PRESENT: Mayor Council: Riley Bradham, Henry Holst, Tammy Bazzle, Whit Smith, and Town Clerk Colleen Key.
ABSENT: Frank Thornhill
Meeting called to order at 7:00
Others Present: Dr. and Mrs. Linton
No changes to the agenda. No time requested.
Mayor motions to approve prior Meeting Minutes. Seconded by Tammy Bazzle. Unanimously approved.
TREASURERS REPORT:
FINANCIAL REPORT as of 9/30/2025
PREVIOUS Ending $ CURRENT Ending $
Wells Fargo Checking $170,215.66 166,117.17
S.C. Local Government Investment Pool $335,673.84 336,886.62
NOTE: A virtual $10,000 is held aside for disaster clean up
Roads YTD- $20,900
MAYOR / COUNCIL REPORTS: None
COMMITTEE REPORTS:
- Planning: No one reporting.
- BZA: No one reporting.
- Code Enforcement: No one reporting
- DRB: No one reporting.
- WILPC: Henry Holst – Crab Crack held at the Community Center had a great turnout. Proceeds to go toward renovation of the house next door which will be utilized for emergency needs. A Few Good Men – nonprofit group will be making the repairs.
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New Business:
First Reading of the biannual Business License Ordinance which amends the current Business license Ordinance to update class schedule State NAICS codes per MASC mandate required by ACT 176 of 2020. Its purpose is to have the Town comport with the County’s State authorized building codes. Mayor motions that the Ordinance be adopted. Seconded by Henry Holst.
Seconded reading at November meeting
Whit Smith comments that Mr. Lipfort has asked about dead/rotten limbs hanging over the stretch of highway from the Town sign down Maybank Highway. Technically it is the responsibility of DOT. A consideration of the Town on this issue is that they don’t want to usurp that duty which is the DOT’s making the Town liable. A work number needs to be created with the DOT and put the request on record to have this addressed. If DOT neglects to act in a reasonable time frame the Town may need to step in to remove the limbs. Tammy Bazzle suggests having multiple people call in to complain. Henry Holst agrees, and comments that folks that call in need to get a worker order number to keep the issue on DOT radar.
Old Business:
Roads – Rockland is on the schedule with Sanders Brothers for repair. Council met on site with the contractor. Sanders to use reclaimer to till and reshape. Existing material is useable. The road will be narrowed by about 24 inches which will save some money. Locates have not been done yet. Entire road, from apron to apron, will be addressed. The project is estimated to be $28,000. There was a $90,000 option which involved using chemicals to bind the soil with concrete which would have changed the road appearance, not looking like a dirt road. In an effort to move forward quickly and get on Sanders’s schedule, the estimate was accepted by quorum of Town Council at the onsite meeting. Mayor motions to ratify the decision to move forward with the $28,000 plan. Seconded by Tammy Bazzle. Unanimously carried. Work to take a couple days depending on weather. Once completed, with proper guidance, the Town will maintain the road with a motor grader/ripper. Annually $5000-10,000 per year cost.
Preservation Ordinance is waiting on Planning approval. DRB and Council agreed on a timeline for designation of Historic homes rather that a scenario based on location. Homes built before January 1, 1950 will be considered “historic”. Council to contact some of the property owners of the affected homes to advise of the current plan. Whit Smith suggests a flyer sent out to property owners might be a good idea. Mayor moves to add the agreed upon dates to the current version of the Ordinance and resubmit to Planning.
Sea Island Yacht Club Road- To reiterate the Town’s position, Mayor reread September Minutes statement regarding the Linton’s issue with the repairs to the road:
Dr. Linton expressed a concern via letter to the Town, the recent road repairs may cause ponding in his yard. Mayor reached out directly to Dr. Linton and indicated that the Town will endeavor to facilitate the drainage of his private property in any way possible and certainly does not wish to make it worse. Dr. Linton had already retained an engineer to look at the issue. Once a plan is made, Town will coordinate with the engineer. Hopefully any water can be diverted to Dr. Linton’s property line and the Town will take it and expel it into the marsh at a positive slope using traffic grade pipe. Possibly two pipes that will cost between $2000-3000 each as well as a back flow preventer will be needed.
Dr. Linton stated that he has consulted and attorney, and engineer and a landscaper and noted the construction of the road, the elevation of the road caused flooding, which consequently, caused the damage to his yard and still poses a hazard to the property as confirmed by his survey. Dr. Linton’s attorney advised that the Town is responsible per case law. Dr. Linton’s indicated that his engineer firm, Benchmark, said the resolution of the problem does lie with improving drainage, eliminating the drainage that comes from the rest of the town to the yard. The engineer’s assessment differed from the landscaper, but similarly agreed that the most reasonable thing is to create a system where water drains under the road and did not think that backflow structures help much here. The backflow structures as far as anything drainage system are long range solutions since seawater does come up when we have a high tide. The landscaper also agreed that two drainage pipes would be the first step to try to fix the issue.
Dr. Linton does not currently have an estimate of the cost, but it would entail simply identifying the very low spots in the road, then two drains that would go from those low spots out toward the marsh and go under the road. Another other solution that was proposed was to build a swale for about 160 feet around property with two sump pumps in that swale to remove water that accumulates in the swale. In addition to that, he would repair the driveway that was damaged. Potentially $35,000 for this option which not viable. Dr. Linton also stated that he does not plan on “picking up the tab for the damage that was done or the construction of the drainage pipes”. After much discussion on possible scenarios and questions on what existing pipe/drainage systems are in place, but in disrepair, the plan going forward will be to have Dr. Linton’s team contact the Town and the Town will coordinate with its Contractor.
Dr. Linton asked about private road near his property, and wondered if it could be built up, could dirt or material be added to that area of the road, which is now hazardous. Mayor points out that it is privately owned, and in part by the Linton’s, so yes as long as there is no ponding and good compactable material is used. Ideally, Dr. Linton would like to fill the hole where right beside his mailbox and maybe five or six feet toward the south help divert some of that flow from the village. Whit Smith points out that water from the Church parking lot also flows to that spot. CDH to work on Sea Island Yacht Club adding a little compactible fill, top dress it with shell sand and try to crown it as much as possible, taking the memory out of the road.
Mayor Motions to adjourn at 8:11, seconded by Tammy Bazzle.
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