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Town Council - Oct 6, 2008 |
Minutes McClellanville Town Council October 6, 2008 - 7:00 PM McClellanville Town Council held a regular meeting on the above-noted date. Notice of the meeting had been advertised in both the Town newsletter and the Charleston Post and Courier. Mayor Rutledge Leland presided at the meeting. Council Members present were Jim Scott, Gussie Humes, and Bob Gannon. Councilman Aaron Baldwin was absent. Guests present included Judge Frances Lofton, six representatives from the Charleston County Sheriff's Office, Sherry Browne, and Cheves Leland. Administrative Assistant Gary Bronson was present to record the minutes, as Town Clerk Mary Duke was absent. Mayor Leland first asked Council to review the minutes from the September 8th Council meeting. Councilman Humes made a motion, seconded by Councilman Gannon, to approve the minutes as written. The motion was carried unanimously by the Council Members present and voting. Sheri Church, Community Liaison Deputy for the County Sheriff's Office, reviewed recent crime statistics from the Sheriff's Office for the McClellanville area, as well as the number of patrols and traffic stops that the deputies had made here. Deputy Wilson discussed the recent break-ins that had occurred in McClellanville. Councilman Jim Scott expressed his special concern, since his sister and her family were among the victims of the recent break-ins. The deputies noted the importance of having strong, working locks on doors and windows of homes and businesses. They stressed that residents should contact the Sheriff's Office anytime a crime or suspicious situation occurs. Detective Jacobik added that, if a crime has occurred, the crime scene should be left undisturbed until the authorities have had a chance to investigate and collect evidence there. He said that the deputies were willing to do security checks on residences or businesses at the request of the owner. He added that if residents wanted to make an anonymous report of a crime, they could call Crime Stoppers at 554-1111. Deputy Church noted the number of traffic stops made during recent months. Mayor Leland asked that the deputies check for speeding drivers on streets within the Village, particularly Pinckney and Oak Streets and Kit Hall Road, as well as writing tickets on Highway 17. Deputy Sheri Church discussed the benefits of a Crime Watch program for the Town, and Mayor Leland noted that some citizens in McClellanville had been involved with Crime Watch in the past. Deputy Church said that anyone interested in re-establishing a Crime Watch program in town could contact her for assistance. Council then proceeded to the third agenda item. The first part, an update on the Graham's Corners PD roads from Malcolm Baldwin, was struck, as Malcolm was unable to attend the meeting. Council considered the second part of the third agenda item, a memo from Zoning Administrator Kathryn Basha on a request from the developers of the Dollar General store for use by their delivery trucks of Leland Creek Road in the PD. Kathryn said in the memo that, in order to facilitate deliveries, trucks would have to turn onto Leland Creek Road from Highway 17, drive slightly past the entrance to the Dollar General property, back into the access drive to the delivery door, then leave by pulling out of the site and turning right onto Leland Creek Road back to Highway 17. The consensus of Council was that they were not opposed to the developer's proposal for this use of the road. Considering the fourth agenda item, requests for two proclamations, Council approved by unanimous consent to declare October as National Colonial Heritage Day in McClellanville and also to declare December 5, 2008 Arbor Day in McClellanville. The Mayor signed the proclamations recognizing those designations. Council next considered the appointment of Cam Cooper to replace Nathan Youngman on the Building Codes Board of Appeals. Gary explained to Council that Building Official Paul Fields had expressed concern that, since the Youngmans are presently involved in several construction projects in town, there could be potential conflicts of interest for Nathan when considering appeals. Councilman Jim Scott said that he knew Cam Cooper, and that he believed he would be well-qualified for the position. Jim then made a motion, seconded by Gussie, to appoint Cam Cooper to replace Nathan Youngman as a member of the Building Codes Board of Appeals. The motion was carried unanimously. Gary Bronson told the Mayor that he would like to request an addition to the agenda, consideration of re-appointment to the Board of Zoning Appeals of members Gabe Purvis and Eddie Richards. Mayor Leland said that Mr. Purvis and Mr. Richards were currently members in good standing, and were willing to serve another three year term, if appointed. Councilman Bob Gannon then made a motion to re-appoint Gabe Purvis and Eddie Richards for a new term on the Board of Zoning Appeals. The motion was seconded by Gussie Humes and passed by unanimous vote of the Council Members present and voting. Council then considered the sample "application for funding" drafted by Mary and Gary, proposed for use by applicants for donations from the Town. The Councilmen also reviewed the responses Mary had received from the administrators for Sullivan's Island, Isle of Palms, and Summerville to her inquiries about their municipalities' policies for charitable giving. They noted that the administrator for Sullivan's Island indicated that they did not approve any donations from Town funds, Summerville restricted donations to matching employee contributions to the United Way, and the Isle of Palms gave only to a couple of local charities that they considered beneficial to the public in general. Mayor Leland said that one solution might be to budget a certain amount for a few local causes that benefit the citizens of McClellanville, and to budget a little extra for emergency situations, such as hurricanes, or other special situations that might arise. Council agreed to review the draft application for funding and to further discuss the matter of charitable giving at an upcoming meeting. Council next reviewed the letter requesting the purchase of a wreath for a Pearl Harbor Memorial ceremony, to be held at Patriot's Point on December 7. Wreaths are thrown from the aircraft carrier Yorktown as part of the ceremony. Mayor Leland offered to pay for the memorial wreath, as Council was observing a moratorium on charitable giving while determining their policy regarding such giving. Councilman Gussie Humes agreed to act as the Town's representative to participate in the ceremony at the Yorktown. Council then reviewed the memo from Zoning Administrator Kathryn Basha on the Streetscape Plan for improvements on Pinckney Street, which had recently been approved for funding through the Charleston County Roadwise program. Kathryn said that a contractor had been selected for the job, and that the company should soon begin creation of a plan for the streetscape which would be presented at a future date for review by Council and members of the public. Sherry Browne told Council she had noticed recently that trash containers at the boat landing, Deer Head Oak and the playground were often overfilled and unsightly. Council told Sherry that the cans should be emptied on an as-needed basis, and that they would speak to Beren Duke to make sure that he understood that more frequent service was needed for those areas. The Mayor and Council indicated that they continued to hear some complaints about the level of service being delivered for garbage collection, and that they would work with Beren to try to get some improvement. Cheves Leland mentioned that vegetation had been cut back along Cassena and Scotia Streets. Councilman Gannon said that he believed that SCDOT had done the work in response to a request from Mary. Mayor Leland said that he continued to see a problem with earth that has washed onto the roadway, narrowing the travel lanes. He asked Gary to pass along to Mary that another request was needed for SCDOT to address that problem. As there was no further business, Councilman Gussie Humes then made a motion, seconded by Councilman Scott, to adjourn the meeting. The motion was carried unanimously. G. Gary Bronson Administrative Assistant |