City Council Regular Meeting Agenda - December 12 2017

In attendance were Mayor Billy Keyserling, Councilwoman Nan Sutton, Councilmen Mike McFee, Phil Cromer, and Stephen Murray, and Neal Pugliese, director of public projects and facilities.

CITY OF BEAUFORT

1911 BOUNDARY STREETBEAUFORT MUNICIPAL COMPLEXBEAUFORT, SOUTH CAROLINA 29902

(843) 525-7070

CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING AGENDA

December 12, 2017 NOTE: IF YOU HAVE SPECIAL NEEDS DUE TO A PHYSICAL CHALLENGE, PLEASE CALL IVETTE BURGESS 525-7070 FOR ADDITIONAL

INFORMATION

STATEMENT OF MEDIA NOTIFICATION

"In accordance with South Carolina Code of Laws, 1976, Section 30-4-80(d), as amended, alllocal media was duly notified of the time, date, place and agenda of this meeting."

REGULAR MEETING - Council Chambers, 2nd Floor - 7:00 PM

I CALL TO ORDER

A Billy Keyserling, Mayor

II INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

A Mike McFee, Mayor Pro Tem

A Ordinance authorizing the City Manager to enter into contracts for Sale for Properties

in Commerce Park - 1st Reading

CITY OF BEAUFORT

DEPARTMENT REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM

A work session of the Beaufort City Council was held on November 14, 2017 at 5:00 p.m

in the Beaufort Municipal Complex, 1901 Boundary Street In attendance were Mayor Billy Keyserling, Councilwoman Nan Sutton, Councilmen Mike McFee, Phil Cromer, and Stephen Murray, and Neal Pugliese, director of public projects and facilities

In accordance with the South Carolina Code of Laws, 1976, Section 30-4-80(d) as

amended, all local media were duly notified of the time, date, place, and agenda of this meeting

CALL TO ORDER

Mayor Keyserling called the work session to order at 5:00 p.m

PRESENTATION: TECHNICAL COLLEGE OF THE LOWCOUNTRY (TCL) – NEW CULINARY INTERPRETIVE CENTER

Mary Lee Carns said the initiative started 2½ to 3 years ago Regional job growth

analysis predicts 500 new food service jobs annually, she said, and a third of them require a post-secondary culinary degree or certification These are jobs that pay well,

Ms Carns said, so graduates will earn good jobs here, and this will ensure stability in the industry and in tax revenues

Ms Carns gave details of the culinary school, which will be located in Bluffton and will cost $11.243 million It will be 26,000 square feet and have the capacity for 300 students

in programs with associates’ degrees and certificates, or they can go into the USCB hospitality management degree program

Ms Carns said TCL is “state-assisted, not state-supported,” with 18% of its operating funds coming from the state of South Carolina; the majority of funds come from

students’ tuition and fees She showed a layout of the culinary school and described various rooms in it, including a “teaching restaurant.” This is the second culinary school TCL’s president has built, Ms Carns noted Part of students’ training will be in the

business of operating a restaurant “back to front,” she said, and the restaurant will be open for lunch

Ms Carns showed pictures of the Culinary Institute of Charleston to give an idea of

“what the baking labs and cooking labs would look like.” A culinary arts interpretive center will be integrated to bring “to life Lowcountry food with exhibits you can taste,” she said Among the center’s goals are to educate the public and to encourage an

appreciation of Lowcountry culinary historic and culture There are only 3 other food museums in the country, Ms Carns said, which makes this a “marketing opportunity.”

Ms Carns described exhibits in the museum and programs that the center could offer, including cooking classes and dinner theater

The interpretive center would comprise 2,000 square feet of the Lowcountry Culinary

Institute and would be at the entrance to the school, Ms Carns said, adjacent to the teaching restaurant There will be an event space of 3,000 square feet for events for TCL and the public

Ms Carns discussed the impact of the Lowcountry Culinary Institute and the interpretive center: It would attract “cultural and culinary tourism” to Beaufort County, elevate culinary as a profession and career choice, attract students, and contribute to economic growth in the Lowcountry by promoting tourism, education, and workforce

development

Ms Carns said TCL’s current culinary program is small “because we don't have the facilities” and are “borrowing” them She gave out packets of information from TCL

Dr Rich Gough said they believe they now have the needed funding for the culinary

institute in place from the county, the school district, and Bluffton They hope to use the same construction company and developer that are building a new Kroger where the school will be, which would offer “a significant savings,” he said

Dr Gough pointed out the priorities for TCL, including the culinary school and TCL

College Online programs, which allow Marines who are transferred to another location

to continue their studies online, he said, and give TCL the ability to attract students from outside the area The Regional Workforce Training Center is “primarily a technology building” for the TCL New River campus for “aerospace [and] high-tech programs,” for example Dr Gough said TCL also hopes to expand the health sciences programs (e.g., additional nursing graduates) The Beaufort campus will be focused primarily on general education and health sciences, he said, and he discussed plans for this

Councilman Cromer said the need for physicians’ assistants’ programs is growing Dr Gough said TCL is limited to 2-year programs, but they could have a “feeder program” in that field Ms Carns said 60% of TCL students go on to 4-year programs at other schools, often to USCB Dr Gough said out-of-pocket costs for TCL students are no more than

Ms Carns said TCL is trying to be a “better local partner” (e.g., with the Pat Conroy Literary Center) by making space available to groups that need it The Mather

Interpretive Center was recently dedicated at the campus, and she discussed the two remaining buildings on the TCL campus from the Mather Junior College and

recommended visiting that interpretive center, which is open to the public Dr Gough said next year is the combined 150-year anniversary of TCL and the Mather Center

Councilwoman Sutton asked if there is also training for plumbing, etc planned for the workforce training center Dr Gough said he plans to keep those programs in the

facilities where they are for now, though they have improved the facilities, and have light construction and engineering classes in a recently improved building TCL has difficulty getting students into the programs, he said; “we have to keep talking about how important the trades are.” Councilwoman Sutton feels TCL should have a program with the high schools to let students know how important training in the trades is

There was a discussion about the difficulty of finding workers in contracting, plumbing, and other trades, and the need for workers to show up to jobs, etc Mayor Keyserling asked what could be done to “work on the soft skills.” Dr Gough said they try to

incorporate that into “all of our training.”

UPDATE ON HISTORIC PRESERVATION ARCHITECT SURVEY FOR ARSENAL

Linda Roper said Deborah Johnson had found a possible grant for work needed on The

Arsenal Ms Johnson said the grant is called “Undiscovered South Carolina,” which is

“based on building tourism products.” Beaufort is “close to the threshold” of being eligible for those funds, which are based on state accommodations taxes (ATAX), she said The Beaufort History Museum is growing and changing; if the building were in better condition, it would be more attractive to visitors, Ms Johnson said Repair of the windows and restrooms at The Arsenal have been on the city’s capital improvements list for some time This grant, “if we can get the information needed,” would be good to apply for, she said, but the deadline is the first week of December

Ms Johnson said the city needs “historic preservation expertise” from the South

Carolina Department of Archives and History for The Arsenal to ensure that the

structure and fabric of the building are not affected by what is done to it Ms Roper said they reached out to preservation architects to give them “what we need for the grant” within the short timeframe Meadors is a firm in Charleston that has architects who have “done a lot of preservation work in the state,” she said, and they feel like they can get what the city needs for the grant within the timeframe The city has expanded what they asked for to “a plan for a scope of work,” Ms Roper said, including construction drawings, so if the grant isn’t obtained, the city will still know what it can and can’t do at The Arsenal

The city will know what the budgeted amount would be for the windows and restrooms and could divide the projects into “pieces,” Ms Roper said Meadors will also assess the

building and “give us a priority list,” she said; this will be “a preservation plan for that building for the next 8 to 10 years,” so the city can maintain it better than it has been maintained in the past

Ms Johnson told Councilman McFee that the windows have to be replaced with historic glass, and some of the work done under another grant, which ended in 2009, has

“already started to fail.” There hasn’t been a maintenance plan “put into effect” in the past, she said, but the city is committed now to taking care of the building and doing the work it needs Contractors who work on the building will also be asked to provide a maintenance plan for the work they do, Ms Johnson said

Ms Johnson said they might be able to combine the grants into one project and have the wall funding (which is federal money) be the match for the Undiscovered South Carolina grant, but she described problems encountered with this plan

Mr Pugliese said the timeline for the exterior wall restoration is “tight.” Historic

Preservation gave a 72-hour turnaround for the RFP, which they accomplished There will be bids by January 5, he said, and the city will select a contractor and commence work on February 1 They hope it will be completed by May 1

Councilman Cromer said Beaufort History Museum wants him to see about the city painting the interior Ms Johnson said for the Undiscovered South Carolina grant, the work the museum is doing on its exhibits will be helpful The grant is “still highly

competitive,” because there is “a big group of folks applying,” she said She thinks knowing what the costs are will be helpful and will keep the city in good stead with Archives and History

Councilman Cromer said the museum brings a reenactment group to The Arsenal

annually, in the last week of April, and he wondered if the walls would be complete by then Ms Johnson said for grants, they say this is an educational opportunity for people

to know how important the maintenance of this type of historic structure is Mr

Pugliese said they could probably work with the reenactment, given the timeline for the work on the wall

Lamar Taylor said he’d read the proposal, and it’s very reasonable, including the 2-

month testing period

Ms Johnson said they’d gotten materials from Historic Beaufort Foundation, which did the last 2 major restorations of The Arsenal She described suggestions of a masonry expert consulted for the Historic Preservation grant for the wall

Councilman Murray asked if they would come back to council with the scope of work and maintenance plan so council can authorize funding Ms Roper said yes

There was a general discussion of some of the maintenance needs already observed at The Arsenal Councilman Murray suggested the city coordinate with the museum and other groups that use the space when the scope of work and timeline are known

Ms Johnson said now that the city knows it’s going forward on this grant, the next step

is to get with the Chamber of Commerce and Beaufort History Museum about their side

of this, because the grant is to encourage tourism, not “to save this building.” She said it’s exciting that this funding is out there Save America’s Treasures grants are coming back, but they will not give the city money for The Arsenal again, Ms Johnson said Few foundations fund this type of work, so she is hoping this goes forward

Councilman Murray asked if the work has to be on restrooms and windows Ms

Johnson said those are the city’s priorities If Meadors says other priorities should be first, she told Councilman Murray, they could change the grant to make it for those There was discussion of the roof and water damage Ms Roper said Meadors didn’t feel the roof is failing, but “there’s something [else] going on.”

Councilman Murray asked if the Chamber of Commerce and Beaufort History Museum

“share any of the financial responsibility to help us with repairs.” Councilman Cromer said the museum has “no money,” and the funds to renovate the museum are from a private donation Mayor Keyserling said that money was left to the museum, and the case went to court Councilman Murray said the city is “holding money” for the

museum; Councilman McFee said he believes half of that has been released

Mayor Keyserling said “a long assessment” has to be part of what is done at some point

Ms Roper said they plan to do what is necessary for the grant, and then “we will come back” and ask Meadors to assess “the entire building and give us a preservation plan.” Mayor Keyserling suggested they could get help from the historic architect at the

Reconstruction Era monument office

Ms Roper said she was very impressed by the team from Meadors because of their interest in The Arsenal and their expertise in its history Ms Johnson said there are 2 sections of the interior wall at The Arsenal in which people can see its development; those will be cleaned up as part of the work, but they will be left open

Ms Roper said the city has already set aside money for the wall improvements, and

since this is on the capital improvements list, City Manager Bill Prokop thought there

should be money available for that to go forward

There being no further business to come before council, the work session was

adjourned at 6:20 p.m

A regular meeting of the Beaufort City Council was held on November 14, 2017 at 7:00 p.m in the Beaufort Municipal Complex, 1901 Boundary Street In attendance were Mayor Billy Keyserling, Councilwoman Nan Sutton, Councilmen Mike McFee, Phil

Cromer, and Stephen Murray, and Neal Pugliese, director of public projects and

facilities

In accordance with the South Carolina Code of Laws, 1976, Section 30-4-80(d) as

amended, all local media were duly notified of the time, date, place, and agenda of this meeting

CALL TO ORDER

Mayor Keyserling called the regular council meeting to order at 7:01 p.m

INVOCATION AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

Councilman McFee led the invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance

CHARACTER EDUCATION PROCLAMATION

Councilman McFee made a motion, second by Councilman Murray, to proclaim Corey Smith as Lady's Island Middle School’s student of the month The motion passed unanimously Councilman McFee read the proclamation, which Mayor Keyserling

presented to Mr Smith Greg Hall, the principal at Lady's Island Middle School, read a

statement about why Mr Smith was chosen for the award

PROCLAMATION OF NOVEMBER 25, 2017 AS SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY 


Councilman Murray made a motion, second by Councilman McFee, to approve the proclamation The motion passed unanimously Councilman McFee read the

proclamation, which Mayor Keyserling presented to Jason Ruhf, Beaufort Regional

Chamber of Commerce, who read a statement about the importance of shopping

locally

PROCLAMATION OF DECEMBER 1, 2017 AS ARBOR DAY 


Councilman Murray made a motion, second by Councilman Cromer, to approve the proclamation The motion passed unanimously Libby Anderson discussed the plans for

PTAC’s Arbor Day tree planting

PRESENTATION: MATHER SCHOOL SESQUICENTENNIAL CELEBRATION 2018

Fred Washington said he’d been asked to make a presentation by Mather Alumni

Association, though he is “an associate,” not a Mather alum He said this is a year-long celebration of the Mather School, the purpose of which is “to preserve and promote” the school’s “legacy.” Mr Washington described the unique focus of the school and said the celebration will have a different focus each month for alumni and the community The kick-off is in January 2018, he said

The school was founded in 1868 for the education of freed slaves after the Civil War;

students came from around the U.S and other countries, Mr Washington said The quality of the education was extraordinary, and the school closed in 1968

Mr Washington invited people to be sponsors of the sesquicentennial or to show support by purchasing tickets to the events He asked people to see if they might have items that are related to the Mather School that they would like to have at the

interpretive center He described the schedule of events for each month in 2018

Mr Washington said this celebration is “very timely” because of the upcoming

Reconstruction Era monument He asked for help from council and the city to market and promote the sesquicentennial Councilman Murray suggested that the group talk to

Robb Wells at the Chamber of Commerce for help with that

MINUTES

Councilman Cromer made a motion, second by Councilman Murray, to approve the minutes of the council work session of October 17, 2017 Councilman Cromer said on

page 4, in the 4th paragraph, “Saxon” should be “Saxton.” On page 5, “levies” should be

“levees.” The motion to approve the minutes as amended passed unanimously

Councilman McFee made a motion, second by Councilman Cromer, to approve the minutes of the regular council meeting of October 24, 2017

Councilman McFee said, on page 1, what Mr Henderson referred to as his concern about “irrigation issues” should be “drainage issues.”

Councilman Murray abstained from the vote because he was not at the meeting The

motion to approve the minutes as amended passed 4-0

REQUEST FOR CO-SPONSORSHIP FOR USE OF WATERFRONT PARK FROM HOSPICE CARE OF SOUTH CAROLINA FOR “SHINE ON” EVENT

Councilman Murray made a motion, second by Councilman Cromer, to approve the request for the November 28, 2017 event Megan Radcliffe said this is a statewide

event Ms Anderson said staff supports the event The motion passed unanimously

REQUEST TO HOST 37TH ANNUAL MOTORCYCLE TOY RUN IN BEAUFORT

Councilman Murray made a motion, second by Councilman Cromer, to approve the request for the December 17, 2017 event 
Councilman Murray asked why this event

requires council approval He was given various answers The motion passed

downtown, and the consensus was that the plan needed to be simpler, she said

Ms Roper said they decided to propose all-day free holiday parking in the marina

parking lot, and to “market it well.” They brought the recommendation to the

Downtown Merchants’ Association twice, and both times the merchants supported the idea She said the city had received no request for 2-hour holiday free parking, so she is bringing forward this proposal

Councilman McFee asked the projected amount of revenue loss; Ms Roper said they think it will be the same as in previous years, which is “negative $18,000.” Park Beaufort will not have to monitor the marina parking lot, she said, so she hopes they can be

“ambassadors” on the street to tell people that they can park free at the marina

Councilwoman Sutton asked about people who have paid for monthly parking places in the marina parking lot Ms Roper said they would still park there Councilwoman Sutton asked what happens if someone parks in a space that belongs to someone else Ms Roper said no spaces are reserved in the marina parking lot Councilman Murray said there could be concerns about “capacity” for monthly parkers in that lot There are 183 monthly parking permits, Ms Roper said Councilman Murray asked how many spaces were designated for those monthly pass-holders Ms Roper said there are more than

200 spaces for them in various locations downtown

Councilman Murray said he feels this idea is “worth a trial run this year.” He told Mayor Keyserling that only the trailer and bus spots are designated in the marina parking lot Councilwoman Sutton asked how people would be kept from parking in the bus spots

Ms Roper said they are marked spaces, and as at any other time, people who park in them would receive tickets She said Park Beaufort would still be monitoring the lot If there is available space, people can park free and shop, eat, etc for up to 8 hours during the holiday period, Ms Roper said

Councilman Murray asked if Ms Roper has a budget for marketing Ms Roper said no, but if council approves this plan, she would determine what the marketing would be; she knows it needs to be a “multi-faceted” approach, and she gave some examples of her ideas

Mayor Keyserling said marina tenants who bought parking spaces that are near their boats are his concern He suggested that they might be able to put up temporary signs for those spaces Councilman Murray said during festivals, “they put up fencing,” and monthly permit-holders use their permits as a “pass” to park in that area

John Dickerson said he thinks the concept is great He asked about downtown

employees taking the spaces in front of the shops on Bay Street Councilwoman Sutton said this plan is better than when there has been free parking on Bay Street and

employees parked there, though some employees might “take advantage of” this free

parking Mr Dickerson suggested giving passes to employees to park free elsewhere Mayor Keyserling said they could ask the downtown merchants to encourage their employees not to park in the marina parking lot, though if the employees do it, anyway, nothing can be done about it Councilwoman Sutton agreed and said they should ask the

merchants to ask their employees not to park there The motion passed unanimously

ORDINANCE ANNEXING EIGHT PARCELS OF PROPERTY NORTH OF ROSEIDA ROAD ON PORT ROYAL ISLAND

Councilman Murray made a motion, second by Councilman McFee, to approve the ordinance on first reading 
Ms Anderson said there are 8 separate properties in this

annexation petition, which she showed on an overhead map The applicant is Matthew

Garnes, she said, on behalf of the property owner The parcels are in Noise Zones 2B

and 3 in the AICUZ, Ms Anderson said, and she reviewed the noise reduction

requirements The parcels are Rural and Rural Neighborhood in the county’s Community Development Code, she said; the proposed zoning is T3-Suburban (S), which is the city’s lowest density zoning district

Ms Anderson said this property is within the city’s service boundary All standard public notice was made She reviewed staff’s position on the annexation of the “only

residential lots north of Parris Island Gateway.” This property is not in the city’s

annexation plan, which was developed to address filling “”donut holes Staff is

concerned it would create additional donut holes to be “filled in at some point in time,”

Ms Anderson said; if the city had a long-term plan to annex all of the Roseida

subdivision, staff might feel differently She said the Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC) recommended approval of the annexation request

Ms Anderson said the applicant is seeking annexation because Mr Garnes has stated that he feels the city services are better than those the county offers Ms Anderson said she is the one of the department heads who has concerns; the fire chief supports the annexation Councilman McFee noted that there would be a cost to the city for

providing the services for residences, when there are no other residential properties there Ms Anderson said none of these parcels are developed, and most will be

challenging to develop

Councilman Murray said he agrees with staff that annexations should close donut holes, not create additional ones, so he is not in favor of the request There was general

agreement among council about this

Robert Semmler, a commissioner on the MPC, said the MPC’s vote was not unanimously

in favor of the request Once these parcels are annexed, he said, “the zoning

automatically goes to a higher density.” Also, the city just signed a resolution supporting the new AICUZ, Mr Semmler said Councilman McFee said the density “is only increased with sewer systems, not with septic systems.”

Ms Anderson said the minimum lot size in the city is larger than the minimum lot size in the county districts Most of the lots are already platted, she said, but they might be able to be put “back together” and “subdivided again.”

Mayor Keyserling said he doesn’t feel the city should take on properties that are in the

AICUZ and are “not contiguous to where we’re already serving.” The motion failed

unanimously

Councilman Murray made a motion, second by Councilman Cromer, to table the

rezoning of these parcels The motion passed unanimously

CONSIDERATION OF SUPPORT FOR THE PROPOSED BEAUFORT COUNTY ORDINANCE

TO BAN USE OF SINGLE-USE PLASTIC BAGS

Councilman McFee made a motion, second by Councilman Murray, to support the ordinance Mayor Keyserling said county council had passed this ordinance on first

reading the previous night They made one amendment, which removed “the sunset clause,” which “signals, from our point of view, to the legislature that it can go away or that they’re not fully committed to it.” He explained that the municipalities are to create their own plastic bag ordinances, with the county’s ordinance “attached to it.”

Councilman Murray said he’s concerned about “D” in “Regulation” in the county’s ordinance; he would like it struck because he feels it should be up to the businesses to determine if they make containers available to their customers He also has concerns

about enforcing that Rikki Parker, Coastal Conservation League, said she had

mentioned this to the county council committees, and she feels county council “would

be receptive to making that change at second reading.” Councilman Murray said this would not be anyone’s “burden” if this provision were struck

Mr Pugliese said if this passes, the code enforcement officer would have “a procedure

to conduct those inspections as it applies.” Councilman Murray said the Folly Beach mayor said that as time has gone on, there has been less need for enforcement

Councilman McFee said in the Outer Banks, the plastic bag ordinance failed because there was no enforcement Mr Pugliese said a portion of the code enforcement officer’s schedule would need to be used to do this enforcement Mayor Keyserling said he doesn’t think “that many shops” would need enforcement of the ban, or that it would require “that many visits” by a codes official Councilman Murray said he also doesn't think it would be “an undue burden on code enforcement” after the education process over 6 months or so His concern had been with enforcing the provision that the

businesses must provide paper bags

Mayor Keyserling said that Paul Sommerville, Beaufort County Council’s chairman,

“wanted to try to tie to this” ordinance “a measure to more strongly enforce littering” prohibitions, but the county attorney said that fines and policing for littering are

different than “making the bags illegal,” so Chairman Sommerville “put it back on the

agenda with a commitment” to come back to the litter issue Mayor Keyserling said plastic bags not only affect turtles and other wildlife; they are also “a serious piece of our stormwater problem,” as are other forms of litter

Councilman Murray said there is a significant litter problem in the city and county, but that is a separate issue, he feels, from the plastic bags Those he’s spoken to about the bag ban overwhelmingly are in favor of it Mr Pugliese said, on the last page of the county’s ordinance, it says the city’s ordinance must be “substantially similar” to the county’s

Councilman Murray said he’d be willing to make a motion to amend to strike section D Mayor Keyserling said the county ordinance is “basically an attachment” to the city ordinance If the city ordinance references the county ordinance, he feels the city should make clear what it wants to keep and what it wants to change There was general

agreement with this

Councilman Murray made a motion to amend to adopt the county ordinance by

reference, with the exception of Section 38-163 D of the county ordinance

Councilman McFee seconded The motion passed unanimously

Mike Sutton said he feels “this is not about the bag,” but about “the thickness of a

particular product.” The ordinance would allow bags “up to 2.5 mm.” It is narrowed down to “one particular bag by design,” which are the ones that are seen most

commonly because stores give them out He showed various bags from different retail businesses that are “not allowed” because of their thickness Mr Sutton said there are guidelines about the types of bags that are excluded from the ordinance

Mr Sutton said so many types of bags are excluded, and consumers wouldn't know if other types of bags are included or not He showed examples of bags that are and are not included in the ordinance and those that are “unknown.” Lulu Burgess’s bags are probably “not included.” He said many retailers’ bags are included “by shape.” The ordinance is written “against a shape and a thickness, Mr Sutton said, and it would be simpler to write an ordinance that doesn’t exclude so many types of bags

Councilman Murray said the “sheer number of bags that are created” is one issue, and

“other options” is another issue Mr Sutton said this “is about litter and not about the product”; he feels the way the bags are used is what should be illegal They need to regulate the many other types of bags that go to the landfill and are still blowing out of trucks, Mr Sutton said The public will perceive that bags are banned, he said, and he supports the ban, but he thinks they need to be careful not to “do more harm than good.”

Mr Sutton said the bag ban ordinance puts the burden “only on the backs of

businesses,” not on the citizens, who create the litter He said he could take a banned

bag from home and reuse it at a store, or he could package 50 handled ½-mm bags and sell them to consumers, “it bypasses your ordinance,” and “we’d have the same problem that exists today.”

Venaye McGlashan, Beaufort Indivisible’s environmental team leader, said she

appreciates the hard work of county and city councils on this matter Beaufort

Indivisible has had an educational booth at the Port Royal Farmers’ Market once a month about plastic bags, she said, and she presented a petition on which the group has collected 814 signatures since June Ms McGlashan feels banning plastic bags is “a good start,” but all “plastic, period.” needs to be addressed at some point Beaufort Indivisible’s environmental team would be glad to help in any way it can, she said

Edie Rodgers said she doesn’t care whether she has paper or plastic bags, but she’s

bothered by local governments adopting bag bans because she believes government at the city and county levels “have been stampeded to a degree” because the state

legislature is said to be planning to “ban the ban.” However, she believes the legislature favors “home rule.”

Ms Rodgers said, “The data is out there,” but she doesn’t believe anyone “in

government has done the research.” She said when the comment has been made that

“the huge majority” of people agree with the ban, it is because people and groups that are advocates of this issue make sure that supporters show up at public meetings Ms Rodgers said, “That’s fine, but let’s do the research.” She read from an article about other forms of litter that are “greater marine litter challenges” than plastic bags

Ms Rodgers said charitable shops “rely on us to bring plastic bags” for their use She said it’s “absolutely not correct” to call these bags “single-use plastic bags.” She feels the retail association and “the rest of the community” haven’t come to the public

meetings and aren’t “getting their position out there,” so “the other side of the story” hasn’t been told Ms Rodgers doesn’t feel council should “fear the ban of the ban” by the state legislature; she said she wants “to tell the county the same thing.”

Ms Parker said the Chamber of Commerce “has done a great job of distributing

information from both sides of the argument in their emails.” Also, Ms McGlashan hadn’t said it, but Ms Parker wanted council to know that Beaufort Indivisible has been giving out free reusable shopping bags at the farmers market

Ms Parker briefly discussed the problems with single-use plastic bags, including the difficulty of recycling them, and why there is a movement to ban their use She thanked council for its support of the environment, especially because she had come to this area from another state where that support wasn’t there Ms Parker acknowledged that a plastic bag ban would not solve all litter problems, but banning the single-use plastic bag

“is a start.” This ordinance would also send a message to the state legislature that “we are in the best situation to deal with our environmental problems.”