[0:03] This conference will now be recorded.

[0:34] Let me say that I really encourage that

[0:38] we turn this chair over. So I am open

[0:41] the floor for nominations and I will

[0:43] gladly step aside. So with the floor

[0:46] open for nominations, the chair will

[0:48] accept.

[0:50] >> Chairman, I'd like to nominate Mr. EJ

[0:52] servant as chair for the coming year.

[0:57] >> Uh, additional nominations.

[1:01] » Is that you? [clears throat]

[1:01] >> Yes, ma'am.

[1:02] >> Okay. You're EJ.

[1:03] >> I am.

[1:04] >> Okay. I didn't know that. I I second

[1:06] that motion even if he doesn't want it.

[1:10] >> Uh, additional nominations.

[1:15] » I move nominations.

[1:17] >> I have a second.

[1:18] >> I second it.

[1:20] >> All in favor say I. I

[1:22] >> Okay, nominations are closed. All in

[1:25] favor uh the election of myself say I

[1:28] opposed.

[1:29] >> Okay, the eyes have it. So, vice

[1:32] chairman, I'll open the floor for

[1:34] nominations.

[1:36] >> Who is the vice chairman?

[1:38] >> I don't know. Uh Mr. Bass.

[1:41] >> Oh, okay.

[1:43] And

[1:46] >> you know

[1:48] I serve at the uh I serve at your all's

[1:50] beh

[1:51] >> okay.

[1:53] Um I nominate Mr. Basser as a vice

[1:57] chairman.

[1:58] >> Do I have a second?

[2:00] >> Second.

[2:01] >> Have a second.

[2:03] Additional nominations.

[2:09] » Motion to close nominations.

[2:11] >> I motion to Second. Second.

[2:14] >> Second.

[2:15] >> All in favor of the nomination of Mr.

[2:18] Basser for vice chairman say I.

[2:19] >> I.

[2:20] >> Opposed.

[2:23] >> Okay, the eyes have it. Congratulations,

[2:25] Mr. Basser. That was quick. I'll move to

[2:28] the minutes. Have you had a chance to

[2:29] review the March 5th minutes of the 2026

[2:32] meeting?

[2:34] >> Well, we were all here, but um yes.

[2:37] >> Okay,

[2:38] >> I approve of the minutes.

[2:40] >> We have a motion to approve. Do I have a

[2:42] second?

[2:43] >> Second.

[2:44] All in favor signify by saying

[2:46] I.

[2:47] >> I.

[2:47] >> Opposed. All right. The eyes have it.

[2:49] Minutes are approved. Uh public

[2:51] comments.

[2:53] We have no general public comments here.

[2:56] Congressman, you have anything to say?

[2:58] [laughter]

[3:00] >> Oh, I appreciate you all serving.

[3:02] >> Thank you.

[3:02] so much. We appreciate that.

[3:05] Okay. Communications oath of office. So

[3:07] Nate Anderson has agreed to come on to

[3:10] serve. Are you many familiar with Nate?

[3:13] >> Yeah. Yeah.

[3:14] >> So Nate is the uh he is the general

[3:17] manager of

[3:20] the three restaurants.

[3:22] >> Oh, okay.

[3:23] >> Yeah. He's he's the owner of Dining by

[3:25] Design. Uh and uh he was also originally

[3:28] involved with uh the uh other

[3:32] restaurants down there. He actually came

[3:34] up with the design for Nacho Hippo, also

[3:38] the the hamburger place that's on the

[3:40] ocean front. He did the original design

[3:42] for that menus and so on. And anyway, he

[3:46] has agreed to serve, but he's out of

[3:47] town, was not able to come today.

[3:49] >> What is his name?

[3:50] >> Nate Anderson.

[3:51] >> Sure.

[3:53] >> So, he will take the oath of office at

[3:55] some point in time. I would assume at

[3:57] our next meeting, which will probably be

[3:58] next year,

[4:00] >> you decide to have one sooner. Well, we

[4:02] were talking about it. Um, we just don't

[4:05] like to have it's like one meeting here

[4:07] it is and like we don't even get to

[4:09] discuss it between ourselves, you know,

[4:12] like even if we could just have one

[4:13] meeting before the meeting.

[4:16] Um,

[4:18] we were thinking that was a good idea,

[4:20] even maybe a sixmonth meeting, but then

[4:22] that might be well, as long as it's not

[4:24] like in the middle of summer. But what

[4:26] y'all's thoughts?

[4:29] >> I think we need to have that. And I also

[4:30] think we all need to review what the

[4:33] state guidelines are for where we

[4:35] reissue the money because what I read

[4:38] and maybe I was reading it wrong, but

[4:41] from what I read, some things we

[4:42] approved may not fall follow fall under

[4:46] the categories or under may not be

[4:48] allowed, you know, and that's and I read

[4:51] these um

[4:54] >> I think this is my third year on um I

[4:56] read them the first year and I reread

[4:58] them last year before for the meeting

[5:00] and there were a couple things I was

[5:01] like, I don't know if we're allowed to

[5:04] do that.

[5:05] >> If you have spec uh specific concerns on

[5:09] particular items, go get those to me.

[5:11] I'll be glad to take a look at them.

[5:12] Okay.

[5:13] >> Also, the the items are typically

[5:15] reviewed by Turk and

[5:17] >> yeah, our our finance director Melanie,

[5:19] she she reviews those with Charlie Baron

[5:21] who's with Municipal Association. So, we double check to make sure that they

[5:26] >> but what I was reading I was like, you

[5:28] know, that's that's questionable. you

[5:29] know, there's a very thin line on some

[5:32] of the things that we approved last

[5:34] time. Very thin line.

[5:36] >> Yes, I'm a very flexible.

[5:37] >> Um some that we might could,

[5:40] >> you know, think about this is monies

[5:43] that are for travel and tourism and

[5:46] marketing and things like that. And so I

[5:50] just I think personally that a quarterly

[5:54] meeting would not be out of hand to see

[5:56] where we are each and and see what's

[5:59] going on with the funds and making sure

[6:02] that that because who's going to be held

[6:04] accountable? The city will, but we will

[6:06] because we voted on it. So I want us to

[6:08] make sure that it's we all feel

[6:12] comfortable with what's going on.

[6:15] I I um keep in mind we're advisory only.

[6:19] So we can't be held responsible for

[6:20] anything. Who responsible be

[6:24] all we can do is make an an advisory

[6:28] >> submission to town council. So really

[6:30] town council is the ones responsible.

[6:31] >> It's the first time I've ever have taken

[6:33] oath of office.

[6:34] >> Yeah.

[6:34] >> Was for this. Well,

[6:36] >> so that that means

[6:38] >> that it's more than just

[6:41] >> Yes. And so I disagree with you on that,

[6:44] but I mean literally I've been I've done

[6:47] a lot of committee meetings, been part

[6:50] of a lot of committees for for

[6:51] government, but in North Carolina. So we

[6:54] have different rules, but um I would

[6:57] like for us to take the time to to

[6:59] really make sure that our eyes are

[7:02] dotted and our tees are crossed and we

[7:04] are feeling confident with the decisions

[7:06] that we make. Um

[7:10] and I have

[7:12] not thoroughly looked at them and I

[7:14] will, but I just think once a year and

[7:19] we just basically voted yes on

[7:22] everything without any question and we

[7:24] did not have time to really think about

[7:26] where that money was going and was it

[7:28] the best place to spend marketing

[7:31] dollars and tourism dollars and that's

[7:34] what this money this tax is. So, um I

[7:38] might be putting a monkey wrench in it.

[7:41] [clears throat] I'm sorry if I am, but I

[7:43] also feel like um I know where that

[7:47] money is coming from and it's coming

[7:48] from uh hotels and restaurants and

[7:52] things that are expecting that money

[7:54] back in some, you know, in a certain

[7:57] way,

[7:58] >> you know,

[7:59] >> right?

[7:59] >> So, just that's all I'm not making not

[8:02] trying to make a big deal out of it. I

[8:04] just want us to make sure we're

[8:05] educated. Well, let me say personally, I

[8:08] hear you loud and clear and uh I I

[8:12] actually have echoed the things

[8:14] previously that you're saying right now.

[8:16] So, I agree with a lot of what you're

[8:18] saying. Let me say that u just to go

[8:22] back to my advisory comment, that's

[8:25] actually in the law. So, whether you

[8:27] took an oath of office or not, it's in

[8:29] the law. We are purely advisor. We have

[8:32] no we have no authority whatsoever other

[8:34] than to make a list of things and a

[8:37] recommendation to council. They have

[8:39] full autonomy over what how that money

[8:41] spent.

[8:42] >> We make no determination other than

[8:44] making

[8:45] >> it's not like that in the other state.

[8:46] So that's good in this. So well we'll be

[8:49] I'll be

[8:50] >> So let me go back to what you were

[8:51] saying.

[8:51] >> Mr. Servant, I may interrupt for a

[8:53] minute.

[8:53] >> Sure.

[8:54] >> To when you get to the business section,

[8:56] which is where we are, you need to do a

[8:58] motion to bring the subject matter to

[9:01] discussion. We're already discussing, so

[9:04] we kind of missed the part here.

[9:06] So, you just I guess I assume everybody

[9:09] got their packets with the information

[9:12] that's going to be changed.

[9:14] >> Well, we we haven't gotten to the we we where it was just inside. We were

[9:19] talking about Nate Anderson. We didn't

[9:20] get to change.

[9:22] >> I think we got off track. So, I think

[9:23] when it gets to committee comments, you

[9:25] can make those comments. And I will say

[9:27] this that we have talked about you guys

[9:29] having two meetings.

[9:30] >> Yeah.

[9:31] >> Now that we're not going to have it in

[9:32] January because we don't really get our

[9:34] true numbers till March. Maybe January

[9:36] would be a good time for you guys to get

[9:37] together, discuss the things that you

[9:40] want to. We can have some proposals in

[9:42] draft form, but the real numbers don't

[9:44] come till about March.

[9:46] >> And let me say this, we did have two

[9:48] meetings last year. So, we had the mayor

[9:50] was nice enough to say, "Let's have a

[9:52] first meeting to kind of go over to get

[9:54] a feel for that." That's what he

[9:56] proposed.

[9:57] >> I didn't attend that.

[9:58] >> Yeah.

[9:59] >> I wasn't aware of that other meeting.

[10:00] >> He he wanted he wanted to have another

[10:02] meeting

[10:02] >> because I I wanted to be there. Yeah.

[10:04] But as far as I know, we didn't have

[10:06] another meeting.

[10:07] >> Yeah. He wants to have two meetings. So,

[10:08] I want to have the first meeting. It's

[10:10] like a workshop, right? Get a feel for

[10:12] what's going on. And in the second

[10:14] meeting, we'll actually go through and listen to proposals and and make

[10:19] decisions as far recommendations. So I

[10:22] think we'll do that again next year.

[10:24] Okay.

[10:25] >> Uh as far as a quarterly meetings

[10:27] concerned, I think that would be um we

[10:31] can do that and certainly we can

[10:33] consider that and I would suggest you

[10:35] send your recommendations in by email

[10:37] sharing. We can we can consider that. I

[10:40] don't know if we just have enough on the

[10:41] agenda to do that. recommendations been

[10:43] made. Staff won't even be close to

[10:46] making any additional recommendations uh

[10:48] until we get really until January of

[10:51] next year.

[10:52] >> But I do think we we need two meetings

[10:54] because it is too much to assimilate.

[10:56] Then you end up rubber stamping stuff

[10:58] and u and we don't want to do that.

[11:00] >> So like a private meeting without

[11:02] [clears throat]

[11:03] public and then

[11:04] >> I don't think we can do that.

[11:07] >> If you have a quorum, it's a public

[11:08] meeting.

[11:10] >> Okay. So the first meeting is when we

[11:12] discuss

[11:14] >> it'll be anformational meeting,

[11:16] >> right?

[11:16] >> Get the packets, go through the

[11:18] information, take it home with you and

[11:19] digest it.

[11:20] >> Okay, that sounds good.

[11:21] >> Okay. All right,

[11:23] >> that sounds fair.

[11:24] >> Am I in discussion? Are we okay in

[11:25] discussion at this point? We need to

[11:27] move on. Okay, [laughter] let's move on.

[11:29] >> We missed that.

[11:31] >> Yeah, we'll come back to this in

[11:32] committee comments in a minute. Let's go to uh the change in the bylaws.

[11:37] for passionate Anderson and got a change

[11:40] in the bylaws and the meeting schedule.

[11:42] Uh Sherry, you want to bring us up to

[11:44] date on that on what the recommendation

[11:46] is of staff

[11:49] >> of staff?

[11:50] >> Yeah, I think this is staff generated.

[11:53] Well, just like Jerry just said, because

[11:55] we don't get the um true numbers until

[11:57] March, and even that's questionable as

[12:00] to if it's in the beginning or the end,

[12:02] that the language would change to say as

[12:06] necessary. That way, it would leave it

[12:07] up to to you to say when and and where you'd have all the information.

[12:13] >> And I think it'll continue to be in

[12:14] March because the numbers just don't

[12:16] come in in January and February. So now

[12:18] the language is is marked in red. It

[12:21] says that you used to say on the 3rd

[12:23] Wednesday of January now to as

[12:26] necessary. So that's what you're voting

[12:28] on.

[12:28] >> So we're going to change it to as

[12:29] necessary.

[12:29] >> As necessary. Yes, sir.

[12:31] >> Meetings as necessary.

[12:33] >> Meetings as necess.

[12:42] » Well, it it's good for two meetings. So

[12:45] >> it said the committee shall meet as

[12:47] necessary.

[12:47] >> Okay.

[12:48] Perfect.

[12:49] >> Yeah. Do I hear a motion?

[12:51] >> I'll make a motion. A second.

[12:53] >> Second.

[12:53] >> Yeah.

[12:54] >> Have a motion, a second. Further

[12:56] discussion.

[13:01] » All in favor say I.

[13:02] >> Opposed? You guys have it. Very good.

[13:05] Okay. Public comments.

[13:07] >> I do got one this time.

[13:08] >> Yes, sir.

[13:08] >> Um, kind of along the same lines of what

[13:10] y'all were talking about, just from this

[13:12] is my first year through this process,

[13:14] through the whole budget process. And I

[13:16] think the thing that I would like to

[13:19] see, you know, I haven't had a chance to

[13:21] talk to Jerry yet, but um uh the entire

[13:26] how we elevate issues or consideration

[13:29] by the a tax committee and

[13:34] >> thank you.

[13:34] >> Sorry. And and and how they're vetted.

[13:37] Um, I want to there, if you recall at

[13:41] our ATAX meeting, one of uh we had a

[13:43] someone for the public that actually

[13:44] recommended some branding things along

[13:47] Highway 17.

[13:48] >> Well, they couldn't be included because

[13:51] they

[13:52] >> they missed the deadline.

[13:52] So I just want

[13:55] to make sure that we are within the

[13:57] administration and whatever involvement

[14:00] you all have with it to ensure that

[14:02] there is a a broader call potentially

[14:05] for for items for consideration because

[14:08] it's almost like administration came

[14:11] what I saw was administration came in

[14:13] and said hey we got this this this and

[14:14] this we have this much money um what do

[14:17] you guys think and it just kind of got

[14:19] approved. Um, so I would like there to

[14:22] I'd like to see if we can there may be

[14:24] some other things that we're not

[14:25] considering currently that that should

[14:27] be considered under this and and even

[14:29] those items if there if if if there's

[14:31] more that's asked for than what is

[14:35] funding is available. I think you all

[14:37] should get all of that and be able to

[14:40] make some decisions. You know, um, like

[14:43] I said, it just almost seemed like to me

[14:44] the administration said here, here you

[14:46] go. What do you guys think? So anyway,

[14:48] that's just my thought.

[14:50] I think the first

[14:54] Okay. Uh on the committee comments

[15:00] >> already said mine. [laughter]

[15:02] >> I'm finished. I'm done.

[15:04] >> Follow up on a few things you said. We

[15:06] did have the gentleman from the

[15:08] municipal association came and spoke to

[15:11] us and gave us an opportunity to ask

[15:13] questions about laws and things that

[15:16] pertain to uh the a tax committee and

[15:19] it's possible we could have him back

[15:21] again. Okay. Maybe ourformational

[15:23] meeting to start with.

[15:25] >> That would be nice.

[15:26] >> No, that would be good for those I mean

[15:28] I I've been on it I guess my third year

[15:31] now but there's still things that I I'm

[15:33] not really sure about, you know. So, I

[15:35] would like to hear that. I would like to

[15:36] be able to hear that and ask questions

[15:38] and things.

[15:39] >> And I'll see if I can't also, just for

[15:42] our own edification, I'll see if I can

[15:45] get with Tyler and have him get me the

[15:48] list of items that were approved by the

[15:52] county. Now, it won't be apples to

[15:54] apples as far as all the stuff we do.

[15:56] and we don't have the millions of

[15:58] dollars they get, but you can get a feel

[16:00] for what they approve and how their

[16:02] monies were spent and kind of compare

[16:05] what what we do on a much smaller scale,

[16:07] but money is money,

[16:08] >> right?

[16:09] >> And so if I can get that, I'll give it

[16:10] to you, Sherry, and you can get that out

[16:12] to everyone.

[16:13] >> Sure.

[16:14] >> Okay. I would also like, you know, as

[16:17] Rick was saying, I would love for some

[16:20] of these monies to be spent, and I know

[16:22] somebody has to bring it to the

[16:24] committee or bring it to the town, but I

[16:26] would love for there to be something

[16:28] like an arts festival or a or a um or

[16:33] you know, how like in um Edisto, they

[16:36] have the big turtles that artists paint

[16:40] and they had them stationed around town

[16:41] or if you're in Hendersonville, they had

[16:44] it bears. Um, something like that would

[16:46] be fantastic and that would be a great

[16:49] thing. People love to go take pictures

[16:50] of those and it's a photo op. There's so

[16:53] many ideas I have, but being on the

[16:55] committee, I can't do it, you know. But

[16:57] >> right

[16:58] >> but there are so many ideas that I have

[17:00] where we could bring it would bring

[17:02] tourism in in a non-traditional way and

[17:07] it would put people in the hotels would

[17:09] keep put people in the um you know in

[17:12] the rentals of things.

[17:15] >> Um so I wish that there would be more

[17:19] thinking outside the box. You know, also

[17:21] like home I'm a former art teacher, so

[17:24] there's homeschool events where they um they'll have like spelling bees

[17:31] or or things like that. You could bring

[17:33] the whole homeschool association would

[17:35] come and bring their kids, you know, and

[17:37] stuff and they would stay in hotels and

[17:39] they could come in the off season which

[17:42] would help the hotels and everything

[17:43] because their kids are not in

[17:45] traditional schools with traditional

[17:47] school schedule. So they can go anytime.

[17:50] So there's so many things that can be

[17:52] that can happen to bring people in in

[17:55] offseason and nobody's looking at that

[17:57] and I I know that's not what we can do

[18:00] but I'm just trying to put this out

[18:02] there. Maybe somebody can you know maybe

[18:04] it can start somebody thinking who knows

[18:06] somebody who knows somebody and think

[18:08] start the ball rolling on things like

[18:10] that because it has to start somewhere.

[18:13] Those are great really are great ideas.

[18:15] And as we were talking about the kite

[18:18] festival um this weekend, the second

[18:21] annual kite festival which was a

[18:24] tremendous success. I had people from

[18:26] our corporate offices who were staying

[18:28] came to the hotel for different reasons

[18:31] and they were like wow we're coming back

[18:34] next year

[18:35] >> to the kite fest. It'll keep getting

[18:37] bigger and bigger and that that will do

[18:40] that and and I think that it will put

[18:42] heads on beds and and and excuse me

[18:45] butts and seats and restaurants as well

[18:48] uh going forward. Um there are not

[18:51] always a lot of those things that do

[18:53] that. you know, they a lot of what we

[18:57] see happen, which I think is great for

[18:59] the town of Surfside Beach and for the

[19:01] people who live here, but a lot of

[19:02] things become local events, you know,

[19:06] they and they're great, don't get me

[19:08] wrong. Again, it it brings in a little

[19:10] bit for us, but if you want to take a

[19:11] local event and make it regional, then

[19:13] that's where you've got to have somebody

[19:16] just just like the the surf contest, it

[19:20] becomes a full-time job for somebody to

[19:22] put that together, market it, and and

[19:25] then produce the event. Not only just

[19:28] market it, but then make it a success

[19:30] after you market it. And um the the I

[19:33] know it wasn't that simple, but the kite

[19:36] festival it was I think the beauty of it

[19:39] is that it doesn't from my perspective I

[19:42] didn't see it having to be a huge amount

[19:45] of burden on on the town. uh and we were

[19:49] able to get the vendors in where they

[19:51] were and the additional uh PlayStations

[19:53] and and the phone deal and all those

[19:56] things which are just I mean great you

[20:00] know and uh you know I just think that

[20:03] there are those other opportunities but

[20:04] when you start talking about like you

[20:06] say you don't have the time to do it

[20:07] well guess why because it's a full-time

[20:10] job to put on that and ask our friend

[20:13] with the with the

[20:17] surfing contests. I mean, that's all he

[20:19] does. You know, he's in Virginia Beach

[20:22] right now. He's going to be, you know,

[20:24] in Florida and then he's going to be

[20:26] here for for his event and and that's a huge on take down. Of course,

[20:30] it's also

[20:33] great occupation for him and he gets he

[20:35] gets to make a living doing what he

[20:37] loves to do and be around kids he loves

[20:38] to be around. that's in itself much

[20:41] worth not necessarily being as much work

[20:43] but that that's one of the things we

[20:45] need you know and uh I I think I think I

[20:50] think the town has done a good job of

[20:52] taking with what they have the family

[20:54] festivals we have the family festival

[20:56] the barbecue festival along with those

[20:59] things I mean I just think

[21:01] >> you know that that do well you know

[21:04] >> I'm gonna go back again to what you said

[21:05] though I do agree with you that that

[21:07] some things may be marginal But marginal

[21:10] or not, we are spending

[21:13] competations accommodations tax dollars

[21:15] in places where they probably should be

[21:19] going to generate more tourism. And we

[21:22] sat up here in February or March and

[21:29] discussed over and over again about the

[21:31] Fourth of July week and it fell on deaf

[21:33] ears.

[21:34] >> Yeah.

[21:35] And now we've got worst Fourth of

[21:38] July week coming up in occupancy we've

[21:42] had.

[21:43] >> I agree.

[21:44] >> In forever.

[21:45] >> And it's the 250 a year. We could have

[21:47] really done something extraordinary.

[21:50] >> And it's really worked against us

[21:52] because it's on a Saturday.

[21:53] >> Yeah.

[21:54] >> And people aren't coming. They're

[21:56] getting and there's no reason for them

[21:57] to stay because

[21:59] >> like Surfside that well Surfside didn't

[22:02] do anything to even try and make them

[22:03] stay even to come to start with.

[22:06] >> You could have something on Friday to

[22:07] give him a reason to stay. We didn't

[22:10] used to have to necessarily promote the

[22:12] Fourth of July and the summer season,

[22:15] but it's a different

[22:17] >> There's a lot more competition out there

[22:19] now.

[22:20] The thought in town hall from what I've

[22:22] been told is

[22:24] >> you don't need any help this summer.

[22:25] >> Yeah.

[22:26] >> Your book.

[22:27] >> And right now every rental company that

[22:31] I know of is running a six day week for

[22:34] the 4th of July.

[22:37] >> Well, when when we consider that that

[22:40] it's the time that the taxes on it are

[22:42] >> rent Saturday to Friday. That's where we

[22:45] are. That's I know that's where Dunes

[22:47] is. I know that's where Garden City is.

[22:48] We've been that way for 45 days trying

[22:50] to get people to come.

[22:51] >> I thought it was Saturday to Saturday.

[22:53] >> It was normally is but

[22:56] >> we're trying to lure people to come to

[22:58] stay till Friday.

[23:00] >> There's hundreds of vacancies. Well, I

[23:03] just hope that powers be realize that,

[23:07] you know, it's wonderful for us to do

[23:10] things for the off season, but you got

[23:12] to remember that rates are between 30%

[23:16] 40% or 50% less for that time period.

[23:20] And that means that the tax dollars that

[23:23] are collected are 30, 40, and 50% less.

[23:28] >> It's still money, right? Well, the big

[23:31] picture in the long run is let's fill

[23:32] them all up.

[23:33] >> I mean, because we have worked very hard

[23:37] to not lay folks off because you have to

[23:40] have them

[23:41] >> in the in the summer season. It it's

[23:44] hard to ask somebody to work for four or

[23:46] five months and then say bye and you're

[23:49] on. So, we don't but with we work our

[23:54] butts off trying to find ways to put

[23:58] them to work.

[24:00] So, I would absolutely love to have this big event that

[24:07] uses all of us needs everybody's space,

[24:11] both hotels and and the air the uh

[24:14] rentals.

[24:15] >> Yeah. I don't think it's a either or

[24:17] proposition. I think we can have it all.

[24:19] >> You know, we but but

[24:21] >> but you know, it's and when I was saying

[24:23] that I can't do it, it's not that I

[24:25] don't have time or something. I don't

[24:26] have the knowhow to put a event like

[24:28] that together and I'm on a committee

[24:31] that provides money for that for those

[24:33] events. I can't do it. You know, I mean,

[24:35] you know, it's one of those things I

[24:36] totally understand that. Um

[24:41] >> I don't want to be crucified on

[24:42] Facebook. Let's put it that way. You

[24:44] know, the the Surfside Facebook police

[24:46] would get me and I don't want that. So,

[24:48] um so um I've got too thin skin for

[24:51] that.

[24:51] >> You can take the pressure off of me and

[24:53] do that. [laughter]

[24:56] I know y'all all get crucified on a

[24:57] daily basis and I'm the one who likes

[24:59] y'all like me where the looks so I can

[25:02] make sure I don't get shown up on

[25:04] [laughter]

[25:04] >> but but what I'm just saying is I don't

[25:07] think it's I don't think we have to

[25:09] choose whether we have them in the

[25:11] summer or we have them in the offseason.

[25:13] I think we can have it all. I think

[25:14] we've got to start thinking outside the

[25:16] box and having um and and not just just

[25:20] focus on summer, which I know that's our

[25:21] bread and butter, but if we they still

[25:25] pay money in the offse and and same

[25:28] thing with um with you know I I grew up

[25:31] in South Carolina and um and then lived

[25:35] in North Carolina for 25 years and

[25:39] people from those states come to come

[25:42] here they can drive in and the I'm sorry

[25:45] but the um

[25:47] powers that be have focused on Michigan

[25:51] and Ohio and everything people that

[25:54] would come through the airport for years

[25:58] and I think they're forgetting about

[26:00] people who can drive in and we have had

[26:03] thousands and thousands and thousands of

[26:05] families, tens of thousands, maybe even

[26:07] hundreds of thousands move to South

[26:09] Carolina and North Carolina in the past

[26:11] five years and they may not know about

[26:14] Surfside Beach. And so that that was a

[26:17] question that I always have when they

[26:18] come in and they speak to us about what

[26:20] they're doing um as far as pushing

[26:23] tourism, but they're forgetting that

[26:24] people can drive in too. And they spend

[26:26] their their money spins just the same as

[26:29] somebody from Michigan. Our drive-in

[26:32] market for the hotel is 400 miles. I

[26:35] send out 36,000

[26:37] emails

[26:39] once a month.

[26:41] Well, actually I send out 67,000 but

[26:44] 37,000 of it is within 400 miles.

[26:48] >> Yeah.

[26:49] >> And so

[26:51] they come that there are people coming.

[26:54] But how much are we missing because

[26:57] that's just one hotel.

[26:58] >> Well, and I think that's where this

[27:00] committee can kind of dwell into and

[27:02] look at the money being spent. But that

[27:04] the amount of of Tabitha's I'll call it

[27:07] Tabitha's budget because it falls in her

[27:09] department. Uh, I think she does very

[27:12] well with the money she's got. I think

[27:13] there should be more.

[27:15] >> Absolutely.

[27:15] >> And and I think we all see that. That's what we lobby for. It didn't

[27:19] happen. But I don't think we give up. I

[27:22] think we dwell into it more and see if

[27:23] we can't do more to promote not only

[27:26] offseason, but promote the summer, too,

[27:28] because it's getting more competitive.

[27:30] >> Yeah. And I'm sorry to interrupt, but I

[27:32] wasn't referring to to Tabitha or the town. I'm referring to the um

[27:37] >> we did

[27:39] >> chamber of commerce. Thank you.

[27:40] >> I knew you.

[27:41] >> Yeah, that that's what I was making

[27:42] reference to. And that's what I've

[27:44] argued for the last several years when I

[27:46] was on business committee, too. When

[27:48] they make presentations, I'll be like,

[27:49] "Wait, what about the local, you know,

[27:51] or the the state people that drive in?"

[27:53] >> Yeah. Okay. Great comments. I'll get

[27:55] that. Uh I really appreciate everybody's

[27:58] input. Uh, I I [clears throat] hate I

[28:00] had to campaign for this position

[28:02] chairman again, but [laughter]

[28:05] >> expect your check in the mail.

[28:07] >> I didn't see your sign in the mail.

[28:09] It'll it'll be in by 2030. I'm sure you

[28:11] receive. [laughter]

[28:13] >> Okay. If there are no other comments, I

[28:15] do appreciate it. We will we we'll work

[28:17] on those two meetings at least and we'll

[28:19] see about getting a gentleman from the

[28:22] uh

[28:23] association where

[28:26] come and speak to us again and I'll see

[28:28] if I can get that stuff from Tyler from

[28:31] the uh county. Any other comments?

[28:33] Anything for anybody? Motion to motion

[28:37] to second.

[28:38] >> Second it.

[28:39] >> Second. All in favor.

[28:41] >> Thanks for coming. I really appreciate

[28:42] it. I started with saying Nate could be

[28:45] chairman since he wasn't here.

[28:46] [laughter]

[28:47] He might quit on me and not show up from

[28:49] the restaurant.

ATAX 4 28 2026

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