Town Council

Fort Mill Town Council Regular Meeting Minutes Monday September 14, 2020 6:00 PM Live Viewing Online: Please visit www.fortmillsc.gov/livemeetings Public Access by Phone: Dial (toll free) 1-877-309-2073 and use access code 268-855-741 PRESENT: Mayor Savage, Councilman Huntley, Councilman Shirey, Councilwoman Cook, Councilman Helms, Councilman Moody and Councilwoman Heemsoth were present. Davy Broom, Town Manager, Chris Pettit, Assistant Town Manager and Virginia Burgess, Town Clerk were also present. CALL TO ORDER PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE INVOCATION Councilman Huntley provided the invocation. MINUTES Minutes of the August 24, 2020 Town Council Meeting Councilwoman Heemsoth made a MOTION to approve the minutes of the August 24, 2020 Council meeting. SECONDED by Councilman Shirey. Passed 7-0. Councilman Huntley made a MOTION to amend the minutes of the August 10, 2020 Council meeting to add the following under Information/Discussion Item #3; Discussion of Impact Fees: Councilman Huntley made a MOTION to instruct staff to proceed to write the ordinance that Council can review to get them back, as close as possible, to the fees that were established in 2015. SECONDED by Mayor Savage. Passed 6-0. Councilwoman Cook made a request to staff to put more information in the minutes of the Council meetings regarding intentions made by Council and directives for staff. 1 Town of Fort Mill Meeting Minutes 9-14-2020 PUBLIC COMMENT Pursuant to Section 2-46 of the Code of Ordinances for the Town of Fort Mill, any citizen of the Town may appear before council for the purpose of providing public comments on any municipal matter (except personnel matters). Those who wish to speak must sign in outside of Council Chambers prior to the start of the meeting. To maintain social distancing, citizens will only be allowed into Council Chambers one at a time to give their comments. There were no Public Comments. PRESENTATIONS Presentation #1 Proclamation for Constitution Day and Constitution Week Ms. Holly Wichmann was present to accept a proclamation proclaiming September 17, 2020 as Constitution Day and September 17 -23 as Constitution Week as proclaimed by the President of the United States every year to bring awareness to the Constitution of the United States. OLD BUSINESS ITEMS There are no Old Business Items NEW BUSINESS ITEMS New Business Item #1 First Reading and Public Hearing of an ordinance to adopt the budget for the Town of Fort Mill, South Carolina for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2020 and ending September 30, 2021. Mayor Savage opened the floor for a Public Hearing. Having no one come forth to speak, the Public Hearing was closed without any comments. Mayor Savage confirmed with staff that by the last meeting in March, Council will be provided with a review of the budget and some type of improved strategic plan. This is for a period of time so that Council can determine what revenues will be, considering to the impact of COVID-19. Council requested that Mrs. Bouler provide them with the information from the ordinances for the Budget and Millage. Mrs. Bouler committed to send information to full Council later that evening. 2 Town of Fort Mill Meeting Minutes 9-14-2020  The Town Attorney advised staff to reverse the order during second and final reading of the Budget and Millage Ordinance so that the Millage Ordinance is voted upon first before the Budget. Councilman Huntley made a MOTION to approve First Reading of an ordinance to adopt the budget for the Town of Fort Mill, South Carolina for the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2020 and ending September 30, 2021. SECONDED by Councilman Moody. Passed 7-0. New Business Item #2 First Reading and Public Hearing of an ordinance to raise revenue by setting the tax millage for the Town of Fort Mill, South Carolina for the tax year ending December 31, 2020, and for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2021. Mayor Savage opened the floor for a Public Hearing. Having no one come forth to speak, the Public Hearing was closed without any comments. Chantay Bouler, Finance Director, stated the only change was a rollback calculation in terms of the tax rate. That the ordinance has been modified to include a statement that the Town of Fort Mill millage for the next taxable upcoming year which is January 1, 2021 thru December 31, 2021 and FY ending September 30, 2021 will be set at 75.2 mills. This rate is a rollback from 86 mills which keeps the Town revenue neutral. She also stated that state law requires that a reassessment be done every five (5) years and this is our 5th year. She confirmed that the tax millage is set for an entire year and cannot be changed during that time. Davy Broom gave a presentation of the Town Manager’s Recommended Budget for FY 2020/21. Attached as Schedule A. Councilwoman Cook made a MOTION to approve First Reading of an ordinance to raise revenue by setting the tax millage for the Town of Fort Mill, South Carolina for the tax year ending December 31, 2020, and for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2021. SECONDED by Councilman Shirey. Passed 7-0 New Business Item #3 First Reading of an ordinance amending the Code of Ordinances for the Town of Fort Mill; CHAPTER 2, ADMINISTRATION; ARTICLE IV, FINANCE AND TAXATION; DIVISION 4, DEVELOPMENT IMPACT FEES; so as to revise the Development Impact fee discount rates for the Town. Mayor Savage commented that a delay would give Council more time to process information on discount rates that Council can completely agree upon. Council requested that staff provide them with representative comparisons from municipalities similar to the Town of Fort Mill. 3 Town of Fort Mill Meeting Minutes 9-14-2020  Councilman Moody made a MOTION to defer New Business Item #3 to the next morning Council Meeting, being on September 28, 2020. SECONDED by Mayor Savage. Passed 7-0. New Business Item #4 Consideration of resurfacing tennis courts at the Fort Mill YMCA at the Complex Davy Broom informed Council that staff had previously brought before them quotes on resurfacing the town owned tennis courts in both their current location and the proposed new location based on renderings provided by ESP Associates. The quote for each option is: Option 1 – Resurfacing of 6.5 courts in their current location - $260,006.00 and Option 2 – Resurfacing of 4 courts and building 4 new courts - $384,032.00. He stated that $500,000 has already been earmarked for maintenance of the tennis facility. The costs are for resurfacing only except for the 4 new courts which will come with new fencing and lighting. There has been discussion on a new restroom facility, refurbishing of current light poles, repainting of current fencing, updating the current tennis building, benches, and shading. The funding for these upgrades would come from monies left over after resurfacing costs. The court surfaces have deteriorated to a point that the cracks can’t be “filled” and the surface itself has become a safety concern. Councilman Helms made a MOTION to approve the option consisting of the resurfacing of 4 courts and building 4 new courts for the cost of $384,032.00, leaving 2 courts to be demolished. SECONDED by Councilwoman Heemsoth. Passed 6-1. Councilwoman Cook opposed. New Business Item #5 Consideration of allocations for Town of Fort Mill Accommodation Grant Funds Mr. Broom informed Council that According to SC State law a percentage of Accommodations Tax Revenues must be allocated to a special fund and used for tourism related expenditures. Once a municipality starts receiving more than fifty thousand dollars in revenue, they are required to appoint an advisory committee to make recommendations on the expenditure of revenue generated from the accommodations tax. This advisory committee then submits their recommendations for the allocation of these funds for the approval of Council. The Fort Mill Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee met on August 24, 2020 and reviewed three applications that the Town received for tourism related expenses. The amount requested by each applicant and the committee’s recommendation for funding is as follows: The Fort Mill History Museum: Marketing expenses of $32,000.00. Dehumidifier for Museum & HVAC expenses of $21,000.00 Their total request is for 4 Town of Fort Mill Meeting Minutes 9-14-2020  $53,000.00. The Committee voted to award 40% of the requested amounts since the museum reports that 40% of their visitors are qualifying tourists. (State defines a tourist as one traveling 50 miles or more) Total recommended for funding: Marketing Expenses $12,800.00 Dehumidifier for Museum & HVAC $ 8,400.00. Total recommendation by the advisory committee is $21,200.00 for the Fort Mill History Museum. The Town of Fort Mill submitted a request for marketing and media expenses for their Strawberry Festival in the amount of $12,395.00. Their total request is for $12,395.00 The Committee voted to award 50% of the requested amount since the Town reports that 50% of the visitors for this event are qualifying tourists. Total recommendation by the advisory committee is $6,197.50. Narroway Productions requested fund for advertising expenses in the amount of $61,175.00. Their total request is $30,000.00. The Committee voted to award 50% of the requested amount. Narroway reported that 75 – 80% of their visitors are usually qualifying tourists. They estimate that only 50% will be attending due to the current pandemic. The Committee voted to award Narroway 50% of their requested amount. The total amount of funding recommended by the advisory committee is for $15,000. Councilman Helms made a MOTION to approve the Accommodations Tax Advisory Committee’s recommended allocations from the Town of Fort Mill Tourism Fund. The allocations are as follows: Fort Mill History Museum – Total award of $21, 200.00 Town of Fort Mill – Total award of $6,197.50 Narroway Productions – Total award of $15,000 SECONDED by Councilwoman Heemsoth. Passed 7-0. INFORMATION/DISCUSSION Information/Discussion Item #1 TIA Policy during Covid-19. Penelope Karagounis explained that our Transportation Impact Assessments (TIA) require a traffic count. At this time, due to impact of COVID -19, school schedules are being modified and therefore are impacting the accuracy of traffic counts. This new policy will provide an alternative method to obtain traffic numbers. This policy will allow traffic counts, no more than five (5) years old, to be used along with historical growth rate, that our consultant would do, case by case. If there aren’t any traffic data in 5 years or less to be used, this policy will allow new counts with a 12 percent growth factor. Ms. Karagounis added that 5 Town of Fort Mill Meeting Minutes 9-14-2020  this policy is just for the time being until at which time it is determined that traffic counts are back to normal. This will serve as an alternative method to collect traffic data during the pandemic. Mayor Savage expressed concerns over making this policy change without going through the Planning Commission and Council for formal review and approval. Staff was asked to seek legal advisement from the Town Attorney and to look at policies from area municipalities and how any changes were implemented. Information/Discussion Item #2 RFATS update for Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) Penelope Karagounis explained that the Rock Hill - Fort Mill Area Transportation Study (RFATS) Committee updates the LRTP every 7 years. In this plan there is a list of unfunded projects for the LRTP for new alignments/road widenings and Intersection improvements. Municipalities have been asked to submit their top five (5) list. Ms. Karagounis wanted to share with Council the list that will be submitted for the Town of Fort Mill in each category by priority. They are as follows: For Road Widenings and New Alignments: 1) Sutton Road/Spratt Street to Springfield Parkway 2) Gold Hill Road/Springfield Parkway (I-77 to SC160) 3) Fort Mill Parkway (US 21 to Holbrook Road) 4) Fort Mill Parkway (Holbrook Road to SC160) 5) Sutton Road (Sixth Baxter Crossing to US 21) Intersection Improvements 1) SC160 (Steele/Bank Streets and Dobys Bridge Road) 2) SC160/Springfield Parkway 3) Dobys Bridge Road/Nims Lake Road/Williams Road 4) Dobys Bridge Road/Dobys Bridge Park 5) Old Nation Road/North White Street Information/Discussion Item #3 6th Annual Fort Mill Scarecrow Crawl and Fall Maze in Veterans Park Jacona Hester, Events Coordinator, informed Council of the upcoming Fall events. The 6th Annual Fort Mill Scarecrow Crawl will line the streets of the downtown area. Registration forms can be obtained on the Town’s 6 Town of Fort Mill Meeting Minutes 9-14-2020  website: www.fortmillsc.gov . Deadline to register for entry is September 18th. This will be the first year for a Hay Maze that will be located in Veterans Park and will be available during the month of October. Online events will be available during the month of October, as well. There will be a photo contest, pumpkin hunt, pumpkin decorating contest, name that Halloween movie contest. There also will be a Pets and People Contest on October 31st. Details can all be found on the Town of Fort Mill Website. EXECUTIVE SESSION Please Note: Council may take action on Executive Session Items listed on the agenda when they come back into Public Session. There were no Executive Session Items ADJOURN Councilman Helms made a MOTION to adjourn. SECONDED by Councilman Huntley. Passed 7-0 Being no more business to conduct, the meeting adjourned at 8:29 pm. The following press was notified of the meeting by email or fax in accordance of the Freedom of Information Act: The Herald; CN2; WRHI; Fort Mill Sun and WBTV. The agenda was also posted on the board outside of the entrance to Town Hall the required length of time and on the Town website. Respectfully Submitted: Virginia C. Burgess, CCC Town Clerk Approved by Council: September 28, 2020 7 Town of Fort Mill Meeting Minutes 9-14-2020