Mayor Russ Touchberry Council. Members: Aaron Brown Johnson-Wilson Tiffany Richard G. Waring, IV Kima Garten-Schmidt Bob Jackson  Town. Administrator Lisa Wallace Town Clerk Beth Messervy Town. Attorney G.W. Parker  ROHNI IN   a  - 1847 MERVILLE  TOWN of SUMMERVILLE SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING MID-YEAR BUDGET REVIEW  MINUTES February 15, 2024  ATTENDANCE  Present: Mayor Russ Touchberry, Councilmembers Kima Garten-Schmidt, Bob. Jackson, Aaron Brown, Tiffany Johnson-Wilson and Richard G. Waring, IV. Also in attendance were Town AdministratorLisa Wallace, Town Attorney GW Parker, and Town Clerk Beth Messervy. A quorum was met. Public. and press were duly notified. The: meeting took place at the Cambria Hotel at 405 Sigma Drive, Summerville, and was livestreamed from the Town's-website. Mayor Touchberry called the meeting to order at! 9:00am on Thursday, February 15, 2024. REPORT FROM GREATER SUMMERVILLE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Cassie Ford, the Tourism Director for the Chamber, gave aj presentation ofl how she works to bring more tourists to the Town through special events, targeted marketing, and advertising. Steve Doniger gave aj presentation about the values ofDREAM: collaboration, competition, and research and development, and how those values shape the way that DREAM works tol help the DISCUSSION WITH CHAMBER & DREAM ON LEADING VISIONING PLANNING Mayor Touchberry stated that he would like to see the Chamber and DREAM partner to organize groups to update the Town's vision plan and come up with a strategic plan to get the vision started. Ms. Garten-Schmidt stated that the Town needs to reprioritize what they would want to seei in an open forum of citizens for input. Rita Berry, President/CEO ofthe Chamber, reported that the Chamber's intercity visits will start up again, which serve as a good way to seel how other municipalities put their vision into actions. Ms. Berry stated that she would like a third party to come in and organize the citizen input sessions for the vision plan. Jessi Shuler,  CALLTO ORDER AND WELCOME  REPORT FROM SUMMERVILLE DREAM  Town. PROCESS    Special Town Council Meeting Minutes- - February 15, 2024  Page2  Director of Planning, stated that a: 5 year update to the comprehensive plan is due in 2025, sO she suggested starting with the existing vision plan and reassess to: include the Town's current needs.  Some discussion followed. No action was taken. UPDATE ON MIDTOWN' TIF  David Cheatwood, with First Tryon, gave a briefoverview oft the Midtown TIF District and Midtown Redevelopment Plan. He presented the October 2024 financial projections, and stated that the revenue generated by the' TIF: in FY: 24 will be used toj pay debt service on 2022 bonds in  2025. Mr. Cheatwood answered questions for the Council. EMPLOYEE RETENTION AND BENEFITS DISCUSSION  Town Administrator Lisa Wallace gave a recap oft the timeline ofhow staff gathered information from employees about what benefits they value the: most. She stated that one oft the priorities that staffi identified was flex work schedules. Staff's recommendation is for the Town to explore a6 60-90 "pilot program" ofa flex work schedule and to report back to Council. Ms. Wallace stated that another employee priority isi increased leave time. Currently, Town employees do: not have any bereavement leave. Staff's recommendation is to authorize up to 3 days for bereavement leave. Some discussion followed regarding employee pay and evaluations. Ms. Wallace reported that another employee priority is health insurance for retirees. She stated that currently, there arei no funding options available to supplement the cost. Staff's recommendation is to consider implementation ofa 100% cost to the retiree policy. Some **Council recessed at 12:24pm for lunch. Council reconvened at 1:00pm.**  discussion followed.  RECAPOF FY23 AUDIT REPORT  Rhonda Moore, Finance Director, reported that the Town ended the FY23 with a surplus of$3 million, which is small compared to the $40 million budget. She stated that the Town took in more revenue than anticipated inj property taxes, licenses, permits, and fees.  REPORT ON FY24GF REVENUES, ARPA, AND OTHER FUNDING SOURCES Ms. Moore reported that 74% ofi revenue was generated from property taxes and business licenses. She stated that 30% of the business license revenue was generated by out oftown Ms. Moore reviewed how the Town has spent American Rescue Plan funds sO far, and that the Town has $1,762,974 remaining to allocate before December 31, 2024. Ms. Wallace: reported that the restrictions on how ARPA funds are tol be used have loosened, giving the Town more DISCUSSION AND CONSIDERATIONOF CAPITAL FUNDING REQUESTS Ms. Moore reviewed a list of] line items of capital requests. The chart showed that all capital requests are underfunded by $192,082. Ms. Wallace stated that staffwould make adjustments and bring back the requests to Council at the March Finance Committee meeting.  contractors.  leeway in how they spend those funds.    Special Town Council Meeting Minutes-F February 15, 2024  Page3  EXECUTIVE SESSION: the following:  Mr. Jackson: made ai motion, seconded by Ms. Waring, to enter into Executive Session to discuss  Contractual Matters Related tol Dorchester County Magistrate's? Temporary Use of Contractual Matters Related to the Office of the Public Defender Agreement Personnel Matters Related to Municipal Court Duties and Compensation  Courtroom Facilities  Thei motion carried, and Council entered into Executive Session at 2:30pm.  Council reconvened at 3:20pm. Town Attorney GW Parker stated that Council met in Executive Session to discuss the following, and that no action was taken in Executive Session on the items:  Contractual Matters Related to Dorchester County Magistrate's Temporary Use of Contractual Matters Related to the Office oft the Public Defender Agreement Personnel Matters Related to Municipal Court Duties and Compensation  Courtroom Facilities  OTHER BUSINESS:  Mr. Brown made a motion, seconded by Mr. Jackson, to authorize the Town Administrator to execute a contract with Dorchester County Chief] Magistrate Jenkins for the County's temporary use ofthe' Town's bond court facilities. Thei motion carried unanimously. Mr. Waring made ai motion, seconded by Ms. Garten-Schmidt, to authorize the Town Administrator to negotiate a contract with the Public Defender's Office for public defender Ms. Johnson-Wilson made ai motion, seconded by Ms. Garten-Schmidt, to authorize the Mayor too coordinate with the Finance Department the compensation for municipal court staff within the  services. The motion carried unanimously.  limits ofthe budget. Thei motion carried unanimously.  ADJOURN:  Mr. Brown made a motion, seconded by Ms. Jackson, to adjourn the meeting. The motion carried unanimously, and Mayor Touchberry adjourned the meeting at 3:22pm.  Respectfully Submitted,  APPROVED:  TT9 Russ Touchberry, Mayor  Beth Messervy, Town Clerk