The disturbing facts of 911
After approving the town minutes from the Town Council meeting on April 24 and the Public Hearing meeting on the same day, Chief Karl Ristow of the St. John’s Fire Department spoke on the issue of consolidating Charleston County’s 911 dispatch centers. “Right now, your cell phone call to 911 could go to any one of nine call centers in Charleston County,” the Chief pointed out. As an example, he cited a recent incident where a call was made to 911 concerning a jumper on the Wando bridge. Because of the locations of cell towers, the call went to Berkeley County call center, who stated that they did not have jurisdiction over the Wando bridge area. The call was then transferred to North Charleston, then to Charleston. Finally, the call made it to Mount Pleasant, where the police had jurisdiction. In total, there were five calls after the jump, each one taking at least one minute. “By the time we get a call at 911,” said Chief Ristow, “there’s about 4 to 6 minutes for us to respond before you’re dead. By the time the call for the Wando bridge jumper got to the proper call center, that person was technically dead before the first (fire)truck rolled.” The solution? A new consolidated call center that can handle and sort the 1.9 million 911 calls that Charleston County receives every year. “Charleston County has agreed to help build the new $20 million facility, but we need all of the towns to be willing to help.” Chief Ristow then pointed out to Council that even if the town helps to fund the project, it wouldn’t have any power over the operation of the center. “This is important for all residents of Charleston County,” he expounded. “ Right now, if any of you call 911, the call will go to Charleston County first, where it will then be transferred to EMS, which is where 95% of all 911 calls go. Finally it gets transferred to me at St. John’s. That’s three minutes at least before the trucks start rolling and by that point, statistically, you’re dead.” The new call center will help to expedite all calls and ensure that the are going to their proper districts without needless re-routing. Chief Ristow asked Town Council to consider whether or not they would support the new consolidated center, because he would be coming back to ask again for their support in the near future.
“Cough, please” - Barrier Island Free Medical Clinic to open on John’s Island
Dr. Charlie Davis and Dr. Arthur Booth of the Barrier Island Free Medical Clinic spoke on the opening of their new facility and asked Council for their support and any donations that they might be able to contribute to the building and maintenance of the clinic. “20% of John’s Island’s population is below the poverty line and has little to no access to health care,” Dr. Davis pointed out. The current facility on the islands only provides dental and pre-natal health care. They do not have family medical care and are not planning on providing it. “We do not wish to compete with any other clinics. We provide primary family health care for people that no one else will take care of.” Even though Dr. Booth is a surgeon, he specified that no specialist service would be provided. “If a patient needs a specialist, we will refer them and have the appointment set up so there is no time wasted in the waiting room.” Patients without insurance might spend up to 36 hours in an emergency waiting room. By providing the clinic and referrals, time and taxpayer money will be saved. “If we take care of those who serve us well,” Dr. Booth said, “it will come back to us a hundred fold.” Council chose to confer at a later date about whether or not they would contribute to the clinic, though Dr. Booth and Dr. Davis mentioned that both Kiawah and Rockville had agreed to donate money. For more information on the new clinic, please see page 7.
Surf or turf? Barrier Island Trust Spring workshop review
Dr. John Scofield discussed the Deedee Paschal Barrier Island Trust Spring workshop which he attended on May 4. After noting that most of the discussion of the meeting was well reviewed in the last Island Connection (see Volume 1 Issue 2, “Sentiments on Sediments” starting on page 11), he pointed out that Seabrook does not have a lot of the problems that other barrier islands face. “We are actually accumulating land, not losing it,” he said. “Our problems are more about how we can make our beach more resistant to erosion, floods and hurricanes. We need to review the recommendations made by Ocean and Coastal Resource Management (OCRM) and see what can be done. Edisto put a limit on house size, other islands put limits on lot size. Anything we can do from the baseline, seaward on Seabrook will be a big help.” Dr. Scofield also added that the POA has been very proactive and would be looking at measures the community can take to protect the island; measures which would benefit residents not only by saving their property but would also save up to 45% on resident’s flood insurance.
Emergency? Seabrook is CERTainly on top of it
Chief Ristow also thanked the CERT team for doing such a great job the night of the incident at the Kiawah Resort, saying that “you all (the CERT team) did a wonderful job and are a valuable service to the community.” Councilman Savin also thanked the CERT team for their brave efforts in attempting to find the second of two lost kayakers on May 9, an effort which was ultimately unsuccessful, although the rescue process went very well. Council also noted that there would be a countywide CERT drill starting at 9:00am on June 6 and will continue through June 7. The practice drill, which should not be noticeable to residents, will be an earthquake emergency simulation.
Notes from the Accommodations Tax Advisory
The Accomodations Tax Advisory group met recently to explore recommendations for how to spend excess accommodations tax money. Their recommendations will be reviewed at the next Town Council meeting.
Notes from the Mayor
Mayor McNulty brought up the fact that a traffic study was performed about six or seven years ago that detailed the possibilities of widening the main roads of John’s Island, including Maybank, Bohicket and River roads. He believes that the information is still accurate and current and wanted to make sure all members of Council had copies of the report. He also reported that a joint letter with Kiawah Island had been written concerning the necessary improvement of John’s Island’s roads and a copy was sent to each member of Charleston County council. He added that this (the widening and improvement of the roads) was an issue that needed to be addressed.
Notes from the Town Administrator
Beach Patrol up and running
Beach Patrol is now up and running with a new club car purchased at a used car price. “We saved the town about $3,000 by purchasing a demonstration model that hadn’t even been driven,” said Town Administrator Pierce of the gas powered four-seater. The beach patrol will run from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day weekend. The Mayor requested that the money for the club car be taken from the miscellaneous fund instead of the general fund; a motion which was approved unanimously.
Still with the bike path …
The bid documents are together, but there are a few issues still preventing the path from being built. The previous plan included a fifty foot length of the path that allowed easier access from the Resort. However, the length required a seven foot fill and bulkhead, so a meeting was held on May 23 to decide whether or not the extension of the path would be included. Buddy Darby has set up the necessary documents to start the bid process. All that is needed is the decision on the final drawings and bidding can start in less than two weeks. The official permit is still at OCRM, so actual construction has to wait until the permit is approved. “I’m tempted to just build the bike path to the town line and stop,” the Mayor said. He suggested running a ten foot wide path to the town limit fence, keeping the path a minimum of six feet from the road. When questioned about building over the Berkeley Electric easement, the Mayor noted that the agreement with the electric company was soft enough that it permitted the building of the path.
Do we need an emergency warning signal?
Council discussed the possibility of a warning siren established on the island in order to warn residents of impeding disasters; i.e. hazardous waste spills, hurricanes, sudden storms, etc. The suggestion was brought up by the POA and contact was made with a company in Michigan that provides siren and voice alarm systems. The systems broadcast up to a one mile radius at 70 decibels; ten decibels above the ambient noise level in an average suburban environment. An alternative suggestion was the use of a reverse 911 service. Currently only eight lines are available for calling all of Seabrook’s residents, but a new system will soon be installed that will have up to 24 lines at its disposal. No decisions were made on the issue and more research will be conducted into these and alternative options.
Notes from the Utility Commission
St. John’s Department of Agriculture has approved a loan to fix the water system, so the process should begin shortly. Trouble continues with the Verizon Wireless cell tower, although the issues are purely legal. Verizon is attempting to revise the contract signed by the five other cell companies on the island, however, the town attorney seems to have the issues well in hand. The Utility Commission is also feeling optimistic about the grant from FEMA and will be attending a meeting in the next few weeks to see where the island stands in the application process.
The “missed a few” ordinance, 2007-05
In 2004, when the Town of Seabrook Island recodified its Town Code, a few provisions were inadvertently excluded and/or misprinted. This ordinance, which passed its first reading unanimously, was written as a correction. It includes the notice of the time and place for each public hearing as being publishing at least fifteen (15) days in advance of the hearing in a newspaper of general circulation in the Town of Seabrook Island. Previously, the section read “shall be published fifteen (15) days and seven (7) days in advance”. The seven days was felt to be repetitive.
Provisions that were revised in their entirety include:
Section 7.2.32: The Committee shall elect a chairman and secretary from its membership, shall make such rules as are necessary to perform its designated function, shall advertise its meetings by placing a notice on the official Town bullitin board at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to each meeting, shall keep minutes of all meetings and shall meet as often as necessary to perform its designated function but no less than once per year.
Section 1.5b.35: Cancellation of invitations for bids or requests for proposals, or other solicitations may be cancelled, or any and all bids or proposals may be rejected in whole or in part when it is in the best interests of the Town of Seabrook Island. The Mayor or his or her designate may amend any of the requirements set forth in an invitation to bid, notice of bid, or solicitation when necessary and in the Town’s best interest. Reasonable notice of such amendment shall be given. The Town may reject any and all bids for any purpose whatsoever. (Ordinance 94-11, 1/12/95)
Section 1.5b.36: Town property with an estimated value of less than Five Hundred and No/100 Dollars ($500) may be sold without formal advertisement or competitive procedures. (Ordinance 94-11, 1/12/95)
“No zoning fee for to-be-conserved land” ordinance
This ordinance passed its second reading unanimously. The ordinance states that there shall be no charge for any zoning or re-zoning requests wherein the applicant requests that the property in issue be zoned or rezoned into the Conservation District and where the applicant agrees to place a deed restriction on the property that no further re-zoning of the property will be allowed. All other provisions of the fee schedule set forth as Attachment A to the Town’s DSO remain the same.
The dog ordinance passes!
Seadogs rejoice! The final reading of the dog ordinance, which allows for dogs to be off-leash but under voice command in the Designated Area from the hours of before 10:00am and after 5:00pm during turtle nesting season (May 1 - October 30) and anytime from November 1 - April 30, provided they stay below the apparent high water mark, has passed. The law is now in effect and has no expiration date. Details on the Designated Area and leash laws are available at Seabrook Town Hall or by emailing Linda Manning at lmanning@townofseabrookisland.org.
*please note that these minutes are unapproved. For approved minutes, please see Linda Manning at Seabrook Town Hall or email her at lmanning@townofseabrookisland.org
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