A - Town Council Meetings

Emergency Video Conference Meeting Mount Pleasant Town Council Friday, May 1, 2020 at 1:00 p.m. Public Access Live Stream Link: https://youtu.be/oFwSQa6f8QA MINUTES I. Call to Order Mayor Haynie called the meeting to order at 1:05 p.m. II. Roll Call Mayor Will Haynie and Council members, Brenda Corley, Laura Hyatt, Kathy Landing, Tom O’Rourke, Jake Rambo, Gary Santos, and Guang Ming Whitley were present. Council member Howard Chapman was serving the National Guard on active duty and was not present. III. Public Comment Public comments may be viewed here. IV. Adoption: A Resolution urging the Town of Sullivan’s Island and the City of Isle of Palms to allow Town of Mount Pleasant Citizens and Citizens of the State of South Carolina access to public beaches and waters. (R.20051) Ms. Corley moved to approve; seconded by Mr. Rambo. Mr. Santos stated that he would like to propose an amendment to the motion. He spoke with the Mayor of Isle of Palms and various Council members. He was not able to speak to all of them prior to the meeting; however, the Mayor of Isle of Palms was in agreement. He said in the “Therefore” section of Resolution 20051, where it currently reads: “Therefore; the Town of Mount Pleasant urges the Town of Sullivan’s Island and the City of Isle of Palms to allow access to public beaches and water”, to insert “via biking, running and walking”. Mr. Santos stated that the Mayor of Isle of Palms has agreed to bring this before his Council members, to allow Mount Pleasant residents to have access to the Isle of Palms beaches at all times via biking, walking, and running. He stated that if this can be added to the Resolution it would be beneficial for the residents of the Town and show that we are willing to work together. Mr. Santos made a motion for this to be an amendment to the Resolution; seconded by Mr. O’Rourke. Ms. Corley stated that her concern since the beginning has been the barricades and check points which feel similar to major violations. Since the Governor is speaking at 4:00 pm today, hopefully there will be some news that will move this in a forward direction to open up the beaches. She said going to be beach is one of the healthier things to be doing during this time. Mr. Rambo stated that his concern with the amendment is that there will still be barricades for vehicles and the residents of the Town will still not be able to drive to the beach. He said he would be agreeable with the amendment if it encouraged biking, walking, and running; however, it appears that the Town is still agreeable to continue the barricading of vehicles. Mr. Santos stated that the Governor has allowed each municipality to make their own decisions. He said he does not know what the City of Isle of Palms Council’s intentions are regarding opening up the beach access. He said this simply provides immediate access to the Isle of Palms and perhaps in a week, it can be revisited. Mr. O’Rourke asked if the Town has the authority to block the base of the Ravenel bridge and the 526 bridge and prohibit people from coming into the Town of Mount Pleasant. Mayor Haynie stated that under curfew conditions, he believes it is allowable, such as a hurricane. He said he would defer to Legal Counsel. Mr. Pagliarini stated that this is a fact specific circumstance. He stated that there are many facts to take into consideration, such as location, whether it is a pass through area or a destination. He said he imagines there are situations where this could occur. Mr. O’Rourke stated that he is aware there are people from the Isle of Palms who are exercising and riding their bikes into the Town of Page 2 of 6 Mount Pleasant. He has always thought that each municipality has their own unique situation to deal with and does not appreciate the Town being told what to do. He said as the Islands make their decisions, they will know where the Town stands. He said a tremendous number of emails were received on this particular subject of beach access. He said the overwhelming number of public comments received were residents from Mount Pleasant in favor of moving forward with this resolution. He said the Isle of Palms has intelligent officials and Mayor Carroll is a good man. We simply want them to know how the Town feels as they go about making decisions. Ms. Landing stated this is all being done by Council on behalf of the Town’s citizens as their representatives. She said everything that was done since the beginning was in an effort to protect the citizens from this virus. She said the data has shown that Sullivan’s Island, Isle of Palms and Mount Pleasant have very low occurrence. She said the data is indicating that it is time for everyone to get out to the parks, beaches and accessing the islands. This is simply letting the officials at the Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island know how the Town feels. Mr. Santos stated that he drove around Town and it appears that everyone is doing the right thing. He would like to make it clear that Mayor Carroll is only one of nine votes on the Isle of Palms and he has agreed to bring this to their Council. He said if the Isle of Palms Council agrees to this first step, then perhaps the Town will be able to work with them. Ms. Corley stated that she still feels strongly that the barricades need to come down. Mr. Santos stated that by the Islands keeping the cars out, it will limit the amount of people, especially coming from other municipalities. It will not overburden their police department. Mr. Rambo stated this Resolution is addressing both Sullivan’s Island and Isle of Palms. He stated that he has a very young family and walking across the Isle of Palms bridge is not safe and vehicular access would be much safer. He is not in favor of the amendment as it appears that the Town is agreeable with the Isle of Palms only allowing bikers, walkers and runners and continue their authoritarian barricades and checkpoints. Mayor Haynie stated that both Mayors of the islands have reached out to him and their Councils are willing to discuss this issue. He Page 3 of 6 stated that the Governor issued them an executive order and they have explicit permission to control their beach access. He said if the barricades came down today, they are still able to control beach access. He would like for people to be able to use the beach and his issue with this amendment is that this Council is telling the other taxpayers of South Carolina that we are okay with a measure that allows Mount Pleasant people to use the beach, but they are not able to. He is in favor of the initial wording that all citizens have reasonable access to the beaches with social distancing and reasonable restrictions. He said there are reasonable restrictions on the use of the Town facilities as well. He said if this amendment is proposed, they will only give running, cycling, and walking access. Mr. Santos stated that the island will not remove their barricades until they feel comfortable. He said that cycling, walking, and running at least provides for some access. He said if we do not vote on this, then we are back where we started with no access. He said he is attempting to find a small compromise. He is not even sure the islands will allow for any of the proposals. The Resolution is a good one and sends a strong message and he does not believe the amendment hampers it in any way. Ms. Landing said the way the resolution is currently written now is acceptable and suggested providing mutual aid from Town. She said we are getting to a place where the data indicates that it is time to begin opening things up. Ms. Whitley said she also agrees that the Resolution, as written, is broad and provides a general request. She said it is non-binding as the Town has no jurisdiction over Sullivan’s Island or Isle of Palms. They do not have to listen to Town Council. She said the more specific the resolution gets, the more the Town is telling the islands what to do. She believes in a broad general resolution and the dialogue between the Mayors and Council, to work not just on the exercise component, but the eventual opening of the beaches. She said it should not be the position of Town Council to write the specifics, but the position of Councils on Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island. She believes the broader resolution is best. Ms. Hyatt stated that the Resolution as originally written is an opportunity to express the feelings of the Town of Mount Pleasant and a way to begin the conversation with Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Page 4 of 6  Island. She hopes that the Islands and the Town are able to come together and work towards a compromise. Mr. Santos stated that he would like to adjust his amendment. Mr. Santos moved to add, “including, but not limited to biking, running and walking”, in order to open it up to everything, including vehicles; Mr. O’Rourke amended his second. Mr. Pagliarini stated that in Mr. Santos’ original amendment to the motion, he also heard “at all times”, and asked if Mr. Santos wished to include these words. Mr. Santos stated that this statement was not included in his motion. Ms. Landing stated that in Mayor Carroll’s new letter, if it is before 8:00 a.m. or after 5:00 p.m., the public is already allowed full access. She said if it is not specified for all times of the day, then Council is already going along with what Mayor Carroll already states. Mayor Haynie asked Council not to be too specific. All present voted in favor of the amendment. Mr. Rambo stated that the Isle of Palms Mayor, Jimmy Carroll, took time to write to Town Council. He reviewed with Council some of the points in Mayor Carroll’s letter. He stated that upon his own review of County records, the Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island have been provided $2.4 million over the past five years of the Town’s County Tax money to help support the beaches. He said the letter also says to listen to health experts who have repeatedly stated that outdoor exercise and sunshine are important factors in staying healthy physically and mentally. He said experts have also said that the COVID-19 is not going away anytime soon. He asked how long the islands will continue to keep these unconstitutional measures in place. Will it be until there are zero cases or perhaps a vaccine. He said if the beaches are unsafe, why are the residents being allowed to access them. The Town’s residents are fed up with it and he does not believe Town residents will stand idly by while the islands use Town tax dollars to create their own private beach. All present voted in favor of the Resolution as amended. V. Adjourn There being no further business, Council adjourned at 1:41 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Page 5 of 6 Barbara Ashe May 1, 2020 Page 6 of 6