e e e um if you can stand for the invocation I understand we have a minister in the audience if if you're so inclined M Miss deal would you mind leading Us in the invocation thank you and we'll remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance please bow your heads father God we thank you right now we thank you for this day for this is the day that you have made and we rejoice and be glad in it we thank you for this time that we're meeting God we ask that you just be in the midst of us give us the words to say and just cover us under the blood of Jesus and father God as we make decisions and as we share our stories God we just thank you for the the successes that we have in the parents's teachers program as that's why I'm here today amen but we just give God the glory the honor and the praise and we just thank everyone in their prospective places in Jesus name amen amen thank you Al to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liy and justice for all thank you again dealate um we're always glad to have ministers to do that professionally for us um we try our best up here and some are better than others I'm going to put myself down at the bottom um but uh any in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act chapter 4 title 30 code of laws of South Carolina 1976 an agenda has been posted on the front door of City Hall and notification of this meeting has been given to the news media we do have a quarum correct yes sir Mr Mayor thank you all right um our first item is a public appearance Miss uh Miss AR Excuse Me Miss Amy I need to put my glasses on Miss Amy we'd recognize you good evening good evening thank you for that recognition yes ma'am I would just say again my name is Melissa Amy I am employed by Carolina Health Centers as a supervisor for the program parents as teachers today with me I do have some of the parent Educators I have our executive assistant and and I have Minister George adal who works for South Carolina children's trust which is one of our funding our funding office I am here today to share information on one of Greenwood's best kept secrets and to recognize and celebrate 40 years of service given to families around our counties parents say teachers were started in Missouri by Mildred winter in 1981 by 1984 she gained the trust of the then governor who put parents as teachers in some of the schools today I'm proud to say that every every Elementary School in Missouri has parents as teachers in Greenwood Carolina Health Centers has been providing this service for the past eight years we do have ch uh first steps of Greenwood and then their second year of providing the same service parents as teachers is an evidence-based program developed by highly trained professionals some of the ladies that sit here with me today they are trained besides the parents as teachers foundational curriculum we're also trained as lactation Specialists we're infant massage technicians we're safe kids technicians which means that we're trained to um inspect and install car seats we're first aid CPR trained we also have South Carolina infant mental health specialist just to name a few all of these trainings are needed so that we can support every family in Greenwood by emphasizing that parents are their primary and most important teacher we also want to um emphasize that the most foundational years of learning is between the years of 0 to three our support is given through home visits group connections uh resource networks and child and caregiver um training the goals of our program is to increase parent knowledge of childhood development increase School Readiness improve positive parent practicing improve health and well-being improve family economic wellbe strengthen Community capacity and connectivity and last but not least but to prevent child abuse and neglect when I started I mentioned that parents as teachers is Greenwood kept secret but at Carolina Health Centers we also have nurse Family Partnership Healthy Families of America and Healthy Steps and those programs are run under the direct directorship of Shelly Nicholson all of our programs are free and voluntary and our programs except for nurse Family Partnership receive most of our referrals from one of our medical offices on behalf of parents as teachers I would like to thank mayor Brandon Smith his team and everyone here for allowing us to come and share this information with you on November the 8th it's official day where we recognize 40 Years of offering parents as teachers uh parents as teachers is not only in the US we extend our services as far as Hawaii and Guam um and I would like to present Mi Mr May Mr Brandon Smith with this bag and if you notice we wore a t-shirt just to say the future is bright because that's what we believe with with us assisting parents with their parenting practices we believe that the future is brighter not only for the parents but particularly for the children and what what we have for you today is a t-shirt that says Never Alone um my parents as teachers because as long as we're there you are never alone and then the goodie bag just it has some information more information about our program and then some just little knick-knacks of things that we give to the parents when we first meet them and enroll them in the program just to ensure their success because we do believe the success of the parents determined the success of the children thank you so much M Saints um I appreciate you educating us about the program because I was not familiar with it and I don't know maybe some other council members weren't either but U I have a pro foral par Teachers Day that I'll read here U whereas concept of parents as teachers developed in the early 1970s is an evidence-based parent education and support program designed to empower parents as their child's first teachers and where's research shows that greater parent involvement is a critical Link in child's development of learning skills including reading and writing and whereas parents teachers helps parents understand their child's development and connects them to the resources they need to make the best choices for their family and whereas parents teachers and their local affiliates help build strong communities thriving families and children that are healthy safe and ready to learn by matching parents and career caregivers with trained professionals who make regular personal home visits during a child's earliest years in life from pratal through kindergarten and whereas parents teachers helps children to develop learn and grow to realize their full potential now therefore I Brandon Smith mayor of the City of Greenwood South Carolina do hereby Proclaim November 8th 2024 as National parents's Teachers Day and encourage parent teacher organizations and families in Greenwood to join forces to support children in the community and their educational goals thank so much thank you so much thank you so much thank you really appreciate it thank you all all right that was exciting what do we have for new business all right so the first item of new business tonight is a revisitation of the comprehensive plan that we amended just a couple months ago in August before we get into the me of that though we need to make one minor change to the agenda on this item got talking to with Carol a couple days ago and we realized that we had published the notification what was being amended slightly incorrect we are talking about section 10.3 again but the figure that's changing isn't 1010 or 1012 it's 106 so do we need to make a motion to amend the agenda that's correct okay amend the agenda and then we will Ren notice this properly once the once it passes first reading Mr B I'll make a motion that we amend the agenda to consider ordinance number 24-19 amending section 10.3 in figure 10-16 of the land use element of the Greenwood City County comprehensive plan for 2035 this should be the first reading second all right we have a motion by Mr B second by Mr Miller all in favor of the motion to amend the agenda all right that motion carries unanimously with seven votes all right so just briefly by way of uh recall that you know we have like I said in August we amended you all amended the comprehensive plan for the City of Greenwood to adjust the future land use map shown here with the changes that were adopted over on the right side of your screen are the changes to the definitions for the different residential areas that were modified these are the changes that were approved so what we're asking what happened was as it went to Planning Commission for approval for the not for not plan to the County Council for their approval it's a joint uh comprehensive plan they need to approve it as well well we recognized that there were a few typos in the approved language such that it didn't quite Jive any longer with the County's zoning ordinances so for example in the medium density residential definition they don't allow up to 12 units per acre it's 11 units per acre and high density residential they allow a maximum of 16 dwelling units per acre in the county in their high density zones not 15 so there's minor tweaks for the county side the city what y all approved is still good we just need to make these adjustments since it's a joint comprehensive plan additionally as part of those changes recognizing those changes to the medium density residential we need to update the chart figure 10-16 moving that moves the R3 zoning District in the county to the moderate density residential all right thank you so this is this is consistent with what we were attempting to do previously and is procedural correct there were just a couple typos and what was originally approved this brings it up in line to be what the county can do currently under their zoning ordinance but the city is not changing all right any other typos that we need to know about no this has been vetted both by staff and by trip took it back to him too should be the last time we bring it to you until Carl is here so if you'd like to ask her a couple questions about this you can I tell you what Carol why don't we since it's first reading real quick let me just see if there's anybody uh here and then we'll get you up here uh is there anyone that wishes to speak in favor of excuse me yeah thank you never mind then Carol go ahead well I was just going to remind you that we recognize that the comprehensive plan needs to be Rewritten um or updated at the annual every 10 years so may of 2027 is the date that we want to have the new one adopted so 2025 will kick off the rewrite we'll put together a team and we'll ask for assistance from the city and the county help us put together that team plus Planning Commission members that volunteer to help us and we'll have a lot of public meetings but we'll work on rewrites and these will go into the rewrite so we'll start off on the right page for that do you have any questions let me know does anybody have any questions for Carol so when they come back with second reading would these correction be on be presented for second reading without all well they will be corrected yeah we can have a clean copy for second reading yeah C copy will be available and then the copy of the ordinance that's proposed is in your packet as well you can see them without all the lines all right thank you thank you thank you all we'll give everybody the chance two weeks to weigh in on this one I would be surprised if there's there is any but um all right do we have a do we have a motion motion to approve uh the proposed changes um as ordinance 24-20 second is that what it was amended to 020 that's what it is that's what it is we just amend this this the section amended the figure yeah what was the question so the ordinance number would stay the same same is that right we just amended the the title the right description yeah okay is it not ordinance number 24-19 020 in our must be a typ on the pack the agenda says n it should be 1 n I'm sorry the pack 24-19 okay the last change second do we need to restate the entire motion yes so uh I'll I'll restate my motion uh so I'll make a motion to approve ordinance 24-19 amending section 10.3 um figure 10-16 of the land use element of the Greenwood City County confer of plan second and is that was as amended as we amended the agenda this even MH thank you it's still second yes ma'am but I have a question for Tiffany what was the original motion what was the original changing of the agenda what was the ordinance number for that don't know we just had the um Dr ask for an amendment to the agenda they just gave the um can you go back a slide yeah yeah it just he didn't State the num that's right we said it correctly we said it correctly so my second still stands M all right we have a motion by Mr Miller second by Mr Bass any further discussion about the motion all right all in favor of the motion on the table motion carries unanimously to seven votes all right what do we got up next all right coming for you next is the approval of the design for Grace Street Park phas 2 this is funded through the cpst uh Penny tax from 2016 been working on for the past several years this is the most recent early concept um you can see the the pump track and the skate park separately playgrounds volleyball carts were proposed on this this is the 70% construction drawings that we're presenting to you tonight the skate park and the pump track have been Blended together to one so it's multi-use both bicycles and skaters can use it the the playground equipment is still here volleyball court there are a couple of pickle ball courts that are proposed here as well on this design so on the plan there is though right plan you need to staff recommendation recommendation is did not include that but that's what we're here to discuss continuing this there's a schedule values that came with these plans these are the costs that are laid out that take up the what's remaining of our cpst amount therefore if you wish to add these additional items there would um Council would have to fund them using H tax dollars and you can see the different elements there the pump track playground shade structures pick wall carts volleyball and their estimated total cost Brandon Bey with s and construction is here tonight if you have questions for him about the park design about how the calculation these values were reached generally what we're asking tonight is you approve the plan generally and then any additional elements you want to include with that extra cost Brandon you want to fill us in Mr Bill thank you if you want to state your name record Brandon BTY withman construction um that's OB that's our schedule values put together at 70% detail drawing um I say it's kind of self-explanatory I think any questions you guys have anything think be happy to answer what I can on your plans that does that include the pickle ball court and the volleyball court do just man that's and there're 70% right now so we we have we have options to take away add what you know that's why we're not at Full Construction drawing as of right now so okay there are some that's kind of what we gave you the item by item um menu so to speak if you want to take away something good if you want to add had some different we to have that option too so okay y'all have any other questions thank you we may have some in a minute after discussion so hang tight thank you thank you appreciate it Mr if I could St that good um Draper in the in the memo it mentions that um staff don't recommend pickle ball courts and that several people from the foundation Express concern about the noise pickle ball courts why at the Grey Street Park setting can you can you elaborate on that because it just doesn't make any sense to me at all sure so received a call from Billy Nicholson okay with the par Association he expressed concern over the pi ball Sports namely his name reasons being the noise that the game of pickleball creates I don't know if he's talking exactly about shattering the ambience of the park what that was one of his big concerns um as for staff's recommendation that's we were looking at that from a a budgetary standpoint more than anything not necessarily the association's position on that as we're looking at the budget we have around 80 you know 800,000 or so that we have currently budgets and AG tax looking at ways to bring that down pball seemed like The Logical choice but again it's all's decision today if you want to put that in there we can we can look at the budget again and then other question I have as have you guys looked at um will the BMX pump track have to be staffed or are we just going to let it sit and it just stays there and we expect everybody to act accordingly and do everything the way it's supposed to be done I'm just asking speciically from what talking with the companies that install it depends on how you want to use it it's going to be like a a um an event where you're going to have leagues or or tools come through you have Staffing but it's just a like most Parts all I guess you guys they're non staff they just use at your own you know your own that's what this one's designed that way it's not it's not the lavish you know walls this is more of a recreational track it is a touring I guess you know that does this goes around the different tracks with this that's so it's not like a competition track competition track okay so it's not a competition track and just just correct me um or Breer you can add do we have cameras I'm assuming that we're going to have cameras throughout the park so basically s there'll be somebody big brother's watching it may not be staff but basically we're going to have I would believe cameras my concern with pickle ball is I don't like redundancies and we I know that at the Greenwood recreational uh complex um Greenwood County recreational complex they are having um they have several pickle Courts Plus there's a lot of um pickle ball courts around town I mean I know wisley commin has pickle ball courts Gatewood has pickle ball courts um I know some of those things are more private but those people that are in pick AAL Le do use those so I'd rather see something that isn't available elsewhere now I want to ask the question if Billy Nicholson thought that pickle ball was noisy does he think volleyball's noisy too I I'm just asking the question because you know there's when I've seen people play volleyball there's you know there's some hoopla in that as well I'm just ask him a question that's I think that's a valid question he did not speak against volleyball specifically on our phone call saying that I am glad you mentioned the sports complex though because he did bring that up as well but he also felt it was redundant yeah I don't I don't like redundancies I think you know to have something like volleyball where it isn't elsewhere would give opportunity for people that enjoy that Sport and I know there's a lot of volleyball leagues and I think that to see a tennis court is there volleyball at the world Banks there's I'm I'm not sure there there used to be there was and they I don't know took it out they have a plan for a big one $17 million one yeah volleyball mention a volleyball just this it's been on there it it's been on there the pickle ball is too expensive right well I I certainly understand that pickle ball is more adds an expense to it but yeah if we're going to build a park I want people to use it and and I think pickle ball would be used significantly more than than a second volleyball court we still would have one volleyball court and I recognize that there's six at the Civic Center and there's private courts but there are no public pickle ball courts in the City of Greenwood and so I I think you could keep building pickle ball courts and they would keep being used I talked to uh Jim still and um and Brian Shock and Alex har and a bunch of pickle ball players who to the extent that we need additional voices to to you we we had one guy call in from the from the parks Foundation who's not here either but I can tell you I've had a number of conversation with pickle ball players that indicate they would use it um I I don't think there's any validity behind the argument that it pickle ball would take away from any Ambiance to the to to the park I think we want the park to be used and I don't want to just build a park to say we're building the park um without encouraging use of it so um I don't know if the pick if you really think the pickle ball is going to make that much difference at a $112,000 yeah you talking about two course I mean I think it will I think the usage of it outweighs the the the concern I think it will be used considerably again I recognize that Council has to decide whether it's worth that additional amount um but I I do feel strongly that it it would be used and and again there's no other public pickle ball courts you know I don't think pickle Ball's just a fad um it is in Hilton Head at least we turned we turned uh 12 Tennis Courts into 36 maybe more than that 36 pickle ball courts or six whatever six tennis courts into 24 pickle ball courts um if you build it they will come so I think it's a great amenity to have but I certainly understand that uh recognizing that it is an additional cost and that Council makes the these these other six folks around me make the make the F join with me in making that final call well how many how many do they have it though they've got six they've got six at the Civic Center and they're always used I mean how many tenis scor they still have at the um Civ Center I can't remember not the center but the they got six or eight or eight they still have six or eight yeah I mean this is something the pickleball court is something that I mean the space is not going away so if you can come up with $12,000 well I mean I think there's I mean later on later on yeah to convert I mean I think Now's the Time but now but now we don't have it in the budget well we don't have a lot of us right there's there's a lot of the Alternatives yeah Will these pickle ball courts be faced the correct way I know some pickle ball courts in our community not been facing Sun for like like visibility yes or for the Sun as of right now that that the layout we have in there we have not they're North and South I believe right and we we have not fact that that yet we could you know appears there it appears North and South where other ones that have been built in our community are facing north and west you got one side in the sun all the time I guess one yeah well one side will peel your eyes in the morning and one side will peel your eyes in the afternoon me the pickle ball pickle ball is just one of the five additional options listed on here we got BMX pump track playround shade struct shade structures um that that it's proposed budgetarily that H taxs would would cover so Mr Mayor Julie would like to say something she's on the line so if we can just hello Julie hey can you guys hear me yes yes sorry I couldn't be there in person I miss everyone um no one even laugh we took you sincerely so what what's going to say is that in designing the park there was a lot of discussion about active versus passive like all the parks right now in the city are passive Parks obviously the introduction of the pump track really takes away I think from the passive Park piece so once you kind of cross that threshold from passive to active I think then that was when we started talking about other elements right we added the volleyball which tends to be a little bit more active than passive that was really something that I felt like was low maintenance and something that we could easily manage as a staff um I have asked San and Brandon can speak on it about maintenance of the pump track which he've been working with the subcontractor on developing a maintenance plan um which is really more of like a 10 to 12 year replacement schedule I believe a pickle ball Corps or maybe more like you have to replace the playing surface more like a four to five years and I'm not I'm not for against I'm just kind of giving pros and cons here um one of the biggest concerns that I have is the Dust Till Dawn operation of pars and like Mr Bass said are we just expecting people to just follow the rules do we need to put a fence around it do we you know we have a fence right now around the pickle ball courts we can lock them up um all of our parts right now operate dust to on they're open to the public they're not fenced off we put enough lighting out there so that people feel like it's not a place they need to be after dark but there's enough lighting there for safet so when you move from a a passive to an active park there are other things to consider and we're talking with sausman about those things now so for me right now the concern is um access and safety and maintenance and I don't know if you want to add anything there Brandon no you're right I mean it's um we have I do have a you know a general maintenance uh schedule for for all three for the pickle ball for the volleyball and for the the pump track um and you are right the pickleball does have more of a a lesser lifespan I guess to say um for the surface uh volleyball court is going to be very minimal you're going to be ring sand filling in holes for on the sand courts really minor maintenance there the pump track is going to be resaling it 10 years 12 years from now probably have 20 years worth of life in that that actual surface so it's some minor m maintenance considering you know what you have there pickle ball court so you have four or five years you're replacing the surface you're replacing the lines or you know um but as far as general maintenance it's really good to be just make sure they're they're blown off and cleaned so thank you any other question Julie anything else you want to add I would just point out that the $800,000 deficit that Dr cutstone to cover this schedule of values that's presented to you right now is in your uh 2025 budget so it's in the H Tax budget so you could approve it right now as is with the pickle ball just as it's presented right now and we do have the funding in the H Tax budget for 2025 to cover the construction as is thank you any other questions for Mr B all right well we we'll entertain any motions thank you hang tight again I don't know I would let me just say one thing since you guys are thinking what we need is for coun make a motion to either approve the design and the budget as is so that San can continue to move forward or we need some type of motion to amend the design so that we can give San the green light to keep proceeding they they really want to start construction right after the first of the year we need Council to give them clear Direction on what they want number a motion I'll make a motion to approve the design um as presented with all five of the additional elements can can I second procedurally can I second yes no okay no I'm just trying to move this thing does this does this require a second r at all or is this just one time bu just tonight yep I'll second the motion all right we have a motion by Mr Miller second by Mr Bass I think now is time for I mean I know we've discussed it but procedurally we've got I've been a little quiet and I was so I was skeptical I think before of the pickle ball courts I think after Julie mentioned you know a little more of what we've added here is more active I think the original phase of the park up top with the you know Trails the um everything up there is a little more of the passive I think that this you know having like the separation between passive and active on different sides of the park I think that you know that it's not going to make much of a difference uh when it comes to you know the Ambiance like it's been mentioned I I think that you know just being visible and maybe more used like the mayor said it's going to be you know right down on the bypass um I think it be could be good to have um you know a little more variety of um options for what's what's available so well maybe I'm wrong but to me the pickle ball or the volleyball just don't fit in with the park at the dog park I mean to me a park you go to relax and enjoy this you going to have people over competing against each other and a lot of noise well that's that's relaxing for some people but you know to to that point I I understand what you're say you know really it's it's almost two parks in a 53 acre area I mean I think you can relax in the dog park area and be essentially far enough away from volleyball or pickle ball or BMX pump track that that I don't think it's a concern but that's just my opinion yeah I mean I think you're you could make the same argument about the playground being there I mean you're going to have kids you know playing and being loud that could be just as much of a you know I mean where this is intended to be is a is a very far distance from the the actual dog part I'm I'm not opposed to the pump track the playground the shade structures the volleyball I'm all good with that I just can't see spending additional money for pickle ball and the upkeep and maintenance when we have it you know the recreational complex is like 2 minutes down the road it's not like there you know it takes forever so it would be you know with the maintenance involved and the cost of it that's a savings that could be used somewhere else for something else I'm I'm responsible for four Nikki in orans and in my professional career and I will tell you are not enough here in Greenwood I'm I'm I'm very very confident in that um and here's the great here's the great thing about this the way that they're built in 5 years if they didn't work out those those turn into great basketball courts and and and and or um they could be used as many pitches for um foot SLE there's a lot of different uses for those things and so just because there's going to be um a pickle ball that's there um but I the redundancy we could say there's redundancies in a lot of things in absolutely but I think the walkability for Lander students the walkability for a lot of people in central Greenwood um this is this park is going to be a crown Duel of our community it's going to be one of them and and that that makes no sense at all does it but it is it is it is but it is going to be a very big vo focal point for our community and something we're gonna be very proud of and I think having a lot of amenities I still don't understand the pump part because nobody's ever approached me about it and said this is something we really need but um but I I I I'll never understand it I hope that I'm completely wrong about it I really really do um I love the fact that we're bringing an amenity that's nowhere close to it that's going to be um something great that people can be active and and and people of all ages but um well to to your point with that with that just to confirm I'm not an expert but but you can use the BMX pump track for skateboarding too right I know there's I know there's a big it's a combined P I can't speak necessarily to BMX I know I know there's a demand for skate parks now I the BMX part of it I can't confirm I'm sure that there's some people but I I don't think that there's any I don't think there's any any duplication of services if if anything I would love for the playground would be a little bit bigger if possible but if but it's I I love the design I can't wait to see the it all flourish but I I think that um I actually this is what my job is I actually think there's too too little pickall quarters and I know that's not the popular opinion here um I I if if y'all ride past there um especially in the evenings and see the number of people especially teenage kids that are out there high schoolers that are out there um in a good environment that are that are out there and playing a very active sport but then you know we also have a gentleman that comes to the Y every single day who's 97 years old who plays Pokeball every single day and it it is from children from from young children all the way to people anybody can play I think it is I think it is an incredible amenity that we got we have to have um we can't have enough from a design standpoint I prefer a form to be beside each other rather than in to end just so the multiuse in the future could be different but I know that's what y will work on yeah yeah yeah yeah I'd say if we're if if I don't know enough about it but if the orientation needs to be North yeah then they need to flip or even like you're saying side by side but need to be side by side but opposite what they are now yeah but this very conceptual for us to be able to for the design build but I I love it I'm really excited about it yeah I'm um I'm excited to break ground put the hard hat on and cut any ribbons or whatever and bite Miss bowls to it yeah all right any uh any further discussion before we vote all right all in favor of the motion on the table the heck all opposed Robert did you what first first one I'm sorry I missed all that motion carries by vote five to two I'm sorry I was looking around I'll make a motion that we adjourn to work session second all right we got a motion by Mr B second by Mr Miller any further discussion all in favor of adjourning to the work session motion carries UNAM seven VES