[0:00] it from here.
[0:13] » Let me return.
[0:18] As long as they can hear us, that's
fine.
[0:20] » Okay.
>> Be where it is.
[0:22] » All right.
>> All right. Lyn, do you mind reading
[0:26] that?
>> Yes. Okay. Okay, we're on resolution
[0:29] 2026-07
[0:32] pledge to practice and promote civility
in the city of New Ellington. Whereas a
[0:37] recent national survey found that 93% of
Americans believe that incivility is a
[0:41] problem with 68% of considering it a
major problem and 74% believing that
[0:47] instability is increasing in America.
Whereas the city council of city of New
[0:51] Wellington, the council, the governing
body of the city of New Wellington,
[0:55] South Carolina, the municipality
recognizes that robust debate and right
[0:59] to self-exression as protected by the
first amendment to the United States
[1:03] Constitution are fundamental rights and
essential components of dem democratic
[1:07] self-governance.
Whereas the council further recognizes
[1:11] that the public exchange of diverse
ideas and viewpoints is necessary to the
[1:15] health of the community and the quality
of governance in the municipality.
[1:19] Whereas the members of council as
elected representatives of the community
[1:23] and stewards of public trust recognize
their special role in modeling open,
[1:27] free and vigorous debate while
maintaining the highest standards of
[1:31] civility, honesty, and mutual respect.
And whereas in order to publicly declare
[1:36] its commitment to civil discourse and to
express its concern for the common good
[1:41] and well-being of all of its residents,
the council has determined to adopt this
[1:45] resolution. Now therefore, be it
resolved as follows. The city of New
[1:49] Ellington pledges to practice and
promote civility within the governing
[1:52] body. The elected officials of the
council enact this civility pledge to
[1:56] build a stronger and more prosperous
community by advocating for civil
[2:00] engagement, respecting others and their
viewpoints, and finding solutions for
[2:03] the betterment of the city of New
Ellington. This pledge ensures all
[2:07] communication, both spoken and written,
to be honest, open, honest, and
[2:10] transparent. As this will is vital for
cultivating trust and relationships.
[2:16] This pledge ensures mutual respect to
achieve municipal goals, recognizing the
[2:20] patients, tolerance and civil are
imperative to success. This pledge
[2:24] ensures opportunities for finding common
ground and engaging in civil discussion
[2:29] to seek solutions which while actively
listening and thoughtfully participating
[2:34] adopted in this radio meeting.
[2:49] on the next um page is the pledge. And
if you don't mind, let's all just read
[2:54] that together, please. That work.
>> You want to do the motion first?
[2:58] » Yes, let's do that. That's a good idea.
I'm sorry. Do I have a motion to
[3:04] Do I have a motion to approve resolution
2026
[3:10] civility pledge?
>> I'll make a motion to accept
[3:17] resolution 20-206-7.
[3:23] » Do I have a second?
>> Second.
[3:26] » Any discussion?
All in favor?
[3:32] And I've passed out too.
So
[3:36] » I think just just you know from my
viewpoint I was talking just so y'all
[3:41] know you see so much going on at
different community meetings and what we
[3:46] want to do is we always want to be open
transparent to where we don't get any
[3:50] situations any situations. So we we
don't get in one of those type things
[3:55] because we don't hide anything.
We will have we will have a copy of this
[4:00] put out in the front lobby as well as in
here so everybody will be able to see it
[4:04] and all will be able to um pledge it
every u meeting after after the pledge
[4:09] of allegiance. [clears throat]
>> Great. So, but today we're a little late
[4:12] in doing that. So, if y'all don't mind,
would you council max
[4:16] pledge?
[4:20] I pledge to build a stronger and more
prosperous community by advocating for
[4:26] civil engagement, respecting others and
their viewpoints, and finding solutions
[4:31] for the betterment of the city of New
Ed.
[4:44] Well, it's normally we wouldn't do that,
but if you'd like to say something
[4:49] that
>> Oh, yes, ma'am. We're gonna have it.
[4:52] » Yes, ma'am.
>> Thank you.
[4:53] » We'll also get it on our Facebook and
throughout our day distribution.
[4:59] » Thank you for that suggestion.
>> Oh, yes. Um, we do this at every
[5:06] municipal association, too. So, this is
good. All right. All right. Next on is
[5:12] the approval of
>> I'm gonna mess his name up.
[5:17] » Tish
>> Travis contract for impact fee study.
[5:23] » Right. You want to talk about that?
>> Um what the uh contract is about is to
[5:31] um have Tisha Vice who is a very um
good company in doing this. Um, I've
[5:39] talked with two different companies and
um, there there's several out there, but
[5:45] um, Advice is one of the top companies
that can do this. They have done it, as
[5:51] you can see from the um, bios, they have
uh, worked with a lot of company, a lot
[5:56] of cities throughout uh, South Carolina.
Um, I've talked with several um, town
[6:03] managers um, about them and about their
experience with them. um had a
[6:08] conversation over the phone with u teams
with uh the mayor and mayor pro Tim in
[6:14] there um with them as well as our
attorney. [clears throat]
[6:19] Um
they uh have a very good repertoire um
[6:26] and know what they're doing. Um,
this will what this will do basically is
[6:33] give us an opportunity to look at
the types of developments that are
[6:38] coming in and what that's going to do
changewise to us to the new Ellington
[6:45] and to help us figure out what are those
things that we need from from all that
[6:51] development and from the new people and
the more people that are coming in. What
[6:56] is that going to do to our services?
What is that going to do to fire and
[6:59] police and recreation?
>> And [clears throat] do we need to expand
[7:03] those services? Do we need to um you
know, we we're going to look at a police
[7:09] station? How much is that
[clears throat] going to cost? Are we
[7:11] going to increase recreation? How much
is that going to cost? Are we going to
[7:15] need to look at providing those services
or add to those services? So, that type
[7:21] of thing instead of putting it all on
the taxpayers, the the people already
[7:25] here making um a development fee where
the developers or the people that coming
[7:31] are coming in pay a portion of that
instead.
[7:35] » Um so that's something that this impact
fee possibly and towns all over South
[7:40] Carolina are doing this and are looking
at it now.
[7:43] » So um it is something that we need to
look at. Um
[7:48] » don't know what it's going to do for us.
We don't know exactly what the the end
[7:52] result's going to be, but it's certainly
going to be something that we have to
[7:57] look at. And um so that's that's where
we are. And um that's the contract,
[8:04] that's the [clears throat and snorts]
what they've provided us for what um
[8:09] [cough] for us to do that. And uh I
think that it's going to be and I
[8:14] basically put it in the budget for us
for this year too. So um
[8:20] » have we not had one before?
>> No,
[8:23] » not this not this not this time.
>> This has never been
[8:28] » not this one. We've never done this.
>> But a lot of towns are doing this.
[8:34] » Yes.
>> Because of the growth in South Carolina
[8:39] right now. are one of the fastest
growing states right now if not
[8:42] » we are the fastest actually. Yeah.
>> And that was one of the topics down
[8:47] there too.
Yes. Everybody was doing
[8:51] » we actually there was a lot of
conversations going around about this
[8:54] during our meeting at the municipal
association this week that me and Elvara
[8:58] and Geneva were at.
[9:03] » All right.
We'll have a motion to approve the
[9:07] contract for the impact fee study.
>> I make a motion to approve the contract
[9:14] um for the impact um study.
>> Do I have a second?
[9:22] » Any discussion?
All in favor?
[9:26] [cough]
[9:30] Next zone is approval to have the retail
strategies data updated. Uh cost is
[9:36] $7,500.
>> All right. When talk to us,
[9:40] » you all remember this. [clears throat]
You all did the retail strategies a
[9:45] number of years ago. This is um the last
data that you've received was in 20 from
[9:51] 2021.
That data unfortunately is out of date.
[9:56] » Yeah.
um doing that. It's amazing how much
[10:00] that data is really out of date.
>> Um so I have been talking um with retail
[10:05] strategies and for this amount we can
get an updated amount this all that
[10:12] material that you received basically all
that material updated just with all of
[10:17] the new data um all the new uh the
the materials that you've received just
[10:23] all of that updated. Uh now she did
mention that if you wanted to go deeper
[10:28] dive and really jump into it and get
more um
[10:34] basically another academy type thing. Um
you know she mentioned that she didn't
[10:39] know how many new people we had on it
and I said well I'm not sure we that in
[10:44] the budget this year. She never
[clears throat] did get back with me on
[10:46] that to see exactly what the cost would
be. Um I'm not really [clears throat]
[10:51] sure that we're really ready to go ahead
and do that this year. I think really
[10:54] need this data to see where we are and
to kind of figure out
[10:59] » um
>> what
[11:01] » yeah what other um commercial properties
you know commercial aspects could be
[11:06] helpful um this would also help um some
of the developers that are that are
[11:11] looking at our area as well
>> yes absolutely um we did this actually
[11:16] it was me Alvara and went to reg
strategy so we could actually share the
[11:23] information um when we
>> and we could up, you know, show you the
[11:29] information we got, but now all that
information that we got there and the
[11:33] training we got there and basically it
was training to go out and reach out to
[11:38] these businesses that we wanted and and
just really um promoting your town,
[11:43] which is what we've been doing. And I'm
gonna tell you, after doing retail
[11:47] strategies, I mean, look at the things
that happened. We were, you know, we
[11:51] identified what our our residents said
they wanted to see come into our town.
[11:56] You know, when we were walking the
streets and we were campaigning and even
[11:59] after when we had town hall meetings,
some of the things that people were
[12:03] saying, we need a hardware store, we
need a bank, we need a um you know, they
[12:09] want more food in um they they wanted um
an automotive. We now have [cough]
[12:16] [clears throat] the virtual teller. The
full select bank will come in [snorts]
[12:21] the future, but at least we got the
virtual terrorist, so we had banking in
[12:24] our town again. Um, we were able to take
the old um Popeye's, which is now where
[12:30] the virtual teller is.
>> The old KFC um that was falling down is
[12:36] now O'Reilly.
>> We have an Ace Hardware in our shopping
[12:41] center.
>> Um we have um
[12:45] I mean, we have a couple new
restaurants. We have a new gun store.
[12:49] Let me I don't I don't even know what
all we've got. We've got um Atomic City
[12:54] Billyards is turning into a Joyful Cafe,
which will be more of the home
[12:59] homecooked meal type thing. So, a lot's
going on in the town. And I have to say,
[13:03] I think this right here when we did
retail strategies, it really helped us
[13:09] to identify and it also gave us contact
information
[13:14] for those places that we wanted in our
So, um, [clears throat] we've changed a
[13:19] lot
>> since we did this. So, I I I can't wait
[13:23] to see the difference in what we what
we've got here. Um, because they not
[13:28] only study just our area, but what we
can attract outside of New Wellington in
[13:33] the winter and the Jackson area and all
that to come together, right? So, um, so
[13:38] anyway, um, I think I think that most of
you seen the impact that that retail
[13:43] strategies helped us get in this town
and they were great to work with. You
[13:49] could call them. I mean, are they still
willing to take our phone calls as
[13:53] they're doing this update?
>> I think so.
[13:55] » They're so nice. I know if we called
them, they would do it. So, um, so yes.
[14:00] So, anyway, that's my two cents worth on
that.
[14:05] Did you want to anything to that because
you did that um program too.
[14:09] » Yes. And what I like about it, they gave
us the um data say like for our region
[14:17] um say like we want to um for straight
cut what what the haircut place just
[14:23] different restaurants they are located.
Yeah. They're available that we can
[14:28] actually contact them. We have a book
the number and everything. So it's not
[14:32] nothing that we got to reinvent the
wheel. They got everything there. It It
[14:36] is helpful because when we went I was
amazed and um say like a lot say when
[14:44] you go to the um gym when you come out
the gym you want to go to grocery store
[14:49] go get your haircut and that's why all
these businesses lined up like that
[14:53] because that's what people look for when
they're [clears throat] um everyday
[14:57] thing when when they want to um do
something. They don't want to go way
[15:01] over here to go over there. They want
everything right there
[15:04] » and we don't want them to go anywhere.
We want them to stay in our community. I
[15:08] think one of the biggest things about
this right here though is once they
[15:12] completed all this data for us, I was
able to take this and give it to the
[15:17] realators that I knew had property here
that they were trying to sell. Like for
[15:22] instance, the shopping center, it was
not um it had been on the market for a
[15:28] really long time [snorts] and but they
weren't pushing it. I I actually um know
[15:34] um I had worked before alongside [cough]
[clears throat] the guy who was um over,
[15:39] you know, leasing that property and
trying to sell it. And let
[15:43] [clears throat] me tell you, he had just
quit because nobody's interested. I um
[15:48] was able to give this information to
him, ask him to go back one more time
[15:54] and just take this information um that
that they had done for us with this with
[16:00] this document and others and then tell
him what we were seeing already with the
[16:05] developments that were becoming
interested us in the beginning and he
[16:09] put it back on the market and instantly
we had somebody ready to purchase that.
[16:14] So, um it helped us in other [cough]
too. Um, is doing that shopping center.
[16:20] I mean, there's still a lot of work to
do at that shopping center, but we have
[16:23] a new owner and there has been some
progress there.
[16:27] » All right. Um, so moving on. So, do I
have approval
[16:33] to do I have a motion to approve retail
strategies data updated at the cost of
[16:40] $7,500?
[clears throat]
[16:42] » I'll make a motion.
>> Okay.
[16:45] And do I have a second?
[16:51] » Any discussion?
All in favor?
[16:56] Unanimous. Thank you.
Okay. And last for new business is the
[17:02] first reading of ordinance 2026-04,
the approval of code of ordinance.
[17:09] » Lyn, thank you so much for working so
hard on that. No,
[17:14] » very deep. Yes, [snorts]
>> it was a lot of hours. Um,
[17:23] like I said, of course, you know, this
has to go through two readings. Um, we
[17:27] will put this on the website. Um,
[clears throat] there's a lot of changes
[17:31] in the ordinances. Um, just updates that
need to be updated. uh things that had
[17:37] to be updated because it's been a lot of
years since some of them have been
[17:42] updated.
>> Yes, it has.
[17:44] » Some of them unfortunately are not
completely updated. Um as I was telling
[17:49] um Miss Alvara and Jeff and Carter
earlier that uh we not quite completely
[17:57] there yet. Some of them are so involved
we've had to change. we've had to
[18:04] [snorts] we got to we've got to really
delve into them and and do write some
[18:08] new ordinances and we just did not have
time to do some of those. Um so some of
[18:14] them are still a little antiquated.
Uh sewer the sewer um ordinance is one.
[18:21] The building codes is still another one
that we're having to some of it is
[18:27] updated but not all of it. Um,
and the parks recreation is another one
[18:32] that really needs to be updated. There's
a few in there that need to be tweaked
[18:36] as well, but um, for the most part, a
lot of it got updated and changed. So,
[18:44] um, we just needed to get this completed
with this company and then we will start
[18:50] updating ordinances um to and then we'll
send it back off to the company and and
[18:55] have them redo it and update it as it as
we go.
[18:59] » Okay.
>> As each ordinance gets updated, but um
[19:04] still it's it's a lot that uh that had
to be changed and and done.
[19:10] And saying that, what what timeline we
um looking at um since we got
[19:16] [clears throat] the meat of it already
done, what timeline um remaining for the
[19:21] other couple of them? What we
>> um the S ordinance may take a couple of
[19:26] months because we've got I've got the
engineers actually [clears throat]
[19:29] looking at that. That's going to take us
a little while to get those kind of
[19:33] figured out. There's a few things we
want to add to that.
[19:36] Um
the building code one, um there's some
[19:41] things we got to double check with the
county on to make sure that we're doing
[19:44] everything
>> that's the same as that what theirs is.
[19:48] So we got to make sure that we've got
those right.
[19:51] » Um the others [clears throat] are are
just tweaking and just changing up. So
[19:56] » but we've got to get this one all the
way through its second reading and done
[20:00] first. So after that, you know,
hopefully by December we'll at least
[20:04] have some things done.
>> All right,
[20:08] » sounds good.
>> Come a long ways.
[20:10] » Now, Lyn, do you need to read this?
>> Just by title. Just do by title only.
[20:15] » Okay.
>> And I can I can I'm okay to just go and
[20:19] do that by title or do I need to have a
vote to
[20:21] » You still have to do it by um motion,
second by title only. And we'll
[20:26] [clears throat]
>> do I have a motion to read by title only
[20:29] ordinance 2026-04.
[20:33] I'll make a motion to read by title
only. Do I have a second?
[20:37] » I'll second.
>> Any discussion?
[20:40] All in favor?
[20:44] Ordinance 2000-26
2026, excuse me, 4. an ordinance
[20:51] enacting a code of ordinances for the
city of New Wellington, South Carolina,
[20:55] revising, amending, restating,
codifying, and compiling certain
[20:59] existing general ordinances of the city
of New Wellington dealing with subjects
[21:03] embraced in such code of ordinances.
[21:17] Do I have a motion and first reading to
approve um ordinance 2026-04
[21:25] approval of code of ordinance?
[21:32] I make a motion to approve the um
ordinance 2026-04
[21:39] for the code or
>> do I have a second?
[21:45] » Second.
[clears throat]
[21:47] » Any discussion?
All in favor?
[21:54] All right. And that is all for new
business today. So, we're going to look
[21:58] at some updates. Let's start with
administration.
[22:02] Okay. Um
[22:07] the uh final title searches are being
still worked on uh for the demo project,
[22:13] but I think there's just a few more
left. Um we're also waiting on commerce
[22:18] to clear uh the environmental review.
And so once that's done, we'll be ready
[22:23] to notify property owners and move
forward for that project. So, we're just
[22:28] kind of waiting on a couple of things
and then hopefully property owners will
[22:31] start getting notified for those.
>> I have a question with that. Have we had
[22:36] any of the property owners contact us?
>> We've had a few.
[22:40] » Oh, okay.
>> Yeah, we've had a few. Um, I've actually
[22:44] been in contact with one property owner
that's been very very helpful in trying
[22:48] to because they want certain they want a
couple of the um, mobile homes that are
[22:53] on theirs that they on their property
that they don't own and they're trying
[22:56] to get they want to get rid of them. So,
>> so with that being said,
[23:02] um, how many that we need to go ahead on
and start? How many property owners
[23:10] approval do we have need to have in
order for us to start with the demo?
[23:15] » Well, uh I'm not really sure. They'll
probably um seek at least probably
[23:23] » three or four at least, maybe six.
>> Okay.
[23:26] » To get a contractor to actually start a
demo
[23:29] » for that because I have to um bid it
out.
[23:32] » So, I'm not really sure how many that
would do. They would do. kind of got to
[23:36] do it in phases.
>> I guess it kind of depends on how many
[23:39] they [clears throat] think they can get.
>> Um
[23:45] you may have seen some updates here at
city hall recently. Um
[23:49] » we're working on a little
beautifification along with
[23:52] fortification to the front area of the
building. Um we're also and thanks to
[23:58] our public works department for helping
out with that. Uh we're also checking
[24:04] into several possible requirements for
the building to be updated. So stay
[24:08] tuned for that. Um there's also going to
be some new signage going up um to
[24:15] assist the flow of traffic coming into
the parking lots. So look,
[24:18] » that's what that big sign out there is
for.
[24:20] » Yes.
>> Okay.
[24:23] » Um I'm also waiting to hear back from
lower Savannah Council Governments on a
[24:27] proposal to work with our planning
commission on a draft of land
[24:30] development regulations. This is another
one of those things that we need to get
[24:35] done going on for the developments and
land development regulations is
[24:39] something that is um in our
comprehensive plan, but it's not
[24:43] something that it's something that's
suggested in our comprehensive plan, but
[24:46] we don't have one and it's something
that we have realized we need
[24:51] desperately here in Newton and we don't
have one. We don't have it. So, um,
[24:57] [clears throat]
uh, it will take a process of working on
[25:00] those with the planning commission to
prepare them for the approval from the
[25:03] council. So, um, we'll be waiting I'm
waiting to hear from them hopefully
[25:08] within the next couple weeks to get a
proposal from that and see how what
[25:12] that's going to take and how that's
going to go.
[25:16] We also have a new IT company um, that's
been working with the city. Um, we're
[25:22] waiting on the re their recommendations
for any new or updated hardware that is
[25:27] needed and our email migration which
should be done within the next few
[25:31] weeks. That company is Asset
Technologies Group.
[25:35] I think that's all I have right now.
[25:41] All right. Next up is um Oh, well, let
me start with this. Thank you, Lyn, and
[25:46] the team all for working on the
ordinance so much.
[25:50] and working to move this demolition
forward. We appreciate all yall do.
[25:55] Thank you so much.
>> Um, Chief Towns,
[26:00] » good evening. How's everyone?
>> Great. [clears throat]
[26:03] » Um, just a couple notes. Um, so now, um,
finally received some, uh, pretty good
[26:11] updated, um, expected revenue from the
tax assessor's office as far as from a
[26:18] fire fee perspective. So, I think maybe
Lynn might have mentioned last month
[26:23] that y'all would look and
[clears throat] do a budget amendment
[26:26] mid year or something like that. So, um
I'm probably about $40,000 off on
[26:33] expected revenue to the good. Um so, if
that if that does happen, there's um so
[26:39] there's a couple line items and stuff
that I'll do maximum amendments to. Um
[26:44] last month, we received 132 calls for
service. Um as normal medical is
[26:50] definitely the bigger volume of that
running at about 87% with 13% fire
[26:55] related calls
and then a good thing is um on the tail
[27:01] end of what I just said initially about
with the fire fees and [clears throat]
[27:04] expect revenue we closed out fiscal year
um 63026 by transferring a little over
[27:12] $180,000 over into our contingency fund.
Um
[27:18] obviously the reason for that is uh the
trucks that we paid off in the previous
[27:22] years. [clears throat] Um but with the
truck that we still have on order. Um so
[27:28] that money was left in the debt service
line item and it's just you know going
[27:32] to get rolled over from budget year to
budget year until um until that that
[27:37] payment starts having to get paid. Um
and then um we we'll use that to build
[27:44] and either buy our air packs or pay a
big payment down on the on the truck
[27:48] itself. Um but the LGIP account that's
in probably made about 15 $16,000 in re
[27:56] and interest uh last year. So it does it
does pay off have that money in that LG
[28:02] LG account. So and um obviously with
what we just added to it this fiscal
[28:08] year be [snorts] even better.
Quick update for me. Any questions?
[28:12] » Yeah. Um when you say that um the
revenue that was um a line item of
[28:20] $40,000
um and y'all have $180,000
[28:26] being transferred. How much would that
be going towards this um offline item
[28:32] for the 40,000?
the the 40,000 is when I when I gave her
[28:38] anticipated revenue that we would bring
in for this budget year,
[28:42] » I'm on the low side of about $40,000.
>> Okay.
[28:45] » So, I expected our revenue, I think it
was like 713,
[28:49] $723,000
>> based off of the the report that I just
[28:54] received uh from the treasures office.
um with with this year being a new tax
[29:00] assessment year and everything,
>> those fire fees should be around one
[29:04] about 750 to 752 is what it's showing on
the report.
[29:08] » Yeah.
>> So that's why I'm saying um if we do if
[29:12] we do that then I could up the up the
revenue side which also would would
[29:16] would up some expenses that I can show.
I already know I'm going to run over on
[29:21] uniforms this year. We got behind on
uniforms.
[29:24] » Not, you know, good thing is we've had
influx of some new people coming in. A
[29:28] dress uniform we may wear two, three
times a year, but I want everybody to be
[29:32] in one for our banquetss and that sort
of stuff, you know, and unfortunately if
[29:35] we have to go to a funeral,
>> head to toe, they're about 600 bucks,
[29:39] » you know, stuff like that. So, and then
the 180,000 that I'm talking about. So,
[29:43] we ended the um I try to close out the
budget year with a specific dollar
[29:50] amount every year. And that's easy for
me to u basically track our expenses
[29:56] from December or excuse me from July to
December, which is in our cold time of
[30:02] the year where we really don't get a
whole lot of revenue.
[30:05] » Um our check may be there's a couple
months it may be like $2,000.
[30:10] And then
um November will be probably around a 30
[30:15] to $40,000 check.
>> And then December is where is the first
[30:19] good check that we'll get. Okay.
>> So basically I have to carry money over.
[30:23] You can't be at a zero balance. I have
to carry money over for us to operate
[30:27] off basically almost seven months.
>> But I use that number I get back down
[30:31] through our historical data and what we
have spent through the years. I know
[30:35] what we need to have come June 30th to
carry me through say December 1st.
[30:40] » Right. Okay. [snorts]
>> So
[30:43] everything over that $300,000 I
transferred over into our LGPI account,
[30:48] our contingency account. So, one, it's
sitting there. Main thing is, so it's
[30:52] making us money. So, our money is making
us a little bit of money.
[30:55] » Good.
>> And then we we would just use it and
[30:58] keep building. We've never had a savings
account or whatever you want to call it,
[31:02] a contingency fund or whatever. We've
never really had a savings account or
[31:05] anything like that. If you didn't have
it operating money right then and there.
[31:09] So, you know, if we was to lose a motor
in a truck that's say 75 $80,000,
[31:14] » we would have had to go buy, you know,
borrow money to to be able to replace
[31:18] the engine, you know.
a motor in one of fire trucks or
[31:21] something like that.
>> We've got good insurance, but if we lose
[31:24] one and it's totaled out, they're only
going to pay so much back on that truck,
[31:28] » right?
>> So, you know, so that's the reason why I
[31:30] want to build that contingency fund for
unfortunately a rainy day. And we've got
[31:35] air packs that we'll have to buy in
about four years.
[31:38] » Um when we bought them in 2015, they
were around $190,000.
[31:43] And
um it's probably give or take right now
[31:48] probably about $275 to $280,000 now to
buy the same. So what I'd love to do is
[31:55] be able to buy those and pay cash for
them and not have to go back in debt or
[31:58] anything like that or not have to raise
fire fees. So that's why anything we can
[32:03] do now to save a dollar at a time, you
know, it just helps really push off any
[32:08] kind of rate increase.
>> Great.
[32:10] » Obviously growth is has has made growth
in our areas, right? You know, y'all
[32:14] seen it inside city limits and I'm
definitely seeing it
[32:17] » within the whole fire district.
>> So, growth in the area has been able to
[32:20] do that. That's correct.
>> And that and have the revenue, the
[32:23] additional revenue. We haven't raised
fire since 2018.
[32:26] » That's correct.
>> And and the only reason why I think we
[32:28] would do anything like that now
>> is and I've briefly mentioned that to
[32:33] y'all a couple of times before is if we
were going to
[32:36] » do a true paid staff fire department.
>> Right. Right.
[32:41] So I question
>> you did and that's good.
[32:45] » Thank you
>> chief.
[32:47] » Thank you chief.
[32:51] [clears throat]
[snorts]
[32:54] » All right.
>> And as far as county council goes,
[32:58] » um I don't know if y'all are receiving
any. So um so this is the negative side
[33:04] of me saying that I'm like $40,000 under
revenue. Um, I don't know if you're
[33:10] receiving any kind of phone calls or
anything from disgruntled people yet
[33:13] about they've, you know, I've seen this
uh calculation or the tax assessor
[33:18] letter or whatever. um they if if if an
individual doesn't agree with the
[33:25] assessed value that's been uh applied to
this new assessment, there is a a
[33:31] process that they can go through
>> um to to uh basically um um what's the
[33:37] word I'm looking for?
>> Yes.
[33:39] » Appeal.
>> Appeal it. Um you know um but if it
[33:44] hasn't, if I understand right, it's only
it can only go up so much. So if it
[33:48] hasn't if it hasn't changed hands or if
you haven't refinanced anything like
[33:52] that and you you know it's only going to
the value is going to be assessed and be
[33:58] applied to the structure but yet it's
only 15%
[34:01] » the tax the tax revenue or the tax
percentage that it can go up it's only
[34:05] going to go up so much on
>> so um
[34:10] I know we're getting a lot of it at the
county side
[34:13] » and um so I don't know if y'all are
seeing much of it yet or anything like
[34:17] or maybe they're just all going to the
county not coming here because
[34:20] ultimately it was done by the county
session just so if they are getting
[34:24] anything like that that's really where
they need to go is up toward the county.
[34:27] » Okay.
>> Thank you.
[34:29] » Okay.
>> Yes ma'am.
[34:33] [clears throat]
>> Chief Sman
[34:38] got a few things to go over here
tonight. Want to start tonight before I
[34:43] start going over everything else. I want
to introduce Lieutenant Raphael Keles.
[34:49] He started today. He's going to be
covering our school resource officer
[34:54] position for the time being until we can
fill that. Um he comes with a plethora
[35:00] of knowledge and experience. I'm going
to let him introduce himself to the
[35:05] council. Just a quick little
introduction. Again, I'm helpless. Um a
[35:12] little bit about me is have about almost
six years in law enforcement. The last
[35:17] two and a half years I spent as an
investigator with the A County Sheriff's
[35:20] Office. I specialized [snorts] in
special victims, so all juvenile law as
[35:26] well as internet crimes against
children. I was also a crisis and
[35:30] hostage negotiator for the county as
well.
[35:36] » Welcome to the team, sir.
>> Thank you for joining us. Thanks for
[35:40] definitely going to be a great asset
again from previous meetings where we
[35:46] have gone forward with the internet
crimes against children. Uh he's going
[35:51] to be heading that. So we're going to be
proceeding with that.
[35:57] So since our last meeting on June 15th,
we've
[36:02] conducted seven incident reports. I
believe that's going to be a typo. That
[36:07] is a much lower number. I know for a
fact we've gotten a lot more. Um, there
[36:11] have been 95 calls for service with 20
assisting other agencies, 45 citations
[36:17] issued, 23 warnings issued. Um, we can
go ahead and up that arrests. We just
[36:22] made an arrest just a little while ago
right before this meeting started. So,
[36:26] five arrests have been made. One
collision report has been completed.
[36:30] As we all remember, Cadet Andrews is at
the academy. He will be there. He is at
[36:36] his halfway point as of this Friday. So
we will be waiting his regulation set
[36:42] for August 21st on four weeks from now
on Friday.
[36:48] We have mentioned prior to a training
with other smaller municipalities they
[36:55] can we have completed that um waiting to
meet with them to make sure everybody is
[37:01] in agreement on the verbiage of that
before we present it to our
[37:06] representative council bodies to move
forward with that. Again, that's just
[37:11] going to be for training within the
county with these other municipalities.
[37:17] Um we're trying to get all that set
forth because we're set to do firearms
[37:21] training with each other in September.
>> Awesome. What um what class is he taking
[37:29] this week?
>> So he is working on legals, too.
[37:32] » Yeah. So this is going to be
>> that means he passed legal.
[37:35] » This is going to be one of the tougher
ones and hopefully it's all downhill
[37:41] from here.
[37:45] Thank you. Thanks for that update.
Thanks for all your hard work. Welcome
[37:49] to the team. We're so glad you chose me.
Thank you.
[37:53] » I like your background. [clears throat]
>> Great. Thank So, we're just gonna he's
[37:59] going to just be filling in as the SRO
right now until
[38:03] » until we can find someone to place in
that position.
[38:07] » Okay.
>> As a set position. Um, again, he's going
[38:12] to just be covering that.
>> Once we hire somebody to take that
[38:16] position, he will be coming back to the
road.
[38:18] » Okay.
>> And we will be doing the rotation
[38:21] schedule better, more adequate coverage
to our citizens.
[38:27] » Thank you.
>> Yes, ma'am.
[38:29] » All right. Streets, roads, and sewer.
Jason, what you got for us today?
[38:34] » Uh, not a whole lot. Third project at
sewer plant, the sprayfield project.
[38:39] They're they're checking along with it
pretty well. They got the main trunk
[38:42] line in. Um right now they're doing the
um valve feed lines. They're starting to
[38:47] run those um and putting all their I
guess um valves and stuff in. There's a
[38:53] little hiccup on the ordering of the
valve, so they had to go with a
[38:57] different company, but they got it all
coming in.
[39:01] So we should be sitting pretty good out
there before long. Um
[39:05] other than that, we did remove all the
bushes and stuff around
[39:09] or community center up here. Um we'll
put some sod around it. The bushes up
[39:15] there just want to hold up. Um just to
try to make that look a little bit
[39:19] better and then
that's about it start getting ready for
[39:24] football. Um I believe they're
practicing up here today. Um having
[39:29] football down there.
>> Thank you. Thank you so much.
[39:38] All right. Um,
uh, parks and directs. Do you have any
[39:42] updates on that, Lyn?
>> I don't. Um,
[39:46] I know that she's been working with, um,
football and everything, getting it
[39:51] ready. Um,
and I talked to her last week, but I
[39:55] hadn't had it. I thought she was going
to be here tonight, but I haven't talked
[39:58] to her today.
>> First day of school.
[40:01] » Yeah, there's no telling.
>> Yeah, there's no. All right. How How
[40:06] about the 75th anniversary celebration?
[snorts]
[40:09] » Um I know that uh Brandy has sent out
some uh email information to all the
[40:15] schools uh for the um logo contest that
we've got going on.
[40:20] » Okay.
>> I've also uh been talking to uh Linda
[40:24] Caldwell who works with our banner
program and she's got a contact um at
[40:28] the Aken
he's one of the Aken schools and he's
[40:33] art teacher and so I've got a contact
there that I'm trying to um get some
[40:37] more information out to them too. Um so
tried to just get the word out about it
[40:44] and uh so we're working on that part of
it.
[40:47] » I do know she had several vendors sign
up.
[40:49] » Yeah, we got a lot of vendors for the
atomic city festival is coming in.
[40:52] » I've had a lot to me about it. So yeah,
>> so they're they're coming in.
[40:56] » Oh yeah,
>> tonight's
[41:03] we'll make sure we're going to
[clears throat] have a meeting with
[41:04] Anyway, we've got that set
>> because there's going to tell them how
[41:09] many more people that might not come to
nothing and couldn't know a lot about
[41:13] the town,
>> right? Yeah.
[41:14] » Be a lot of good information.
>> Yeah, we're we're really willing to set
[41:17] that up anyway because that was part of
the what we wanted to do at the festival
[41:21] was to do some of those
>> those recordings and things.
[41:24] » Recordings.
>> Awesome.
[41:26] » Wonderful. Um
Chief, does um martial arts start back
[41:31] this week?
>> Yes, ma'am. It starts back Thursday.
[41:34] Okay.
>> If you haven't already, you know someone
[41:37] that wants to join our martial arts
program here, it does start back up this
[41:42] Thursday at the community center at
>> It begins at 5:30.
[41:48] » 5:30. Okay.
>> And ends at 6:30. So, we do ask that
[41:53] when you come in, please remain as quiet
as possible to allow the students to
[42:00] receive instruction.
Again, they're are quite a few new
[42:06] » students in there. Give them the respect
of being able to learn
[42:11] » again in that respect.
>> You're getting some good participation
[42:14] in that.
>> Absolutely. It was not only from a
[42:19] students aspect, but actually having the
parents and grandparents show up and
[42:24] support those children as well.
>> So again, you know, that was the only
[42:28] issue we ask that you turn all phones on
silent when you come in there because it
[42:32] is a raction to those kids
>> trying to learn that set of skills that
[42:37] they're being taught.
>> We have kids not only from New Ellington
[42:42] but also in a coming here enjoying it. I
suppose that is good. Finally rolls are
[42:48] reversing here.
>> All right. Um and I think that is
[42:54] everybody. I um
>> All right. I want
[43:00] » I didn't have anything for you all.
anything. That's it.
[43:04] » I'll bring some updates next week. And
only thing I want to say, I want to
[43:08] thank the city for allowing us to go to
the municipal association this year.
[43:14] Thank you so much, Lyn, you and Maria,
and what all y'all do. And I want to uh
[43:19] talk to when we was in the short
meeting, I just was so excited to see
[43:24] the um the beautifification of our front
um building right there. Thank for Lyn
[43:31] and Jason and all of them who was
involved in that project. It looked very
[43:36] nice. That's just the beginning of what
we got going on and I have some updates
[43:41] next meeting.
>> Lyn, that email that we got um turnup
[43:46] seed, I talked to him about it, how the
company who's doing our sewer,
[43:51] » can you mention that real quick? That
email that we got that they wanted to
[43:54] use us.
>> Oh, um
[43:59] case study.
>> Yes, for the case study.
[44:01] » Um, yeah, we they want us the I think
it's the not the Springfield, but the
[44:08] other
>> I'm trying to remember which which
[44:11] project one of the projects that we
we've got the RA project the um funding
[44:16] for. Um
we are uh they want to use us as one of
[44:21] the case studies that they have in
something that they're publishing or
[44:25] doing. Um so we
We're honored for it and we're we're
[44:31] giving the information. The only problem
is they've asked us for pictures and we
[44:34] don't really have anything to show them
yet because it's not it's still in
[44:38] process. So we don't we won't really
have anything until this fall late this
[44:42] fall before we'll have anything to show
them. I don't think so.
[44:45] » Um we've asked her what do you want to
get from us right now?
[44:50] » Um if we can send picture I don't know
how soon they'll want all this
[44:54] information. So we're waiting to hear
back from her on that.
[44:57] » Great. I ran into Justin at the
municipal association and we were
[45:01] talking about that. So, thank you. Thank
y'all for handling that and working on
[45:05] that. And again, thank y'all for
allowing us to go. It actually was one
[45:08] of the best meetings that I have been to
in the four years I've been
[45:12] » I've been going. So, it was very
informative and all of that. It was very
[45:16] good. Um, we we sat through some long
classes, let me tell [laughter] you. But
[45:20] it was good. It was really good.
>> That's right.
[45:25] » Yeah. And um we'll share more at the
next meeting.
[45:29] Do uh thank thank you. Thanks everyone
for coming out. We appreciate you being
[45:33] here and participating and spending some
time with us this evening. And you're
[45:37] welcome to stick around if you'd like to
talk to one of us. And with that being
[45:41] said, do I have a motion to adjourn the
meeting? I'll make a motion to adjourn
[45:47] the meeting.
>> Do I have a second?
[45:49] » I'll second.
>> Okay. Any discussion? All in favor?
[45:54] All
[46:00] right, y'all. Don't go anywhere. I got
>> I'll get your sign, Dad.
[46:04] » Yep.