COUNCIL MEETING

 MEGGETT TOWN HALL

September 24, 2007

7:30PM

Mayor Grange Coffin called the meeting of the Meggett Town Council to order. Present were 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 August meeting were reviewed and a motion was made by Tom Hutto to approve the minutes as written.  Buster Herrington second the motion and they were approved.

Old Business

Highspeed internet

Councilman Tom Hutto announced that the high speed internet had been connected in Town Hall for anyone that would like to use the service.  Dave Bushmeyer came by and connected the box and the signal seems to be very good.  Tom said even in the SCPA Building he was receiving a good signal.  The range also works well in the park area, in front of Town Hall and at the picnic tables in the back parking area.

Harmony Hall

Mayor Coffin provided an update on the Harmony Hall closing.  He said the closing for the sale of the property to the Parks and Recreation Department is supposed to happen tomorrow (September 25).  However, he indicated that through certain sources, they have indicated that this may not happen.  He went on to state that certain things that will need to be taken care of before the property can close have not happened so he is not sure if this will take place or not.  Mayor Coffin said as far as he has heard the 27th of this month is the key date.  He said he would keep us updated as soon as he hears anything.

Board of Architectural Review

Tom Hutto inquired as to what is required to move forward with forming an architectural review board for the Town.  Attorney Rhoad said that there is a state statutory scheme that will need to be followed.    Attorney Rhoad said it had been a long time since he had looked at it but he would be glad to review it and present at the next meeting the requirements for setting one up.  He also suggested that you may want to attend an architectural review board meeting in Charleston before you make a final decision on whether you want one or not.

Buffer

Tom Hutto asked what was ever decided about the replacement of the buffer.  Administrator Ellie Prentiss indicated that it was decided at the last meeting that we would grant a year extension for Mr. Dunn.  Mr. Hutto then confirmed with Ms. Prentiss that the extension would run until July 30, 2008.

Leases for the SCPA Building

Tom Hutto inquired about the renewal of the leases.  Ellie Prentiss said that Mr. Larkin had renewed for two years but Shirley (Polo Properties) had not made a decision yet.  She has until the end of October to renew.

New Business

WestVaco property

Mayor Coffin, Councilman Garvin, Councilman Herrington, and Councilman Hutto met with Hugh Lane and Mr. McShane regarding the WestVaco property, a 72000 acre tract which lies on the other side of Ravenel which WestVaco is selling.  There is great concern for the community and Mayor Coffin feels strongly that the three towns need to come together and get involved with issues regarding this parcel.  Concerns are how the land will be developed.  There are two things that are involved.  One being that Dorchester County has no zoning and the other is the possibility of the land being annexed into the City of North Charleston provided that they win the law suite that is presently in litigation against Dorchester County. Mayor Coffin said he did not know what the density requirements are for North Charleston but felt that this would not be helpful to this area.  He urged residents to attend a meeting in regards to the sale of the WestVaco property that will be held tomorrow night (Sept. 25) at Baptist Hill School at 6:30 PM.

Gail Seabrook reported that she had contacted Andrea with Charleston County Planning about a workshop with Council and the Planning Commissioners but unfortunately at present they are extremely busy with updating zoning ordinances for Charleston County and she would have to get back with us to schedule a time for the workshop.

Bathrooms

Gail Seabrook said that she had spoken with Jim at Charleston County Building Services, Mr. Ray Larkin, a structural engineer, and a professional engineer at the firm LS3P about what the requirements would need to be for submitting the plans for the bathrooms.  To move forward with the application to Charleston County the plans may need to be revised and may require an architectural stamp as well as structural and mechanical.  Mr. Larkin offered to look at the structural drawings and stamp them for us.  We will also need to have a licensed commercial builder to oversee the project.  We will not be able to use a licensed residential builder.  Since we are in a flood zone AE12, the finished floor elevation will need to be at an elevation of 13’.  Technically the building will need to be built about 4’plus or minus from ground level.  It can be built on a slab but the building would require flood proofing if built on a slab.  She explained that she was not familiar with what is required with flood proofing so she spoke with John Chickarella, an architect with LS3P and he explained the process of flood proofing.  Plates are inserted in front of openings and panels are placed in these plates when a threat of flooding may occur.  These panels are designed to hold out water.   The building itself will require a waterproof substance applied to the building to the height of the required elevation.  He indicated that this water proofing substances is not attractive to look at but if the building is made of block and faced with brick, the substances can actually be applied to the block wall and the brick facing will hide the unsightly look.   Bottom line is that based on the information obtained we are no way ready to send the plans out for bids.

A resident suggested that Sarah Brush’s son is studying architect at Clemson and perhaps we could get him to do the plans for us and possibly use someone from the firm he works at to approve the drawings.

Councilman Tom Hutto said that we essentially have the plans drawn.  Ms Seabrook indicated to Tom that the drawings are not qualified drawings according to the information she was provided.  Councilman Hutto said basically that the drawings we have will give the concept of what we want.

Councilman Hutto said that the only other new business was regarding the little snap signs that you see along the side of the road advertising.  He said when they are left there for long periods they become unsightly and he had taken the necessary action to have them removed.  At present the problem seems to be small and he felt this would be the time to take control of the problem.  He sent a list of the locations to Ellie and to Andrea at Charleston County Planning.  Andrea said she would start the process to have them picked up.     

Miscellaneous Report

Ms Prentiss told Council that a letter was placed in their folders from Greg Fender with Local Government Service reference to our Comcast Franchise.  The SC Cable Services Act, municipalities or counties will no longer issue a cable franchise.  The companies will have to apply for a state issued franchise from the Secretary of the State.  Under the new law the fee will be increased from 3% to 5%.  Mr. Fender said that we needed to have an ordinance, acknowledging the 5% franchise fee upon the expiration of the current franchise.  A copy of the ordinance is enclosed in the Council’s folders.  Attorney Rhoad said he would review the ordinance and advise.

Changes in government audit regulations state municipalities now have to write management discussion and analysis statements.  Jerry Killen said the person writing the statements can not be the same person doing the audit.  Because this is the first year that we have been required to do this Killen and Associates will write the statements for us and we can engage another firm to do the audit.

Mrs. McDonald stopped by our office today asking for help in getting Raymond to his appointment for his radiation treatment.  After a phone call to Mr. Hugh Allston with the American Legion, Mr. Walt McDonald responded and offered to take him to his appointment.  We want to thank Walt for his consideration and providing the assistance to Mr. Raymond McDonald.

Scheduled Meetings

Mayor Coffin announced that on October 17 at 11:00 AM a Blue Star Memorial dedication on Highway 17 is scheduled.  Mayor Coffin urged the community to attend.

Public Comments

Beth Smoak said that the actual marker for the Blue Star Memorial will actually be placed close to the bridge area at Tea Farm Creek on Highway 17.  The actual dedication will take place at Caw Caw Interpreting Center.

Tom Boozer asked that residents keep up with the series of articles that appear in the Sunday Post and Courier about facing up to growth.  He said some of the numbers are mind boggling.  He also said not trying to be in conflict to the information that was presented earlier about the drawings for the bathroom facility but he had developed a working relationship with Allen Rudy who is the commercial building inspector for Charleston County.  Mr. Rudy works in the Ravenel office and had indicated that he would approve the drawings that were drawn in conjunction that Ray Larkin stamped the structural drawings.  Tom said he had also talked with Mr. Larkin about detailing the drawings about 4 months ago.  Mr. Rudy said he would not approve the restrooms built on a slab because of the possibility of backup should flooding occur.  Tom also offered the name of Micheal Gregor should we need to have an architect.  Mr. Gregor was the architect that Tom had consulted with on the SCPA Building.  The information Tom provided was greatly appreciated and Ms Seabrook said she would follow up with Mr. Rudy on what Tom had shared with the Council.

Update:  Gail Seabrook met with Mr. Rudy on October 3, and asked him to look at the drawings we have to see if they were sufficient or what would be needed.  Mr. Rudy said the plans were not complete enough for submitting and we would need to furnish a floor plan with more detailed information along with a detail section that reflected what we were actually doing.  Corrected elevation plans will also be needed.  He did indicate we could build on a slab provided the building was flood proof and that would actually save us from having to build such a long handicap ramp.  He said that if we decided to place the finished floor elevation at the required flood elevation, we should consider a crawl space foundation rather than fill dirt on a concrete slab.  Also dimensions for handicap requirements would need to be noted on the plans.  The drawings do not allow the required dimensions for wheel chair access as they are drawn at present.

Mayor Coffin asked if there were any other comments from the public.  With no further comments he asked for a motion for the meeting to be adjourned.

Submitted by Town Clerk: Gail Seabrook