

[20:20] proposing, the new tower would be able

[20:22] to support three wireless carriers, at

[20:24] least three.

[20:25] Um in addition to that, the wireless

[20:28] carriers would not be restricted in

[20:30] terms of the amount of equipment

[20:32] that they add, which add So, what does

[20:34] that

[20:35] They can add more capacity. That means

[20:37] your phones will be faster than what

[20:39] they are today.

[20:41] In addition to the increased capacity,

[20:45] we're going from 70-ft to 150-ft, which

[20:47] is going to help from a coverage

[20:49] perspective.

[20:50] Um so, kind of summarize the the

[20:53] advantage of going from the existing

[20:55] 70-ft to the 150, one, you're going from

[20:58] two wireless carriers to three.

[21:01] Secondly, they're going to have more

[21:02] capacity, so you're going to have the 5G and the faster

[21:07] uh faster speeds.

[21:09] Third, third, they're going to have

[21:12] better connectivity because they're

[21:13] going to have a bigger footprint to have

[21:15] coverage down

[21:17] and this helps to kind of give you a

[21:19] better probability that when you need to

[21:21] make that call, you're going to have

[21:22] connectivity for public safety. That's a

[21:24] big concern, I think,

[21:26] and many of them probably

[21:29] use their cell phone as as their home

[21:31] phone, right? And you know,

[21:33] it's important when you need to make

[21:35] that call, you want to have connectivity

[21:37] and that taller tower

[21:39] will help provide that that better

[21:40] connectivity.

[21:41] >> Jason, can I jump in on just a couple

[21:42] things? And most people consider their

[21:44] cellular experience this, which is

[21:46] great, and we want it to work right with

[21:48] and the apps on these phones suck a lot

[21:50] more data and now so you need a lot more

[21:52] capacity, but there's public safety, um,

[21:55] beach patrol, for example, has a

[21:57] online tool that they do reports on and

[21:59] there are a lot of gaps on the island

[22:00] where they don't have sufficient

[22:01] coverage to do that. Same thing with EMS

[22:05] and and St. John's fire and others, so,

[22:07] you know, having those kinds of tools

[22:09] available, um, I believe Kiawah maybe

[22:11] Resort even have, um, you know, tools

[22:13] and in trucks and cars that they're working off of and they have to

[22:17] find a place where they get a signal

[22:18] before they could do it, so it's it's

[22:19] disruptive as well, but also impacts

[22:22] safety.

[22:23] And I I and one more thought, each of

[22:25] the carriers has an in-home, what they

[22:27] call fixed wireless,

[22:29] uh, product, which means you can use

[22:32] instead of fiber or coax cable like with

[22:33] Comcast today or or AT&T if you have

[22:36] that, um, you can use your backhaul

[22:38] being the 5G cellular and it's broadband

[22:41] and you can actually get your home

[22:42] internet off of a device over cellular.

[22:45] >> Yeah, that's a that's a great point.

[22:46] That's, um,

[22:48] going to the the taller tower will give

[22:50] you another, um,

[22:52] fiber backhaul backhaul competitor,

[22:55] right? You can I think you have I think

[22:57] you mentioned there was fiber on the

[22:58] island, but

[23:00] this will allow the fixed wireless so

[23:01] you have a competitor for the backhaul.

[23:03] Um

[23:06] With that, I'm going to hand the slides

[23:08] over to Zaki. Zaki's going to go into

[23:10] more detail in terms of the current

[23:13] wireless coverage at Ocean Course on one

[23:15] of our carriers, and then also the

[23:17] proposed coverage at the 150 ft.

[23:24] » Good afternoon. This is Zaki Muhammad,

[23:26] part of Crown Castle RF engineering

[23:27] team. I'm here to present only just

[23:30] couple of slides here

[23:32] on the left side you are seeing is the

[23:35] current footprint uh coverage map of a

[23:38] one tower. The red highlighted color is

[23:41] basically where the signal strength is

[23:43] quite dominant, and all the residents or

[23:46] all the

[23:47] outdoor coverage in those areas are

[23:49] going to receive a very good coverage,

[23:51] good quality of signal, therefore

[23:53] getting a good throughput or speed.

[23:55] Um on the right is we have done a delta

[23:59] analysis between what we cover today

[24:02] versus what is going to look like at a higher rad center with increase.

[24:06] So, you can see that the coverage

[24:08] definitely have doubled up uh when you

[24:11] increase the height. So, currently if

[24:13] you are covering around um

[24:16] 140 homes with increased height, ideally

[24:20] we will

[24:21] cover 220 homes. So, that's the impact

[24:24] we want to see on the coverage.

[24:26] Definitely this is the top rad center,

[24:28] and as we look for the second and third

[24:30] uh carrier, the coverage is going to go a little shrunk up.

[24:34] So, that's this slide about.

[24:38] Thank you.

[24:41] » And and really just to wrap up our

[24:43] presentation today, here's an executive

[24:44] summary. We we kind of already walked

[24:46] through our completed, in progress, and

[24:47] next steps, and you'll see that uh Crown

[24:50] Castle remains committed to bring

[24:51] connectivity to the island, and we

[24:53] really want to be collaborative partners

[24:55] with you all here today, and also want

[24:57] to be able to make sure the stakeholders

[24:58] and our carrier customers are

[25:00] able to um not only be collaborative,

[25:02] but we really just want to make sure

[25:04] that connectivity remains strong. So, if

[25:07] there are any questions, we'd love to

[25:08] take them at this time, and we really

[25:10] appreciate the opportunity to share with

[25:12] you all how Crown Castle can bring

[25:13] connectivity and stronger connections to

[25:15] your island.

[25:18] And if there aren't any questions, we'd

[25:19] be happy to um you know, talk with you

[25:21] following the meeting, or if there are

[25:23] um any more pointed questions you come

[25:25] up with later, feel free to share them

[25:27] with your council members or the mayor,

[25:28] and we'd be happy to answer them in the

[25:29] future as well.

[25:31] >> I'm just going to add two quick

[25:32] comments. First of all, thank you again,

[25:34] Roger, for yours and Plaman's help with

[25:35] this. Um like I said, there's a lot of

[25:37] not glamorous stuff that happens early

[25:39] in this process, and the resort's been a

[25:41] great partner in helping make this work.

[25:43] Uh the second thing is that now that

[25:44] we're going to start seeing measurable

[25:46] process progress, uh the plan for now is

[25:48] to update monthly through the

[25:50] infrastructure and public works

[25:51] committee, um and then as need be, bring

[25:53] it forward to town council as more major

[25:56] activities happening uh as or as as

[25:58] requested.

[26:00] >> Absolutely. We remain committed to

[26:01] keeping the dialogue open and happy to

[26:03] answer any questions, and

[26:05] uh appreciate your partnership and and

[26:06] all of the help that we've already had.

[26:08] It's It's been great coming down to the

[26:09] island, and and we're really excited to

[26:11] bring um stronger connectivity.

[26:13] >> I do have one more comment. I said this

[26:14] earlier, but um

[26:16] this doesn't cost us anything except for

[26:18] helping them do it.

[26:20] The carriers and Crown Castle make the

[26:21] investment in this, so they see the

[26:23] value in doing this for Kiawah.

[26:24] >> And And that's a great point, Lance, and

[26:26] I and I would just note that those three

[26:27] other sites after Ocean Course are going

[26:29] to be carrier um driven. So, we we

[26:32] remain committed to providing those

[26:34] solutions. Those carrier commitments

[26:35] have also been shared with us, and and

[26:37] so we we're really excited to not only

[26:40] complete Ocean Course, but then to see

[26:41] that domino effect for the rest of the

[26:43] community thereafter.

[26:44] >> Thanks, Carl.

[26:45] >> thank you all.

[26:48] » Thank you, gentlemen. And again, I want

[26:49] to commend uh Council Member Spencer's

[26:52] uh leadership on this issue uh from the

[26:54] get-go. Uh without his uh persistence

[26:57] and drive, none of this uh would have

[26:59] been possible. Uh thank you. Uh move on

[27:02] to updates. Uh

[27:04] I will begin uh first with a couple of

[27:06] brief uh uh updates regarding Captain

[27:09] Sam Spite. Um as I expect many people

[27:12] are aware, maybe not every one, um when

[27:15] we met uh last month, um

[27:18] the issue with regard to the state's the

[27:20] commitment to provide uh its uh

[27:24] the state uh legislatures um

[27:27] uh authorization of funds to support the

[27:29] state's commitment towards the

[27:31] settlement had not yet occurred. It was

[27:33] still in budget committee, conference

[27:35] committee. Um that conference committee

[27:37] report was issued and uh the $32 million

[27:42] that the state was obligated to

[27:44] provide into the settlement agreement um

[27:47] was in the final conference report. Uh

[27:49] it's still not been acted on by the

[27:51] legislature, but uh the the conference

[27:53] report is scheduled to be considered by

[27:55] the state legislature a week from today.

[27:58] Uh and it's an up and down vote. Full

[28:00] expectation is that [snorts]

[28:02] um

[28:03] uh that will pass and then it will move

[28:06] to uh the governor who is expected to

[28:10] sign that. Um

[28:12] that's really just the end of the first

[28:14] inning in many respects. Uh critical uh

[28:17] steps that had to take place, but we're

[28:19] a long way from kind of final execution

[28:22] of everything that's in in the

[28:23] settlement agreement. There'll be more

[28:25] opportunity to talk about some of those

[28:27] steps uh that will have to take place,

[28:29] but some will involve town actions,

[28:30] particularly with regard to the planning

[28:32] commission and subdivision of the

[28:34] Captain Sam Spite uh parcel. So, we'll

[28:37] continue to keep you up apprised of of

[28:40] developments in that regard. Uh the

[28:42] second uh Sam Spite uh update is with regard to another

[28:46] matter we discussed last week, which was

[28:49] uh uh suppose proposed uh our

[28:51] application to the US Army Corps and to

[28:54] DES for a new inlet relocation. Um uh

[29:00] they put out a press release a

[29:01] week or two ago indicating that that

[29:04] permit application had been withdrawn.

[29:06] Um they characterized it as due

[29:08] primarily [clears throat]

[29:09] to timing considerations and questions

[29:12] regard regarding ownership of Captain

[29:13] Sam's Spit and that they would intend to

[29:16] resubmit that application at a

[29:18] subsequent date. I will simply reiterate

[29:20] as I've said time and time again, will

[29:22] continue to say, uh those are necessary,

[29:28] but not sufficient steps for there ever

[29:31] to be an inlet relocation. At the end of

[29:33] the day, there is no

[29:35] inlet relocation without the town's

[29:37] approval, and long before that happens,

[29:40] there will be an extensive

[29:43] that the next uh agenda item is uh with

[29:46] regard to a matter that came to our

[29:48] attention um uh earlier uh last month.

[29:52] Uh and it was related to a letter that

[29:56] or memo that went out from the uh

[29:59] architectural review board to builders

[30:02] and contractors, and it looks like about

[30:04] 300 or so entities on an email list. Um

[30:09] uh that memo raised significant concerns

[30:13] and was really kind of stunning in its

[30:14] inaccuracy and its overreach.

[30:17] Um the memo said, amongst other things,

[30:21] that uh the ARB has noticed an

[30:24] increasing trend of contractors

[30:25] undertaking work on properties without

[30:27] obtaining necessary approval, and to do

[30:30] so is illegal under our binding

[30:32] covenants.

[30:34] Uh that they would be subject to fines

[30:36] and further actions, and it even cites

[30:39] and mis-sites

[30:41] uh pretty substantially, uh state law

[30:44] provision dealing with with restrictive

[30:47] covenants. Um, had a follow-up meeting

[30:49] with a couple of representatives of the

[30:51] ARB. I think that was a generally

[30:53] constructive meeting. Uh,

[30:55] where we left it was the hope that that

[30:58] the ARB itself would undertake to send

[31:01] out a corrective uh, memo or letter. Um,

[31:05] uh, that hasn't happened thus far. Some

[31:08] indication that there may be one

[31:10] forthcoming. Uh, if not, the town will

[31:13] put out something to correct the record.

[31:16] And the thing that we have to understand

[31:20] here is that the Architectural Review

[31:23] Board has review authority with regard

[31:27] to buildings, fences, and structures and

[31:29] the aesthetic aspects of those under the

[31:32] general covenants.

[31:33] No responsibility whatsoever for

[31:36] builders and contractors on the island.

[31:38] If there are issues with road

[31:40] contractors or builders, then and they

[31:43] don't have a building permit, then the

[31:45] town should be advised. If they don't

[31:47] have an encroachment permit from the

[31:48] ARB, KICA should be advised.

[31:51] But, when you combine this memo

[31:54] with what's in Designing with Nature,

[31:55] which itself does not have the force of

[31:57] law, that actually says on page 49

[32:01] that violations of the standards

[32:05] may result in the suspension of a

[32:07] building permit and

[32:10] violators being prohibited from working

[32:12] on Kiawah Island.

[32:14] Beyond aesthetic considerations of

[32:16] building fences and structures,

[32:18] the Designing with Nature purports to

[32:20] regulate the conduct and appearance

[32:24] of builders and contractors and

[32:26] construction workers. Loud vehicles and

[32:28] speeding are not allowed on the island.

[32:30] Well, that's true.

[32:33] Uh, and we're certainly going to enforce

[32:35] that and KICA can, but ARB has no

[32:38] authority to enforce either Kika rules

[32:41] or regulations or town ordinances.

[32:44] Construction workers are not allowed to

[32:45] loiter around island businesses. I don't

[32:47] know if ARB staff is around there trying

[32:50] to determine who's loitering or not.

[32:51] Construction workers are required to

[32:53] wear shirts and shoes. May be a good

[32:55] thing.

[32:56] But it's not for an architectural review

[32:59] body to be purporting to regulate the

[33:03] conduct of construction workers with

[33:06] which they have no contractual privity.

[33:08] It's got to stop.

[33:11] So, I hope there will be correct or

[33:13] things. I hope some of these will be

[33:14] addressed in um

[33:16] in uh uh the revisions uh which we hope

[33:20] for will be forthcoming revisions to

[33:22] designing with nature. Oh, it also says

[33:23] that they can issue stop orders uh stop

[33:25] work orders. Again,

[33:27] uh

[33:28] none of that's in the general covenants.

[33:31] It's got to stop.

[33:32] >> Mr. Commissioner Dessen also mentioned

[33:33] something about they can grant

[33:34] variances.

[33:36] >> Uh well, that's a that's a completely

[33:39] separate set of issues and maybe I'll

[33:40] touch upon that in the next ARB related

[33:43] issues. But yes, it does say uh in the I

[33:46] think the words in designing with nature

[33:48] are that

[33:50] uh

[33:53] rules and guidelines on building

[33:55] setbacks, lot coverage, building height,

[33:57] and square footage are determined by the

[33:59] ARB and the AB ARB determines in its

[34:02] sole discretion that a variance uh may

[34:05] be granted.

[34:06] Um but it's

[34:07] >> That's factually not true also.

[34:09] >> Mhm.

[34:10] Well, it's it's a nuanced issue.

[34:13] Obviously, all of those standards are

[34:15] embedded in the town zoning code and the

[34:18] board of zoning appeals is the only body

[34:21] which can grant variances from the

[34:23] zoning ordinance the

[34:24] and land development regulations.

[34:27] Yes, by private covenant

[34:30] private parties can be more restrictive.

[34:33] And the ARB may choose to do so, but

[34:35] only more restrictive and they only can

[34:37] grant uh some allowance from their more

[34:41] restrictive uh uh uh standards or guidelines. But the idea

[34:45] that somehow this the private sector

[34:47] body is actually a is a sole body to

[34:50] determine

[34:51] um uh

[34:52] lot coverage, building height, square

[34:53] footage, and and having sole discretion

[34:56] to establish variances is just just

[34:58] wrong.

[34:58] >> I- I- I- If I could just add a

[35:00] perspective that, you know, I think one

[35:02] reason it's important to clarify

[35:03] communication and rules is Kiawah is

[35:06] hard enough for construction companies.

[35:08] I mean, everybody's struggling with

[35:09] finding somebody that can build in a

[35:11] sufficient timeline or renovation or

[35:12] something like that. And there's the

[35:14] Kiawah premium to get out here and and

[35:16] do all the things we want done. There's

[35:18] a lot of construction going on in Johns

[35:20] Island, Edisto, all kinds of other

[35:22] places.

[35:23] Um it concerns me that this will be another

[35:28] nail in the coffin of it's too hard to build a Kiawah and to work a Kiawah.

[35:32] I'm going to take my crew somewhere

[35:34] else.

[35:36] » That somewhat relates to uh the second

[35:39] issue I want to touch upon uh regarding

[35:41] the tangentially ARB, uh but also uh the

[35:45] community association and the ongoing

[35:48] negotiations regarding finalizing an

[35:50] omnibus agreement between KICA and uh

[35:54] Kiawah Partners regarding a wide range

[35:56] of matters, one of which is the

[35:58] transition of some architectural

[36:01] authority, whether it's all or not, from

[36:04] uh the developer ARB to KICA. Um I had a conversation a good good conversation

[36:11] with uh the KICA board chair uh uh

[36:13] week ago Monday catching up on a number

[36:16] of things and appreciate that

[36:17] opportunity engage, and she noted at

[36:20] that time that um

[36:22] the board uh was prepared to send to the

[36:25] council a letter that requested the

[36:29] council to move forward with

[36:33] I don't know I don't know because we

[36:34] haven't seen the letter disbanding the

[36:36] design of the town's design review board

[36:39] or carving back its jurisdiction or

[36:41] reach with regard to perhaps properties

[36:44] that were subject to the general

[36:45] covenants or or Kiawah covenants.

[36:49] I I stated at the time and by the way

[36:51] that issue also just came up when we had

[36:53] our first meeting of our design review

[36:55] board on Wednesday. I wasn't there but

[36:57] watched the meeting afterwards and that

[36:59] same kind of issue came up.

[37:04] It wasn't clear to me what was driving

[37:06] the timing of this and but I think it's

[37:09] important to to step back a little bit

[37:11] so people in the community more broadly

[37:14] understand or recall why it is that the

[37:16] town established its own design review

[37:20] board and we did that back in now

[37:22] October.

[37:23] of 2025. And it was born out of

[37:27] a view and I think this was a consensus

[37:29] view that there is a strong public

[37:32] interest in design of of

[37:37] buildings in the town of Kiawah Island

[37:40] particularly larger commercial

[37:41] multi-family

[37:44] projects and that that public interest

[37:46] wasn't

[37:48] particularly well satisfied in all

[37:50] instances by having the review only

[37:53] undertaken by a third-party private ARB

[37:58] that is not particularly transparent.

[38:01] And for which there is no real

[38:03] accountability and is sometimes

[38:06] characterized by conflicts of interest.

[38:08] So the town went down the path to

[38:09] establish its own

[38:11] design review board.

[38:13] Mindful of the fact that what what's not

[38:17] necessarily good for anybody is to have

[38:21] multiple layers of

[38:23] architectural review and in particular

[38:25] in conflicting architectural review,

[38:28] the town included a proviso a sense of

[38:31] the council at the time that we passed

[38:33] the DRB that said

[38:36] and I

[38:37] not exact but this is what their terms

[38:40] would said if architectural control is transferred

[38:44] from the developer ARB to Kika on or

[38:47] below on or before June 30th of 2026

[38:52] then the council would revisit the DRB

[38:56] to consider an appropriate waiver carve

[38:59] out from the application or scope of the

[39:02] town's DRB to Kika related properties.

[39:05] Well, obviously the conditions haven't

[39:09] been met yet. I mean it's I

[39:12] it's my understanding still as of today

[39:14] there's been no execution there's not

[39:15] been any finalization of the Omnibus

[39:18] agreement

[39:19] that that would affect transfer in whole

[39:22] or in part

[39:24] from the

[39:26] developer to Kika and but that's I mean

[39:30] we can still reconsider the problem is

[39:32] we don't know what we don't know right

[39:35] now as all we can rely on is the memorandum of understanding

[39:42] that was made public back in January

[39:45] not having yet reviewed the Omnibus

[39:47] agreement. Bottom line is there has been

[39:49] no transfer we don't know exactly what

[39:51] that transfer entails. But it would be

[39:54] my commitment is to when we actually

[39:59] understand what the parameters are what

[40:02] the terms and conditions are associated

[40:04] with that with the phasing is that would

[40:06] be the time to sit down and and take a

[40:08] fresh look at the scope of our our DRB.

[40:12] Whether that's soon or many months down

[40:16] the road not clear until we see it, but

[40:18] I would note that from the MOU

[40:21] that there was the MOU did not

[40:23] contemplate a full transition

[40:26] of architectural review authority from

[40:28] the developer to the Kika ARB and would

[40:32] only happen over the course of several

[40:35] phases

[40:37] and some of those did not have hard

[40:38] deadlines associated with that. The

[40:42] other challenge and this came up a

[40:43] little bit in the context of the meeting

[40:46] with the DRB about the process of

[40:48] starting to establish town standards is

[40:52] the DRB members were asking well, don't

[40:54] we want to kind of try to line up with

[40:56] the standards for the ARB.

[41:00] The problem there

[41:03] is in 70-some pages of designing with

[41:06] nature

[41:08] on page 29

[41:11] there's

[41:12] two sentences that pertain to commercial

[41:14] and multi-family buildings.

[41:17] That's it. It just says that

[41:19] the design philosophy formulated with

[41:21] these standards guidelines shall be

[41:23] implied from single family with similar

[41:25] intent to these project types, but

[41:28] that's it. Now at the DRB meeting

[41:31] Amanda Moll from the ARB did indicate

[41:34] she was going to start working on

[41:37] new standards for commercial

[41:39] multi-family, but those haven't happened

[41:42] yet. So

[41:43] we haven't seen that. So to be

[41:45] continued, but my view was I what I

[41:47] conveyed was you can send a letter to

[41:49] us, but it'd be premature for us to

[41:51] consider until we have a lot more

[41:53] information.

[41:55] And then even then there are going to be

[41:57] have to be discussions about what

[42:00] exactly is carved out if at all.

[42:05] Is it all commercial multi-family behind

[42:08] the gate? It can't be well, at at in my

[42:10] opinion. My fellow council members may

[42:12] disagree,

[42:13] all property subject to the KICA

[42:17] covenants of the general covenants cuz

[42:18] that would include properties outside

[42:21] the main gate

[42:22] that are encroach upon public

[42:24] rights-of-way along Beachwalker Drive,

[42:26] you know, whether that's Ocean Pines,

[42:28] upper Beachwalker, the gas station, KIRE

[42:31] building, etc. Even more ironically, it

[42:34] would purport to give, since the town is

[42:37] bound by to

[42:39] submit for ARB review for certain types

[42:41] of projects on KIP and Beachwalker Drive

[42:44] going all the way out to the roundabout,

[42:46] would somehow give KICA review authority

[42:49] over stuff that goes all the way out

[42:52] towards Freshfields Village, which

[42:53] doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. And

[42:56] then we've just got to kind of work

[42:58] through Designing with Nature, these

[43:00] provisions that have,

[43:03] you know, conflict with town ordinances,

[43:05] and there are many, many others.

[43:09] The the problem there is, at least based

[43:11] on the MOU, the KICA board has now onboarded,

[43:18] they've adopted Designing with Nature

[43:20] and actually recorded those. So, now

[43:22] their provisions start conflicting with

[43:25] the towns. And while they've said they

[43:27] would change those, the MOU at least, I

[43:29] don't know about the Omnibus Agreement,

[43:31] provides that no changes can be made to

[43:34] this without the developer ARB's

[43:36] approval prior to the end of phase four.

[43:39] Again, that's all based on the MOU.

[43:41] We'll just have to see. So,

[43:44] I don't know if my fellow council

[43:45] members have different perspectives on either of those issues.

[43:49] >> Well, the only thing that maybe not the

[43:51] only thing, but the main thing that I

[43:52] have

[43:53] in talking to you and in talking to

[43:55] others is

[43:57] um

[43:58] meeting the deadline is past for

[44:03] us to maybe pull back.

[44:05] Now, for me, for us to pull back any

[44:07] further, it's not just meeting the

[44:09] deadlines that would be extended, but

[44:12] also see how the execution works.

[44:14] So,

[44:16] I'm not of a mind to to pull back just

[44:18] because a new letter's been signed. I

[44:21] want to see how their ARB works, and are

[44:23] they doing the things and being

[44:25] transparent? Are they following up? Are

[44:27] they making sure the designs there are there established procedures

[44:31] in place and requirements?

[44:33] So, it's more than just, okay, we've

[44:35] stood this up now. It's really the

[44:36] execution of how that works going

[44:39] forward, and is it working well?

[44:41] >> I share both of your concerns and and

[44:43] views.

[44:45] You know, short of the MOU in January, I

[44:48] believe it was, which was supposed to be

[44:50] done 60 days, and I was skeptical of

[44:52] that cuz it takes a long time to do that

[44:53] stuff. It's ambitious, but it does take

[44:55] time to do that stuff.

[44:57] It's no fault. It just was aggressive.

[45:00] I've had no visibility into anything

[45:02] else. So, for us to roll back or carve

[45:05] out anything, like you both have said,

[45:07] it is very premature in my mind.

[45:10] I have a lot of questions, and like you

[45:11] said, Council Member Farrell, um

[45:15] It needs to be up and operating and

[45:17] prove itself for I think the town to

[45:19] consider cuz right now we we

[45:21] deliberately established a backstop that

[45:24] was to be put in place until all this

[45:25] could get resolved, and to make sure

[45:27] we're looking out for the best interests

[45:28] of the community in the meantime. And

[45:31] we're going through work which requires

[45:33] effort and expense and and and

[45:35] lots of things to stand up and actualize

[45:38] our DRB at the same time.

[45:40] Um

[45:40] Turning something off is easy. Turning

[45:42] something on and rebuilding it or

[45:43] building it is hard. So, I I don't want

[45:46] to waste that effort we've had in

[45:47] building that backstop until we've

[45:50] really seen it prove itself because it

[45:53] could change as a matter of resolution

[45:55] at the next Kika board meeting if if

[45:56] we're not careful. So, I would need some

[45:58] kind of confidence that that that's in

[46:00] place.

[46:01] Um, I've got a whole list of concerns in

[46:03] my head that

[46:04] um, I would love to hear from Kika more

[46:06] on when they're ready to share this as

[46:07] to how this is going to be and and and

[46:10] how it's progressing and how it's

[46:11] operating.

[46:12] Um, one of my questions was authority

[46:14] and enforcement like you mentioned

[46:16] Maribel. Um,

[46:18] I may be misconnecting something but I

[46:21] don't believe that covenant change

[46:22] passed in the Kika vote for Kika to be

[46:25] able to force fines and penalties. So, I

[46:28] don't know what their enforcement

[46:30] mechanism is just as a starting point.

[46:32] It it it may just be hollow paper and

[46:34] you know, great we had a meeting but we

[46:35] can't do anything about it. So, those

[46:37] are the kinds of questions I've got of

[46:39] how are you going to enforce it? You

[46:41] know, just basic things.

[46:42] >> The other thing that comes to mind for

[46:44] me is if I recall correctly, I saw the original MOU back in January

[46:50] and it talked about transferring from

[46:53] the current ARB to Kika

[46:55] um,

[46:57] individual home sites, single family

[46:58] dwellings.

[47:00] And this was supposed to be the last

[47:01] phase, the commercial and multi

[47:03] multi-family three or four years down

[47:05] the road. Which frustrated me that it

[47:07] was taking that long to transfer all of

[47:09] it but okay. Thank you. And now it's

[47:12] reversed and they're doing commercial

[47:14] and single family first commercial and

[47:16] multi-family first

[47:18] and the timing

[47:19] it just perplexes me. Why not do the

[47:22] sort of easy important stuff to the

[47:23] community first which is the single

[47:26] family and you can onboard that and get

[47:27] some experience.

[47:29] Um, so the timing about the change and

[47:31] the kind of re complete reversal of the

[47:33] MOU if I recall correctly.

[47:35] >> It actually was commercial multi-family

[47:37] was in phase one, single family in phase

[47:39] two. There were two additional phases in

[47:42] the MOU. But it it it interestingly

[47:45] enough and again, the MOU is just the

[47:47] MOU. It's not the omnibus. Um,

[47:51] the it would transition upon

[47:53] effectiveness

[47:55] review authority for new

[47:59] multi-family or commercial,

[48:02] but the current ARB would reserve the

[48:06] authority to to review any matter that

[48:11] was pending before it or had been

[48:13] brought forward, not really defined, and

[48:16] not clear that that would ever be

[48:18] transitioned.

[48:19] >> That was the other issue.

[48:20] >> Um and then it wasn't until phase three

[48:23] that authority over again, which has no

[48:25] time frame associated with it. It has a

[48:28] no less than, but doesn't mean when it

[48:30] would actually occur, that the developer

[48:33] ARB would continue to retain authority

[48:35] over multi-family improvement

[48:37] applications. Which I guess could

[48:40] include Ocean Pines or West End or other

[48:43] things like that. So, you would not have

[48:45] Kika review authority. So, those are the

[48:47] kinds of of I think details that we need

[48:51] to better understand and and flesh out

[48:53] going forward.

[48:54] So, where we stand right now.

[48:56] >> Can I add one more comment, please?

[48:58] Uh so,

[49:00] I don't understand fundamentally what

[49:01] the rush is. Um and what the urgency is.

[49:04] I mean, we we we all commented about

[49:07] we'll review it at the right times, no

[49:09] matter what. We put in the comment at a

[49:10] recommendation to to put a a true

[49:13] trigger in there to look at it.

[49:15] Nothing's changed. The facts as we know

[49:16] it haven't changed, but I don't

[49:18] understand what's driving the urgency

[49:21] for us to roll ours back. I'd love to

[49:22] understand that. And we're all Kika

[49:25] members, too. So, we're subject to all

[49:26] this, too. And I as as I believe you all

[49:30] would echo,

[49:32] let's let's take the time to get this

[49:34] right. Let's be deliberate, use the DRB

[49:36] as a positive thing, and as a good

[49:38] backstop to give the breathing room to

[49:40] do it right.

[49:42] >> Well, and so where we are today is our

[49:44] DRB has been stood up. It had initial

[49:48] kind of organizational meeting,

[49:50] in the process of developing standards

[49:53] that go beyond the the five or six areas

[49:56] of standards specified in in the

[49:59] ordinance. Uh, the one thing so there is

[50:01] a legitimate concern on the part whether

[50:03] it's the resort or anybody else that's

[50:06] either improvements to multi-family or commercial or new additions there to

[50:12] kind of understand what the rules of the

[50:14] road are and to avoid unnecessary

[50:16] duplication of effort and I would hope

[50:18] that we get to that point where we can

[50:20] do that. So there's just a fair amount

[50:22] of spade work. The one thing I would

[50:23] observe is that by its terms the scope

[50:27] of our DRB regardless of what it applies

[50:29] to its scope of review is much more

[50:32] limited

[50:33] than that asserted by the ARB in

[50:36] designing with nature. Uh, you know,

[50:38] like boardwalks. It issue came up with

[50:40] the DRB meeting the other day about

[50:42] three levels of regulation of

[50:44] boardwalks. Our DRB would not be

[50:46] reviewing

[50:48] boardwalks. It's simply not covered in

[50:51] the scope of the DRB's existing

[50:53] authority. Yard art, landscape

[50:55] maintenance,

[50:57] uh,

[50:57] maintenance and repair, kind of go on

[51:00] and on and on. 20 pages of the designing

[51:03] with nature stuff that I would argue

[51:04] goes well beyond the general covenants.

[51:07] The ARB seeks to our DRB would not. So

[51:09] it'd be a much more limited scope

[51:11] review.

[51:12] >> Yeah, one thing that I was thinking as

[51:13] you're saying that is that

[51:15] you know, this whole thing that is in

[51:18] motion right now I don't think it's

[51:19] really been tested yet with an

[51:20] application coming in to any of the

[51:22] entities.

[51:23] I hope if somebody is submitting an

[51:24] application going through the process

[51:26] that communication continues.

[51:29] Professional and courteous, please.

[51:31] >> Guess what? The town is going to be the

[51:33] first one subject to it.

[51:34] >> Well, there you go. But with the

[51:36] Let let us know how that goes cuz we can

[51:38] adjust if we know.

[51:40] >> [laughter]

[51:40] >> Uh, so kind of shifting gears I was

[51:43] going to provide an update on uh civic

[51:45] and cultural center and particularly an

[51:47] update on discussions last month

[51:49] regarding our wastewater management

[51:52] solutions, but I'll I'll hold those

[51:54] reserve those until we get to the

[51:56] uh discussion

[51:58] uh a little bit later in the agenda. Um

[52:00] just to to note uh for the record, we

[52:02] had talked about at the last council

[52:04] meeting potentially having on the agenda

[52:07] for this meeting a special events permit

[52:09] or public gatherings

[52:11] uh uh ordinance. Uh we're still working

[52:13] on that. It It's really trying to

[52:15] calibrate what's the appropriate scope,

[52:17] when is there public interest in a

[52:19] public gathering. We were We reviewed

[52:22] our records and we had special permits

[52:25] for something like 50 weddings. Is there

[52:27] a real public interest? You know, if

[52:29] there are pyrotechnics or you know, if

[52:31] there's you know, erecting structures or

[52:34] loud amplified music, maybe. But, you

[52:37] know, if it's indoor wedding, I don't

[52:38] care how many people there is and if

[52:40] it's on private property, I'm not sure

[52:42] that there's a public interest. So,

[52:43] we're trying to refine those issues and

[52:45] hopefully come back in uh September. Uh

[52:47] we've got to continue work on that. Uh

[52:49] the last uh uh update that I will uh

[52:53] note is actually the most momentous development

[52:57] uh in this past month. Put all this

[52:59] other stuff aside and uh that was the

[53:02] bittersweet announcement that came out

[53:04] of the

[53:06] uh Kiawah Island Golf Resort 2 weeks ago

[53:08] uh regarding

[53:10] uh the the well-deserved and well-earned

[53:14] pending retirement after almost a

[53:15] quarter century of of Mr. Roger Warren.

[53:19] Um I I note there's a quote in from from

[53:21] Bill Goodwin um uh in the chairman of

[53:24] the Kiawah Island Golf Resort that

[53:26] Roger's leadership, vision, and

[53:28] dedication have left an indelible mark

[53:30] on Kiawah Island Golf Resort. I think

[53:33] that's way too short shrift. Uh it's

[53:35] obviously an indelible mark on Kiawah

[53:37] Island as a whole.

[53:39] Um and uh uh it does note that the

[53:43] resort and Mr. Warren intend to explore

[53:45] opportunities for his advisory support

[53:46] regarding select development projects

[53:48] and transition related matters and hope

[53:49] that that will actually come to pass.

[53:53] I will reserve any further comment at

[53:55] this time because I would hope that we

[53:56] would have further opportunities at town

[53:58] to acknowledge Mr. Warren's

[54:00] contributions to the island at a future

[54:02] date.

[54:03] That's my update.

[54:05] Council member here.

[54:07] >> I'm just giving the answer to Tom. I'm

[54:09] just going to mention

[54:09] >> I don't know if Council member K is she

[54:12] going to hold

[54:13] >> Scott.

[54:14] >> Can I don't know if you can even hear

[54:17] me.

[54:17] >> We can. Go ahead, Ms. Kay.

[54:20] >> Okay, so

[54:22] I just want to back up to the whole ARB

[54:25] thing for just my comment and that is

[54:30] I also think we need to keep that that

[54:33] um

[54:33] backstop in place since the developers

[54:38] ARB has not always

[54:40] been as quick to move forward on

[54:43] transferring responsibilities as perhaps

[54:45] we would like. So I think it's

[54:47] absolutely prudent that we keep this our

[54:51] backstop in place. Secondly, as far as

[54:55] Roger is concerned I think it's

[54:58] incalculable his contribution

[55:00] to Kiawah and he

[55:05] not everybody is always in agreement,

[55:07] but he has been

[55:08] um

[55:09] judicious

[55:11] and candid and thoughtful and respectful

[55:15] and it's always been a pleasure dealing

[55:17] with him and I don't know how somebody

[55:20] like that is going to be replaced. So

[55:22] thank you Roger.

[55:24] And then the last thing I want to talk

[55:26] about is

[55:28] the appointment the hiring of Lucas

[55:31] Hernandez as our new the town's new

[55:33] resiliency director.

[55:35] This is a project that Stephanie and I,

[55:38] with some assistance from other council

[55:39] people and staff, have been working on

[55:41] for about a year. Um, I think that the formation of a resiliency committee

[55:48] um has has helped to move some

[55:51] resiliency projects forward, but with

[55:53] the scope of resiliency issues that the

[55:56] town is addressing, it really required

[55:59] somebody with a tremendous amount of

[56:00] background and expertise and knowledge

[56:04] uh to be able to

[56:06] uh to to uh marshal all of the resources

[56:10] that will be necessary to fight some of

[56:11] the issues with climate change, sea

[56:14] level rise,

[56:15] um and storm water issues. Um, Lucas is

[56:19] uh i- immensely qualified um and we had

[56:23] some very very strong candidates apply

[56:26] for this position. But, Lucas has been

[56:28] involved with Kiawah uh resiliency and

[56:31] environmental issues for the last 10

[56:32] years. He has multi-degreed. He was

[56:36] instrumental in the uh 2017 sea level

[56:39] rise uh drafting. And um

[56:43] in order to to put somebody's hands

[56:47] around what needs to be done to work

[56:49] with all of the various stakeholders

[56:51] here and to look for funding,

[56:54] um

[56:55] uh again, that's that's was outside my

[56:59] level of of expertise, totally outside.

[57:02] And so, um I think that we are all

[57:04] trusting Lucas to take Kiawah to its

[57:08] place of prominence where it belongs

[57:10] along the East Coast in terms of being a

[57:12] leader in in resiliency issues. So, I am

[57:15] absolutely delighted with his hiring. I

[57:18] thank Brad for his support in this

[57:20] initiative and am really really looking

[57:23] forward to having him on board um

[57:25] mid-September.

[57:27] >> Thank you, Councilmember Kay, and uh I'm

[57:29] sorry that you're under the weather um

[57:31] and and thank you for for offering those

[57:33] comments notwithstanding, plus on

[57:34] vacation overseas. Now, I guess you're

[57:36] up north by now.

[57:38] Um, uh, I just to echo,

[57:41] uh, what, uh, Council Member Kay said

[57:43] about, uh, bringing on, uh, Lucas, uh,

[57:46] Hernandez. I mean, he's he's been, uh,

[57:49] well known to this community. I think

[57:50] he's going to be a tremendous asset. Uh,

[57:53] we've also, uh, gotten uh, less

[57:55] attention, but we've given some expanded

[57:58] responsibilities to one of our key staff

[58:00] members, Michael Nardelli, to be, uh,

[58:02] just operations and risk manager. And

[58:05] part of that expanded responsibility

[58:07] will be working particularly with Lucas

[58:10] on doing a comprehensive island-wide

[58:12] risk assessment. Particularly focused

[58:15] things on failure points,

[58:16] vulnerabilities like the causeway, like

[58:18] the bridge, um, and other and some of

[58:22] our utilities infrastructure, etc. So,

[58:24] we expect, uh, great things out of them

[58:27] and reporting back to the council and

[58:30] things that, uh, we will need to

[58:31] consider how to, uh, make the island,

[58:34] uh, and the community more resilient.

[58:36] How do we expand the,

[58:37] uh, extend the lifespan of some of these

[58:39] assets, etc. When it what point do we

[58:42] need to raise [snorts] the Mingo curve

[58:43] and so on and so forth. So, to be

[58:45] continued on that. And in all due to,

[58:48] uh, Council Member Kay's leadership on

[58:50] this particular, uh,

[58:52] matter. Uh, really much appreciate that.

[58:54] So, now, Council Member Farrell.

[58:57] >> Um, yeah, so just one thing. And we're

[58:59] speaking to Owen. I'm sorry you weren't

[59:01] here last meeting, Larry.

[59:03] We had, uh,

[59:05] the

[59:06] portfolio manager from the state talk

[59:07] about our investment portfolio.

[59:09] Uh, and so there's actually been some

[59:12] outreach. Wanted copies of it. Are we

[59:13] going to post it or send it out

[59:14] individually, Dorada?

[59:19] Okay, so you have it. So,

[59:21] but that's available to anybody who

[59:22] would like to see it, you know, the

[59:23] audit report or the, uh, performance

[59:25] report from our investment portfolio

[59:28] that the state manages for us. Um and so

[59:30] we're very pleased. We had deep

[59:32] discussion on what it invest in, what

[59:34] are the guidelines, what are their

[59:35] options for the future for developing

[59:37] new funds.

[59:38] Um

[59:39] and in some of the talk about investment

[59:41] outlook as well as securities that they

[59:42] hold. So, um

[59:44] it was something near and dear to I know

[59:46] Larry's heart and my heart. So, uh if

[59:48] you want copies of that, it's available

[59:49] from Dorada if you'd reach out to her.

[59:53] >> Any further updates, Councilmember

[59:54] Spencer?

[59:55] >> Uh

[59:55] just a few. Um

[59:58] so uh and to answer your questions of

[1:00:00] Walhand, we'll we'll talk about the uh

[1:00:02] the conservation fund in a few minutes

[1:00:04] and I'll try to answer your questions

[1:00:05] when we when we talk through that. Uh

[1:00:07] we've considered a lot of what you

[1:00:08] brought up, but we'll we'll we'll we'll

[1:00:10] articulate that better.

[1:00:12] Um

[1:00:14] I think we've covered most of um

[1:00:18] what I already had as notes. Um one

[1:00:22] thing I've observed though that maybe we

[1:00:25] we'll see some more data on. It seems

[1:00:27] like the island's gotten used a lot

[1:00:28] harder this season. Um we're out a lot.

[1:00:31] I I probably walk 6 to 8 miles a day on

[1:00:34] the beach, on the trails, and and other

[1:00:36] places.

[1:00:37] The amount of trash we're finding is

[1:00:39] just more than I've ever seen. I mean,

[1:00:41] significantly more. Um the amount of

[1:00:44] people fishing and crabbing and, you

[1:00:46] know, taking advantage of the natural

[1:00:48] landscape, but you know, the the the I

[1:00:51] mean, it's it's almost an order of

[1:00:53] magnitude more people I see on the

[1:00:54] bridges and at the pond one fishing and

[1:00:58] stuff like that and on the beach. Um I

[1:01:01] don't know if that's a trend, but it

[1:01:03] it's it's enough that it's really

[1:01:04] noticeable. So, I only say that in

[1:01:06] context that a lot of us are working a

[1:01:07] lot of different spinning plates about

[1:01:09] um how do we address the use of the

[1:01:12] island and um the the

[1:01:16] I'm trying to think the right word. The

[1:01:18] uh

[1:01:18] um

[1:01:20] the things we need to do to preserve the

[1:01:22] island and and and make sure it's

[1:01:24] usable, but

[1:01:26] um also

[1:01:28] Anyway, I'm losing the word, but

[1:01:30] we we got to be thinking about that as

[1:01:31] we're looking at future policies and

[1:01:33] actions.

[1:01:36] >> Uh thank you, uh Stephanie.

[1:01:40] » Thank you, Mayor. I just like to

[1:01:43] recognize we're talking about employees.

[1:01:45] We have two employees that will be

[1:01:47] celebrating anniversaries this month. We

[1:01:49] have Aaron Kevin who'll be celebrating

[1:01:51] 18 years with the town. He is the town's

[1:01:54] assistant biologist and John Taylor, our

[1:01:56] planning and zoning director, will be

[1:01:57] celebrating 10 years this month with the

[1:01:59] town. So, I'd like to recognize them and

[1:02:02] thank them for their service.

[1:02:03] Also, as a reminder, we have food truck

[1:02:05] Friday this Friday. We have it through

[1:02:07] the end of this month.

[1:02:09] Uh because of the success, we did extend

[1:02:11] it. Originally, it was just going to go

[1:02:12] through, I believe, July. So, we did

[1:02:14] push it out for an additional month.

[1:02:16] And also, as a reminder,

[1:02:19] the Kiawah Arts, which is our Arts

[1:02:20] Council, they kick off their season uh

[1:02:23] this month. Their first event is August

[1:02:26] 14th, the Marsh Grass Mamas.

[1:02:30] So, uh for more information on their

[1:02:32] season, please go to our website uh

[1:02:34] where the information is posted. And if

[1:02:36] you see anything you like, please uh

[1:02:39] sign up for tickets.

[1:02:41] And um

[1:02:42] with that, that's all I have.

[1:02:44] >> Thank you. Um we have no old business uh

[1:02:47] to consider. Moving on to new business,

[1:02:50] the first agenda item is an update on uh

[1:02:52] progress of the Civic and Cultural

[1:02:54] Center and to consider approval of a

[1:02:57] recommendation from our ad hoc building

[1:03:00] committee

[1:03:01] uh to council to approve essentially an early release package for structural

[1:03:07] steel.

[1:03:08] Um we have with us our architect of

[1:03:10] record, Steve Coe, a- a- as as as well

[1:03:13] as Josh Spencer from Edifice, our

[1:03:15] construction manager.

[1:03:17] Uh they've been working hand in glove,

[1:03:19] at least it appears to be the case, in frequent meetings and provided us

[1:03:23] regular updates. Uh, we are fairly well

[1:03:26] evolved in the conceptual

[1:03:29] uh, uh, phase of of uh, the site plan

[1:03:32] and uh, the buildings.

[1:03:34] Um, and we're essentially at this stage

[1:03:37] locking ourselves in to the footprint.

[1:03:40] Uh, but uh, still to be resolved are

[1:03:43] issues related to fit and finish and

[1:03:45] other issues associated with that. But

[1:03:47] uh, I'm certainly pleased with the work

[1:03:49] they've done and how it's evolved. I I

[1:03:51] hope the community as well will get to

[1:03:53] see a little of that and they'll be able

[1:03:55] to explain why it is that we really it's

[1:03:58] incumbent upon us both from a timing

[1:04:00] standpoint, cost standpoint, to go ahead

[1:04:02] and and take this action today to to do

[1:04:05] the early release package.

[1:04:07] Uh, Mr. Coe and

[1:04:09] Mr. Spencer.

[1:04:11] » Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

[1:04:13] I want to

[1:04:15] assure the council that we will be

[1:04:17] getting building permits and burning

[1:04:19] fuel and insurance

[1:04:21] >> [laughter]

[1:04:23] » In all In all seriousness,

[1:04:25] thank you for having me here

[1:04:27] today.

[1:04:28] Um, really as the mayor said, there are

[1:04:29] there really three main purposes, I

[1:04:31] think, for today. Um, one is obviously

[1:04:33] to update you on the design progress. As

[1:04:35] the mayor said, we have been having

[1:04:37] bi-weekly meetings with uh,

[1:04:40] the town, but also weekly meetings with

[1:04:42] Josh's group and then my extended design

[1:04:44] team.

[1:04:45] Um,

[1:04:46] the purpose of those meetings has been

[1:04:48] to advance the design, but also to

[1:04:52] ensure that we are

[1:04:54] maintaining uh, control on cost and

[1:04:56] schedule. Um, Josh's group has been

[1:04:59] taking the drawings as we've been

[1:05:01] developing them and doing an analysis on

[1:05:04] various construction assemblies,

[1:05:06] materials, etc. And um,

[1:05:11] in addition to looking at those from

[1:05:13] cost, but also performance. Um not only

[1:05:16] maintenance performance, but acoustic

[1:05:18] performance in the performance hall

[1:05:19] itself. Um and those types of things.

[1:05:22] Um

[1:05:22] the second reason, as the mayor said, is

[1:05:24] a justification today for

[1:05:27] an early site and early steel package.

[1:05:29] We'll discuss that uh as it relates to

[1:05:32] long lead items, cost impacts uh

[1:05:35] specifically on materials, but also

[1:05:36] those related impacts on schedule. Um

[1:05:41] that

[1:05:42] and have an end result on increased

[1:05:44] costs. And lastly, uh we are, as the

[1:05:47] mayor said, working towards a submittal

[1:05:49] to the DRB and so I think it's just an

[1:05:52] appropriate time for us to present

[1:05:55] today.

[1:05:57] Um

[1:05:58] So, the site plan has remained

[1:06:00] relatively the same um from when you

[1:06:02] last saw it, which is in addition to the

[1:06:04] existing building that includes a lobby

[1:06:06] expansion, a community room ex- uh

[1:06:09] addition, and then the performance space

[1:06:11] itself. Um from a site plan perspective,

[1:06:14] it is improvements to overall parking

[1:06:17] and circulation on the site with an

[1:06:19] addition of we're showing at this point

[1:06:21] 45 additional uh parking spaces. Um an

[1:06:24] analysis of uh

[1:06:27] from a zoning perspective or from a

[1:06:28] performance perspective,

[1:06:30] with a 300-seat auditorium, uh we would

[1:06:33] need at a minimum 100 spaces. Um and the

[1:06:36] additional 20 or so spaces that uh we

[1:06:39] then would have uh overall on the site

[1:06:41] would be for back of house, maintenance,

[1:06:43] and staff usage during uh an event. Um

[1:06:46] the site plan itself also includes um

[1:06:50] as the mayor mentioned, uh we're looking

[1:06:52] at how we connect to utilities, and so

[1:06:55] there is uh a septic uh field associated

[1:06:59] with the overall site plan that then is

[1:07:01] um configured in overall with parking

[1:07:03] connections.

[1:07:03] >> Could I ask you to press pause just on on that issue because that is uh an

[1:07:08] update from our last council meeting.

[1:07:11] So, the site plan still

[1:07:14] contemplates

[1:07:16] septic rather than connection to sewer Seabrook Island utility. Um it's

[1:07:23] the discussions I would like to say

[1:07:25] discussions are continuing, but that

[1:07:27] would not actually be correct. Um

[1:07:30] and it's unfortunate. So, when we met a

[1:07:33] month ago, what stated in indicated that

[1:07:36] time they were sending a new letter to

[1:07:38] Seabrook Island utility reiterating our

[1:07:41] desire to connect to public sewer

[1:07:44] and do so in terms that were consistent

[1:07:46] with

[1:07:48] what been previously shared back in in

[1:07:51] February.

[1:07:52] Um there was a week after we sent that

[1:07:55] letter, a call came from council to

[1:08:00] Seabrook Island utility to the town's

[1:08:02] outside council separate council on this

[1:08:04] matter saying those terms were generally

[1:08:06] acceptable,

[1:08:08] but there was no actual written response

[1:08:11] and there was no letter of intent to

[1:08:13] serve provided at that point in time.

[1:08:17] Uh we had asked for contacts with to be

[1:08:20] connected with Seabrook Island utilities

[1:08:22] engineers.

[1:08:24] That has not yet happened.

[1:08:27] Um

[1:08:29] >> [laughter]

[1:08:30] >> Um

[1:08:32] the

[1:08:33] there are engineers. We got the contact

[1:08:36] information for the manager for Seabrook

[1:08:38] Island utility system which we already

[1:08:40] had

[1:08:41] on the 11th which is

[1:08:44] No, the 21st. I believe a letter went

[1:08:47] from our engineer to the manager

[1:08:49] requesting an urgent meeting and

[1:08:51] beginning to share documents, technical

[1:08:53] specifications, etc.

[1:08:55] To date that has not been responded to

[1:08:58] that email.

[1:08:59] Our director of public works last Friday

[1:09:02] sent another

[1:09:04] email following up on the engineers

[1:09:06] email

[1:09:08] regarding a number of issues and that

[1:09:10] has not yet been responded to. So at

[1:09:13] this juncture just we're kind of thrown

[1:09:16] up our hands

[1:09:17] we've just simply gotten no forward

[1:09:20] momentum whatsoever from Seabrook Island

[1:09:22] utility. I want to contrast that by the

[1:09:24] way with regard to the town of Seabrook

[1:09:26] Island and the council. One of the

[1:09:30] conditions was to modify their ordinance

[1:09:33] just as we had done to not avoid the

[1:09:36] necessity of a referendum

[1:09:39] a week ago the Seabrook Island Council

[1:09:42] actually took that action and the mayor

[1:09:44] and the council members still appear to

[1:09:46] be supportive of providing the public

[1:09:49] sewer connection

[1:09:51] but even though they wholly own the

[1:09:53] utility they can't dictate what the

[1:09:55] utility does under state law or their

[1:09:57] ordinances. So we are where we are. It's

[1:10:00] unfortunate because now where we could

[1:10:02] have parking or other uses we have a

[1:10:04] septic field we still have to have the

[1:10:05] septic field in back.

[1:10:07] There may be an opportunity in the

[1:10:09] future to connect to sewer sewer still

[1:10:12] and we're still pursue that

[1:10:13] but and we can retrofit and there's a

[1:10:16] plan for doing that but that would

[1:10:18] entail some additional cost and time at

[1:10:20] that which is just extraordinarily

[1:10:23] frustrating and fortunate.

[1:10:25] Apologies for that interruption Mr. Coe.

[1:10:28] >> Ultimately that's the most

[1:10:30] environmentally friendly solution.

[1:10:33] >> I apologize Mr. Mayor but for those that

[1:10:36] are less informed in the audience about

[1:10:38] this project

[1:10:39] could you maybe point out where the new

[1:10:41] building is versus

[1:10:42] >> I'm trying to get a pointer so I can do

[1:10:45] that.

[1:10:46] >> I think

[1:10:46] >> Kyle

[1:10:47] >> People are

[1:10:48] anxious to hear

[1:10:49] >> Sure. I appreciate that. Um

[1:10:54] Without having a pointer I mean I guess

[1:10:56] the best I can do is sort of walk you

[1:10:57] through from the bottom

[1:10:59] of the sheet. That's the main entry

[1:11:01] drive

[1:11:03] as you come in.

[1:11:04] And we will be constructing a new

[1:11:08] parking area. I mentioned the septic

[1:11:10] field, that's to the left of that.

[1:11:13] >> [laughter]

[1:11:17] » Excellent. Got it.

[1:11:22] So, this is the existing drive. The

[1:11:25] existing building is here.

[1:11:27] Existing entry to the building here and

[1:11:30] existing lobby. The addition is off the

[1:11:32] back of the building and it will extend

[1:11:34] the lobby.

[1:11:36] But there will also be a separate

[1:11:37] entrance, sort of a secondary entrance.

[1:11:40] So, the main entry will still be used on

[1:11:41] day-to-day

[1:11:43] office and day-to-day business

[1:11:45] for town hall. This entry into the

[1:11:47] building will be used for

[1:11:50] performance events and special events in

[1:11:54] the new addition itself.

[1:11:55] >> And I would just note in that regard,

[1:11:57] none of that has really changed from the

[1:11:59] very beginning of the conceptual design

[1:12:02] process in the three designs we had been

[1:12:04] submitted.

[1:12:04] >> Correct.

[1:12:06] So,

[1:12:07] additional parking, a drop-off space for

[1:12:10] the performance entry,

[1:12:12] maintaining your existing parking, but

[1:12:15] also adding parking in the large grassy

[1:12:18] area in front of existing town hall

[1:12:20] that's sort of unused right now and it's

[1:12:22] just

[1:12:25] a grassed area. We will be capturing

[1:12:27] parking in that. Parking along the

[1:12:30] backside here

[1:12:32] edge as you come around the turn to the

[1:12:35] rear area.

[1:12:37] Improving pedestrian pathways. So, if

[1:12:41] you park or are in the back, there is a

[1:12:43] pedestrian walk that connects to the

[1:12:45] front. Pedestrian walkways around the

[1:12:48] parking here and pedestrian paths along

[1:12:51] this parking.

[1:12:52] The other portion of this that has

[1:12:54] changed a bit but was sort of always

[1:12:56] being discussed was overall

[1:12:59] connectivity of this site to

[1:13:02] whether it be a walking [snorts] trail

[1:13:04] or other sort of amenities on the site,

[1:13:06] potential future amenities that we are

[1:13:08] coordinating with the town on and

[1:13:10] planning for, not specifically

[1:13:12] incorporating into this construction

[1:13:14] project but making sure that uh where

[1:13:18] those some those new amenities might be

[1:13:21] located, we're planning for connection

[1:13:23] for them. So hopefully

[1:13:25] we're not building into a corner where

[1:13:27] you can't take advantage of those in the

[1:13:29] future.

[1:13:30] Um

[1:13:30] >> And and just on that Steve, the the

[1:13:35] beyond this particular project that that we are in the process of engaging

[1:13:40] you know

[1:13:41] may have already happened a kind of

[1:13:42] master landscape or campus plan to

[1:13:45] create a more like park-like setting,

[1:13:47] usable setting, usability for this

[1:13:49] entire campus with a trail system around

[1:13:53] here particularly embracing the marsh

[1:13:55] and the live oaks back over this way,

[1:13:58] pollinator gardens, the ponds, etc. Uh

[1:14:02] and I would also just offsite what we

[1:14:06] have off this image is the intention is

[1:14:08] to have a roll curb over here. We're

[1:14:10] carving back some of the overgrowth

[1:14:12] that's occurred over the last three or

[1:14:13] four years to create a lot of additional

[1:14:15] grass overflow of parking that could

[1:14:17] also be used for additional outdoor

[1:14:19] events in the future.

[1:14:21] >> Correct. Thank you. Um

[1:14:23] I think the only thing I didn't discuss

[1:14:25] was the area here behind the new

[1:14:27] addition,

[1:14:29] sort of an informal garden courtyard

[1:14:31] area that as the mayor said whether

[1:14:33] that's on food truck Fridays or really

[1:14:35] just to try and attract folks to this

[1:14:37] site and create amenities. Um There's

[1:14:41] that's this courtyard behind the

[1:14:43] building which I'll show you as we move

[1:14:44] along.

[1:14:45] We have been

[1:14:50] I'm just going to do this now.

[1:14:51] >> looking. You have one thing you will

[1:14:52] notice we also are moving ADA spaces

[1:14:55] much closer to the front entrance.

[1:14:57] They've been way back over here, which

[1:14:59] has never really been acceptable.

[1:15:01] >> It's fine. I got it.

[1:15:02] >> be much closer to the entrance going

[1:15:04] forward.

[1:15:05] >> Correct. That's Now this one's not

[1:15:07] working. Oh, wrong thing. There you go.

[1:15:10] That's ADA parking here

[1:15:13] directly adjacent to the entry.

[1:15:17] Uh we are also have been working with uh

[1:15:20] arborist to

[1:15:21] uh

[1:15:22] categorize and existing trees, determine

[1:15:25] those which are uh diseased and or um

[1:15:30] not in the best of shape versus those

[1:15:32] which should be maintained and trying to

[1:15:34] be very selective on what we remove and

[1:15:36] what we keep. There's a um mature trees

[1:15:39] that we'd like to keep um not only for

[1:15:41] their appearance, but also for shade um

[1:15:44] and amenity on the site. And so we have

[1:15:46] met uh routinely with them as we're

[1:15:48] working through the site plan.

[1:15:52] Here's a larger view of the overall

[1:15:56] floor plan. Uh the

[1:16:03] Uh so there's the drop-off from the

[1:16:05] parking area, the entry, uh the new

[1:16:08] lobby,

[1:16:09] community room, outdoor courtyard,

[1:16:12] performance hall.

[1:16:14] Uh as part of the increase in uh

[1:16:17] occupants for the performance space,

[1:16:19] there's an expansion to existing

[1:16:21] restroom facilities to increase fixtures

[1:16:25] for that those events. And then as I

[1:16:27] mentioned, the lobby space which expands

[1:16:29] on the existing lobby and creates

[1:16:31] somewhat of a pre-function area for

[1:16:33] potential performance spaces.

[1:16:36] The design of the building is such that

[1:16:38] the floor does slope, and so we're using

[1:16:40] the lowest point of the floor to

[1:16:42] determine that we are above flood as far

[1:16:44] as we mentioned earlier some resiliency

[1:16:46] issues, um but also to be sure that if a

[1:16:49] piano needs to get either on stage or in

[1:16:52] the pre-function area and lobby, they

[1:16:53] don't have to traverse any stairs or

[1:16:55] ramps. So, the

[1:16:58] lobby is somewhat split into uh a higher

[1:17:01] 1-ft step to get into the performance

[1:17:04] level [snorts] versus the existing lobby

[1:17:07] and this port other half of the new

[1:17:09] lobby which are all on level with the

[1:17:11] area we're on here. So, if you were to

[1:17:12] come into either council chambers or the

[1:17:14] community room or the lobby or the

[1:17:16] bathrooms, that's all on on level. Um if

[1:17:20] you come into the new lobby, there's a

[1:17:21] set of stairs and a ramp here that gets

[1:17:24] you up to this additional height and

[1:17:26] then gets you into the level of the

[1:17:28] performance space.

[1:17:30] Uh back of house areas include

[1:17:33] uh dressing rooms, green room, some of

[1:17:36] the mechanical and support spaces that

[1:17:37] are needed, uh a loading dock area as I

[1:17:40] mentioned the piano storage, uh and then

[1:17:43] the wing spaces for the

[1:17:45] um performance space.

[1:17:49] Tricky to remember I have to do both.

[1:17:52] Enlarged plan, uh I mentioned before we

[1:17:55] are currently at 300 seats, uh which was

[1:17:58] the initial request from the town, um

[1:18:02] and it does have a sloped floor and I'll

[1:18:04] be showing you um

[1:18:06] images uh renderings of this space here

[1:18:08] in just a minute.

[1:18:10] Second second floor [snorts] area which

[1:18:12] really is the uh control room and some

[1:18:15] of the other support spaces uh

[1:18:17] for

[1:18:18] the performance hall.

[1:18:23] Uh enlarged plan of the lobby, this area

[1:18:26] in gray here is the existing lobby. So,

[1:18:28] as you come across into the new lobby,

[1:18:30] the expanded bathrooms as you know right

[1:18:31] now you sort of come down a corridor and

[1:18:33] you turn to get into this corridor. What

[1:18:36] we're doing is capturing that space. So,

[1:18:38] when you come through the lobby, it'll

[1:18:39] be a straight shot into the corridor

[1:18:41] that feeds into council chambers. Uh the

[1:18:44] bathrooms will then be expanded. Uh

[1:18:46] set of stairs and ramp around a

[1:18:50] relocated entry desk that now has visual

[1:18:52] control over uh this entry, the existing

[1:18:55] entry, and the entry or exit that goes

[1:18:58] out into the courtyard space.

[1:19:00] A community room and chair storage,

[1:19:03] small kitchenette.

[1:19:08] Exterior elevation. So, the top

[1:19:10] elevation is the view from the new

[1:19:12] parking area. Uh this gable end uh is

[1:19:16] the end of the building here. Uh one of

[1:19:18] the things we're trying to do is

[1:19:21] even with today with the shades closed,

[1:19:23] there's a good bit of sun. I know that's

[1:19:24] been certainly on times when we

[1:19:26] presented in that space. Uh when the

[1:19:28] sun's setting, it gets quite bright in

[1:19:30] that room. And so, we're uh

[1:19:32] um screening the end of the building,

[1:19:34] but also adding um

[1:19:36] this scrim element that allows us to

[1:19:38] sort of transition from the parking area

[1:19:41] into the new entry. This is sort of an

[1:19:44] adaptation of the existing uh elements

[1:19:46] on the building, the brown wood slats at

[1:19:50] both front and rear entries of the

[1:19:51] building. We're sort of taking that into

[1:19:54] uh

[1:19:54] again, revising that and um updating

[1:19:58] that into a bit more of a

[1:20:00] nicer element for us. They're trying to

[1:20:02] make that more like a furniture piece,

[1:20:03] but it's a screen that separates parking

[1:20:06] from walking in and entering the space.

[1:20:09] This view is looking from the rear. Uh

[1:20:12] the end of the performance hall has a

[1:20:14] large window. Again, in the renderings,

[1:20:16] you'll see that here in a second. That

[1:20:18] was one of the requests of the town from

[1:20:19] the outset of the competition phase is

[1:20:22] to have a connection to nature. So, when

[1:20:24] you're in that space, you're enjoying

[1:20:27] the fact that you're right next to this

[1:20:28] wonderful landscaped area and

[1:20:30] overlooking the marsh and the forest.

[1:20:32] We're maintaining that. This is the

[1:20:35] community room and community garden area

[1:20:38] from that view.

[1:20:41] Sorry.

[1:20:44] The entrance from the parking area,

[1:20:47] the drop-off.

[1:20:49] Um

[1:20:49] There will be This will be ADA. It's

[1:20:51] showing as a curve, but that will be ADA

[1:20:53] accessible. Um you enter through this

[1:20:55] portal of such into the entrance doors,

[1:20:59] which are behind here. This is the end

[1:21:01] of the community room and the community

[1:21:03] garden.

[1:21:05] Closer view of that. So, there's an

[1:21:07] entry sequence that's from your car into

[1:21:11] the lobby into the performance hall.

[1:21:17] The rear garden courtyard area that will

[1:21:19] have opportunities for

[1:21:22] uh contemplation. You know, if you want

[1:21:23] to come and eat your lunch there, enjoy

[1:21:25] food truck Friday. Um

[1:21:27] not a formal

[1:21:28] >> [snorts]

[1:21:29] >> uh a

[1:21:30] regimented formal garden area, but more

[1:21:32] of a loose um

[1:21:34] loose garden.

[1:21:38] Reviews of that.

[1:21:42] Uh we've been trying very hard to take

[1:21:44] into consideration the nature that

[1:21:46] you've got here. Um whether it's, you

[1:21:48] know, uh back where you can sit and

[1:21:50] overlook um

[1:21:52] the marsh uh or what does the building

[1:21:54] look like through the trees? Um

[1:21:57] I've been struck always by sort of this

[1:21:59] pattern of um live oak and how can that

[1:22:02] help to inform us? And one of the things

[1:22:04] in the performance space from an

[1:22:05] acoustics or acousticians perspective,

[1:22:08] it's really important to have a

[1:22:09] world-class performance hall. Um a space

[1:22:12] that, you know, is representative of uh

[1:22:16] I think the prestige that comes with

[1:22:17] Kiawah Island and itself. And so,

[1:22:19] there's a real science behind that. And

[1:22:21] one of those issues is that the walls of

[1:22:24] the performance space are somewhat

[1:22:26] tunable because it depends on the type

[1:22:28] of performance you have, whether you

[1:22:29] have uh

[1:22:31] pure acoustics or you have electrified

[1:22:33] sound, uh whether it's speech or dance.

[1:22:37] We want to be able to tune the room.

[1:22:39] Most of these performance halls that you

[1:22:40] go in have that ability and we've been

[1:22:43] trying to We're working with them on how

[1:22:45] that how that works. And typically what

[1:22:47] happens, closer to the stage, the walls

[1:22:50] have uh

[1:22:51] a solid to void percentage of about uh

[1:22:54] 30% solid to 70% void. And then as you

[1:22:58] move back to the back of house, that

[1:23:01] void that changes.

[1:23:03] Um

[1:23:04] We're taking uh influence from

[1:23:07] a live oak tree and that space,

[1:23:10] initially, as you see, we had somewhat

[1:23:12] of a repetitive pattern on the walls.

[1:23:15] That creates a problem acoustically,

[1:23:17] sort of known as um a picket fence

[1:23:19] approach, and you get sound waves that

[1:23:22] conflict with each other. And so, we

[1:23:23] want that to be a random space. These

[1:23:25] are just some sketches

[1:23:27] of how that's

[1:23:28] evolved.

[1:23:30] These are examples of what I'm talking

[1:23:32] about, how the walls really want to be

[1:23:33] random. We don't want a a regular space

[1:23:36] pattern. These are not uh projects my firm has done, but our

[1:23:40] acoustician our uh partner firm um has

[1:23:44] worked on many of these types of

[1:23:45] facilities across the country, and you

[1:23:47] see there's a lot of randomness in the

[1:23:50] wall systems or even in the way that

[1:23:52] they treat um

[1:23:54] a

[1:23:55] curtain pocket on the sides of the room

[1:23:57] with a random wood grill edge type of

[1:24:01] treatment.

[1:24:03] So, taking that idea of solid to void

[1:24:06] and looking uh

[1:24:08] at that pattern, we're trying to find a

[1:24:10] way that we can do this economically.

[1:24:12] So, these are sheets of plywood that we

[1:24:14] would have zero waste. So, as you cut

[1:24:17] something off that piece of plywood to

[1:24:18] create that opening in the wall surface,

[1:24:21] it can then be applied back on to give

[1:24:23] that pattern and it's really important

[1:24:24] from an acoustics perspective that you

[1:24:26] have that.

[1:24:27] Those panels would then be assembled

[1:24:30] on the walls going from the right to the

[1:24:33] left, which is towards the stage, a

[1:24:35] higher percentage of void to the back of

[1:24:37] house to a higher percentage of solid.

[1:24:41] And so the current updated view of the

[1:24:43] performance space itself looks like this

[1:24:46] with those wall panels and what we're

[1:24:48] calling wings acoustic baffles up at the

[1:24:51] ceiling that help direct sound from the

[1:24:53] stage back to the audience.

[1:24:58] I'll back up. You still see the large

[1:25:01] window in the back and that will be able

[1:25:03] to be screened if there's a movie night

[1:25:04] or some type of other event where we

[1:25:06] need to have blackout shades. We'll have

[1:25:07] that ability to do that both on the back

[1:25:09] window and the clerestory windows above.

[1:25:15] Primarily fixed seating as I mentioned

[1:25:18] before, there are some movable chairs on

[1:25:20] the sides that get us to the total of

[1:25:22] 300

[1:25:24] seat capacity.

[1:25:29] The next few views are interior views.

[1:25:32] This coming from the existing lobby into

[1:25:34] the new lobby.

[1:25:36] The area where the floor pattern changes

[1:25:38] goes from existing to new. Right now

[1:25:39] there's an exterior wall there. That

[1:25:41] wall will be removed with new structure

[1:25:44] to hold up the new building, obviously,

[1:25:46] but you see this is the relocated entry

[1:25:48] desk. You're looking out towards the

[1:25:50] garden courtyard. This entry door goes

[1:25:52] into the community room and as we walk

[1:25:54] through here and you start looking

[1:25:56] toward the towards the right, you'll see

[1:25:58] this uh

[1:26:00] hallway coming down towards council

[1:26:02] chambers.

[1:26:06] The screen wall is actually in front of

[1:26:08] the bathrooms, which are here to the

[1:26:10] right of this corridor. That's the

[1:26:11] existing corridor here behind me.

[1:26:14] Community room entry desk. This is the

[1:26:17] ramp that goes up and then the set of

[1:26:19] stairs, which is behind in this view.

[1:26:20] You really don't see it. The other thing

[1:26:21] we're trying to do, we know certainly

[1:26:23] the Arts Council has a presence, so we

[1:26:25] want to make sure that we provide spaces

[1:26:27] for art and display in the lobby and

[1:26:30] really let it be an amenity for the

[1:26:31] town.

[1:26:36] And sort of this reinterpretation of the

[1:26:38] screening that you have on the existing

[1:26:39] building, doing that in a little bit of

[1:26:41] a different way so that you start

[1:26:43] catching glimpses of that here in the

[1:26:45] lobby, but then when you get into the

[1:26:46] performance space, it actually opens up

[1:26:48] even more and becomes that solid devoid

[1:26:50] that I was talking about earlier.

[1:27:03] And

[1:27:05] with that, do you want to go over

[1:27:07] schedule a little bit? Okay, sure.

[1:27:10] Josh Spencer with Edifice Construction.

[1:27:13] >> Thank you all. Good afternoon.

[1:27:15] Nice presentation, Steve.

[1:27:17] >> Yep.

[1:27:18] So,

[1:27:19] as as part of our duty as construction

[1:27:21] manager, one of our first things to

[1:27:22] identify kind of early on in this design

[1:27:24] process any long lead um

[1:27:27] structural items or mechanical items,

[1:27:30] electrical components.

[1:27:32] And in today's climate, um structural

[1:27:35] steel is coming at a bit of a long lead

[1:27:37] time as far as the date of order to the

[1:27:40] date it's on site.

[1:27:42] So, as we've been evolving this design

[1:27:45] over the past few months, we have come

[1:27:47] up we have settled upon what the floor

[1:27:49] plan of the building looks like and the

[1:27:52] conceptual amount of structural steel

[1:27:54] needed to construct the space.

[1:27:56] Uh today's world in a building of this

[1:27:58] size, structural steel lead times can

[1:28:01] vary from 32 to 44 weeks.

[1:28:04] Um in discussion with our steel mills

[1:28:05] and our steel subcontractors, we

[1:28:07] anticipate the tonnage needed for this

[1:28:09] building is around 36 36 weeks from the

[1:28:12] date we place the order to the day that steel is on site. Our team always

[1:28:17] had a want and a desire to break ground

[1:28:20] as soon as possible

[1:28:22] to

[1:28:23] start our foundation work, our site

[1:28:25] work, and get concrete in the ground.

[1:28:28] The current intent

[1:28:30] in discussions with

[1:28:32] our team here is to mobilize to site in

[1:28:35] February of 2027.

[1:28:38] Which working backwards means that we

[1:28:41] need to release steel to the steel mill

[1:28:44] and to our subcontractors

[1:28:47] by November at the latest.

[1:28:49] The good thing about this process

[1:28:52] Edifice is serving as the town's

[1:28:54] construction manager and that allows us

[1:28:56] a bit of flexibility to release packages

[1:28:58] ahead of having the final contract value

[1:29:01] determined. So part of today's

[1:29:04] conceptual approval is to make

[1:29:08] sure make sure that we have approval to

[1:29:11] move forward in both design and

[1:29:13] construction procurement for this early

[1:29:16] site package.

[1:29:18] And what that would mean from Steve is

[1:29:20] on the design side an expedited approach

[1:29:23] to the foundation and steel which would

[1:29:25] allow us in turn to order that steel

[1:29:28] have it locked in

[1:29:30] for a June 2027 delivery.

[1:29:33] From the town's perspective we are not

[1:29:37] on the hook for the total cost of that

[1:29:40] steel from day one that release in fall

[1:29:43] it would be just like any other

[1:29:45] construction procurement the bill would

[1:29:48] be due upon receipt to the site. So I

[1:29:51] think today's discussion is conceptual

[1:29:53] approval of this plan in which enables

[1:29:56] us to start construction and mobilize in

[1:29:59] February of 2027.

[1:30:03] » I I've just got a question. Um

[1:30:06] Where are you sourcing the steel from?

[1:30:08] Just curiosity.

[1:30:10] >> Well, so

[1:30:13] with with that package with that early

[1:30:15] steel package, we will solicit two three

[1:30:17] to six structural steel subcontractors.

[1:30:21] Um

[1:30:21] depending on which subcontractor we land

[1:30:24] on

[1:30:25] uh

[1:30:26] would determine which mill that came

[1:30:28] from. But most likely a Nucor mill

[1:30:31] within the state. Um joist and deck can

[1:30:33] be sourced from all over the country,

[1:30:35] but it would really be relying on that

[1:30:37] subcontractor of

[1:30:39] that's that's the lowest responsible

[1:30:41] bidder's preference.

[1:30:42] >> Okay, thanks.

[1:30:44] >> I'll back up a little bit. Um a

[1:30:46] traditional sort of delivery would be

[1:30:48] that we would design the building in

[1:30:50] totality, submit it for building permit,

[1:30:52] have it reviewed, get it approved, uh

[1:30:55] and then release the entire building

[1:30:56] package to the contractor uh to start

[1:30:59] work. Um that would

[1:31:01] for overall for our schedule, that would

[1:31:04] mean likely February of '27. Um

[1:31:09] the issue is that in doing that and then

[1:31:11] looking at the lead time on steel, which

[1:31:13] when we started this project was not 30

[1:31:16] to 40 weeks. Um the impact of that has

[1:31:18] been uh correct me if I'm wrong, my

[1:31:20] understanding is the majority of the

[1:31:22] impact on that is because of data center

[1:31:23] construction across the country has

[1:31:25] taken up steel mills

[1:31:27] all over the country. Um but recognizing

[1:31:30] that and then also after doing analysis

[1:31:32] on the building systems um trying to

[1:31:35] limit the amount of steel, which we are

[1:31:37] and there are some pros and cons to

[1:31:39] that, but the pros are by using concrete

[1:31:42] block in the auditorium space, it has

[1:31:44] real advantages from an acoustics

[1:31:46] perspective. We reduce the amount of

[1:31:48] steel. We are able to then hopefully not

[1:31:51] being at the 40-week lead time on steel,

[1:31:53] less than that. Um but then also by

[1:31:56] releasing steel

[1:31:58] in October, November,

[1:32:00] we don't start construction,

[1:32:02] finish foundations, and then sit and

[1:32:04] wait two or three months for steel to

[1:32:06] show up on site with nothing happening.

[1:32:08] We're able to get a jump on the project

[1:32:10] by starting foundations earlier, so

[1:32:12] hopefully a line that as soon as

[1:32:14] foundations are done, the steel is on

[1:32:15] site, we're ready to rock and roll with

[1:32:18] uh erection of steel without any delay

[1:32:20] or extending the construction duration,

[1:32:22] which as you know, when you extend a

[1:32:23] construction duration, more overhead,

[1:32:26] more cost. So, we're trying to reduce

[1:32:27] that construction duration overall.

[1:32:30] >> I mean, overall, I Or did you want to

[1:32:32] add something?

[1:32:32] >> Well, I I guess just to add that the

[1:32:34] overall procurement method right now

[1:32:36] would be uh we we we refer to it as a

[1:32:38] component GMP. So, component one GMP

[1:32:42] number one would be that early site

[1:32:44] steel concrete, gets this release.

[1:32:46] Component two would be the remaining of

[1:32:48] the scope, the finishes, the interior

[1:32:50] details, landscaping, etc. That would

[1:32:53] most likely be first of the year, first

[1:32:54] of 2027. Those two GMP packages together

[1:32:58] would equal a total contract value.

[1:32:59] That's in theory how we're contemplating

[1:33:01] it right now.

[1:33:02] >> I guess from my perspective, we're not

[1:33:04] really coming into this cold. There's

[1:33:05] been thankfully some good discussions at

[1:33:08] along the way on this. Um

[1:33:10] I feel like we've got about as best

[1:33:11] solution as we can for the footprint of

[1:33:13] the building, pending the other things

[1:33:15] that are going on.

[1:33:16] Your descriptions helped to get started

[1:33:18] in my head and understand why you need

[1:33:19] to do this. So,

[1:33:21] I think it makes sense to me.

[1:33:23] >> The

[1:33:25] it's been a lot of back and forth and

[1:33:27] give and take. Those guys talk at

[1:33:29] regularly, and then they engage with us.

[1:33:32] We did have a meeting of the ad hoc

[1:33:34] committee last week, unanimously

[1:33:36] recommended

[1:33:38] moving forward on this basis. That's

[1:33:40] comprised of myself, Council Member

[1:33:43] Berner, who's not with us today,

[1:33:46] Rob Glass, and Mark Caymans, and David

[1:33:49] Wool, chair of the Arts Council,

[1:33:52] and the level of communication has been extraordinary, and and we're

[1:33:57] greatly appreciative of that. It's

[1:33:59] interesting the basic footprint hasn't

[1:34:03] changed that much

[1:34:06] kind of from the get-go. Minor

[1:34:08] alterations here and there.

[1:34:11] The

[1:34:12] it was a considered decision to add

[1:34:15] about 1,000 square feet into the project

[1:34:17] which is mostly lobby space to increase

[1:34:20] kind of the overall set decks and flow.

[1:34:23] But that's been the kind of the major

[1:34:25] the only really significant design

[1:34:27] element. We were between 250 and 300

[1:34:30] seats. A lot of pressure to to keep it

[1:34:32] at the high end. So, we did that. Where

[1:34:36] the discussion is really been primarily

[1:34:39] is now at this point in time all of this

[1:34:41] fit and finishes whether exterior

[1:34:43] materials, interior materials, etc. And

[1:34:46] still some cost trade-offs and elements

[1:34:48] about that and they've been very good

[1:34:49] about offering the committee

[1:34:51] alternatives and you know, we've accepted some cost reduction

[1:34:59] recommendations.

[1:35:00] Others we've simply said no, we're not

[1:35:02] willing to make that kind of concession.

[1:35:05] And and I think Mr. Promotor

[1:35:07] works in your

[1:35:09] words in your mouth but something like

[1:35:11] aim high or you know, build for the

[1:35:13] future. Don't be penny wise and pound

[1:35:16] foolish here.

[1:35:18] And so we've been kind of mindful of

[1:35:20] that to make sure that this is a truly a especially from the acoustics

[1:35:24] standpoint a world-class facility that

[1:35:27] we can attract the some of the best and

[1:35:29] the brightest that go to Juilliard for

[1:35:31] one night and maybe they'll be willing

[1:35:32] to come here for a second night.

[1:35:34] >> And that cost analysis process does not

[1:35:36] stop with this decision today. In fact,

[1:35:38] it just keeps moving forward but part of

[1:35:40] that includes things like there's a very

[1:35:42] large AV and IT package associated with

[1:35:45] the sound system and the equipment in

[1:35:47] the performance space and we're looking

[1:35:49] at ways of how can we perhaps have

[1:35:52] um an initial phase of that that gets

[1:35:54] you everything that you need. Certainly

[1:35:56] works quite well, but it's not the Taj

[1:35:59] Mahal of spaces or it might not have all

[1:36:01] of the aspects to it, but it has the

[1:36:03] future for plug and play for those

[1:36:05] aspects and looking at ways that we can

[1:36:07] save some money.

[1:36:08] Um

[1:36:09] not just in that, but even in the

[1:36:10] exterior wall materials, finishes, those

[1:36:13] types of things. Um so, that process

[1:36:15] continues.

[1:36:19] » Councilmember Farrell?

[1:36:21] >> Nothing for me. Thank

[1:36:22] >> Um I you know, I'll go a little bit out

[1:36:24] of order. We do have citizen comments

[1:36:25] after new business, but I would invite

[1:36:27] if there's anybody that has any comments

[1:36:30] or questions um from our team while

[1:36:33] they're here now, we certainly please

[1:36:36] take this opportunity if you if you have

[1:36:39] Yes, Larry.

[1:36:40] >> What is the

[1:36:41] estimated cost and when was that

[1:36:43] estimated because costs have increased

[1:36:45] significantly over the last year, like

[1:36:48] 20% steel or whatever?

[1:36:50] >> So, we are I mean, that is still in the

[1:36:53] evolutionary stage. Uh

[1:36:55] we have I mean, we do have preliminary

[1:36:58] numbers. There's some that are going to

[1:36:59] go up and some that are going to come

[1:37:01] down.

[1:37:01] >> And it's the answer to the question is

[1:37:03] really there isn't one cost. It's uh we

[1:37:05] have been assessing cost all along at

[1:37:08] each phase. Um

[1:37:10] and there are the the one of the ways

[1:37:12] that we do that to anticipate cost

[1:37:15] increases because the price of

[1:37:17] an auditorium chair today is not going

[1:37:19] to be the same as it is in eight months

[1:37:21] when you need that chair. So, there are

[1:37:23] escalation and contingencies in the

[1:37:25] estimate. As we then make decisions on

[1:37:28] in fact, we are getting chair samples

[1:37:31] for um

[1:37:32] uh

[1:37:33] the town to review various types and uh

[1:37:36] aspects of different chairs. Uh as we

[1:37:38] start nailing down those specific

[1:37:40] decisions,

[1:37:42] the costs become more clear, the

[1:37:43] contingency percentages come down

[1:37:45] because we don't have as much unknown.

[1:37:47] So, there will be continual cost

[1:37:49] estimating throughout the whole process.

[1:37:51] >> I understand that we are actually

[1:37:52] working with Eclipse on two projects

[1:37:54] currently and their financial tracking

[1:37:56] is very good. I have to say that.

[1:38:00] I read in the Post and Courier, maybe

[1:38:02] totally incorrect, it was 12 million.

[1:38:06] » So,

[1:38:07] I'll address that. Larry, that was kind

[1:38:10] of the the the conceptual without, you

[1:38:14] know, a firm understanding of what's

[1:38:16] involved early on as to what the cost of

[1:38:19] the project would be. It It's certainly

[1:38:22] going to be higher than that. Um but I

[1:38:26] actually think not dramatically so. I

[1:38:29] believe where we are right now in the

[1:38:31] last round of conversations

[1:38:34] is right around 13 million or so for

[1:38:38] hard construction costs plus

[1:38:40] contingencies.

[1:38:41] And then we have design fees on top of

[1:38:44] that, but some of that was considered

[1:38:46] decisions. For example, to expand the

[1:38:49] square footage from where we originally

[1:38:50] planned by 1,000 square feet. So, we're we're we're again, we're trying to

[1:38:55] They're they're they're trying to

[1:38:57] develop it against budget and and in

[1:38:59] some cases we're saying, uh

[1:39:02] okay.

[1:39:03] >> I actually agree totally in principle.

[1:39:05] if you're going to do it

[1:39:06] now, get it right.

[1:39:07] But

[1:39:09] the only concern is that the 12 million

[1:39:12] becomes 15. I mean, we've had problems

[1:39:14] with subcontractors walking away. I

[1:39:18] It's It's It's

[1:39:19] >> Well, Larry, at at some point part of

[1:39:21] this we're doing it two phases. I mean,

[1:39:23] the Josh is going to be on the hook and

[1:39:25] Edifice is going to be on the hook at

[1:39:26] some point in time because we will

[1:39:28] negotiate a guaranteed maximum price for

[1:39:31] construction here in a couple of months.

[1:39:33] So, and that's what we're trying to

[1:39:35] refine. He's because he's going to be on

[1:39:37] the hook.

[1:39:38] >> Well, and and I will just add, Mr.

[1:39:39] Mayor, that part of this part of this,

[1:39:42] you know, see me at risk process does

[1:39:44] allow us to

[1:39:46] engage subcontractors at a very early

[1:39:48] stage and part of part of your point

[1:39:51] part of our contemplation with this

[1:39:53] early steel package is a tool to

[1:39:55] mitigate the escalation of steel. We can

[1:39:57] lock it in right now, you know, and so

[1:39:59] those are very those are being taken

[1:40:01] consideration right now. No, absolutely.

[1:40:04] >> Roger.

[1:40:06] What you're seeing as the escalation

[1:40:08] percentage per month right now

[1:40:11] >> [clears throat]

[1:40:11] >> in construction in this area, you know,

[1:40:13] having been involved in over the years.

[1:40:15] We were amazed at how quickly it went

[1:40:16] for a while. Are you still seeing it

[1:40:18] escalating at a 3 to 4 to 5% per month?

[1:40:21] >> We we're a little bit less than that. We

[1:40:23] our

[1:40:23] conceptually we we reference a percent

[1:40:26] per quarter right now as as a as a

[1:40:29] average is is what is what we're

[1:40:31] anticipating. 1% per quarter.

[1:40:35] » Okay.

[1:40:38] >> And again, that there's a there's a lot

[1:40:39] of metrics that go into that.

[1:40:40] >> What contingency percentages are you

[1:40:42] carrying for construction?

[1:40:43] >> We've got a 3% construction contingency

[1:40:45] to take in as as a contractor's

[1:40:47] contingency into the GMP.

[1:40:50] But as Steve alluded to, we're carrying

[1:40:51] I believe

[1:40:55] » Yeah, a lot much larger.

[1:40:56] >> Well, yeah, 12 I'm sorry I don't have

[1:40:58] those numbers in but 12% for design and

[1:41:01] estimating contingency until and that

[1:41:03] will carry us until we get to a

[1:41:05] construction level set of documents.

[1:41:06] >> would those contingencies being larger

[1:41:09] would give you some offset against any

[1:41:11] other escalations during the course of

[1:41:12] construction.

[1:41:13] >> Correct.

[1:41:13] >> Yeah, okay.

[1:41:14] >> And and that's built into the numbers I

[1:41:17] just

[1:41:18] >> We we started at a 25% contingency but

[1:41:21] as we've been developing more and more

[1:41:23] understanding about what the interior

[1:41:24] materials might be or the fit finishes,

[1:41:26] that contingency has come down as the

[1:41:28] pricing has gotten tighter.

[1:41:30] >> I'd be surprised if they'd give you a

[1:41:31] 25% in contingency when you get down to

[1:41:34] a hard price.

[1:41:36] >> There will there will not be a 35%

[1:41:38] [laughter] contingency fee if that

[1:41:40] I don't expect them to

[1:41:41] ask for that and then we would not grant

[1:41:43] that.

[1:41:44] >> And you know, all kidding aside, I mean

[1:41:46] the the market fluctuates and it's

[1:41:49] construction costs as you know, it's

[1:41:51] very it's hard to to pinpoint. The

[1:41:53] benefit of this process and one of the

[1:41:55] reasons we advocated for this uh

[1:41:58] bringing the contractor in early as

[1:41:59] opposed to what is a traditional sort of

[1:42:02] design the project, send it out for bids

[1:42:05] and hope that you get numbers that are

[1:42:06] good. We didn't in that process you

[1:42:09] don't have the benefit of being able to

[1:42:11] look at different systems, different

[1:42:13] types of assemblies, different materials

[1:42:15] and see what impact they have overall on

[1:42:17] not only the cost but the schedule and

[1:42:18] so I do think that it's the right

[1:42:20] approach on this and Edifice has been a

[1:42:23] great partner in that don't expect that

[1:42:25] to change.

[1:42:27] » Any other questions or comments from the

[1:42:30] audience on this matter? So I would now

[1:42:34] seek

[1:42:34] a motion to approve the recommendation

[1:42:38] of the of our

[1:42:41] architect, our construction manager risk

[1:42:43] and the ad hoc building committee to

[1:42:44] move forward with the early release

[1:42:46] package for structural steel.

[1:42:48] >> So moved.

[1:42:49] >> Second.

[1:42:50] >> Any further discussion?

[1:42:53] All all in favor?

[1:42:55] >> I.

[1:42:57] don't know if Council member K is

[1:42:59] raised hand.

[1:43:01] Um

[1:43:02] thank you very much Steve and Josh great

[1:43:05] presentation.

[1:43:06] Uh

[1:43:07] I just encourage the entire community to

[1:43:09] look at this presentation

[1:43:11] review this

[1:43:12] I think they've done an extraordinary

[1:43:14] job. It's been a great team to work with

[1:43:16] and hope that continues.

[1:43:17] >> Thank you.

[1:43:18] all.

[1:43:19] >> Uh

[1:43:20] next agenda item is

[1:43:22] consider approval of ordinance 2026-14

[1:43:25] which is an ordinance to establish for

[1:43:28] lack of a better term the

[1:43:30] town equivalent to the county's green

[1:43:32] belt fund and I'd like it to turn it

[1:43:35] over to council member Spencer and our

[1:43:39] town administrator who really taken the

[1:43:41] labor in or and bring us to this point.

[1:43:45] >> I'll go ahead and start and Stephanie

[1:43:47] please jump in

[1:43:49] and correct me when I say something

[1:43:50] wrong.

[1:43:51] >> [laughter]

[1:43:51] >> So

[1:43:53] this started actually several years ago

[1:43:56] in the deliberations for the

[1:43:58] comprehensive plan Kiawah next and is in

[1:44:01] the currently approved Kiawah next

[1:44:04] comprehensive plan for the town to

[1:44:06] establish

[1:44:08] an equivalent of a green belt type fund

[1:44:11] and really it comes down to

[1:44:14] what the community's ethos about

[1:44:18] environment protecting our natural

[1:44:19] environment protecting environment that

[1:44:21] feeds into our natural environment

[1:44:24] and how do we make potential strategic

[1:44:26] purchases partnered with qualified

[1:44:29] eligible partners like the Conservancy

[1:44:31] like Low Country Land Trust that put

[1:44:34] together land deals whether they be

[1:44:36] purchases with conservation easements or

[1:44:40] scraping the development rights off of a piece of property

[1:44:44] and put a conservation easement on that

[1:44:45] but the ultimate goal is preserving

[1:44:48] open space that

[1:44:52] protects a natural ecosystem for

[1:44:53] wildlife for

[1:44:55] the quality of water for

[1:44:58] the air quality for all the things that

[1:45:00] are important to Kiawah we

[1:45:04] I spent a lot of time discussing it we

[1:45:06] discussed it at length at the town

[1:45:08] strategic planning session in January

[1:45:11] we had just approved the comprehensive

[1:45:12] plan after that

[1:45:14] got a lot of input from the Conservancy

[1:45:16] from Low Country from others on on how

[1:45:19] they've accomplished it we met with the

[1:45:20] towns the county's green belt fund and others to

[1:45:24] get get baseline about how they operate

[1:45:26] their program as we define what a

[1:45:28] town-sponsored program might look like.

[1:45:31] Um

[1:45:32] we we came up with the jurisdiction of

[1:45:36] the Kiawah Island watershed um primarily

[1:45:39] because that's where the water in the

[1:45:40] Kiawah River's coming from. That's you

[1:45:42] know, it covers a lot of things of the

[1:45:44] aspect of the criteria that we would

[1:45:46] consider um

[1:45:48] for the the town to partner with

[1:45:51] qualified organizations to protect um

[1:45:54] land. Um and so the the watershed seemed

[1:45:58] to fit that definition. Um

[1:46:01] you know, they they the the upsides are

[1:46:04] uh you know, improved wildlife habitat

[1:46:06] um natural resources um taking

[1:46:09] development pressure off of um uh

[1:46:12] the

[1:46:14] outer perimeter of Kiawah, all the

[1:46:15] things that matter to Kiawah. And even

[1:46:17] though

[1:46:18] frankly, a lot of it may happen on Johns

[1:46:19] Island in the southern part of Johns

[1:46:21] Island it's for the benefit of not only

[1:46:23] that community, but for our community as

[1:46:26] well because we have the development

[1:46:28] pressure gone, because we have better

[1:46:30] natural resources, better buffers of the

[1:46:32] ecosystem, things like that. So, um we

[1:46:35] generated, Stephanie and I did, a

[1:46:37] framework document about two or three

[1:46:38] months ago. Uh generated through council

[1:46:41] or or disseminated through council. Um

[1:46:44] it was generally supported. I really

[1:46:46] didn't get any any negative feedback on

[1:46:48] it. It was all uh broadly supported. Um

[1:46:51] so, we've taken the next steps of

[1:46:52] writing the ordinance and a policy

[1:46:55] document. The the logic between

[1:46:57] ordinance and versus policy document is

[1:47:00] it's harder to change ordinances. So,

[1:47:02] let the ordinance be the authority um to conduct the fund. And then the policy

[1:47:07] document is a more flexible way for this

[1:47:10] council or future councils to define

[1:47:12] what the fund's focus is and how it

[1:47:14] operates and things like that. I will

[1:47:16] say up front that we've gotten a lot of

[1:47:18] input on this, but you learn by doing.

[1:47:20] >> [laughter]

[1:47:21] >> Um you know, our our our goal right now

[1:47:23] is to get up and operating, uh

[1:47:24] communicate,

[1:47:26] um, establish, um, once we get through

[1:47:28] the second reading, you know, next

[1:47:29] month, hopefully,

[1:47:30] establish, um, the the board that will

[1:47:33] review applications,

[1:47:35] get up and running, learn from it,

[1:47:37] iterate, make improvements, and and stay

[1:47:40] focused. So, Stephanie,

[1:47:43] Was that everything?

[1:47:45] Okay.

[1:47:46] Thanks.

[1:47:47] And and thanks, there's several people

[1:47:49] in the room that have helped us on this,

[1:47:50] so thank you.

[1:47:53] >> Um, uh, questions, uh, comments?

[1:47:57] Council member Kay, Council member

[1:47:59] Farrell.

[1:48:02] Miss Kay, you want to go? You want to

[1:48:04] have any questions or comments?

[1:48:06] >> Uh, yeah. Um,

[1:48:08] I initially I was not enthusiastic about

[1:48:12] this, um,

[1:48:13] this initiative, but the more that

[1:48:17] Lance, um, explained

[1:48:20] um, how it was going to come together,

[1:48:22] um, the more I decided that it actually

[1:48:25] makes an awful lot of sense. There are

[1:48:27] so many things that are outside of our

[1:48:29] control that when we can grab onto

[1:48:31] something and put it at least somewhat

[1:48:34] in our control, then we should. Um, and

[1:48:37] my a lot of my concern, um,

[1:48:40] centered around, um,

[1:48:42] just the cost of this.

[1:48:45] But again, I don't think there's a whole

[1:48:46] lot that's more important than, um,

[1:48:49] protecting our resources. So, I am now,

[1:48:53] um,

[1:48:54] a firm firm supporter, and a job well

[1:48:57] done to Lance and his team.

[1:49:00] >> Uh,

[1:49:00] thank you, Council Council member Kay.

[1:49:02] Just to note one thing, what today's uh,

[1:49:05] ordinance, and this is just

[1:49:06] consideration on first reading,

[1:49:09] um, does not involve any funding

[1:49:12] whatsoever.

[1:49:13] >> Yeah, I meant to mention that.

[1:49:14] >> That that's that would be a separate

[1:49:17] conversation or decision made in the

[1:49:19] whether this is we actually adopt this

[1:49:23] and we want to consider a mid-year

[1:49:25] budget adjustment.

[1:49:27] Ultimately, it's going to simply be an

[1:49:29] interfund transfer.

[1:49:31] >> Mhm.

[1:49:31] >> Uh and even when you do the interfund

[1:49:33] transfer, it isn't really binding in any

[1:49:37] regard.

[1:49:38] That still doesn't mean you're

[1:49:39] necessarily going to fund any proposed

[1:49:43] conservation easements. So, it's kind of

[1:49:44] depends on what we receive, what the

[1:49:46] criteria are, what the conservation

[1:49:49] values are. So, we're we're quite a ways

[1:49:51] yet from actually, you know, writing a

[1:49:54] check or approving anything.

[1:49:55] >> And council will approve anything. The

[1:49:57] board will make a recommendation to

[1:49:58] council and council ultimately approve

[1:50:00] anything that happens.

[1:50:04] » So, I am um

[1:50:08] I'm still struggling with this a bit and

[1:50:10] we don't need to debate this, you know,

[1:50:12] today here. Um

[1:50:15] I conservation's a great issue, full

[1:50:17] stop. Environmental conservation

[1:50:19] especially

[1:50:21] is near and dear to my heart, full stop.

[1:50:23] There's a bunch of issues we're working

[1:50:25] on where we're trying to protect the

[1:50:26] Kiawah River

[1:50:28] watershed area, environmental

[1:50:30] conservation,

[1:50:32] um water quality in particular.

[1:50:36] My my concern is kind of a couple of

[1:50:39] things. One, and I I put on the hat like

[1:50:41] we don't have taxes here on Kiawah, but

[1:50:43] if we had taxpayers,

[1:50:45] is this the highest and best use of

[1:50:48] taxpayers money?

[1:50:49] Um I think that's just a great way to

[1:50:51] think about it.

[1:50:52] Um

[1:50:54] and I'm going to just throw out a couple

[1:50:55] of things.

[1:50:56] You know, we've been supportive of

[1:50:59] Conservancy and other organizations like

[1:51:02] the Conservancy. Does this put us in

[1:51:04] competition with them or does it

[1:51:06] increase greater partnership? I'm still

[1:51:09] having trouble seeing the vision there.

[1:51:12] Um the second thing is again near and

[1:51:16] dear to my heart from other areas is

[1:51:19] proximity.

[1:51:20] I think the idea of defining the Kiawah

[1:51:22] River watershed is the area

[1:51:25] is the right way to do it.

[1:51:27] But as I look at the map, there's some

[1:51:30] that area includes areas up by the the

[1:51:31] airport.

[1:51:33] Uh

[1:51:34] is that the right way to spending money

[1:51:36] for Kiawah Island residents who are not of

[1:51:40] Kiawah residents.

[1:51:41] Um for me one of the things that kind of

[1:51:44] got me on board with this is protecting

[1:51:46] the corridor, and we call it the front

[1:51:48] door to Kiawah.

[1:51:50] That makes total sense to me. But then

[1:51:53] how far where do you define the front

[1:51:55] door? Where does that stop? At some

[1:51:56] point there's got to be a boundary.

[1:51:58] >> [snorts]

[1:51:58] >> Um so I like the idea of the watershed

[1:52:00] because it's more inclusive of

[1:52:03] protecting water quality.

[1:52:05] Um

[1:52:07] but again at some point the boundary

[1:52:08] becomes important to me.

[1:52:10] Um

[1:52:12] is there higher and better uses for

[1:52:14] these funds?

[1:52:15] Um

[1:52:17] how do we prioritize parcel A versus

[1:52:19] parcel B?

[1:52:21] Um

[1:52:22] those things are going to come in

[1:52:24] and I do want to before I go any further

[1:52:26] one of my requirements for even

[1:52:28] entertaining

[1:52:30] this ordinance was

[1:52:31] for there to be a a plan put together.

[1:52:34] And you've done a spectacular job,

[1:52:36] Lance. This is great great starting

[1:52:39] point. And And starting point doesn't do

[1:52:41] it justice, but it's a great great place

[1:52:44] to to begin to think about the

[1:52:45] ordinance. So I really appreciate you

[1:52:47] taking time and getting this done so

[1:52:50] well.

[1:52:50] >> [snorts]

[1:52:51] >> Um

[1:52:52] I I'm not saying no. I just kind of when

[1:52:54] Larry spoke earlier, I had kind of the

[1:52:55] same That's kind of where I was. What

[1:52:58] are we doing and why are we doing it?

[1:53:00] And What are the limits? How do we

[1:53:02] prioritize? Are we competing? Are we

[1:53:04] providing more funds or maybe providing

[1:53:07] less funds? How does this affect our

[1:53:09] relationship with the conservancy?

[1:53:11] Um

[1:53:12] I want to talk about just more. But

[1:53:14] those are just some of the issues as I

[1:53:16] sit here and I think about this uh we

[1:53:18] entertain this idea.

[1:53:20] The last thing I'll say is as you know I

[1:53:22] was

[1:53:23] very much against putting anything in

[1:53:25] the budget or earmarking funds until we

[1:53:27] got a document like this in front of us.

[1:53:30] So I again really appreciate getting this

[1:53:34] document in front of us.

[1:53:35] What I didn't want to see then and what

[1:53:37] I don't want to see now is us allocating

[1:53:39] money money and then spending it because

[1:53:41] we've allocated it. Uh so I want us to

[1:53:44] be very judicious as this goes forward

[1:53:47] for us to think about that and not

[1:53:49] just pick a number and allocate it and

[1:53:50] then we spend it and that gets back to

[1:53:52] the responsibility to if we had

[1:53:54] taxpayers. How how do we think about

[1:53:56] using taxpayer money most efficiently?

[1:53:59] So I I'll stop there but um

[1:54:02] I think the work you've done is

[1:54:03] spectacular. And now it's just kind of

[1:54:06] looking through it and kind of dotting

[1:54:07] the eyes and crossing the Ts and getting

[1:54:08] comfortable with

[1:54:11] the boundaries I'll say broadly

[1:54:12] speaking.

[1:54:13] >> Well, thanks and I'm happy to discuss

[1:54:14] with you offline as well as you're

[1:54:16] digesting and and coming up with

[1:54:17] questions. Um a couple quick answers not

[1:54:20] to prolong it. Um it's the the watershed

[1:54:23] idea was we knew we need to put some

[1:54:25] kind of boundary on.

[1:54:26] >> Absolutely.

[1:54:28] >> And that's one of the things I think

[1:54:29] we'll learn over time. And if we've got

[1:54:31] competing interests and priorities of

[1:54:34] you know there's something that maybe

[1:54:35] does protect the corridor because that's

[1:54:36] important to me as well. Um you know the the front door coming in. Um and and the ambiance of that which preserve

[1:54:44] checks a lot of blocks. Um the

[1:54:47] recommendation out of the board to the

[1:54:48] council and the decision of council may

[1:54:50] be of course something that's you know

[1:54:52] more proximate to us. Um similar to how

[1:54:54] we've handled the sales tax and other

[1:54:56] kinds of things. Um this is not intended

[1:54:59] at all to be in competition with the

[1:55:01] conservancy or low country. It's In

[1:55:03] fact, I think it's in there that it's it's to be a partnership. They

[1:55:07] would be the executing agent. We would

[1:55:09] not be going out and doing land

[1:55:11] purchases or our own easements. We would

[1:55:13] execute through them. And And And

[1:55:15] they're masters of putting together a

[1:55:16] patchwork of green belt funds and maybe

[1:55:19] us and, you know, some grants and some

[1:55:21] other things to to execute their

[1:55:23] purchases. So, um and when it comes to

[1:55:25] the money, I mean,

[1:55:27] I thought of different ways we could do

[1:55:28] it, too. You know, we we we could do a

[1:55:30] mid-year budget review. I mean,

[1:55:32] technically, we can approve

[1:55:35] budget real time if we wanted to through

[1:55:37] the Ways and Means. You know, here's the

[1:55:38] applications we've got. And we think

[1:55:40] we're meeting quarterly. Maybe there's

[1:55:41] ad hoc. Maybe there's something worthy.

[1:55:44] Maybe we bring it through the Ways and

[1:55:45] Means process

[1:55:47] individually or as a package more real

[1:55:49] time as opposed to,

[1:55:51] you know, annual semi-annual budget

[1:55:53] review. We'll have to think through

[1:55:54] those things. I I hear you on that. Um

[1:55:57] so, that we can make balance to

[1:55:58] frugality and the appropriate use of

[1:55:59] money to trying to accomplish some of

[1:56:01] these goals.

[1:56:02] >> And And I'll tell you up front, I I I

[1:56:03] have some conflicting thoughts in my own

[1:56:05] mind about this.

[1:56:06] Um When When I think about this

[1:56:09] originally and the way I got comfortable

[1:56:10] with this originally was thinking of it

[1:56:12] as a green belt fund for predominantly

[1:56:14] Betsy Kerrison.

[1:56:15] >> Mhm.

[1:56:16] >> Um But that was That was um and maybe

[1:56:19] this is the way I'm supposed to think,

[1:56:20] but that was really self-serving for

[1:56:22] residents of Kiawah.

[1:56:23] And I thought is there ways to benefit

[1:56:25] the broader community that's not the

[1:56:27] town of Kiawah?

[1:56:29] And for me, a passion might be to

[1:56:31] protect small land owners who might

[1:56:34] otherwise be forced off their land

[1:56:35] because of property values. I I I don't

[1:56:39] want all of Johns Island to become like

[1:56:41] Kiawah Island. I like the economic the

[1:56:43] socio-economic diversity that we have

[1:56:45] around us. And to protect that

[1:56:47] socio-economic diversity, to protect

[1:56:49] diversity of land use, small farms,

[1:56:52] larger farms, uh wooded areas, all of

[1:56:55] that makes sense. What I certainly don't

[1:56:57] want to see is, you know, residential

[1:56:59] developments all over Johns Island.

[1:57:01] So,

[1:57:02] that's the good side of this. The The

[1:57:04] hard thing for me is just getting up

[1:57:05] with how do we execute on that and where

[1:57:07] do we stop and what are our priorities?

[1:57:09] >> I've went through similar thought

[1:57:10] processes, so I hear you.

[1:57:13] >> And you know, you mentioned like around

[1:57:15] the the airport.

[1:57:17] The fact of the matter is Johns Island

[1:57:18] is an island.

[1:57:21] >> [laughter]

[1:57:21] >> And so, it's surrounded by waters well,

[1:57:23] the Stono and all of that and and stuff

[1:57:26] runs off of Johns Island agricultural

[1:57:31] runoff, etc. And Lee Bundrick

[1:57:34] conservancy has done extraordinary

[1:57:36] amount of work on behalf of the town

[1:57:37] looking at water quality issues and

[1:57:39] shellfish harvesting restrictions that

[1:57:41] exist in Kiawah River in part because of

[1:57:44] some of these development pressures. It

[1:57:46] just kind of one of the pragmatic

[1:57:48] issues. You know, yes, protecting water

[1:57:50] quality, protecting

[1:57:52] view sheds, aesthetics, uh

[1:57:56] wildlife habitat.

[1:57:58] >> Number one thing we always get

[1:57:59] complaints about is traffic.

[1:58:01] >> Mhm.

[1:58:02] >> And the less actual development,

[1:58:05] commercial and residential development

[1:58:06] in lower Johns Island along Betsy

[1:58:08] Kerrison, Bohicket, and River up to the

[1:58:11] ingress and egress points off of the

[1:58:13] island,

[1:58:14] the less future

[1:58:16] traffic pressure there will be. So, any

[1:58:18] product property that's put under

[1:58:20] conservation easement is one that's not

[1:58:22] then further developed for by right for

[1:58:25] residential purposes or agricultural

[1:58:28] purposes.

[1:58:29] So, there is that element of it. But

[1:58:31] yes, this I I agree.

[1:58:34] I've had a lot of back and forth as well

[1:58:36] on trying to say, "Ah, criteria."

[1:58:39] >> [laughter]

[1:58:39] >> And and there is still

[1:58:42] this process. I mean, ultimately,

[1:58:44] there's the policies and procedures

[1:58:46] you've got to

[1:58:48] establish the advisory committee, which

[1:58:51] will

[1:58:53] you know, review all the criteria.

[1:58:54] There's got to be a justification, just

[1:58:56] like there is for the county greenbelt

[1:58:58] fund. And one of our requirements, it's

[1:59:00] not a requirement, but I think one of

[1:59:01] the criteria and how you weight things

[1:59:02] is, you know, this isn't just the town

[1:59:05] doing this. This is if you also leverage

[1:59:08] off county greenbelt,

[1:59:10] uh state

[1:59:12] conservation bank, resiliency fund, etc.

[1:59:15] So, we're leveraging off things where

[1:59:17] there's a collective belief there is a

[1:59:19] high conservation value. At the end of

[1:59:21] the day, the town, it's got to come back

[1:59:23] to the council, even if there is money

[1:59:26] allocated to the greenbelt fund or the

[1:59:29] conservation fund, it still comes back

[1:59:31] as a recommendation to the council.

[1:59:33] >> Yeah, I think that I mean I mean a lot

[1:59:35] of this is

[1:59:36] um

[1:59:37] I think how do how do we be a good

[1:59:40] neighbor to the broad Johns Island

[1:59:41] community?

[1:59:42] And this is one certainly one way. And

[1:59:45] we can impact traffic. Uh

[1:59:47] I'll take that off cuz I don't I can

[1:59:49] argue both sides then. We can impact

[1:59:50] traffic. We can certainly impact the

[1:59:52] visual corridor for other neighbors up

[1:59:54] and down Betsy Kerrison or beyond.

[1:59:57] Uh we can be a good neighbor by, you

[1:59:59] know, maintaining improving the

[2:00:01] watershed. And and I'll actually I'll

[2:00:03] call that one out because

[2:00:05] that's one that frustrates me because

[2:00:08] we're being put in a position of having

[2:00:09] to have a

[2:00:10] septic tank here on our property.

[2:00:13] You know, that's not going to help the

[2:00:14] watershed area. So, I'd I'd really like

[2:00:16] for us to

[2:00:17] find a way to be a good neighbor, have a

[2:00:19] good neighbor, and and make sure we

[2:00:21] don't have to have a septic system for

[2:00:22] our for our town, but we have to we have

[2:00:25] to build this this building.

[2:00:28] Um

[2:00:29] So, there's a it's a lot of benefits

[2:00:31] here, and it's the right thing to do.

[2:00:33] It's again kind of

[2:00:36] What's How far do we go both in terms of

[2:00:38] monetary expenditures, both in terms of

[2:00:40] physical dimensions, and um

[2:00:43] you know, up and down the socioeconomic

[2:00:45] boundaries that we can help.

[2:00:48] >> All right.

[2:00:49] Appreciate all that. To to be continued

[2:00:51] on that. This is first reading with

[2:00:53] continued I assume you and Stephanie

[2:00:54] would welcome continued input from

[2:00:56] council members.

[2:00:58] I I expect council member Werner will

[2:00:59] also have some some thoughts and

[2:01:02] perspectives. I know you've done a good

[2:01:03] job of reaching out to to everybody and

[2:01:05] engaging everybody. Any other further

[2:01:08] questions or or or comments at this

[2:01:10] point in time? I'm not sure we did

[2:01:13] actually I do do not have I do not have

[2:01:15] a motion to to approve adoption of the

[2:01:18] ordinance which is all that it is at

[2:01:21] this point in time the framework on

[2:01:23] first reading.

[2:01:25] >> So moved.

[2:01:26] >> Second.

[2:01:27] >> Any further discussion? All in favor?

[2:01:30] >> Aye.

[2:01:32] >> Thank you.

[2:01:34] Next agenda item Mr. Gottschalk.

[2:01:39] This is discussion item no no action

[2:01:43] proposed at this point in time. Although

[2:01:46] the discussion may lend itself to some

[2:01:48] potential actions. But this is um

[2:01:52] to deal with issues in

[2:01:56] they've been persistent issues. I would

[2:01:59] say that they become perhaps even more

[2:02:01] persistent given Kika's decision to

[2:02:04] remove the

[2:02:07] recycling area and the dumpsters from

[2:02:11] Beachwalker Center. And so now it's just

[2:02:14] solar rail in here. So I asked

[2:02:17] Brian to kind of provide us with some

[2:02:21] background and context what we've

[2:02:23] actually encountered.

[2:02:25] What the practical issues are for the

[2:02:27] town and different options that we might

[2:02:29] look at for addressing those.

[2:02:31] >> Yes sir, thank you.

[2:02:32] So

[2:02:33] good quick background on some of the

[2:02:36] issues that we've been having.

[2:02:38] I'm going to going to

[2:02:40] kind of specifically speak to Kestrel

[2:02:42] Court. That's where we're seeing

[2:02:44] most of the issues. Um

[2:02:47] I've got I've got some pictures that I

[2:02:49] can share with you guys as well. Um and

[2:02:51] I think Neil's going to queue that up.

[2:02:54] But while he's doing that, um so for for

[2:02:57] a while, um

[2:02:59] years

[2:03:01] actually, we've been seeing on and off

[2:03:04] um a lot of trash piling up at Kestrel

[2:03:06] Court. Um for one reason or another, uh

[2:03:09] could be inoperability of the compactor

[2:03:13] units or they just might be full. And um

[2:03:16] we're seeing people just leave their

[2:03:18] refuse on the ground. Um and it's become

[2:03:22] quite quite an issue.

[2:03:24] Uh

[2:03:25] pretty regularly on a Monday, we'll come

[2:03:28] into work and and be notified or go

[2:03:30] check out and see that there's a big

[2:03:32] issue over at Kestrel Court. And what

[2:03:34] that does is a takes up a lot of time um

[2:03:38] from me, Michael, um and some other

[2:03:40] people that we have uh to help clean up

[2:03:43] that site. Um

[2:03:45] it's really unhealthy for the

[2:03:46] environment and it's it's just obviously

[2:03:49] an overall terrible look um for people

[2:03:51] that go to utilize that site.

[2:03:53] And further, the trash can pile up so

[2:03:56] much so that the units can't be serviced

[2:03:59] until they get uh till the site gets

[2:04:01] cleaned up. Um

[2:04:03] So, this is a conversation that that

[2:04:06] we're bringing up. We're revisiting now.

[2:04:08] We've had this conversation uh you know,

[2:04:10] just general discussion a few times. I

[2:04:13] think most recently was maybe at uh this

[2:04:15] retreat over the winter.

[2:04:17] Um

[2:04:19] We put forth the efforts that were

[2:04:21] discussed there. Higher enforcement.

[2:04:23] We've upgraded the cameras. We added an

[2:04:26] additional camera over there as well.

[2:04:28] Um

[2:04:29] regular routine monitoring. We've

[2:04:31] upgraded the signage. Um we're still

[2:04:33] just seeing a lot of abuse and misuse of

[2:04:36] that site over there.

[2:04:38] Um Um

[2:04:40] >> So, let let me stop you right there.

[2:04:41] >> Yes, sir.

[2:04:42] >> As I listened to start and I was

[2:04:45] thinking about how do you solve this

[2:04:47] problem,

[2:04:48] it sounded a lot like a capacity issue.

[2:04:51] Or a capacity of machines that were

[2:04:53] working.

[2:04:54] >> Um

[2:04:55] >> Did you think about that in your um in

[2:04:57] your analysis?

[2:04:58] >> Yes. Uh

[2:04:59] it's not typically a capacity issue.

[2:05:03] There are plenty of times, I would say

[2:05:06] almost the majority of the times where

[2:05:08] I'll go over there and clean up what's

[2:05:10] been placed on the ground. Um I can

[2:05:13] typically fit everything into the

[2:05:15] compactors where they're supposed to go.

[2:05:18] What we're seeing is um

[2:05:21] misuse of it uh in the way of people

[2:05:25] throwing away prohibited items that are

[2:05:29] clogging up the dumpsters, creating

[2:05:31] voids in the hole so that there's trash

[2:05:34] not falling to the bottom where the

[2:05:35] compactor can actually work and and

[2:05:38] press material together.

[2:05:40] Um

[2:05:40] and then there's there's just a lot of

[2:05:43] bulky kind of what we would consider

[2:05:45] brown trash items that would not fit in

[2:05:48] those units in the first place. And um

[2:05:50] so they're just being left on the

[2:05:51] ground. And then a lot of times what

[2:05:53] we're seeing is somebody will show up,

[2:05:56] they'll see items on the ground already.

[2:05:58] They won't even look into the units to

[2:06:00] see if there's space for them to throw

[2:06:01] their stuff away. They'll just go ahead

[2:06:03] and put it on the ground assuming that that's the

[2:06:07] appropriate or or best course of action.

[2:06:09] So, capacity is not is not really an

[2:06:12] issue. It's it's the misuse of people

[2:06:15] throwing away prohibited items. Um

[2:06:18] >> Somebody left a boat at the town.

[2:06:20] >> They did.

[2:06:21] >> do we have the photos?

[2:06:22] >> Um yeah, I think

[2:06:23] >> I had one on my phone I was trying to

[2:06:25] find.

[2:06:26] Uh I mean it was

[2:06:29] 10 ft or more

[2:06:31] of trash in front of everything.

[2:06:35] The compactors piled up all the length

[2:06:37] of it at one time at Kestrel

[2:06:39] » [clears throat]

[2:06:39] >> Solar Rail. Somebody gave me a heads-up

[2:06:42] on a

[2:06:43] the local resident on a weekend. I went

[2:06:44] over there and it was

[2:06:48] remarkable how much trash was just

[2:06:50] dumped on the ground.

[2:06:50] >> It's bad behavior.

[2:06:51] >> And yeah, um so

[2:06:55] what I think the intention of of

[2:06:59] revisiting this discussion today is to

[2:07:03] um see if there's any any progress or or

[2:07:06] guidance that that I can get from the

[2:07:08] council to um

[2:07:11] to take some different measures over at

[2:07:14] Kestrel Court. And like the mayor said,

[2:07:16] I think we're going to see um a little

[2:07:18] bit more use of that site now that the

[2:07:20] Beachwalker Center um dumpsters are no

[2:07:23] longer available to the public. Um

[2:07:25] again, capacity isn't necessarily issue,

[2:07:28] but

[2:07:29] you know, as soon as somebody puts

[2:07:31] something on the ground, then that many

[2:07:33] more people are going to start uh

[2:07:34] following suit. Um so

[2:07:37] if y'all don't have any other questions,

[2:07:40] then I can go into some options, or

[2:07:42] maybe Mayor, you would like to present

[2:07:45] some options.

[2:07:45] >> like you've got the the they're coming

[2:07:47] up. Um you know, one of the things we've

[2:07:50] got to to

[2:07:52] determine because it's been a persistent

[2:07:54] problem of just dumping a lot of trash

[2:07:56] there and misuse of the site is you

[2:08:00] know, this is a convenience

[2:08:02] for

[2:08:04] uh uh residents and property owners.

[2:08:07] Um

[2:08:08] you you do have Bees Ferry. The county

[2:08:11] does have a landfill, which one can go

[2:08:14] to,

[2:08:15] uh and that's typically where you go.

[2:08:17] The town

[2:08:17] >> It's not open on Saturday.

[2:08:19] >> It's open from 8:00 to 3:00 on

[2:08:20] Saturdays. Um

[2:08:22] but but any event,

[2:08:24] it's I'm just saying there is Bees

[2:08:26] Ferry. It

[2:08:28] We'll get there, Phil. Um the

[2:08:31] uh

[2:08:32] Bees Ferry, interestingly enough, or any

[2:08:34] typical landfill, is for the use of

[2:08:38] residents.

[2:08:40] Um not and explicitly not commercial uh

[2:08:45] waste or construction waste. Uh it's

[2:08:48] used for the residents. And at Bees

[2:08:49] Ferry, you have to show your resident

[2:08:52] your ID to show you're a resident of

[2:08:54] Charleston County and or utility bill to

[2:08:57] show you're a property owner. Um you

[2:09:00] know, this is supposed to be a facility

[2:09:03] for the use of Kiawah Island residents

[2:09:05] and property owners, but we don't have

[2:09:07] anybody there to manage to see if it's

[2:09:09] actually being used only by residents

[2:09:12] and property owners. I know we've had

[2:09:13] issued some citations in the past cuz

[2:09:15] occasionally you'll see a vehicle with a

[2:09:18] logo on it or something like that where

[2:09:21] you know it's not a property owner.

[2:09:23] Um and so what the we were discussing

[2:09:26] this in senior staff is I

[2:09:30] far end the real extreme is do we just

[2:09:32] get rid of this thing altogether? If

[2:09:33] it's going to continue to be abused and

[2:09:35] people it's a convenience, you just got

[2:09:37] to go up to Bees Ferry.

[2:09:39] Or alternatively, do you fence it? Do

[2:09:42] you put hours? Bees Ferry

[2:09:44] No, it does have hours. It's like think

[2:09:47] 7:00 to 4:00 or something like that

[2:09:49] Monday through Friday uh and then it's

[2:09:52] Saturday I think it's 8:00 to 3:00 not

[2:09:53] open on Sunday, but it does have limited

[2:09:56] hours. And whether we have fenced this

[2:09:59] and have limited hours or you know, what

[2:10:01] else? There are just we're we're

[2:10:03] struggling a little bit to try to figure

[2:10:05] out how best to proceed.

[2:10:07] >> That's So, another point you you

[2:10:09] mentioned the word convenience and I I

[2:10:11] wanted to bring that up, too. The the

[2:10:14] intention of this site historically has

[2:10:16] been a convenience site for residents.

[2:10:20] Um

[2:10:21] and that's going to be, you know, when

[2:10:23] you get an oversized box you to deliver

[2:10:25] to your house and it can't fit in your

[2:10:27] residential container, you're going to

[2:10:28] take it over there. Um maybe you had uh

[2:10:32] an event at your house, a lot of guests

[2:10:34] that

[2:10:35] produced a lot of trash, you can take

[2:10:37] the excess trash over um to the site.

[2:10:39] But, what we're seeing is this is

[2:10:41] becoming much more than a convenience

[2:10:44] site for for residents. A lot of

[2:10:47] residents that that we can we can uh

[2:10:51] kind of observe or using it as a more of

[2:10:53] a primary site. Um which which again is

[2:10:56] not the intention for it. It's not built

[2:10:58] out for it um the way it's constructed

[2:11:00] right now. So, we we we really think

[2:11:03] that there's something that we can do

[2:11:05] further that can mitigate the issues of

[2:11:09] the trash piling up there we're saying.

[2:11:11] >> You know, you and [clears throat] I have

[2:11:12] talked about this quite a bit. Um but I you know, I

[2:11:17] hate to drive expense. I do think if the

[2:11:20] abusable area

[2:11:22] is more constrained by putting up

[2:11:25] fencing or something,

[2:11:27] that potentially will be a trigger in

[2:11:29] somebody's head of oh, I can't fit

[2:11:31] inside the enclosure, maybe they're less

[2:11:32] likely to throw it outside the enclosure

[2:11:34] or

[2:11:35] maybe they do that, too. I don't know.

[2:11:37] Another thing we've talked about is um

[2:11:40] housekeeping crews, especially on

[2:11:41] Saturdays, potentially abusing it. Maybe

[2:11:44] it's closed on Saturday. They're

[2:11:45] supposed to take the stuff to B Sphery,

[2:11:47] but maybe they all aren't.

[2:11:49] Maybe it closes at 4:00 every day like

[2:11:51] we talked about. That's you know, same

[2:11:53] time that you know, the staff takes off.

[2:11:55] And you know, construction crews are

[2:11:57] leaving leaving between 5:00 and 7:00,

[2:11:59] it's no longer available for them.

[2:12:01] I mean, they may go, too, but

[2:12:02] [clears throat] that means leaving their

[2:12:04] site.

[2:12:05] >> Yeah, and so so with that with that

[2:12:07] thought process in mind, then that

[2:12:10] definitely lends itself to having an an

[2:12:13] enclosure with hours on it. Um

[2:12:15] >> I I think of it like an amenity, to be

[2:12:17] honest, right now. I mean it's not a

[2:12:19] need to do but it's a nice to do. It's

[2:12:21] nice not to drive to these ferry.

[2:12:24] Hate to punish the good behaving people

[2:12:26] for the bad behaving people. Maybe we

[2:12:28] can

[2:12:30] remove some of the bad behavior. It's

[2:12:32] still achievable. I don't know. I mean

[2:12:34] I'm just thinking out loud.

[2:12:36] Yeah, it's a good point

[2:12:38] that brings it down to enforcement

[2:12:43] which we we currently don't really have

[2:12:46] the resources to to fully enforce that

[2:12:48] or at least not in in its full effect.

[2:12:51] We've got myself and Mike that can

[2:12:54] go over there and we have kind of

[2:12:55] routinely been going over there but it

[2:12:58] takes sitting over there for however

[2:13:00] many hours to maybe catch somebody and

[2:13:03] then you know we can go back and and

[2:13:05] check the cameras and the cameras do

[2:13:06] help a lot but they're not 100%

[2:13:09] definitely not the best use of your time

[2:13:10] and you know how many times you and I

[2:13:12] end up on the phone that you're coming

[2:13:13] back from there.

[2:13:14] >> [laughter]

[2:13:15] >> Yeah,

[2:13:16] so you know again the we have a couple

[2:13:19] of options and and just wanted to bring

[2:13:21] this back up since it has been a pretty constant issue

[2:13:26] over the last last few months and really

[2:13:29] for a long time but but pretty regularly

[2:13:31] over the last few months.

[2:13:33] So again just wanted to make sure that

[2:13:34] the council was aware of the issues that

[2:13:37] we're having over there what we've been

[2:13:38] dealing with pretty regularly and and

[2:13:40] seeing what what the appetite is to to

[2:13:43] do something else over at that site.

[2:13:46] Yeah,

[2:13:47] I I appreciate the the work and the

[2:13:49] opinion of about you know trying to keep

[2:13:51] it open and it being an amenity. I think

[2:13:53] that's a it's a great amenity. I use it

[2:13:56] three times a year.

[2:13:58] You know, but and I have driven to Beals

[2:13:59] Ferry

[2:14:01] and I can guess where the abuse is

[2:14:03] coming from.

[2:14:05] It might if there's a way we could

[2:14:07] figure out like take two weeks and go

[2:14:09] over every at the end of every day

[2:14:11] and see whether it's Monday through

[2:14:12] Friday or Saturday problem.

[2:14:15] Um and I think there's probably way we

[2:14:17] could use technology to help us.

[2:14:19] Uh I would like to work to see us keep

[2:14:22] it.

[2:14:23] But if we have to regulate it, if people

[2:14:25] have to punch a code to get through a

[2:14:26] gate, if they have to scan an ID,

[2:14:29] if they have to somehow call town hall

[2:14:31] or push a button at

[2:14:32] use video to get there.

[2:14:34] Um so I'd ask you to be creative and try

[2:14:36] and find a way to keep it, but I agree

[2:14:39] it's in its current usage manner, it's

[2:14:42] not acceptable. So, thank you.

[2:14:44] >> Yeah, yes, sir. Not a problem at all.

[2:14:46] And I I appreciate those ideas, too. I

[2:14:49] think they're really good ideas. Um and I do think that there is a way for

[2:14:52] us to be able to regulate it a little

[2:14:55] bit better, whether it be some sort of

[2:14:57] push button system or

[2:15:00] the residents, you know, they already

[2:15:01] have their barcode, you know, something

[2:15:03] kind of like that that that can be

[2:15:05] scanned just to make sure that

[2:15:06] >> Not contractor barcodes, either.

[2:15:08] >> Not contractor barcodes.

[2:15:10] >> So, the the the the thought is kind of

[2:15:13] at this point in time is

[2:15:15] do a little bit more a little bit better

[2:15:18] job of kind of monitoring enforcement.

[2:15:20] We'll actually kind of have the CSOs

[2:15:22] also go by occasionally. In addition, I

[2:15:25] know Brian and Michael do.

[2:15:27] Um put out some additional communication

[2:15:30] following up on, you know, this uh

[2:15:33] council meeting and you know, let there

[2:15:35] is a risk that, you know, at the end of

[2:15:37] this facility could be removed. But if

[2:15:41] we can't get better behavior, then we

[2:15:45] may well want to consider fencing in and

[2:15:48] closing the structure and putting hours

[2:15:50] on it. There will be some cost

[2:15:52] associated with that, obviously. Not a

[2:15:53] huge amount, but there would be some

[2:15:55] cost associated with that.

[2:15:57] >> Hello.

[2:15:58] My opinion?

[2:15:59] >> Yeah.

[2:15:59] Yes.

[2:16:01] >> Um

[2:16:02] I think uh

[2:16:04] we've got to find

[2:16:06] a way to um

[2:16:09] to improve the situation because I would

[2:16:12] be strongly opposed to closing that

[2:16:14] site. The unintended consequences of

[2:16:17] where everybody's trash and recyclables

[2:16:20] would go

[2:16:21] um in the absence of having Kestrel

[2:16:23] Court are just a nightmare. So, we'll

[2:16:27] have to find some other kind of solution

[2:16:28] cuz closing it down is unacceptable.

[2:16:31] >> I guess that's a good point. I'll be

[2:16:32] picking up more trash and I said my

[2:16:34] early comments.

[2:16:35] >> [laughter]

[2:16:37] » And [clears throat] one thing I'd just

[2:16:39] add, if we want to do a fence or any type of

[2:16:42] improvements, we probably have to look

[2:16:43] at believe we still have a lease cuz

[2:16:45] we're leasing that site. We don't own

[2:16:48] it. We're leasing it from um Keo Island

[2:16:50] Utility.

[2:16:51] So, if we want to do any additional

[2:16:52] improvements to it, we just have to

[2:16:54] probably submit something to them for

[2:16:56] their approval. I wasn't sure if the

[2:16:57] other council members were aware that we

[2:16:58] are

[2:16:59] >> We'd also have to get a permit from the

[2:17:01] ARB cuz it's a fence.

[2:17:03] >> Yes, correct.

[2:17:05] >> And and and and and if it remains like

[2:17:06] that then the

[2:17:08] facility ends up just going away. That's the easiest way to solve that.

[2:17:12] Notwithstanding Council Member K is

[2:17:13] desired that it remain there. We'd like

[2:17:15] to have it remain there as a

[2:17:17] convenience. We just hope that there

[2:17:18] will be better behavior and it will be

[2:17:20] used solely by

[2:17:23] residents and property owners,

[2:17:26] not for commercial purposes.

[2:17:27] >> I I know that we've got the signs that

[2:17:30] talk about you know, here's what's

[2:17:31] acceptable recycling, here's what's

[2:17:33] acceptable trash.

[2:17:35] We really don't have anything talking

[2:17:36] about conduct and and use of the site

[2:17:39] that I recall.

[2:17:40] >> So, there there is there is a a big sign

[2:17:44] that's um

[2:17:46] posted really in the only place that it

[2:17:47] can be posted off to the side of the

[2:17:49] recycling dumpster. Um you you really

[2:17:52] can't miss it. It's a big 4x4 sign that lists the um

[2:17:58] the intent the intended use of the site.

[2:18:00] It has a list of prohibited items. Um it

[2:18:03] lists that contractors are prohibited

[2:18:05] from utilizing the site.

[2:18:07] >> Yeah, but all that's in a

[2:18:09] number four font, also.

[2:18:11] It's small print.

[2:18:13] >> I'll I'll get a big sign.

[2:18:15] >> [laughter]

[2:18:16] >> Um we didn't want it to be, you know,

[2:18:18] offensively big, but you know, just

[2:18:20] something that you you really can see the sign whichever way you pull into

[2:18:25] that site. And it it does list what's

[2:18:28] allowed, what's not allowed. Um the

[2:18:31] it it lists the different options that

[2:18:33] if if this is full or if these aren't

[2:18:35] working, please take it to um town hall.

[2:18:39] It says Beach Walker Center still, so we

[2:18:41] need to update that, but it it tells you

[2:18:43] to bring it here.

[2:18:44] Um so so there's nothing about what's posted there that suggests that

[2:18:49] it's appropriate to leave anything on

[2:18:51] the ground. Um

[2:18:53] in fact, it we we give alternatives

[2:18:55] again to to where you can take trash. So

[2:18:58] um

[2:18:58] >> I put a new sign says if you abuse this

[2:19:00] site, it's going away.

[2:19:03] >> So, we might also want to have a sign in

[2:19:06] Spanish.

[2:19:09] >> Oh.

[2:19:10] No, I'm I'm serious. It says to

[2:19:12] contractors,

[2:19:13] >> Yeah.

[2:19:14] >> you know, this is not a site for

[2:19:15] contractors.

[2:19:17] So that there's, you know,

[2:19:20] >> And I think we can I mean, that's a good

[2:19:22] point. And Brian, we can probably work

[2:19:24] with communications because on our sign,

[2:19:26] if we have too much text, could be maybe

[2:19:29] that we have a QR code or something

[2:19:31] that will have more have the important

[2:19:33] stuff on there, but then have a QR code

[2:19:34] for more information. We can figure

[2:19:35] something out.

[2:19:36] >> So we don't need to labor this. We we've

[2:19:38] got citizen comments coming up in just a

[2:19:40] minute, Larry. Um we'll we'll continue to monitor a little bit

[2:19:44] better enforcement. We'll revisit

[2:19:46] signage. We'll put out some additional

[2:19:48] communications, and then we'll monitor

[2:19:50] over the next uh

[2:19:52] quarter or so, and then figure out if we

[2:19:54] need to do something more.

[2:19:55] >> Mayor, before I before you go, Brian,

[2:19:57] did you want to bring up we talked about

[2:19:59] Seabrook? Was there anything about town

[2:20:00] hall or you didn't have any comments on

[2:20:03] the

[2:20:03] >> Um

[2:20:04] nothing super substantive. We've seen

[2:20:07] some of the same issues over here. Um

[2:20:09] but I think that that's because

[2:20:11] >> being left.

[2:20:11] >> Like a boat being left. Um

[2:20:13] >> I mean, this is another This is one

[2:20:15] where it's difficult cuz you want to be

[2:20:17] a good neighbor, but on the other hand,

[2:20:18] this is a facility in the town of Kiawah

[2:20:20] Island. It's supposed to be for Kiawah

[2:20:22] Island residents and property owners.

[2:20:24] And what I do see is a lot of cars

[2:20:27] coming in dumping trash and when they

[2:20:28] leave out of here, they take a right.

[2:20:31] So, it's being utilized by Johns Island

[2:20:34] where they're incorporated Charleston

[2:20:36] County. Their facility is supposed to be

[2:20:39] the county's facility at Bees Ferry.

[2:20:42] >> Yeah, this This we could fence and

[2:20:45] >> That might be another solution.

[2:20:47] >> Um uh so, thank you very much, Brian. Uh

[2:20:50] a good discussion. Um now, uh citizen

[2:20:52] comments on any agenda items. We moved

[2:20:54] that up because we do have an executive

[2:20:56] session on the agenda and we want to

[2:20:58] allow citizen comments

[2:21:00] uh before we go to that.

[2:21:02] Phil.

[2:21:06] » Town hall is not easy.

[2:21:07] Um first, I want to apologize up front.

[2:21:09] You are correct. It is open to the

[2:21:11] public. Bees Ferry Landfill is open to

[2:21:12] the public on Saturdays. The issue had

[2:21:14] come up in the past where a lot of the

[2:21:17] rental companies

[2:21:19] they were taking the trash when they do

[2:21:20] the changeover on Saturday and dumping

[2:21:22] it at Kestrel Court because they

[2:21:24] couldn't take it out to Bees Ferry. They

[2:21:26] had no place to put it and I'm not sure

[2:21:28] what they're doing about it. Um I, like

[2:21:31] you, use it

[2:21:33] not that many times a year, but most

[2:21:35] recently when I went there,

[2:21:37] the amount of cardboard was Every

[2:21:40] dumpster was filled with cardboard. The

[2:21:41] trash dumpster, the cardboard dumpster,

[2:21:44] and the recycling dumpster. You couldn't

[2:21:45] even get near them.

[2:21:47] So, I brought my trash over here

[2:21:50] and there was a

[2:21:51] >> [snorts]

[2:21:51] >> rigid inflatable boat on top of the next

[2:21:54] to the dumpster out here. So there's

[2:21:56] obviously people abusing it. I think

[2:21:58] it's a personal need. I agree with Kay

[2:22:00] that

[2:22:01] Councilwoman Kay that it's something we

[2:22:03] should have and we need to have. We just

[2:22:05] have to figure out how to how to stop

[2:22:07] this mess. Now when I did go over that

[2:22:09] one day, I started glancing at the gar-

[2:22:11] at the track I mean the cardboard.

[2:22:14] Everybody's There were labels all over

[2:22:15] them.

[2:22:16] So if you want to do something about it,

[2:22:18] you can look at the cardboard, look at

[2:22:20] the names it was delivered and find out

[2:22:22] where it came from. Thank you.

[2:22:25] >> Thank you.

[2:22:33] » Okay, Harry Wollahan 406 No Regret.

[2:22:36] Just on the last subject,

[2:22:38] from bitter experience things have got

[2:22:40] worse since the closure of the

[2:22:42] facility at Beach Walker.

[2:22:44] My understanding is the Kika gave

[2:22:47] significant notice to you about the

[2:22:49] about that plan to to get rid of those

[2:22:50] three dumpsters.

[2:22:52] I just think it's a capacity issue over

[2:22:54] there. Yes, there may be some

[2:22:55] individuals or contractors who are

[2:22:57] abusing the situation.

[2:22:59] But I spent along with a another

[2:23:01] resident about half an hour one very hot

[2:23:03] Sunday afternoon recently trying to

[2:23:06] get cardboard processed in there. The

[2:23:08] compactor wasn't working properly and

[2:23:12] I'm afraid I don't think it's a

[2:23:14] an abuse by

[2:23:16] less than 5% of the of our community.

[2:23:18] But anyway,

[2:23:20] Unfortunately, not too many questions of

[2:23:23] mine on the um

[2:23:25] on the convention conservation thing

[2:23:27] were answered, but I'll pass on.

[2:23:28] We're still talking about traffic

[2:23:30] management. I mean, we all must bear in

[2:23:32] mind that we still have 700 development

[2:23:34] units possibly being built on the

[2:23:36] island. So yes, if we improve or we

[2:23:41] improve Betsy Kerrison Highway and stop

[2:23:44] development on the highway, we've still

[2:23:46] got an awful lot of development to go on

[2:23:47] the island. So, let's not um

[2:23:53] lose that fact.

[2:23:55] A comment here, I'll I'll say

[2:23:57] because of my European background, some

[2:23:59] Americans think I'm sort of socialist in

[2:24:01] leaning cuz the Europeans generally be

[2:24:03] more socialist in politics, but

[2:24:06] or their outlook, I will just point out

[2:24:09] that basically, my estimation is a third

[2:24:12] of the property taxes from my zip code,

[2:24:16] which includes a large area,

[2:24:17] comes from this small island.

[2:24:21] Uh we make substantial donations to the

[2:24:23] island.

[2:24:24] Uh we're

[2:24:26] putting money into Captain Sam's. I see

[2:24:28] no I see Seabrook benefit more visually

[2:24:31] from Captain Sam's not being developed

[2:24:33] than we do.

[2:24:34] Yet, they're not contributing.

[2:24:37] I

[2:24:39] just get the feeling that, you know, now

[2:24:41] with this

[2:24:43] conservation program,

[2:24:45] yes, we don't have taxes, but our

[2:24:46] residents end up paying,

[2:24:49] you know, for

[2:24:51] 50 million we've got in reserves, which

[2:24:53] the mayor has actually commented on the

[2:24:55] last year we've never actually utilized.

[2:24:57] Now, we're we'll utilize it for the

[2:25:00] this program, but that's great.

[2:25:02] But, you know,

[2:25:03] >> That that that's actually not

[2:25:06] >> I heard you say that in a meeting that

[2:25:08] we didn't utilize reserves.

[2:25:10] >> we do not

[2:25:11] the town does not receive any property

[2:25:14] taxes.

[2:25:14] >> No, I No, no, I agree with that

[2:25:17] but through the through the taxes that we

[2:25:21] pay,

[2:25:21] >> What what town

[2:25:22] >> the local option tax.

[2:25:24] >> Okay, that's so very very minor.

[2:25:27] >> Uh okay, but it's everything but but

[2:25:29] also

[2:25:29] >> There is some, but

[2:25:30] >> also the 3 million business licenses.

[2:25:34] It hardly costs the town anything

[2:25:38] in respect to those business licenses.

[2:25:39] We pay for those business licenses.

[2:25:42] We know the cost of construction on

[2:25:44] Kiawah is 30% higher than elsewhere.

[2:25:47] So,

[2:25:48] I just get the feeling that because we

[2:25:50] have so much money, we're getting a bit

[2:25:52] sort of carried away. Anyway, that's I'll leave it there.

[2:25:56] But, but bear in mind that

[2:25:58] >> I hear you.

[2:25:59] >> But,

[2:25:59] well, also you'll be disappointed with

[2:26:01] this comment. I've had three Sorry, an

[2:26:03] hour to prepare for this this morning.

[2:26:06] I understand LGIP.

[2:26:08] They're short-term investments.

[2:26:10] 4% income. Actually, recently it's been

[2:26:13] going down.

[2:26:14] >> Unfortunately, recently it's been going

[2:26:16] up, but uh but

[2:26:17] >> 6 months Well, last 6 months it's

[2:26:18] actually come down slightly. I just

[2:26:20] looked.

[2:26:21] So, I know I have no problem with with

[2:26:24] fixed in what we can spend, but LGIP are

[2:26:27] very short-term.

[2:26:29] Uh expenditures are very long-term.

[2:26:32] There's a mismatch there. We have

[2:26:33] options.

[2:26:36] Do you agree?

[2:26:37] >> Um

[2:26:38] >> And before you Okay.

[2:26:39] >> Let's take this offline.

[2:26:40] >> You think about that. But, also having

[2:26:43] all your eggs in one basket,

[2:26:45] to my mind, is not a good idea. I

[2:26:48] wouldn't have all my investments with

[2:26:49] one investment company.

[2:26:51] But,

[2:26:53] so

[2:26:54] But, bear in mind LGIP is not guaranteed

[2:26:57] by anyone. It's not guaranteed by the

[2:26:58] state.

[2:27:00] And also, I did a bit of research.

[2:27:02] The audit company of the 38 billion fund

[2:27:06] has less than 20 CPAs in the entire

[2:27:09] firm.

[2:27:10] The firm has about six disciplines

[2:27:14] and eight service areas.

[2:27:17] So, if I were you and you had I had 50

[2:27:20] million invested with someone, even

[2:27:21] though it's out of a 30

[2:27:24] 8 billion pot,

[2:27:26] I'd be saying to them, "I want better

[2:27:27] auditors." Cuz the state already had a

[2:27:30] fraud {slash} error of considerable

[2:27:32] millions years ago. But, anyway, I'll

[2:27:34] have to move on quickly.

[2:27:36] Um

[2:27:37] Sorry. this is my opportunity.

[2:27:41] Um Ways and Means had a hasn't had a

[2:27:43] meeting for 2 months and probably won't

[2:27:45] till till September. I don't think

[2:27:47] that's a good idea.

[2:27:49] Um

[2:27:50] water pressure is a big issue.

[2:27:53] Um it was mentioned at the last meeting.

[2:27:55] What happens if we have a fire and the

[2:27:57] hydrants don't have enough pressure?

[2:28:00] Big problem.

[2:28:02] Um Freshfields, I'm just been thinking

[2:28:04] out of the box here. It's not the

[2:28:06] residents' fault of the island

[2:28:07] Freshfields or Harris Teeter's the state

[2:28:09] in which it is. There's been no and I

[2:28:12] accept Harris Teeter will not want to

[2:28:14] invest in that property and haven't

[2:28:16] probably done so for years.

[2:28:18] The roof leaks, the air conditioning

[2:28:19] goes on and off. It smells sometimes.

[2:28:22] It's very

[2:28:24] stale.

[2:28:26] I don't know what we can do about that,

[2:28:28] but

[2:28:28] >> Are you suggesting the town buy out

[2:28:30] Harris Teeter?

[2:28:30] >> No, no, not at all.

[2:28:32] >> [laughter]

[2:28:32] >> Not not at not at all, but you you can

[2:28:34] put pressure.

[2:28:36] I mean, just from a health and safety

[2:28:38] viewpoint, I don't know whether it's it's healthy. I mean, some of the

[2:28:42] smells coming out of there. Anyway.

[2:28:45] Uh I'll try to be quick and that's it.

[2:28:47] I'm sure there are other things that

[2:28:49] I'll think of later, but thank you.

[2:28:51] >> Thank you, Larry.

[2:28:53] >> As always. I I just a just a data point

[2:28:56] that so

[2:28:57] people are mindful of this.

[2:29:00] The town generates an extraordinary

[2:29:03] amount of property tax. Extraordinary

[2:29:06] amount of property tax. More than

[2:29:07] Sullivan's Island and uh Folly Beach

[2:29:11] put together. No, more than IOP and

[2:29:14] Sullivan's Island

[2:29:15] put together.

[2:29:18] $100 million

[2:29:19] all goes to Charleston County.

[2:29:21] Our total revenues are like 15 or 16

[2:29:26] million dollars. Half of those almost

[2:29:28] half of those are from accommodations

[2:29:30] and hospitality taxes. We generate a lot

[2:29:33] of taxes. We pay a lot of taxes. It goes

[2:29:36] to Charleston County. We're having that

[2:29:38] conversation or trying to have that

[2:29:40] conversation about whether we're getting

[2:29:42] appropriate value for the extraordinary

[2:29:44] amount of property taxes we we all pay

[2:29:48] to the county. But anyway, any other

[2:29:50] citizen comments on

[2:29:52] any matter?

[2:29:53] Seeing

[2:29:55] none, I'll entertain a motion to move

[2:29:57] into an executive session. Going to

[2:29:58] receive a legal advice to with regard to

[2:30:01] two pending legal matters and then we

[2:30:03] just have a very very minor personnel

[2:30:05] matter that we've got to discuss in

[2:30:07] executive session as well.

[2:30:08] >> So moved.

[2:30:09] >> Second.

[2:30:10] >> All in favor.

[2:30:11] >> Aye.

[2:30:12] Thank you.

[2:52:34] » Mhm.

[3:49:43] » Entertain a motion to

[3:49:45] leave executive search session and

[3:49:47] return to regular order.

[3:49:49] Second. All in favor.

[3:49:51] I would entertain a motion with respect

[3:49:57] to the personnel matter that we received

[3:50:00] legal advice on in executive session.

[3:50:03] >> Mr. Mayor, I

[3:50:05] move that we suspend the PTO

[3:50:08] requirements for the new hire we talked

[3:50:10] about in the executive session.

[3:50:11] >> Uh

[3:50:12] Is there a second?

[3:50:13] >> Second.

[3:50:14] >> Uh any further discussion?

[3:50:17] Uh hearing none, all in favor?

[3:50:18] >> Aye.

[3:50:20] >> Uh

[3:50:21] we are at the end of our agenda. Are

[3:50:23] there any final council member comments?

[3:50:26] Uh seeing none, then we are at 4:50,

[3:50:29] adjourned.

[3:50:30] >> Thank you.

[3:50:30] sir.

TOKI -Town Council Meeting - August 4, 2026

Transcript