Mount Pleasant Youth Council

TOWN OF MOUNT PLEASANT, SOUTH CAROLINA MOUNT PLEASANT YOUTH COUNCIL Monday, October 18, 2021 5:00 PM RESCHEDULED FROM OCTOBER 7, 2021 DUE TO LACK OF QUORUM Mount Pleasant Municipal Complex Council Chambers 100 Ann Edwards Lane, Mount Pleasant, SC 29464 MINUTES Mr. El Hassan called the meeting to order at 5:02 p.m. Youth Council Members Graci Canon, Willa Jones, Geneva Kowbeidu, McClain Stoklosa, Chad Weis and McKenna Young were all present. Ms. DeMoura and Ms. Tiller arrived at 5:05 p.m. 1. Public Comments [None] 2. Approval of the minutes from the September 16, 2021 and October 7, 2021 meetings Mr. El Hassan moved to approve the minutes, seconded by Ms. Young. All present voted in favor. 3. Discussion and possible action regarding the outdoor basketball court project Mount Pleasant Recreation Director Steve Gergick presented an overview of the Carolina Park Conceptual Plan. (Ms. DeMoura and Ms. Tiller joined the meeting at 5:05 p.m. Mount Pleasant Youth Council October 18, 2021 Page 2 of 6 Mount Pleasant Youth Council October 18, 2021 Page 3 of 6  Mount Pleasant Youth Council October 18, 2021 Page 4 of 6 Mr. Gergick stated there were no funds to complete several of the items in the plan, and said he understood the Youth Council had expressed interest in raising funds for a basketball court. He said the assistance would be welcomed as it would cost approximately $150,000 for a two-court facility with lights, not including fencing which could increase the cost to $160,000. Ms. Canon asked if Youth Council raised $160,000 would it go to the basketball court or to the next project on the list. Mr. Gergick said if the money was raised to go toward the basketball court, it would be used for that, not redirected toward another project. After some discussion it was decided to pursue raising funds to put toward constructing the basketball court at Carolina Park. 4. Discussion of school composting project Mr. El Hassan said he spoke with the principal and Oceanside does not have use for a composting project as they do not serve lunch. Ms. Kowbeidu said she thought it would be hard for the public schools to get behind, but it is a good idea.  Mount Pleasant Youth Council October 18, 2021 Page 5 of 6 Ms. Sims said there is a Town employee that is working on an idea to host a composting bin sale, similar to a rain barrel sale so if the Youth Council would like something tangible, that would be an idea to consider. Further discussion was held on composting with the consensus being to focus on raising funds for the basketball court and assisting with Town functions such as Children’s Day and the Sweetgrass Half Marathon. Ms. Sims stated another thought would be to contact Charleston County and have them bring a recycling truck to a specific location at a specific time so that students could recycle unwanted paper from the school year. She said this would be very easy to do. Ms. Young stated she liked the idea of having the recycling truck and having everyone come drop off their papers, and they could possibly have a fundraising tent at the designated recycling location as well. Ms. DeMoura said she likes the idea of the recycling truck and it could be made into an end of the year event for students to get rid of all of their school papers. Mr. El Hassan said the truck could be in a central location and could be made into something fun, and would be a smaller project. He said he thought composting could be used to plant more trees which is what he initially hoped to do, or it could simply just be about getting the paper to the recycling bins instead of it going into the trash. Ms. Sims said it sounds like there is a consensus to scale that project down and asked the members to think about how that can be approached. She said it would go on the agenda for next month to make the final call. 5. Continued discussion on other priority projects and quarterly service events Ms. Sims said the first quarterly service project was held and thanked all who participated. Ms. Sims read an e-mail update from Ms. Liz Boyles thanking the members for their participation and for giving out all the available trees. Ms. Sims said the next item that was planned was either reaching out to a head-start program or participating in a toy or book drive in the winter.  Mount Pleasant Youth Council October 18, 2021 Page 6 of 6 Ms. Kowbeidu said she was speaking to her service head leader who was communicating with Toys for Tots who said they did not have as many donations last year as normal. Ms. Kowbeidu suggested putting on their social media accounts requesting help with a toy drive to help with Toys for Tots. She said the same route could be taken for the book drive by asking people to donate used or new books. Ms. Sims asked if this is something that is sponsored by her church and Ms. Kowbeidu said Porter Gaud does book and toy drives, and she is in the service program so she thought it would be helpful to do a Youth Council initiative to help with those. Mr. El Hassan said their school also participates in Toys for Tots. He said if toys could be collected through the schools, then they could go to the head-start programs and take the gifts to coincide with the holidays. Ms. DeMoura said she helped with an organization through her small group at church and it was exactly what is being discussed now. She said they would have everything planned out and Youth Council would just collect toys and show up to assist in underprivileged schools. Ms. Sims asked Ms. DeMoura to find out the name of the organization and asked Ms. Kowbeidu to continue her efforts, so it could be added to the agenda for next month to make the final calls. Ms. Sims said there is some discussion to move the date of the Sweetgrass Half marathon to earlier in the year so there may be a couple of projects that run back-to-back. 6. Adjourn There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:04 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Christine Barrett Clerk of Council October 18, 2021