 |
 |
 |
|
| The following summary minutes have not been approved by Simpsonville City Council. An official copy of the minutes will be available after adopted by City Council at City Hall 118 NE Main St. Simpsonville. Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, notice of this meeting date, time, place and Agenda was posted on the bulletin board at City Hall and faxed to the newspapers, radio stations, television stations and any concerned citizens. |
|
 |
SIMPSONVILLE CITY COUNCIL MINUTES BUSINESS SESSION April 10, 2007 6:30 P.M.
CALL TO ORDER: Mayor: Call the April Business meeting of Simpsonville City Council to order. I’d like to welcome you all hear tonight. Ms. Bodkins would you call the roll please. ROLL CALL: Ms. Bodkins: Yes sir: Councilmember Bridges: Here Councilmember Garrett: Here Councilmember Lawrence: Here Councilmember Gecy: Here Councilmember Zitricki: Here Councilmember Larson: Here Mayor Waldrop: Here
Mayor: Thank you Ms. Bodkins.
INVOCATION: Mayor: Is there anyone among us tonight who would like to ask blessings upon this meeting in your own personal way. All right hearing Council Member Brown or Council Member Garrett, whatever you want to be called, would you please ask blessings on this meeting in your own personal way please.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF 03/13/07; 03/27/07 Mayor: I’d like to say I’d like to welcome all of you here tonight. I hope you find it informative and somewhat entertaining. Council Member you have in your packets the minutes of the meeting of March 13 th and March 27 th . I’ll entertain a Motion in that regard. Mr. Gecy.
Mr. Gecy: I move we accept the minutes as written.
Mayor: Thank you Mr. Gecy, do I hear a second
Ms. Lawrence: Second
Mayor: Thank you Ms. Lawrence. Any additions, corrections, comments. Hearing none I’ll call for the vote. All in favor signify by saying Aye (AYE) opposed no. Aye’s have it it’s unanimous. The minutes are approved.
REVIEW OF MONTHLY REPORTS Mayor: I hope you’ve all reviewed the monthly reports from the Department Heads. Thank you again for all the efforts you put forward to let us know what’s going on in your department.
CITIZEN COMMENTS Mayor: This is the portion of our program where we invite citizen comment and for those of you who might now know the rules, if you called ahead and requested to be placed on the Agenda we’ll give you 4 minutes to talk to us about whatever you want to. If you signed up at the door we’ll give you two minutes. We’re pretty generous with that time. But this is our business meeting we’ll not respond or enter into conversation with you. We’ll just list to what you have to say. So, we had one person call ahead and request to be placed on the Agenda. I’ll call him forward now, Perry Eichor.
• Perry Eichor – 703 N. Almond Dr. Simpsonville I have no bones to pick in reference to the up-coming election. I assume that the people will vote for the party that they think will do the best job for the City of Simpsonville . My concern basically is over the denigration of the non-partisan form of government in the City of Simpsonville . In researching the findings of the SC Supreme Court concerning the last contested election, I found that the Greenville County Republican Party filed an amicus curiae (friendly brief) on behalf of the City of Simpsonville , after being requested to do so by the Chairman of the Election Commission. Actually the brief was a request to affirm the decision of the Simpsonville Election Commission. Now I’ve been told the Simpsonville Election Commission is a separate organization from the Town of Simpsonville , City of Simpsonville , excuse me I go back to the old days. However, I believe this argument is ______ in that the City enforces this commission and provides legal council for it. I do not understand why the City would ask a political party to interject itself into a non-political matter. Does this mean that in the future any dispute involving any commission is likely to be submitted to a certain political party asking them to file a brief for one side or the other. This is not a political issue and we should not be involved in it. Over the years I have thought that it was a good thing that legal agenda was considered national and state agendas were not a part of the consideration of the City nor the candidates for council election. Rather we could concentrate on going for those candidates, neither knowing their party affiliation or having any regards for it, but we were voting for those people who we thought had the best interest of the City at heart. Not caring what they thought about national issues, but what they thought about local issues in this City. The advocacy of any City matter by a political party is inappropriate, uncalled for and basically it’s none of their business. My comments are not meant to impugn the Republican party, but are rather meant as a wake-up call to the City to not involve itself nor ask for involvement by a political party. To do otherwise may lead us down a path where campaigns for positions that affect only the City will be reduced to how the candidate aligns himself on National issues. If this practice should continue I would ask that the council disband the Election Commission and have the County of Greenville handle all aspects of the City elections. Thank you, I appreciate your time.
Mayor: Thank you. All right, Mr. Eichor is the only person who called and asked to be placed on the Agenda. We have three persons that signed up tonight. You’ll have two minutes and I’ll ask you once you get to the microphone to state your address for the record and then you may begin. First is Don Helker.
• Don and Greg Helker – 704 N E Main St. Simpsonville. My name is Don Helker and this is my son Greg. Together, with my wife Sandra we own Community Cash at 704 N E Main Street . We have been there for approximately 6 years. And during that six years we’ve seen the influx like you have seen of more cash advance stores pop up. The proper term is deferred presentment by the way. But, they have popped up time and again and of course now penetrate N. Main Street . I understand your concerns over this. And we likewise have the same concerns. And we agree that something should be done. But to put a moratorium on our industry in general is not fair. I guess I’m confused though as to why we’re here and the article that was in the paper yesterday. The City approved the permits for all of these businesses, so these were businesses that had the influx of them has had prior approval by the City. So that’s one thing. I believe that further openings should be curtailed. Why penalize those that have supported the community for years. Another point, we just signed a three year lease with our landlord of six years. He pays property taxes to the City. We had a large investment in our business and we stand to loose it in the event this Resolution is approved. There’s been a lot of negative publicity directed to our industry. Like all businesses there are some poor examples of operators. We do not operate like that. And we take care of our customers. We operate under the State of SC Rules and Regulations and are audited regularly to verify that we adhere to them. Just one more comment, the State of Georgia by the way about a year ago had put a stop to our business, and throughout the whole state they abandoned the deferred presentment. However, they’ve been persuaded since then to reinstate them. So just recently, and I don’t know exactly the date, but I think about 3-4 months ago it was passed and they are opening back up. But it’s after the fact, people that have lost their businesses are now trying to re-open them or other people are opening the business. It wrecked some peoples lives, there’s no doubt about it. I have a memo here that Greg has, not to read now, but to read later. This was my response to the Columbia paper and the Greenwood paper that had some negative publicity about our business trade. And we don’t operate like that. We want you to know that and we want you to take the time, if you can just to read it and look it over. Also is a copy of the AP Release that they had published. That can no way allow us any time to present our case. I’ve done it in the form of a letter and sent it to the editors of the Columbia paper and to the Greenwood paper. I guess
Mayor: I’ll give you about 15 more seconds.
Mr. Helker: I’m going to end it right now. I want to thank you for the time and allowing us – Greg and I to come here before you and your consideration. We like Simpsonville a lot, we’re a big part of it. And Sandra and I live in Greenwood right now, but there may be a time when we want to move to this area. I’d like to thank you on behalf of Greg and Sandra and myself.
Mayor: Thank you. All right, next is Mark Holmes. And Mark if you’ll just state your address for the record you may begin.
• Mark Holmes – 300 McBee Ave Greenville . I represent the applicant for the South Street Planned Development. The Planning Commission recommended approval of that with some contingencies and we certainly appreciate the approval/recommendation. The first three of the seven contingencies are not a problem, they make perfect sense now for any time in the development. I just wanted to suggest to council that the remaining 4 contingencies, while they may be sensible they may be a little premature. It is difficult to know at this time in the development since many of the exact uses are uncertain, as to whether those would be feasible or necessary and we would hope that council would consider those remaining four contingencies as recommendations for the Planning Commission to consider when it gets to the final development planning stage and to make a determination then as to whether or not those are in fact required or not. We do not want to get into a situation where we have something that turns out not to be feasible – it would appear to be an absolute requirement on the Development Plan. I’ll certainly be here to answer questions when this comes up on the Agenda. Thank you.
Mayor: Thank you. All right, next is Denise Griffith, if you’ll state your name for the record you may begin. • Denise Griffith – 303 Barker Rd. Simpsonville I have more of a question than a comment regarding the South Street Planned Development Historical District concerning how that would affect the homeowner’s in that area as far as taxes and what exactly is historic district entail.
Mayor: Okay, thank you. You can speak with our City Administrator afterwards. All right, thank you all for speaking to us.
CITY ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT Mayor: We’ll move on now to the City Administrator’s Report. Mr. Hawes.
Mr. Hawes: Yes Mayor and Council. First of all an update on Freedom Weekend Aloft. Fine grading of the amphitheater is complete. Conduit has been placed underground for lighting, sound and mixing as well as service for vendors, ticketing, and future buildings. Sod should be placed really next week beginning and then be completed about two weeks after. The concrete for the stage and handicap accessibility will follow. All of the parking lots are being groomed to tighten them up for vehicles. The off-site parking areas will be used for the freedom weekend aloft and the shuttle buses will shuttle folks from these off-site areas to the event. The transportation plan is complete and we will be having a press release and possibly even a press conference this coming Friday. To discuss transportation plans as well as the numerous acts that are going to be playing at the amphitheater over that weekend. Freedom weekend aloft will issue that press release this Friday.
Also, I wanted to touch on another aspect of the amphitheater. Basically in order to provide the best venue we can for the future of Heritage Park , we had to make some design adjustments during construction. For example, the electrical has been stepped up to accommodate major touring events. The stage has been adjusted for the same reason with a retaining wall structure rather than the slopes leading up to the stage to provide security for the crowd and performers. This was determined to be a necessity. There are some aspects of the amphitheater construction priced out higher than projected. Most notably the electrical installation. The prices on copper have increased approximately one-third since we did the projection back in November. So the electrical prices are a tad higher. There is sufficient funding in the Hospitality and Accommodations account to address all these needs. I ask right now that council allow me to allocate these unbudgeted funds to the amphitheater project so that Freedom Weekend Aloft and all such public events at the facility will be the very best.
Mayor: Okay, so you just want something on that tonight.
Mr. Hawes: You need to go ahead to delegate those funds or however you would like to…..
Mayor: Why don’t you conclude your report and then I’ll ask for a motion.
Mr. Hawes: I can do that. I will do that. Very good news from the Municipal Association. The City of Simpsonville was awarded the SC Municipal Achievement Award for Heritage Park . Everybody in the City is to be commended on that. City Council, staff whoever had anything to do with that project and it’s operation, development, envisionment, citizens who are not part of City government, who were involved in contemplating the need for working on committees to envision exactly how that park would take shape. They are all to be commended. The award itself was a competitive process where Heritage Park was reviewed against many other municipal projects in the State. We will receive our award with a presentation at the MASC annual conference in Greenville in July.
FY-2007-2008 Budget – is proceeding well. We now have the necessary projections for revenue sources and operating expenditures and we are fine-tuning all departmental requests and developing several scenarios for council to consider. There will be a final budget ready for the City Council Workshop, two weeks and two days from today on April 26 th .
Special Election – The planning for the upcoming special election for Ward IV on May 24 th has been completed by the County Election staff. Advertisements have been placed in the paper and registration for the election is open until April 28 th at the County Square Election Office.
Senior Transportation Pilot Program – there’s been a nice article in the paper about that. The recreation department is looking to extend its operating at the Senior Center by providing a demonstration project for senior citizen transportation. This is an eligible function for service funding through Community Development Block Grants. We will be tracking the demand for the service to determine if it may be worthy of extension beyond its one month trial and inclusion in a funding request that we are developing for CDBG funding will be submitted. So far there appears to be a solid level of interest in the service. We’ve had two riders, but they’ve been consistent. That’s a start. We’re going to be tracking that – we’ve only been operating a week but it’s been an interesting process. So I’ll keep you informed on that one.
Also I want to let you know the week of April 8-14 that were currently in is National Public Safety Telecommunications Week. This was established in order to recognize the dispatchers that work with us all year. We all rely on dispatchers more than we ever really stop to think about. If you ever need an officer, police or fire, the job that the dispatchers do is very important. It’s difficult and often thankless, so we want to commend the dispatchers and recognize them during National Public Telecommunications Week.
Our next meeting is workshop meeting scheduled for the 24 th of April and the Budget Workshop two days later on April 26 th .
Mayor: Okay, thank you Mr. Hawes
Mr. Hawes: Oh, also, I do want to remind you about the Statement of Economic Interest forms. If anyone has not filled those out they need to be down to Columbia by the end of this week.
Mayor: Thank you. Before we move on to Council Comments I’ll entertain a motion for Mr. Hawes.
Mr. Hawes: Well actually it’s to allocate the unbudgeted funds that are available and we’re in need of. Hospitality and Accommodations to meet the multiple needs of the amphitheater construction.
Ms. Lawrence: I make a motion that we allow the $100,000 overage in the Hospitality and Accommodations account to go for the – I understood it was the road
Mr. Hawes: It’s a number – it depends on how you figure where the overage is – if you put the road in before any actual overages projections beyond the stage and the electrical – the road is actually coming in close to where we projected it. The thing is the road is not installed yet so therefore it would have to be approached from that funding source. There’s $150,000 available and I would request that that be allocated in case we need it just to get this done.
Ms. Lawrence: Okay, I’ll change my motion to make it $150,000 to get that done, because I certainly don’t want to see this thing fall apart now.
Mayor: Okay, do I hear a second.
Mr. Larson: I’ll second it.
Mayor: Okay, I have a second – discussion. Mr. Gecy
Mr. Gecy: That means on the record you said it was going to cost us $475,000 – how much is it going to cost us now.
Mr. Hawes: I couldn’t tell you at this moment but if all of the $150,000 were allocated it would be $625,000.
Mr. Gecy: So are you saying that’s what it’s going to cost us.
Mr. Hawes: I cannot say whether it’s going to come in exactly, but I would like to have the assets to do that if we need to.
Mr. Gecy: We addressed that we borrowed 2 million dollars to do this work out there – it’s kind of still a puzzlement to me that we don’t have enough money to finish this – that’s an awful lot of money – for that purpose – and we’re going down the same road again – are we getting in over our heads where we’re not going to be able to afford to do this – and this is a great thing I understand that – are we getting hurt ….
Mr. Hawes: I don’t believe so. No actually what we’re doing is we’re building a facility that will pay back in multiples once it’s – we’re building a first class facility not a partial
Mr. Gecy: If we’re going to get this done how much pain do we have to suffer for this – I mean on services.
Mr. Hawes: Minimal amount because this is funding that we’re talking about that’s funding that we pay back the bonds any way. This is Hospitality and Accommodations money that needs to be expended at Heritage Park any way. We’re just allocating it at this point to the amphitheater.
Mr. Gecy: Okay, that’s great. That’s all being done by contractors right?
Mr. Hawes: Correct
Mr. Gecy: Public Works isn’t doing the work right
Mr. Hawes: They’ve done some work out there certainly.
Mr. Gecy: What are they – are they doing work like this
Mr. Hawes: Not a whole lot – they may do some like landscape.
Mr. Gecy: How about the stage – are they doing
Mr. Hawes: They have been planning from day 1 to do the stage, pour the concrete because we have concrete masons on staff
Mr. Gecy: So our City concrete people are going to pour the stage. We kind of agreed – we all agreed that we were going to contract it out and borrow against the 2% and now I see we’re spending a lot of our time at Heritage Park . Are we suffering at all, the citizens for services.
Mr. Hawes: We are not. That’s my comment on that.
Mr. Larson: If I understand what you’re saying the development of the amphitheater at Heritage Park that was kind of like stage II or stage III that was going to be done down the road any way. This is just a process to speed that up.
Mr. Hawes: Correct. Something maybe to take into consideration is we had to do this projection before any of the designs were done. We had to allocate money before any design work was done. The allocation allocated $475,000 and that was by our best estimates at the time. As we encounter aspects of the project that would make it a first class facility that I know City Council wants and discussed at the retreat – we talked about having major touring acts not just those that would be brought in by Freedom Weekend Aloft but having the types of facilities that can support that – we had to step up the electrical – we had to change the stage design – things along those lines.
Mr. Zitricki: Mr. Hawes do you see any more expenditure that we’re going to incur besides the $150,000 additional in the near future or in the foreseeable future.
Mr. Hawes: In the foreseeable future, if City Council wishes to have a venue that compete directly against those in Atlanta and Charlotte I can see a stage structure covering – stage covered structure – that would require approximately $300,000 to $500,000.
Mr. Zitricki: And are you pursuing this.
Mr. Hawes: Not until council approves it.
Mayor: Okay, anyone else. Well Mr. Hawes I think this is a great investment. That’s why – using this accommodations tax money like this is the purest form of what the legislature intended for this act is for small towns like this and large cities to is to use it to encourage tourism and this will generate revenues greatly of the food and beverage tax that is collected by our folks in the town and we will become a destination for what potentially – who know maybe make an asset for the future. So, that money will be coming back to us and I think it’s a good investment. By the way I think you’ve done a good job with managing this project without much of a construction background.. It looks like it’s going to be great and I’m glad you sold it to folks who know how to do these things. Having said that I’ll call for the vote. All those in favor signify by saying Aye (AYE) opposed No. Aye’s have it it’s unanimous. Thank you – you can go forward and make us proud.
COUNCIL COMMENTS Mayor: All right, now it’s council comments session. And Ms. Lawrence you’re ready with your finger up.
Ms. Lawrence: I just wanted to know if you got that information on those speed bumps.
Mr. Hawes: Yeah – the temporary type are $2,000 per. Speed bumps range from $2,000 for temporary type which are put in with nails and can be removed, the spikes can be removed – up to $5,000 for individual speed bumps that are poured and marked. The first ones we’re looking at on Westwood require 2-3 speed humps – and they are humps not bumps. Speed bumps are what’s in parking lots that slow you down to 5 mph before you go over them. Speed humps can be traversed at 20-25 mph.
Ms. Lawrence: Well I’ll just change that “b” to an “h”. And so we’re looking at budget maybe
Mr. Hawes: That’s correct we’ll address that on the 26 th in the budget.
Ms. Lawrence: Okay – good and what’s the – were you able or were you and Mr. Spain able to find out anything about the property on North Main Street I asked you about.
Mr. Hawes: Yes ma’am. I’ll tell you after or I can tell you now.
Ms. Lawrence: Okay, tell me.
Mr. Hawes: Would you like me to clarify which property you’re talking about.
Ms. Lawrence: I can do it – the former Harold Painter Car Lot
Mr. Hawes: Right it is a – what’s the terminology Al commercially – substandard commercial and that would be the angle from which we approached that because it’s been like that for over 6 months.
Ms. Lawrence: There’s all kind of keep out – all over it.
Mr. Hawes: Right, so we are going to approach that
Ms. Lawrence: Thank you.
Mayor: Anyone else – Mr. Bridges
Mr. Bridges: I’ve had a request from Wagon Creek the other day about a stop sign at Wagon Creek Drive and Pinewood Court . They asked about a three-way stop
Mr. Hawes: Any time there’s a request the Chief will go out there and see if there’s a warrant for action to be taken there. So, we will – he’s writing it down right now I can see him back there.
Mayor: Okay – anyone else. Mr. Gecy
Mr. Gecy: Can you get us caught up with where we are with the paving.
Mr. Hawes: The advertisements were bid. I’m not aware that we’ve received any response yet because the time for closing bids has not arrived yet – I think that’s set for – Joe’s not here right now to tell me – I don’t have a bid package in front of me – I believe it’s the end of this month.
Mr. Gecy: So we will open bids this month
Mr. Hawes: It will be contracted
Mr. Gecy: And then when can we – do you think we’ll be able to start paving – if they get this contract – when do you think they’ll be working on it
Mr. Hawes: Well we’ll negotiate an agreement with them whereby they will mobilize as quickly as possible and attack the project in the most efficient way possible. We want to make sure they stay on track throughout the entire project.
Mr. Gecy: Well will that be a determining factor
Mr. Hawes: It will be a consideration – I can’t say it’s a determining factor because our procurement policy requires a low bid. However, that is all things be equal otherwise.
Mr. Gecy: In other words if the contract asks for say anything about when they would finish this
Mr. Hawes: There is no contract – it’s just being advertised
Mr. Gecy: But we did say we did want – we would like to pave this year.
Mr. Hawes: That’s the intent – we intend to have the work completed this summer.
Mr. Gecy: Is there a possibility somebody could bid and then say well it’s cold weather now – is that a possibility at all.
Mr. Hawes: There’s always a possibility that things get caught up Mr. Gecy. I would say that it’s an unlikely probability because first of all in the summertime – to get cold weather it would have to be in November really or at least October.
Mr. Gecy: Well you would think that but you wouldn’t think you’d have a baseball game in a snow storm either.
Mr. Hawes: Well that’s what I say – exactly – so it could happen in August but it’s still
Mr. Gecy: I can imagine a contractor out there and he gets behind or doesn’t get his priorities
Mayor: Well if I may add before we sign a contractor we could certainly include a clause in there that says to begin no later than this date and I’m sure our attorney could craft some sort of wording
Mr. Hawes: That would be the intent.
Mr. Gecy: All right. I just wanted to bring up an item after Mr. Eichor brought up that item on the Election Commission. Asking the Republican Party to get involved in it. I’ve spoken to council in Executive Session but I would like to make it public because I think it should go on record to be recorded as being appalled that the Republican Party was part of this. So much so that when the Supreme Court’s ruling to declare the election came back and overturned the Circuit Court a copy had to go to the lawyers for the Republican Party. That kind of made one more group of people when you have a ballot when you win the election. That was totally uncalled for. Mr. Bridges I’d like to ask you, you as a council member happened to be present that night, did you respond at all, did you find that that was inappropriate in any way at all and why didn’t you speak up.
Mr. Bridges: I’m not going to speak about it right now.
Mr. Gecy: That’s a good way to get out of it. Mr. Bridges was present during that meeting – there were several people there but you were there and I thought if anyone on this council thought it was appropriate this would have been an opportunity to admit that you did think it wasn’t helping the situation because our Chairman of the Election Commission did not go to the Republican Party until the Circuit Court overturned his ruling, you notice I said his ruling. Not the rest of the commission because that was his ruling. You can’t identify the election commission members during those hearings. Nobody’s name, just Todd Kincannon. And he was overturned and he goes to the Republican Party and he goes to the Republican Party to get help to sustain his own ruling. I don’t know what the Republican Party was thinking. I don’t know whether they knew who he was or not. The fact is they got duped into doing this and had their attorney write a brief and what’s still speculative was they didn’t turn it in – the Amicus brief to the Supreme Court until after the oral arguments were made. That was not even fair because we did not even know about it until it was all over with and we got a copy of it and our attorneys had to respond to it and that cost us $600 to do that. So not only was it inappropriate it cost me money. I had to get that off my chest.
Mayor: All right thank you Mr. Gecy. Anyone else. All right hearing no further comments we’ll move on to old business.
OLD BUSINESS: • Vision Statement Mayor: Under old business Mr. Hawes you’re going to talk to us about our Vision Statement.
Mr. Hawes: Yes sir Mayor and Council, I received – I appreciate you all getting back your responses and what I’m trying to do for our workshop meeting is a synopsis of the – almost a blend of the responses – trying to incorporate the aspects. The latest one I received was today just before this meeting so it’s probably better at a workshop meeting so we can banter it back and forth anyway. So hopefully we’ll have that on the workshop meeting on the 24 th . Or I intend to have that for your workshop meeting on the 24 th a synopsized recommendation of a Vision Statement, based on you all’s input so far.
Mr. Hawes: Okay that’s good my vision is getting worse every day so….
• Code of Ordinances – 1 st Reading Mayor: All right next item on the Agenda is Mr. Holmes is going to talk to us about our Code of Ordinances again.
Mr. Holmes: It is on your Agenda for first reading. You have had a chance to – we provided it to you on CD. It’s the entire set of ordinances up to date as of the date we gave you the CD which is now 30-40 days ago. So it’s up to date that far. It has comments from both me and a member of council, but until this Council either votes to adopt those comments or make change as suggested to the ordinance as shown on that compact disk – we need to publish your ordinances. They are on your web site – that is my long range plan is to get them updated and one the web site and the public and everyone can have access to them by simply going to the web site. But it’s up for 1 st reading and I’d ask you to pass them on the 1 st reading and we can put them back on the workshop agenda for the next workshop and discuss it some more and then have the final reading in May.
Mayor: Okay thank you Mr. Holmes. I’ll entertain a motion in that regard. Ms. Lawrence
Ms. Lawrence: . It’s the entire set of ordinances up to date as of the date we gave you the CD which is now 30-40 days ago. So it’s up to date that far. It has comments from both me and a member of council, but until this Council either votes to adopt those comments or make change as suggested to the ordinance as shown on that compact disk – we need to publish your ordinances. They are on your web site – that is my long range plan is to get them updated and one the web site and the public and everyone can have access to them by simply going to the web site. But it’s up for 1 st reading and I’d ask you to pass them on the 1 st reading and we can put them back on the workshop agenda for the next workshop and discuss it some more and then have the final reading in May.
Mayor: Okay thank you Mr. Holmes. I’ll entertain a motion in that regard. Ms. Lawrence
Ms. Lawrence: Yes Mr. Mayor I’ll make a motion that we accept the code of ordinances with notations as noted.
Mayor: All right Ms. Lawrence thank you – do I hear a second.
Mr. Gecy: Second
Mayor: Mr. Gecy seconds. Thank you Mr. Gecy. Any discussion. All right council this is first reading – excuse me Mr. Garrett
Mr. Garrett: We can still go ahead and make further notations on these ordinances.
Mr. Holmes: Yes, that’s why there’s two readings.
Mayor: Okay anyone else. All right, hearing no further discussion I’ll remind you all that this is first reading. All in favor signify by saying Aye (AYE) opposed No. Aye’s have it it’s unanimous.
RESOLUTIONS: • Child Abuse Prevention Month Mayor: All right we move on to Resolutions. We are happy to have with us tonight Tom Charles. Tom would you come forward. To talk to us about Child Abuse Prevention Month. If you’ll just introduce yourself and tell every body who you are and what you do and why you’re here. The floor is yours.
Mr. Charles: Thank you Mr. Mayor and members of Council. My name is Tom Charles and I’m the area out-reach worker for Strong Communities, which has a special place in Simpsonville based out of the Golden Strip Center and we’ve been a partner with the City of Simpsonville all of 5 plus years of our existence. The aim of Strong Communities is plainly and simply to reduce the incidences of child abuse and neglect. A different tact we’re taking to do that though is to put into place members of support in families of children. In recognizing what those challenges are this is a national observance of National Child Abuse Prevention Month which occurs in April. With various community gatherings and happenings culminating in Blue Ribbon Sabbath which will be celebrated on April 29 th at various state, community gatherings in Simpsonville as well as the larger communities. In honor of the month as the City has seen fit to do in the past we’re asking you to consider a resolution that I provided to you all ahead of time but I don’t know whether you have it or not.
Mayor: It’s in our packet.
Mr. Charles: I’ve got an extra copy to if anybody needs it. One of the things about the project going on 5 years and hopefully for another 5 years is that while the anchor is the same our approach is always to look at special needs and the special theme of this year’s celebration which is written in the resolution is to leave no families outside. In simple terms – any family that’s in need of this kind of support has access to it. Thank you very much.
Mayor: Okay, thank you. Before we vote this would you like to read the Resolution so everybody here can hear what’s going on.
WHEREAS, Strong Communities for children, a Landmark initiative for the prevention of child abuse and neglect; has become an integral part of the Simpsonville community;
WHEREAS, Strong Communities is a Public Service Activity of Clemson University through its institute on Family and Neighborhood Life undertaken with generous support by the Duke Endowment;
WHEREAS, Strong Communities has engaged more than 4,500 volunteers and hundreds of organizations throughout southern Greenville County and the adjacent communities of Anderson and Laurens Counties in the past five years;
WHEREAS , the City of Simpsonville is proud to be recognized as a Strong Community for Children – a community in which children and their parents know that they will be noticed and care for if they have reason to celebrate, worry, or grieve;
WHEREAS , the safety of children is vulnerable when parents do not believe that they have the capacity to generate the resources to meet their children’s basic needs; and
WHEREAS , such beliefs are most acute when parents feel alone,
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that April is hereby declared to be Child Abuse Prevention Month in the City of Simpsonville ,
That the City recognizes the protection of its youngest citizens as a matter of high priority,
That the City expresses the appreciation of the community for the efforts by the staff and volunteers of Strong Communities to “keep kids safe,”
That the City encourages local civic, educational, and religious organizations to participate in discussions of the opportunities for expression of neighborly support to families of young children, and
That the City joins Strong Communities in encouraging local organizations and City agencies to take whatever actions are necessary to “leave no families outside”.
Adopted by the City Council of the City of Simpsonville , South Carolina , on April 10, 2007.
Mayor: Thank you.
Mr. Larson: I make a motion that we adopt a resolution to make this National Child Abuse Month.
Mr. Bridges: Second
Mayor: Mr. Bridges seconds. All right I have a motion and second – any discussion. Hearing none I’ll call for the vote. All in favor signify by saying Aye (AYE) opposed No. Aye’s have it it’s unanimous. Thank you for coming.
• Resolution to suspend issuing licenses to Pay Day Loans; Check Cashing and Title Loan Establishments Mayor: Next on the agenda Mr. Al Spain’s going to come forward and talk to us about a resolution to suspend business licenses to Pay Day Loans, Check Cashing and Title Loan Establishments.
Mr. Spain : Thank you Mr. Mayor and members of council. Just to give you a brief background on this because there have been some mis-conceptions gotten out. As you are all aware the Pay Day Loan and those places have been some concern for council over the past few months. A couple of months ago council asked the Planning Commission to look into the possibility of regulating these establishments to certain districts in the zoning ordinance. This resolution was drafted by members of the City Planning Commission and it does not affect the existing businesses that are in right now. They can get their business licenses renewed with no problem. What this resolution was asking tonight was that you pass a 90 day moratorium in preventing new businesses from coming into town to give the Planning Commission time to get an ordinance drafted to haul back before City Council. So this ordinance would not put anybody out of business right now – it’s simply to give a 90 day moratorium – I say 90 day moratorium and that’s a bad word – a 90 day suspension where we don’t look at any more business licenses until this ordinance comes back before council and at this time we are working on an ordinance – we don’t have it nailed down as to what those requirements might be yet but we’re planning a workshop session for that. Basically they’re just asking you to pass this resolution tonight to grant them 90 days in order to get this back to you all.
Mayor: I’m a little confused. Why are we passing a resolution – before we have something – wouldn’t it be more appropriate to have an ordinance presented to us – Mr. Parliamentarian
Mr. Holmes: All the resolution is saying is the Planning Commission is getting ready to come back to you with an ordinance and they’re just simply saying to defer the issuance of business licenses to these institutions for 90 days while they do that.
Mayor: So it’s a moratorium.
Mr. Holmes: That’s what it is.
Mr. Gecy: Don’t they call that a pending ordinance document or something that you can just say you’re looking at something and have that cover
Mr. Holmes: There is a sense in what you refer to but that’s not what – this has to do with the issuance of business licenses not granting permits to do construction or land use – this has to do with – I’m assuming the Planning Commission plans to look at where the appropriate districts are for these types of businesses to go in. And so that’s what the purpose of the 90 day waiting period is. I’m comfortable with it as long as it’s a very short period and brief period. Nothing in this affects currently existing property licenses for businesses.
Mayor: Then I’ll call for a motion. Ms. Lawrence
Ms. Lawrence: Yes Mr. Mayor, I make a motion that we accept the Planning Commission’s resolution to postpone issuance of business licenses to new Pay Day Loan, Check Cashing and Title Loan establishments for a period of 90 days.
Mayor: Thank you Ms. Lawrence, do I hear a second.
Mr. Gecy: Second
Mayor: Mr. Gecy seconds. All right discussion. Mr. Larson
Mr. Larson: How many business licenses in the City
Mr. Spain : I’ve heard two numbers. I heard one number was 8 – 8
Mr. Larson: Are there any applications in – so we have 8 total and no one else has applied.
Mr. Spain : Not at this time.
Mayor: All right Ms. Lawrence.
Ms. Lawrence: Well I’d just like to say that I’m real upset that Mr. Helker and his family got upset over this. Unfortunately it wasn’t reported very well. It’s strictly new places. I just want to reiterate that.
Mayor: All right, anyone else. Well I have concerns about this. I can’t say that I’m one that appreciates that business. I believe that they take great advantage of folks who should know better but don’t. I think that sometimes the pressure is too critical. But the State of South Carolina says it’s legal and if some of our citizens think it’s okay because they’re supporting these folks and if people out there don’t support them they’re going to leave. So in my mind that’s a vote to allow those folks to operate here. I think we’re starting down a slippery slope when you start eliminating business that we don’t like or think are fair. I couldn’t support this resolution and I couldn’t support an ordinance to not allow these folks in our town. I’m not saying that I’m a big supporter of them or what they do, I just think it’s bad to set a precedent that I don’t want to be part of. Ms. Lawrence.
Ms. Lawrence: It’s not outlawing them out of town it’s just so the Planning Commission can find what zoning classification they want to put them in.
Mayor: Well that’s not what I’m understanding
Mr. Spain: Excuse me for interrupting but – located them in different districts requiring them – similar to other establishments that we’ve had in the past that come in and council and Planning Commission required a little separation or whatever you might call in an area – whether it be like the adult oriented businesses that were limited to S-1 districts with certain limitations within each other. Planning Commission would be looking at a zoning district that would be compatible for what these type people offer to the people – of course it would have to be a commercial type area but definitely a service type area and there might be some contingencies involved in that like restrict so many of them within so many feet of each other and these items have not been addressed yet. It would not be – the intent of the Planning Commission would not be to out-law the businesses it would just be to regulate where they’re located.
Mayor: I want to ask you – how many complaints have we had.
Mr. Spain : I haven’t received any.
Mayor: Mr. Hawes have we had any complaints
Mr. Hawes: No.
Mayor: Chief Reece have we had any complaints that you’re aware of.
Mr. Hawes: He’s shaking his head no.
Mayor: Folks hanging out front or –
Mr. Witkowski: Well Mayor I think one of the – I’d like to remind council first of all that the Planning Commission took on this role at your request. Back in January. You asked the Planning Commission to look at – the council, I didn’t mean you personally sir, the Council asked us to look at it. We have had a lot of things on our plate the last couple of months and we’ve not been able to get to this as quickly as we thought we could. We’re simply asking that you give us 90 days and suspend new licenses for that 90 days so we can present an ordinance to you. Whether you approve that ordinance or not is up to you. We’re just trying to do what you asked. And we appreciate that. Thank you.
Mayor: All right, any other discussion. All right hearing none. This will only require this reading tonight so I’ll call for the vote. All those in favor signify by saying Aye (AYE) opposed No. (Mayor was opposed). The Aye’s have it so go forward.
ORDINANCES • Historic Preservation Ordinance Mayor: All right, next item on the Agenda – well Al you’re still up there. Historic Preservation Ordinance.
Mr. Spain : Yes sir. As you are all aware the historic preservation ordinance has come back before the Planning Commission again. For more background on this – we did hold a workshop on this and it was advertised for a Public Hearing which was advertised, council heard it and it came back to the Planning Commission and they tried to make some changes and we had people from the State come up and meet with them and talk about it. They voted to pass this ordinance and pass it onto the City Council. It was voted 4-2 at their last meeting – meeting before last. Then council heard the application for the amendment and requested that the Planning Commission go back and have another public meeting on this in order to get additional public input. There was an article in the Greenville News and also the Tribune Times – it was a pretty good sized article. We held the meeting last Tuesday night and there were 2 individuals that showed up and expressed concern at that time – Mr. Sharon Sherbert and Mr. Gene Gault and there main concerns were could they opt out of the historic preservation ordinance if they didn’t want to be in. And the Commission explained to them at that time that they would have the chance to come before City Council and plead their case should they be designated as an historic area, but their only recourse would be through the court system if the council decided to place them in an historic district. But at this time there are no historic districts established and it was the intent, when we initially started off was to have it done on a voluntary basis, but we were informed by the State this would not be allowed, that the Historic Preservation Board would be appointed as a part of this and be presented for determining the historic preservation criteria and if certain properties meet that they could bring that before City Council for your consideration of whether to include those properties or not include them in the historic district.
Mayor: Okay, I’ll entertain a motion.
Mr. Larson: I’ll make a motion that we adopt the Ordinance
Mayor: Oh is that it.
Mr. Larson: That’s it.
Mayor: So your motion is to adopt the recommendation of the Planning Commission. Okay, I have a motion from Mr. Larson do I hear a second, going once, going twice. All right, no second so – thank you very much Mr. Spain and for all your work. There was no second to the motion so it automatically fails.
ANNEXATIONS/REZONINGS • AXZ-2007-01 Stokes Landing Planned Development Mayor: All right, Mr. Witkowski. You’ve got the microphone.
Mr. Witkowski: I’m going to have Mr. Spain come up here with me. Mayor and Council I was not at the Planning Commission meeting last Tuesday night, Mr. Newman sat in my place as Chairman. He was to present these two rezoning requests to you tonight but he’s had a family emergency and he’s asked me to take his place. And I’ll do the best job that I can and in case I don’t I’ve got my back-up over here okay. The first one that comes before us Mayor and Council is AXZ-2007-01 Stokes Landing PD. Applicants are Chris and Brian Cooley, Collie and Stephen Smith and Bear Griffin and their authorized representative Bobby Scoggins with A&W Land Acquisitions. Stokes Landing is bordered by Stokes Road , Jonesville Road and Putnam Street , consisting of approximately 24.4 acres with the primary entrance to be off of Stokes Road approximately 3/10 of a mile from Hillcrest Middle School . The requested zoning change is from County RS to City PD. Stokes Landing will be comprised of approximately 80 family homes with an average of 1,600 square feet and 3 and 4 bedrooms. There is to be approximately 3.7 acres of open and community space, including a pedestrian foot path linking to the open space and additional landscaping along entrances on Stokes Road and Putnam Street and birms surrounding the working pond. The developer has indicated the price of these homes would be in the range of $250,000 and the builder will be Eastwood Homes. Commissioners had some concern regarding traffic count and traffic generation in light of the close proximity to Hillcrest Middle School . The developer is willing to work with the commission to address these concerns and is providing a 50 foot radii turn feature into the main entrance with sidewalks along the remainder of their frontage on Stokes Road . The developer has indicated a willingness to look at pervious materials for the sidewalks to reduce the amount of storm water run-off. Fences, if used, will be decorative in nature and conform to the surrounding area. Standardized mailboxes will be used and ornamental lighting, much the same as being used in the downtown area of Simpsonville will be used. The Planning Commission voted unanimously 4-0 for adoption and recommendation to you. Commissioners Witkowski, Wright and Leitke were not available for that vote. The Planning Commission recommends to you on first reading to approve this development. We’ll try to answer any questions that you might have Mayor.
Mayor: Thank you Mr. Witkowski. We’ll get a motion first. Would someone like to make a Motion. Ms. Lawrence
Ms. Lawrence: Yes Mr. Mayor I make a motion that we accept 2007-01AXZ on first reading.
Mayor: Okay Ms. Lawrence, do I hear a second
Mr. Larson: Second
Mayor Mr. Larson seconds. Discussions or questions for Mr. Witkowski. Mr. Zitricki
Mr. Zitricki: Mr. Witkowski, maybe Mr. Spain can help you on this one. Were there any people in opposition.
Mr. Spain : No sir.
Mayor: All right anyone else.
Mr. Zitricki: I have one more question
Mayor: Oh, I’m sorry.
Mr. Zitricki: I see three contingencies on here. They’ll meet all 3 contingencies plus the egress and ingress from the subdivision
Mr. Spain : Yes sir they will meet those. The primary entrance will be off of Stokes Road and will use Putnam Street as a secondary access point. They’ve also in their plans incorporated, we’ve been talking a lot about continuity between subdivision – they’ve also at the end of the cul-de-sac in your package – I don’t believe the roads are named yet but the road comes around (Tape Changed Sides) what they will of course do this road right here they’re providing access in case this property gets developed they can have some internal flow in there where you won’t have to have additional curb cuts. The Highway Department is looking at redoing the Jonesville/Stokes Road intersection. But at present they don’t have any plans and way this subdivision is laid out the Highway Department will not give them access to Jonesville Road with this subdivision. So that’s why the secondary access point moved down to Putnam Street .
Mayor: Okay Mr. Gecy
Mr. Gecy: What’s the adjacent zoning now.
Mr. Spain . The property in the county is zoned RS suburban. The properties inside the City on the Brookmere side are zoned R-10 single family and there is a buffer that runs between the subdivision and the existing neighborhood and also we’ve gotten approval letters from Joe Carter on the sewer. They’re going to be putting in a parallel sewer line in there within existing right of ways I believe, and they’re also going to be – this area’s going to be a wet working pond. We work with a lot of developers now and they seem to like these as opposed to the dry. They keep it full and use it as an amenity. I don’t know if you can ever catch any fish in them or not but they are also going to have walking trails that will come through this to provide access to this and I assume also for the people that are in the subdivision across the creek.
Mr. Gecy: Okay, good. What is the projected flow in sewer and which basin will it go into.
Mr. Spain : Which basin I don’t know. Hold on a second and I will get the approval on the sewer.
Mr. Witkowski: I don’t know where it goes either – but my understanding is that if it’s a parallel line put in that when it’s finished it then becomes the City of Simpsonville sewer so we would still get the usage fee off of that. But it does need to be upgraded or there does need to be a parallel line.
Mr. Spain : Here’s a copy of the parallel line. I don’t know if – they worked with Joe Carter on this. Too much stuff in here. I do know that they worked with Joe and Joe has given them approval for the sewer flow. Here you go.
Mr. Gecy: Mr. Hawes do you know which basin this is going to be going into.
Mr. Hawes: Not without having an out-flow map no I don’t.
Mr. Gecy: I thought he said it was going to Hunters Woods – that’s not true is it. (Laughter)
Mr. Spain : This is from a memorandum from Jay Crawford who is our sewer guru. It says, “When I was asked about sewer availability for a new housing project off Stokes Rd. I January from Dwayne Coulter of New Way Properties. I checked the current status on sewer capacity. The line they requested to tie onto does not have the capacity to carry the 27,200 gallons per day of sewer Mr. Coulter requested. I sent hi an e-mail telling him that he would have to upsize 3 segments in our existing line and adjust 10 manholes to accommodate the increased pipe sizes at an estimated cost of $143,115. However, we cannot increase our last two line segments before we tie onto Western Carolina ’s trunk line at this location is only a 10” line. I talked with Brian Bishop and was told that their line increases in size to a 12” line two manholes below where we currently tie onto them. Brian told me it would be better for the developers to tie directly onto this manhole. Joe and I talked about this and decided the best idea would be for the developers of the project to install a new sewer line running parallel to our existing line and tying onto Western Carolina two manholes down from where we tie on. The estimated cost for this would be $102,000. See map. If the developers construct this project with the required sewer and annex into the City, we could, upon inspection and approval of the sewer, agree to own, operate and maintain the sewer within the project all the way to Western Carolina sewer line. But it didn’t say the basin in there.
Mr. Gecy: Okay well that’s part of the Stonebridge Basin . And that’s one of the critical ones we’ve always had.
Mr. Hawes: The thing is they’re talking directly into the Western Carolina line, they are not impacting our lines at all.
Mr. Gecy: Because that’s really where we have a –
Mr. Hawes: That’s why I need to see the out-flow map
Mr. Gecy: So the developer has agreed to upgrade the line as far as their contract and will we have an engineer to
Mr. Spain : Public Works will be signing off – DHEC will have to come out and sign off on them to give – they come out and test the lines to check them before they give them a permit to operate. Our Public Works Department is out there generally about every day when they are putting the sewer line in to check it to make sure it does meet our City standards. And we don’t sign off on any of these until we get the DHEC approved letter and also Western Carolina saying they’ll accept the flow.
Mayor: Is that good? Ms. Lawrence
Ms. Lawrence: But I think it’s important to understand that they’re not upgrading they’re running a parallel line into Western Carolina .
Mr. Spain : That’s right into – right they will not be using City lines in any shape although the City will take over maintenance of those lines once they are installed.
Mr. Gecy: That’s good
Mayor: Mr. Larson
Mr. Larson: I must have missed it – how many lots did you say were going to be in there
Mr. Spain : Approximately 80
Mr. Larson: And then they’re going to try to use the pervious concrete as much as they can.
Mr. Spain : They would explore that – we discussed that with Matt Kline who was the representative from Gray Engineering. And he stated that they would look at it. As your all well aware that pervious concrete as far as roads is still this way in the upstate. But they did say that they would look at the pervious concrete for sidewalk usage and things of that nature.
Mr. Larson: And then it’s a good idea to have a natural area like that with the pond. How’s the pond going to be filled. Is it a natural spring or
Mr. Spain : I’m assuming it – there is a creek there. I’m assuming there might be – I really don’t know. I mean it will be a wet pond so it would have to fill. I’m assuming a lot of it would be from rainfall, I’m not sure if there are any springs feeding into it.
Mayor: Okay, Mr. Gecy
Mr. Gecy: Just for clarification the requested zoning is R-10.
Mr. Spain : No sir the requested zoning is PD Planned Development
Mr. Gecy: R-10 was in the county is that right
Mr. Spain : No sir, RS was in the County. I believe the properties that’s in the subdivision at Abbotsford and Cloverdale and those over there where Councilman Curry formerly lived, that property is zoned R-10 single family.
Mr. Gecy: That’s where I wrote R-10. What I wanted you to do is just for clarification what does R-10 mean.
Mr.,. Spain : It’s a single family lot minimum or average of 10,000 sq ft per lot.
Mr. Gecy: How many is that per acre about.
Mr. Spain : 43.
Mayor: 43 houses per acre.
Mr. Spain : No it would be 4 – don’t get me doing goes into’s
Mr. Gecy: Approximately 4 per acre yes as an R-10 and as a Planned Development would this density be close to that – I mean just guess.
Mr. Spain : I could look and see. It would be more dense than that. The Planned Developments – it’s a trade off. If you use the over-all – because we looked at a while back – with the averaging the county does in cluster developments, this will probably average out but with this if you include the 3.7 acres that they’re using for amenities included in with the lots the average lot size would probably average out around 10. But the individual lots once you take the community area out are probably going to be in the 7-8,000 sq ft range.
Mayor: Anyone else. Mr. Garrett
Mr. Garrett: You probably told it and I missed it but are these slab homes or crawl space.
Mr. Spain : Didn’t I tell you I don’t know. This will be something that they will bring back to the Planning Commission when they do the final development plan. However, from Eastwood Homes I’ve seen them do houses both ways. But a lot of these homes now are using what they call steel model construction, which is basically where they bring the – it doesn’t have a crawl space but when you look at it from the outside you see 4-5 courses of brick coming up to steel wall construction and that’s what a lot of these newer builders are utilizing because it makes the house look a little better than when you see 6” of slab sticking out of the bottom of it. But it would be brought back. There should be some pictures |