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Town Council - Nov 5, 2007 |
Minutes McClellanville Town Council November 5, 2007 - 7:00 PM McClellanville Town Council met on the above-noted date for a regularly-scheduled meeting. Notice of the meeting had been published in the Town Newsletter and the Charleston Post and Courier. Mayor Rutledge Leland was present and presided at the meeting. Council Members present included Jim Scott, Gussie Humes, and Aaron Baldwin (Aaron Baldwin was delayed, and entered the meeting around 7:15 PM). Councilman Bob Gannon was absent. Clerk Mary Duke and Building Official Paul Fields also attended the meeting, along with the following guests: Roger Long, CPA; Bud Hill; Kathy Leland; Bernadette Humphrey; Gail Guzzo; Billy Baldwin; Oran Baldwin, Emily Baldwin, and Cheves Leland. Council first reviewed the minutes from the October 1, 2007 meeting. Gussie Humes made a motion to approve the minutes as written. The motion was seconded by Jim Scott, and carried by unanimous vote of the Council Members who were present. As Councilman Baldwin had not yet arrived, Mayor Leland suggested skipping to some of the agenda items for which his input might be somewhat less important. The Mayor then brought the attention of Council and those present to agenda item no. 7, consideration of bids on the carpentry work to install the new elevator at town hall. The three bids that had been submitted were as follows: Coastal Builders bid $1765 for the job, Youngman Construction bid $2000, and Village Custom Homes bid $2800. Councilman Jim Scott asked Building Official Paul Fields whether all of the bids had been for the same work. Paul replied that he had given each bidder a copy of the same Request for Proposals, and that he felt that all had based their bids on the same information. Gussie then made a motion to accept the low bid from Coastal Builders. The motion was seconded by Jim and carried by unanimous vote of the Council Members who were present. Mayor Leland next moved on to the eighth agenda item, a proposal for Council to adopt a resolution to document that Town Hall is the approved polling place for municipal elections in McClellanville. The Mayor explained that a representative from the US Dept. of Justice had asked for this documentation in a response to a request from the Town for a letter of pre-clearance for use of town hall as a polling place. Gussie then made a motion to adopt this resolution designating town hall as the polling place for McClellanville municipal elections. The motion was seconded by Jim Scott, and carried by unanimous vote of all Council Members present. Mayor Leland then brought Council's attention to the ninth agenda item, re-appointment of the Town's Municipal Election Commission. Mayor Leland said that the hearing of any challenges to municipal elections would be the only action required of the Election Commission since the vote to transfer authority for conducting municipal elections to Charleston County. Gussie Humes then made a motion to re-appoint Tommy Duke, Pat Gross, and Billy Baldwin as the Town's Municipal Election Commission. The motion was seconded by Jim Scott and carried unanimously by Council Members present and voting. As Councilman Aaron Baldwin joined the meeting at this point, Mayor Leland returned to the regular order of the agenda. Council then considered the third agenda item, the audit report from CPA Roger Long for the Town's Fiscal Year 2006/2007 financial statements. Mr. Long said that, in his Independent Auditor's Report, he was able to offer an unqualified opinion that the financial statements for the town "present fairly, in all material respects, the respective financial position of the governmental activities, each major fund, and the aggregate remaining fund information of the Town of McClellanville, South Carolina as of June 30, 2007, and the respective changes in financial position, where applicable, thereof and for the year then ended in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America." Mr. Long reviewed the Management Discussion and Analysis with those present. He said that this section of the audit report gave more detailed information on the financial activities of the Town over the last fiscal year. Considering the Statement of Revenue, Expenditures and Changes in Fund Balance, Rutledge asked about the disparity between the budgeted amount of income for property taxes and the actual amount collected-collections amounted to $23,419 more than projected figures. Mr. Long said that it was often difficult for the County to accurately predict collection rates for taxes. Mary added that she had been conservative in her projections for tax revenue, as she had somewhat overestimated tax collections in the past couple of years. After Mr. Long's review of the audit, Gussie Humes made a motion to accept the audit report. The motion was seconded by Jim Scott and approved by unanimous vote of Council. Council next considered a request from the Old Bethel Neighborhood Association for a variance from the requirements of the McClellanville Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance to allow continued renovation of Old Bethel A.M.E. Church on Drayton St. Building Official Paul Fields said that he and Zoning Administrator Kathryn Basha had received input from the State Archives Dept. State Archives confirmed that the structure was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Paul added that the Old Bethel Association hoped to stabilize and save the structure, but that the planned improvements would amount to more than 50% of the building's value, and thus a Flood Ordinance variance would be necessary in order for the work to be permitted. Jim Scott said that he noticed in review of the variance materials that State Archives' comments on some of the initial work that had been done on the church were not entirely positive. Paul agreed that State Archives representatives had some concerns about the modifications that had been made to the entrance of the church, the addition of some wooden underpinning to the church structure, and alterations to the beams inside of the church. Paul added that State Archives had forwarded some suggestions to better preserve the historic character of the church, and that the applicants had agreed to abide by these suggestions, including modifying the entry to a more appropriate style or removing it entirely, and removing the wooden underpinning. Gail Guzzo asked when the renovation project should be completed. Mr. Ron White, a contractor representing the Old Bethel Association, said that the project was somewhat dependent on grant funds, and that progress was dependent on when the funds were available. Rutledge said that the variance would give the group permission to proceed when the funds became available. After consideration of the findings submitted by Building Official and Floodplain Manager Paul Fields, Gussie Humes made a motion to approve the historic variance from the requirements of the Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance. Aaron Baldwin seconded the motion, and the motion was carried by unanimous vote of the Council Members present. Item four on the meeting agenda was scratched, as Chief Mike Raksoske had been unable to attend the meeting. Council then moved on to item five, a public hearing on the proposed ordinance to adopt the 2005 National Electric Code. Paul said that this update to the codes was mandated by the State of SC. Rutledge asked whether anyone had questions or comments about the proposed ordinance. As no discussion was offered, Gussie made a motion, which was seconded by Jim Scott, to hold second and third readings on the ordinance. The motion was carried by unanimous vote of the Council Members present. Paul Fields then spoke to Council regarding a proposal for possible drainage improvements for the end of Pinckney Street near town hall. He said that Paul Holloway, a resident at 522 Pinckney, had brought to his attention a problem with collapsed drainage pipe along the eastern edge of his property. Paul said that he did not believe that there was a dedicated drainage easement in place for the property, but he believed that Mr. Holloway might be willing to give an easement to the Town if he could expect some drainage improvements would be made. Rutledge suggested that Paul and Mary contact County Public Works to determine what they need from the Town and what they might be willing to do in the way of improvements. He also said that Mr. Holloway should be brought up to date on the efforts underway to make improvements possible. Council next considered the draft Personnel Policy for the Town that had been submitted by the Town Administrator and the Personnel Committee. Administrator Mary Duke said that the new policy had been drafted after the last copy of the old policy was lost. The Council Members indicated that they had not noted any problems with the policy and that, if a problem arose, they policy could be amended in the future. Jim Scott then made a motion to accept the new Personnel Policy for the Town. The motion was seconded by Gussie Humes, and approved by unanimous vote of the Council Members present. Council then considered Mary's question regarding the Town's participation in the 2010 Census at the "Option 1" level, which would offer the Town the most opportunity for input into the count. Council approved by consensus that Administrative Assistant Gary Bronson could be paid to work extra hours, if this became necessary for completing the Town's review and updating of the census information. Council next considered reports of the Town of Awendaw's proposal to construct a sewer system to serve the area from Awendaw to the Santee River. Mayor Leland said that he felt that McClellanville needed to issue a strong statement opposing sewer service for the McClellanville area. Cheves Leland said that she understood that the Town of Awendaw could only extend sewer service within its town limits, but she felt Awendaw was interested in annexing properties up to the boundaries of McClellanville. Council also noted an email from the Coastal Conservation League with information that Jeremy Creek, among other area waterways, had been listed as a possible site for discharge of effluent from the proposed sewer system. Rutledge said that he was aware that Jeremy Creek had been given an ORW or Outstanding Resource Water designation by SC DHEC, and that he thought this designation would preclude any discharge of effluent into the Creek. Councilman Aaron Baldwin volunteered to write a letter for the BCD Council of Governments in response to Awendaw's proposal to them for a 208 Plan Amendment for water and sewer service for the area. Aaron said that he would also send a copy of his letter to the Town of Awendaw. Cheves Leland said that she felt we should let them know that McClellanville should have been informed of these plans which would affect our community. Council agreed by consensus to allow Aaron to write this letter for the COG. Mary next brought to Council's attention a letter from the Veterans of Foreign Wars inviting participation in a Pearl Harbor Day ceremony on Dec. 7, 2007 and inquiring as to interest in purchase of a commemorative wreath. Council approved the purchase of a wreath for $45, and said that they would try to find a local veteran to represent the Town at the ceremony. Mary discussed the agenda for the Nov. 26 Planning Commission public hearing with Council. She noted that Planning would discuss a zoning recommendation for George Marlowe's property on Hwy. 17 that has been proposed for annexation. She said that consideration of final readings on this annexation ordinance would probably be scheduled for the December Council meeting. Mary noted that Planning would also be discussing a recommendation to amend the Zoning Ordinance to change the name of the Commercial Light Industrial District to the Marine Commercial District. Mayor Leland then told Council that contractor Richie Billington had encountered a problem with the planned construction for an office for Athena Technologies, to be located on Graham Farm Road in the new Highway Commercial PD. Paul Fields told Council that there was no problem with the front section of the proposed building, which will be elevated, but that the uses that the owner proposed for a portion of the building which will be constructed on a concrete slab on grade seemed to exceed storage uses that would normally be allowed under the Flood Damage Prevention Ordinance. Paul said that he had spoken with State Floodplain Manager Lisa Jones, and that she had indicated that this building might be considered a "functionally dependent building," in which case a variance might be issued to allow "wet flood-proofing" for that part of the building. After discussion, Council agreed to schedule a hearing for this variance request on Wednesday, November 14th, 7 PM at Town Hall. At 8:25 PM, Gussie Humes made a motion, seconded by Jim Scott and unanimously approved by Council, to meet in executive session to consider applicants for the vacant seat on the Architectural Review Board. At 8:30 PM, Jim Scott made a motion, seconded by Gussie and unanimously approved by Council to return to regular session. Council noted that no action had been taken in executive session. Jim Scott then made a motion to accept the recommendation of the ARB and approve Billy Baldwin as the new member. Gussie Humes seconded the motion, and the motion was carried unanimously by the Council Members present and voting. Aaron Baldwin recused himself from the vote, due to his relation to the applicant. There being no further business, a motion was then made, seconded, and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting. Mary S. Duke Town Clerk |