City of Boiling Spring Lakes Board of Commissioners Citizens' Forum Minutes September 12, 2024 at 6:00 pm City Hall  1.  Call to Order-I Mayor Pro Tem David Mammay  Mayor Pro Tem Mammay called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.  2.  Attendance:  Mayor Pro Tem David Mammay Commissioner Kim Sherwood Commissioner Teagan Hall Commissioner. Justin Lovin City Manager Gordon Hargrove Assistant Manager Nicole Morgan Police Chief Kevin Smith City Clerk Nancy Sims Mayor Jeff Winecoff was excused. Citizens' Forum Comments and Questions  3.  17 people were in the audience.  Gary Charette, 1151 South Shore Drive. He read the article about the all-inclusive park and wanted the BOC to know he supported it. He felt Southport wanted BSL to bail them out. About the recommendation of it being at Spring Lake, he didn'tthink that was a good idea because of the access with handicap vans. It should be in a separate location where it is easy to get to. He supported it, but maybe in a different area. He didn'tunderstand why Southport bailed. Maybe they are worried about becoming Myrtle Beach. We should be worried about becoming Mike Griess, 429 South Shore Drive. He had a question about the UDO and ifi iti is accurate on the website about dock sizes on Patricia Lake. Ms. Morgan replied yes, it is current. He also inquired about the clearing on Highway 87 for the town center and wondered if there has been any consideration to extend Drayton Roadi to Highway 87. Commissioner Hall responded that is private property. Mayor Pro Tem Mammay added we looked at that, but it is private property. Mr. Griess then expressed, with all the construction going on he is afraid this will become Leland. That is something that should be considered before building. Mayor Pro Tem Mammy replied  Southport. Think about that.  we tell builders we don'twant tol look like Leland.  1    Kathy Curtis, 720 Colonial Road. She stated we have this nice sign that says BSL is naturally beautiful. She moved here from Maryland which was naturally beautiful and then exploded. She was really concerned about how to maintain the small town feel and if there is a plan on how to remain naturally beautiful. She asked ift the City requires that when a builder clear cuts for both homeowners and businesses, they put back natural plants. Mayor Pro Tem Mammay replied it isa already set that way. The developers have to put some trees and plants back in. We want it back as close to natural as possible. We want to keep a hometown feel as much as possible. Commissioner Hall added we worked hard on that. Commissioner Sherwood said when the Herb Glidden, 402 North Shore Drive. He asked if there was any word on the blanket flood rise study. Mr. Hargrove replied he spoke to the engineer this week. They are studying the three mile section and are about half way through. They said they are getting positive results. About half the docks in that halfway point will not require no rise certificates. They are reworking some of the numbers to see if we can increase that total. The State, in this situation, has no blanket study. We have to do the study and show it to them sO we may be able to manipulate it. We should know more next month. Mr. Glidden then asked if there are pictures oft the Big Lake dam to see how far they have come. Mr. Hargrove replied it is very expensive to provide copies but he will try. There are some in the lobby and they try to update them periodically. Laure Busse, 1066 Filmore Road. She wanted to know what the inclusive parki is. Mr. Hargrove responded it is for mentally and developmentaly challenged children and adults. Commissioner Hall added there was an explanation of the inclusive park at the recent BOC meeting. Mr. Hargrove explained the inclusive park came up at a regional managers meeting. Staff has been working to identify some areas that will work better than Spring Lake. We have communicated tot the other municipalities that it needst to be 100% grant funded and they willl have to contribute for insurance. AND maintenance so we are not out there by ourselves ifiti is built in BSL. Paul Brosseau, 1811 Pinehurst Road. Regarding the inclusive park, there were: some reservations at the meeting no one wanted to discuss. Has the new golf course property the City bought for $500,000 been considered for this? Mayor Pro Tem Mammay replied we want to keep it away from the water for safety reasons. Mr. Brosseau stated Spring Lake is on the water. Mayor Pro Tem Mammay replied that is why we shut down Spring Lake as a potential placement. Also, we have other plans for the golf course property. The golf course is still renting the property but we would love to see an event space like Southport has to raise revenue. We are trying to dot things that will benefit the community and also bring in money. Mr. Brosseau stated that is two different things, which is it? Mayor Pro Tem Mammay replied right now everything is in the concept stage, nothing is set in stone. Mr. Brosseau asked if these concepts have been shared with the community. Mayor Pro Tem Mammay reiterated this property is still rented by the golf course. Plus, we don't even have sewer there yet. We are still far away from anything set. We just wanted to acquire it right now because it is a wonderful piece of property for the City to use at some point. Mr. Brosseau opined keepi in mind that you bought it for half a million dollars, and will probably spend a million dollars for the golf course, but you have grant money for the park. Commissioner Sherwood replied Southport is who has the grant money for the park. When we purchased the golf course property it was for generating some type of income. Commissioner Hall added that grant money is not transferrable. People don't understand that. Mr. Brosseau  developers are done tearing everything out, they need to build it back.  2    replied he just wanted to throw that out there as the property is just sitting there. He then continued, another thing is all of these closed session meetings about economic development. Whati is SO closed about sessions to buy property for public works andi the golfo course? Why can't you share that information with the community? Iwas told they are only gathering information, there are no decisions made at those closed sessions. Mayor Pro Tem Mammay replied the purchases were ont the monthly BOCagenda. Mr. Brosseau: stated there were a couple of people at the meeting that said we didn't need the golf course property. Why can't you put it out there sO people can interact and talk about it? Mayor Pro Tem Mammay explained the property was to be sold on the open market for $750,000. That property is foundation to BSL. Mr. Brosseau ended by saying transparency from the City can be al lot better than what it is. Barbara Glidden, 402 North Shore. When you list an agenda item, the average person doesn't understand what you are talking about. Give a little bit more information SO people know what you are voting on. Also, regarding the inclusive park, what about the lot across the street from Spring Lake. Nobody is using the garden and it has parking. Commissioner Sherwood replied that is a flood zone. Ms. Morgan added the bigger problem with that property is that it is in a floodway and you can't develop in a floodway. It is a non-encroachment zone. When FEMA doesn't actually map it as a floodway, they are treated just like at floodway SO any development requires a no rise study. Ms. Glidden added it was supposed to be a soccer field but neighbors didn't want that, sO the garden was supposed to be quiet. Ms. Morgan responded that entire Aleta Brosseau, 1811 Pinehurst Road. She is on the email list for once a quarter. Itis al huge tool tor reach out to people that aren't on Facebook since the Citizen Forums are only once a quarter. You can send emails for meetings and other things. She is on the email list for Oak Island and Southportand: she is impressed with how many emails they get. She encouraged BSL to do more with an email list. Mr. Hargrove inquired if she participated in the City's CodeRed and if she received any updates during the last storm? Ms. Brosseau responded not a lot. If you have a meeting why not throw out an email. You are not utilizing that tool enough. Stacy Willets, 226 Harper Lake Drive. She wanted to know if BSL has any idea when you will get rid of the extra vehicle tax of $25 since you raised the taxes for the dam. Ihave three driving kids. Mayor Pro Tem Mammay responded we have not raised taxes. Commissioner Lovin responded the vehicle tax has not been discussed. Ms. Willets then stated Ireceived my taxes, the fire fees went up and we live on a combined lot SO we are double billed. Mayor Pro Tem Mammay replied we don't have anything to do with the fire fee. Ms. Willets replied that she assumed the fire fee went up because of the new fire house. Commissioner Lovin replied the County handles that, we have nothing to do with fire fees. Mayor Pro Tem Mammay reiterated that the City did not Olivia Henning Gooding, 1844 East Boiling Spring Road. This is her First meeting. What areas are considered where the woodpeckers nest; areas where before cutting trees down we need approval. Ms. Morgan explained the difference between forging and clustering. She continued there is information on the website under FAQ. You can check by parcel number to see if al lot is in al blue or red zone. Ifitis, itrequires approval by Fish and Wildlife. Ms. Morgan then discussed the tree ordinance about any tree 8 inches and larger, and the guidelines on how close the tree  property is a non-encroachment area.  raise taxes.  3    has to be to home septic or driveway. Ms. Gooding inquired how long does it take for Fish and Wildlife to come out. Ms. Morgan replied they don't come out. We go out to see ifi it is in our ordinance area, but if we: see a woodpecker cavity, we will notifyt them. Ms. Gooding then asked about burning yard debris. Mayor Pro Tem Mammay replied you can burn yard debris, but not construction debris. Ms. Morgan added but no yard debris over 4 inches. Commissioner Lovin stated you have to get a permit online and it is automated. It also has the rules and regulations right there. It automatically says yes or no to burning. Commissioner Hall added it goes Kathy Curtis, 720 Colonial Road. She agreed with several people that the City's communication can be enhanced. For Clean sweep there is a low amount of people who show up sO an email would be good. Some people don't do Facebook. Iknow the golf course property needs sewer and that is five years away, but is that the same for the town center area on Highway 87? Commissioner Sherwood responded: seweri is already on Highway 87. Mayor Pro Tem Mammay added we are working on the golf course and it has al lot of moving parts. Allt the state and federal Mike Griess, 429 South Shore Drive. He wanted to know the dam timeline. Mr. Hargrove responded hopefully in July of 2026 is when the project is supposed to be substantially completed, but there is no guarantee. After Isaid East Boiling Spring Road would be open in October contingent upon weather and it was pushed back because of the weather, was called all liar. I won't say anything anymore. Mr. Griess then said he heard at the last meeting it was cheaper to build a dock before thel lake has wateri in it. Mr. Hargrove continued Upper Lake, Pine Lake and North Lake dams overall are ahead of schedule. At this time I don't think you will see the project go into 2026. We should have news on the no rise certificates by the end of the month. Once they are in place, you can go ahead and rebuild. But again, it is all contingent on weather. We had a set back from Tropical Storm Debby. There are a lot of things that could Barbara Glidden, 402 North Shore Drive. At the last meeting when talking about the sewer, you said the City would be responsible fori the upgrade oft the pump station. Mr. Hargrove responded we are talking about the sewer expansion in two phases. First, will be the transmission system which are the lift and pump stations. Cougar Road lift station will need to be upgraded and for the northern part of the community, we will need to build a pump station over there. Ms. Glidden said when we first got sewer we were charged to hook up and the County ran the line. Who gets the money when Ip pay my sewer bill? The County. So how can we recoup that money when the Cityi is going to build the pump station? Mr. Hargrove said right now we are looking at all grant funding. We don't want to put assessments on the community right now SO in our conversations with the County, we have to build it and we have to pay for it. Hopefully with grants. Iti is really too early to tell. We are, just starting to explore this, but once built it will be turned over to the County to let them operate because it is too expensive for us. Ms. Glidden said with the water line, we paid for it and then it was turned over to the County. Mr. Hargrove replied he can't address that as he wasn't here then. Ms. Glidden didn't understand how the City is building the sewer with grant or whatever money, and then giving it to the County for them to reap the benefits. Commissioner Sherwood said with the previous sewer, the City started it and took out the loan and then turned it over to the County and the County assumed  automatically to the fire department.  representatives seem interested in us getting that project off the ground.  happen between now and then.  4    that debt. Ms. Glidden added she recalled there wasa al big controversy at thet time because people felt there should have been al bigger pipe, but the County said we didn'thave enough slush. The County knew we were growing sO that was stupid. Mr. Hargrove reiterated the BOC does not want to put assessments on the citizens for $78 Million. That is why we are looking at grant money. The trend is to regionalize the sewer because it will be a whole lot less fort them than us. He then explained the Southport sewer issues. That is why we will turn it over, we don't have the capacity to operate lift stations. Ms. Glidden then opined the $25 vehicle tax was supposed to be only for a few years. Idon't know where the money is going. Ifiti is going to the roads that Kathy Curtis, 720 Colonial Road. She asked if there was any idea on when they will clear North Lake again. It was done last year but is high again. Mr. Hargrove replied since Tropical Storm Debby we have been trying to identify trouble spots with stormwater. Ihave communicated to public works that Iwant them to start working on North Lake again. Once those three dams are completed, lasked the contractor to go ahead and impound those lakes prior to completion of Olivia Henning Gooding, 1844 East Boiling Spring Road. She was curious how to find where the money for the vehicle tax goes? Commissioner Sherwood replied it shows on the budget and  is one thing. It is what iti is.  Sanford dam to further stop growth of the lake bed.  explained how to find the budget on the website.  4.  Adjourn  Motion to adjourn the meeting at 6:49 p.m. Moved by: Commissioner Sherwood Seconded by: Commissioner Hall  Motion Carried 4-0  David Mammay, Mayor - Pro Dem Qky  ATTEST:  ina  OFFICIAL SEAL RTH   B  5