COUNCIL MEETING

MEGGETT TOWN HALL

October 22, 2007

7:30PM

Mayor Grange Coffin called the meeting of the Meggett Town Council to order. Present were Pro-tem Josh Garvin,Councilmen Tom Hutto, and Buster Herrington. Also present were Attorney Dennis Rhoad, Ellie Prentiss and Town Clerk Gail Seabrook. Attorney Dennis Rhoad led the prayer and the Pledge of Allegiance.

Approval of minutes

The minutes from the September meeting were reviewed and approved with the following corrections:

1) Buster Herrington's name was added to the attendees with the meeting with Hugh Lane and Mr. McShane regarding the Westvaco property.

2) The spelling of Mr. Hugh Allston name was corrected.

Meggett 1925

Administrator, Ellie Prentiss reported she had talked with Jim Wittenburg with SCE&G regarding the invoice received for $59,000 for the underground conversion which was $30,000 more than what was originally quoted to us. He said he had review the work order and it indicated that more work was done than originally thought but it did seem to have some inefficiency on their part and it looks like the invoice may be closer to $28,000 than the $59,000. A meeting is scheduled with him on Nov. 1. Also, A/C electric was contacted and advised that they still had two lights not working and they need to finish up so we could close the Grant. Ellie said she also contacted Cathy Ryan with the Department of Transportation asking for an extension for the second grant. The second phase of the street scaping was supposed to have been started back in July. She is aware of our situation so hopefully we will be granted the extension. Also, the $100,000 line of credit with First Citizens Bank is up for renewal this month so Council will need to decide if we should proceed with the renewal. Tom Hutto asked if anything was owned on it now. Ms Prentiss responded that at present nothing was owed. The Council voted to renew the credit line.

Mayor Coffin announced that the Council met in a workshop and it was determined that perhaps building the bathrooms now may be too costly for the Town but perhaps we could focus on the construction of the packing shed instead. He did indicate that those individuals who had donated money towards the bathroom facilities should be considered and asked if they were in agreement to have the donation used for the packing shed instead. Ms Prentiss said we would lose the $22,000 grant that had been appropriated for the construction of the bathroom facilities. We would also have to pay back the $5000 par grant that was provided for the bathroom construction. Also we only have $17,200 in the Meggett 1925 budget.

Ms Prentiss suggested that since we were so limited with the funds for the shed or the bathrooms, perhaps we should concentrate on the second phase of the street scaping and finish that since we have the $200,000 grant for that. She also mentioned that since Mr. Harrell had retired, it may be difficult to get another grant for the street scaping so we should move forward with the project as soon as possible so we don't lose this money. With this grant we will have to match 20%. She also suggested that for the time we could place a sign in the park indicating that bathroom facilities are available upstairs in the SCPA building.

Tom Hutto asked what is needed by Council to have the sign made. Ellie Prentiss said we have someone that we use and could get them to do a sign for us and post it in the park.

Ordinance #2007-07 (Cable Provider Franchise Fee)

Mayor Coffin advised Council that a copy of the Franchise Fee rate for cable service is in their folders for review. Attorney Rhoad reminded council that as he had said at the last meeting, basically they do not have a lot of choice regarding the franchise fee rate. Councilman Josh Garvin made the motion to have the first reading of the Franchise Fee Rate for Cable Service Providers. Tom Hutto seconded the motion. It was approved.

Old Business

Councilman Tom Hutto asked about the lease renewal for the SCPA Building. Ms Prentiss said Mr. Larkin had renewed and Shirley with Polo Properties had to the end of October to decide.

Josh announced that they had fixed the hole on Parishville Road after it was reported by our office.

Tom Hutto asked if we had found another auditor for the Town since the laws had changed. Ellie Prentiss said she just talked with Attorney Rhoad about that and would call the firm that Buster Herrington's wife works for and ask if they had someone other than his wife that could represent the Town as our auditor and then keep Mr. Jerry Killian as our second auditor. Councilman Hutto asked that when a decision is made as to who will be hired for the Town's accountant, try to get the person to commit to certain deadlines.

Mayor Coffin said he talked with Billy Cooper, Dana Beech, and the PRC (Parks and Recreation Committee) about getting funding for the residual of Harmony Hall but they did indicate that it may be a hard road to sell. Dana Beech did agree to set up a meeting with Mayor Coffin and Council members about talking with the contractor that is developing the subdivision, Long Savannah, as a possible source for doing something with remaining acreage. However, he has not heard anything back with regards to the meeting. More than likely it will not be possible to get the funding to keep it as green space. Tom Hutto spoke up and indicated that one of the concerns for appropriation of green space funding is the cost placed on the property of 3.5 million by Mr. Stanley. Tom said he felt this was a pretty steep price for the property. Councilman Hutto inquired as to  what was the connection with the contractor with which with they were trying to schedule a meeting with in relationship to Harmony Hall. Mayor Coffin just indicated that he was known for developing areas with a rural influence and generally large acre estates.

Councilman Tom Hutto asked if anyone had heard anything about the potential development of the Westvaco property in the area of East Edisto. Mayor Coffin said he had not heard anything but he did meet with Jackie Heyward, Mayor of Hollywood, and she would like very much for the alliance to get involved with this issue. Councilman Tom Hutto inquired if a meeting date had been set. Not at this time Mayor Coffin indicated.

New Business

Councilman Josh Garvin announced that a vacancy has become available on the Planning Commissioners and he made a motion to nominate Tommy Butler to replace John Boineau. Buster Herrington second the motion. Councilman Tom Hutto asked to have the motion be deferred until Keith McCarty could be present. There was no second to that motion. The motion to elect Tommy Butler to the Planning Commissioners was voted on and passed with a vote of 2 to 1.

Mayor Coffin told the residents  about the ceremony for the dedication of the Blue Star Memorial that was placed on Highway 17 near CawCaw. He said he attended the ceremony and it was something to be very proud of and very impressive.

Mayor Coffin also presented a check to the town from the residual of his campaign finances to purchase a new flag pole.

Miscellaneous Reports

The painter finished painting Mr. Larkin's room. The conference room was painted to match the reception room but we failed to know the ceiling was painted another color but he was ok with it painted white. He paid the additional cost to have the color changed. The walkway will be power washed hopefully this Wednesday and after that we will know more about if we will need to paint. We have four bids in for the painting but Ms Prentiss recommended that we go with Joseph Barfield. In addition to the excellent job he did he always let her know when he was leaving and was off the clock and his price was reasonable. She indicated that before Joseph, we had another painter on sight and he was over charging us. The workmanship was also unsatisfactory. They had failed to use drop clothes when sanding was being done in Mr. Larkin's rooms and he had expressed dissatisfaction  and was concerned about the new furniture that he had just purchased.

The speeding problem in the town area along Hwy 165 was again brought to our attention by a concerned citizen. Ms Prentiss said she called Deputy Sheppard and asked to have an officer assigned to this area to enforce the designated speed limit. Gail Seabrook said, not meaning to interrupt, but since we were talking about traffic situations she would like to inform everyone about a problem that has been occurring by the intersection of Wilson Road and Ethel P.O. Road. There have been several reported cases in the last couple of weeks of rocks being thrown at cars traveling in that area resulting in windshields being broken.  Mayor Coffin reminded everyone that when an incident occurs to be sure and report it to the Charleston County Police. The frequency they patrol an area is based on the number of calls they receive for that area.

Flyers were sent out last week giving information for our Christmas Tree Festival. We will need donations for decorated trees, the bake shop and for our attic treasurers. The building will remain decorated throughout the holiday season so if anyone is interested in renting it for a holiday party it will be decorated.

Scheduled Meetings:

Gail Seabrook asked if the next town meeting could be held in Town Hall instead of the SCPA Building since we would be in the process of decorating.