Health, Recreation & Events Committee

TOWN OF MOUNT PLEASANT, SOUTH CAROLINA RECREATION COMMITTEE Monday, October 4, 2021 8:30 a.m. Municipal Complex, Council Chambers 100 Ann Edwards Lane, Mount Pleasant, SC 29464 Minutes Members Present: Gary Santos, Chair; Jake Rambo, G. M. Whitley Staff Present: Eric DeMoura, Steve Gergick 1. Call to order Mr. Santos called the meeting to order 8:30 a.m. 2. Approval of Minutes from the March 1, 2021 and the July 6, 2021 meetings Ms. Whitley made a motion to approve the March 1, 2021 and the July 6, 2021 minutes. Mr. Rambo seconded the motion. All were in favor. 3. Public Comments None 4. Employee years of service recognition Mr. Gergick recognized Mr. Ryan Johnson for 15 years of service with the Town working in the Recreation Department’s Athletic Division. 5. Review and comparison of rental fees Rental Fee Comparison Mr. Gergick shared a comparison of rental fees with other municipalities. He said they were not recommending any changes. Ms. Whitley said one of the reasons they changed the rental fees was to be more comparable with neighboring communities. She said the Town had been subsidizing a lot of the rentals and they were hoping to recoup some of those expenses and asked if the changes in fees had any effect on the usage of facilities.  Recreation Committee October 4, 2021 Page 2 of 4 Mr. Gergick said they were back on track and did not believe there was a decrease in rentals as people were aware that there had been an increase and they were utilizing them. The Committee and staff discussed the fulfillment of rental requests and the use of the facilities. 6. Discussion and possible action regarding Town of Mount Pleasant noise ordinance Mr. Santos said they had meetings recently with the restaurants on Shem Creek about noise ordinances. He said they were trying to look at this ordinance to see what they could do to find some balance between the restaurants and the homeowners who live close. Mr. DeMoura said there was a noise ordinance that was dated, and some changes were needed. He said if a business has a permit, then they were not violating the noise ordinance. He said a special event permit limits any business with outdoor entertainment to four permits per year. He said they are trying to have the balance between businesses and homeowners and said they are looking at ways to update this. Mr. Mac Deford, Staff Attorney, said with respect to the noise ordinance he understood the police department was looking at ways to enforce this by including decibel reading machines in determining when noise was becoming unreasonable. He said the Legal Department could craft a proposed ordinance to address that methodology and enforcement. Police Chief Mark Arnold said they have done a lot of research on this to include reviewing ordinances and decibel meters from other municipalities. He said decibel meters are very affordable. He said it helps the officers in making a determination, but he did not want to be so strict on the ordinance that they would lose their discretion. He said they are trying to deal with repeat locations with the excessive noise. He said they could go to a property line after Council had determined decibels and the range of acceptability, measure it, and record the reading on the body camera, and it would be prosecuted like any other misdemeanor offense. The Committee and staff discussed the ordinance and the various ways to determine the noise volume. Mr. Wade Boals, with Saltwater Cowboys on Shem Creek, said they have created a system where they used a digital meter and worked with  Recreation Committee October 4, 2021 Page 3 of 4 a nearby neighbor to gage the volume. He said he hoped they could establish something for the noise. The Committee and staff continued discussion on how to measure the noise level. Mr. Rambo made a motion that they send this to full Council and instruct the staff attorney to rewrite the ordinance in conjunction with the police department to add a decibel range or meter to the ordinance. Mr. DeMoura said respectfully to the Committee, this was probably in the realm of the Police, Judicial, and Legal (PJL) Committee to recommend ordinance adjustments to Council. He said they have not worked on the particulars of the decibel meter. He said they could make a recommendation to PJL, where they could share this information and presentation, or they could put in on the Council agenda as an update of what took place at the Recreation Committee. He said that Council could act on it or send it back to PJL. He said PJL is the entity that takes up construction or reconstruction of ordinances. Mr. Rambo said his motion was to take it to Council. He said he requested it to go on PJL’s agenda last month and it did not happen. He said that PJL was not meeting this month and said the citizens have been talking about this for a few months now. Mr. Santos seconded the motion for discussion. The Committee discussed directing the staff attorney to redraft the ordinance before next Tuesday’s Council Meeting and discussed defining what the noise level was with a number with input by the police department. Mr. DeMoura said they were not there with a decibel number, but they could choose a number. He said that typically every time this matter has been discussed, there had been heavy involvement from residents. He said the Committee was asking for them to construct an ordinance to go to Council and said he was not sure they have enough information to fully construct the ordinance. He said there was a lot to work out on the staff side. He said if they picked a number on the decibel meter and it was too high, they would be setting themselves up for a problem with the residents in the future. Mr. Rambo said there were two readings of Council so they have a couple of months to figure out exactly what the number should be before  Recreation Committee October 4, 2021 Page 4 of 4 final reading. He said they received a petition with lots of signatures three months ago and they were just now talking about it and saying they need more time which is not responsive to the community. Mr. Santos said they had meetings with the restaurant owners and managers, and they are all on the same page. He asked Mr. Deford if he understood what Mr. Rambo was saying. He said it was not a large ordinance to be able to amend. Mr. Deford answered in the affirmative and said he would like to have more time to work with the police department so they could craft an ordinance that was going to be more appropriate to submit to Council. Mr. Santos asked how much time he may need. He said they could call a Recreation Committee anytime. Mr. DeMoura said they would have something ready for Council and it would not be perfected. He said they would craft something together. Mr. Santos said they had a motion and a second on the floor and asked if there was any other discussion. All were in favor. Mr. Jacob Robertson with Vickery’s Bar and Grill said he liked the decibel level method as it was set in stone. He said he said he did not think it was fair for two or three people to outweigh all the people who enjoy the music. He said they have lost business when they do not have music. 7. Program/projects update Mr. Gergick gave a report on the Recreation Department participation numbers, programs, and activities. He reported on the process of the projects taking place. There was discussion about protocols for COVID in the Recreation sports and programs. 8. Adjourn There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:14 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Karen Bedenbaugh, 10/4/21