Mayor Town Administrator Russ Touchberry Scott Slatton Council Members: Town Clerk Aaron Brown Beth Messervy Tiffany Johnson-Wilson Richard G. Waring, IV Town. Attorney Kima Garten G.W. Parker Bob Jackson Matt Halter Town fSummerville, SC COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES May 8, 2025 ATTENDANCE Present: Mayor Russ Touchberry, Councilmembers Aaron Brown, Tiffany Johnson-Wilson, Kima Garten, Bob Jackson, Matt Halter and Richard G. Waring, IV. Also in attendance were Town Administrator Scott Slatton, Town Attorney GW Parker, and Town Clerk Beth Messervy. A quorum was met. Public and press were duly notified. The meeting took place in Council Chambers at 200 South Main Street and was livestreamed from the Town's website. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Touchberry called the meeting to order at 6:00pm on Thursday, May 8, 2025. Councilmember Brown gave the invocation, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. EMPLOYEE RECOGNITION Mayor Touchberry recognized Sterling Green and Jarrod Tiedemann, the Town's building inspectors, for their hard work and dedication to the Town, as well as their recent accreditation. PROCLAMATIONS AND RESOLUTIONS Mayor Touchberry presented proclamations for Building Safety Month and Public Works Week, as well as resolutions for the Summerville Seniors Basketball Team and Dale Roberson for his retirement from the Town of Summerville. SPECIAL PRESENTATION Ginny Vincini, Executive Director of Keys to Change, made a presentation to the Council giving an overview ofthe organization that helps homeless residents. In the presentation, Ms. Vincini asked Council to consider giving $100,000 from the FY25-26 budget to Keys to Change for operational support. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mr. Waring made a motion, seconded by Mr. Jackson, to approve the minutes of the April 10, 2025 Council Meeting, the April 22, 2025 Budget Workshop (Special Council Meeting), and the Standing Committee meetings from May 5, 2025 with the following amendments: Finance Committee on May 5, 2025 - read as follows "I make a motion to give approval for the Town Town Council Meeting Minutes May 8, 2025 Page 2 Administrator to sign an agreement with Edifice to complete the Pre Construction phase for the new Public Safety Complex in the amount of$168,400." Special Council Meeting on April 22, 2025 - change "30%" to "3%". The motion to approve the minutes as amended carried unanimously. PUBLIC COMMENT - MAY 8. 2025 AGENDA ITEMS The Mayor opened the Public Comment portion ofthe meeting. Peter Gorman of North Magnolia Street stated that he was commenting on Item 10a oft the agenda, first reading oft the FY25-26 budget for the Town ofSummerville. He said that the Building and Code Enforcement Department": s proposed budget is almost a full percentage point less than its current budget while residents of the Town have been complaining that there needs to be more code enforcement. He stated that there has been "political interference" with the code enforcement process. Mr. Gorman asked Council to consider adding back into the budget the Code Enforcement Manager position that staff asked for at the beginning of the budget cycle. There being no further comments, the Mayor closed this section of the meeting. PETITIONS Mr. Waring made a motion, seconded by Mr. Jackson, to postpone items 8a and 8b until the applicant is ready for review. Item 8a: Petition by Edward H. Tupper to annex TMS# 136-09- 00-006, located at 1526 Central Avenue, and totaling approximately 0.48 acres. Currently zoned CN, Neighborhood Commercial, in Dorchester County and requested to be zoned G-B, General Business, following annexation into the Town of Summerville's municipal limits. (Council District 4) Item 8b: Petition by Trust Agreement of. Jane K. Upshur to annex TMS# 136-09-00- 049, located along Central Ave. and Old Parsonage Rd., and totaling approximately 2.77 acres. Currently zoned R-1, Single-Family Residential, in Dorchester County and requested to be zoned G-B, General Business, following annexation into the Town ofSummerville's municipal limits. (Council District 4). The motion carried unanimously. PENDING BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS Mr. Waring made a motion, seconded by Mr. Halter, to postpone second and final reading of an ordinance to rezone TMS#130-10-00-074, located at 917 W. 5th North Street, totaling approximately 0.27 acres, and owned by Willie Jamison, from N-MX, Neighborhood Mixed- Use, to N-R, Neighborhood Residential (Council District 1) until after the applicant's municipal court proceedings regarding this property were complete. The motion carried unanimously. Mr. Brown made a motion, seconded by Mr. Jackson, to give second and final reading of an ordinance to grant an easement across TMS# 130-10-00-110 for utility lines at the Maple Street Extension project. The motion carried unanimously. INTRODUCTION OF BILLS AND RESOLUTIONS Mr. Jackson made a motion, seconded by Mr. Brown, to give first reading to an ordinance to adopt an operating budget for the Town ofSummerville for Fiscal Year 2025-2026. Ms. Johnson-Wilson thanked the staff for their work on the budget, and also stated that she has a couple ofitems that she would like to talk about before second reading. Mr. Halter thanked the staff for the budget process. The motion carried unanimously. Town Council Meeting Minutes May 8, 2025 Page 3 MISCELLANEOUS Mr. Jackson made a motion, seconded by Ms. Johnson-Wilson, to authorize staff to enter into a contract in the amount of$60,000 with Berkeley Charleston Dorchester Council of Governments for the Comprehensive Plan update as required by law. Funds to come from budgeted planning funds. The motion carried unanimously. Mayor Touchberry appointed the following Councilmembers and staff members to an ad hoc committee to review applications, conduct interviews, and make recommendations to Council for two Associate Municipal Judge positions. The members are: Mayor Pro Tem Garten, Councilman Waring, Deputy Chief Hirsch, Jillian Frederick, and Mandy Pitcock. Mr. Jackson made a motion, seconded by Mr. Brown, to postpone approval of changes to license with Summerville Girls Softball League until the June 12, 2025 Council meeting. The motion carried unanimously. Mr. Waring made a motion, seconded by Mr. Halter, to authorize staff to pursue easement for culverts and ditch at 132 Tupper Lane. The motion carried unanimously. PUBLIC COMMENTS (open) The Mayor opened up the floor to public comments from citizens. Linda Whetsell of Atlantic Street voiced her concerns about all of the dogs in Hutchinson Square and at the Farmers Market. She does not think that dogs should be allowed at either location because she was almost attacked by a dog at the Farmers Market. She also stated that Atlantic Street needs more protection from speeders, that the street needs speed bumps, the that police need to patrol the street more, and that the Town should prevent dumping of trash on vacant lots. She thanked the Stormwater Department for cleaning the ditches on Atlantic Street. There being no further public comments, the Mayor closed this section ofthe agenda. EXECUTIVE SESSION: Mr. Waring made a motion, seconded by Mr. Brown, to enter into Executive Session to discuss personnel matters related to the Board of Zoning Appeals and for discussion of negotiations incident to proposed contractual arrangements related to the Nexton development agreement. The motion carried unanimously, and Council entered Executive Session at 6:42pm. Mr. Waring made a motion, seconded by Mr. Halter, for Council to adjourn from Executive Session and resume with open session. The motion carried unanimously, and Council resumed their regular meeting at 7:04pm. Town Attorney GW Parker stated that Council met in Executive Session to discuss personnel matters related to the Board ofZoning Appeals and for discussion of negotiations incident to proposed contractual arrangements related to the Nexton development agreement. He stated that no action was taken in Executive Session. Town Council Meeting Minutes May 8, 2025 Page 4 OTHER BUSINESS: Mr. Waring made a motion, seconded by Mr. Jackson, to appoint Tabatha Blanton to the Board ofZoning Appeals to fulfill the unexpired term ofChad Lobo. The motion carried unanimously. ADJOURN: Mr. Waring made a motion, seconded by Ms. Johnson-Wilson, to adjourn the meeting. The motion carried unanimously, and the Mayor adjourned the meeting at 7:05pm. Respectfully Submitted, APPROVED: DTY TA MUsr Beth Messervy, Town Clerk Russ Touchberry, Mayor