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I think it does help make our town unique by making sure that the new structures will blend in with the existing structures.  Without the downtown commercial district zoning anything can happen.
Now, if it’s worked in to the commercial and making sure that all the usage that are in the downtown commercial district are blended in to the commercial district with the buffers and the things like that, you know, I still would think it needs some work but just to absolve it, I just think it’s just like taking the heart out of the body and just leaving it.  So I do hope that we can work to bring the downtown commercial district back in to the zoning and that we can work together as members.
Thank you.
MAYOR WHITE:     Thank you.
George Addison, budget.
MR. ADDISON:     My name is George Addison.
I do agree with anything that you said and I’m not one that wasn’t asked the downtown area be deleted.
I put my name on here tonight to talk about budget and that’s what I wanted to do.
I feel like that, as somebody said, the town has, like, 850 residents, 220 houses, something like that, very small town, and the budget for the town is too vague for the residents to support it so it has to be done with traffic tickets.
I think all our police officers are fine officers.  I know nothing bad about any of them but I feel like that a lot of pressure is put on them to write tickets and so the — all of this has been built and paid for on the backs of the traveling public and the traveling public are working men and women just like you and I and it’s okay when they do something really wrong but to nitpick them and pull them with broken out taillights and things like that, and going nine hours the speed limit is a little extreme but I still don’t think it’s the officers fault.  I think that they have to bring the money; if they don’t the town budget won’t make it and it’s just as simple as that.
I think a lot of expenses could be cut.  I think the school was a bad idea; that’s just my one opinion, leasing the school and spending all the money on it.
A lot of seminars that you go to, two or three people go to one seminar.  Terri and George travel together all the time.  One person could travel just as well as one as the other and so those kind of things could be cut.  You could put them back in a small community, not as a town like Summerville or somewhere like that.  You just run like a small community and so this budget I feel is the thing that’s gone permit were traffic ticket.  That’s the only way you have to get the money.
And speaking of being a safe town, I had three burglar alarms after midnight in the last month, no town policeman on duty because there’s no traffic.  No traffic tickets to write.  So after 12:00 you don’t have anything.
So that’s all I have to say.  I think if we want to live in a small town we should run it like a small town.
MAYOR WHITE:     I do want to say one thing about the budget.  Our budget last year was almost a million dollars and we cut it by $300,000 this year. Our budget total figure was $703,000 and we are trying to reduce the, you know, pulling people for — I don’t believe they get a warning ticket for over nine — Pardon me?
CHIEF OF POLICE ROBERTS:     I would like to address that.
MAYOR WHITE:     Yeah, I sure would; I’d like for you to address it.
CHIEF OF POLICE ROBERTS:     I would like to say that prior to me coming — Prior to me coming in I’m not sure what the practices were.  I, I can’t tell you what the practices were.  I have gone through the tickets and I have been — big concern about some of them that were written but I’m not here to judge.  I was not there at that time, okay?  So that’s said for what took place prior to that.
I will say that there is not tickets being written for broken-out taillights; there’s not.  There’s not tickets being written for somebody doing two mile an hour over the speed limit. Matter of fact, our officers are instructed by me that prior to citations or citations being written they send them on down the road.
Now, are you saying you’re gonna get stopped for doing eight mile an hour over?  You better get stopped for doing eight mile an hour over because remember, the law states that anything greater than the posted speed limit is a violation of law.  I didn’t make that.  George White nor the council made that law.  Our state legislatures that were elected made that law.  If it needs to be changed we’ve got to go to them.
However, we write more warnings now in this town we’ve ever written.  If you don’t believe me ask people who go I got a warning in Cottageville.
Guys, I come in to do something and it’s to change the image of this town.  It’s to change it from being known as a speed trap and I can tell you that a great article was written about Cottageville not too long ago in The Press and Standard, talking about how we’ve stepped away from that speed trap.
Mr. Addison, with all due respect, you know, it is your opinion and I do respect you for having that interpretation from your perception and you’re entitled to that but I do see what comes across my desk and what my officers are doing.  My officers are going beyond tickets and arresting people for crimes now.                  In Cottageville at one time, you get pulled over you would get a ticket and be sent on your way regardless of what kind of crime you might’ve been committed before.  They wouldn’t go; they’re in a hurry to get to the next ticket.  It’s not that way anymore. We work hard in order to ensure that it is fair and Cottageville, fair for the citizens.
I will say that our budget, I worked hard with Terri on it.  I submitted different budgets and stuff trying to, to work on things and it’s a bare minimum budget.
I know that under previous administration prior to Mayor White coming the police department had full-time people, at one time six full-time people.  The department now is operating under two full-time people and we’re employing eight or six part-people, reducing costs even greater and Terri has those numbers of how much it has reduced it.
We’re doing everything I can within, within limits to cut the budget, to make us as lean as possible so we’re not dependent upon tickets anymore.  I don’t want the town to be from tickets.  I would like to see other sources of revenue.  I hound the mayor all the time, and Terri over other sources of revenue.  We need to see it.
We’re only gonna see it when we come together as a community and have the work where people want to be here.  That’s how we’re gonna do it and I think we’re on the right step.  I honestly do believe we’re on the right step.  In the past year I’ve seen a lot of great things.
As far as this building here, this building is an image of what we’re trying to portray.  What this building cost, should’ve cost and what it cost is night and day all because of a lot of free labor went in to this here to get it built, lot of — lot of free labor.
I’d just like to end up saying that without a doubt, guys, if you want to come, if you want to ride with me, be more than happy to.
It’s fair to say that we’ve got a major highway going through the town of Cottageville, US 17A.  It’s a major highway.  We get on average 8,000 cars a day coming through here. A lot of cars.  On holidays traffic and summertime it’s increased.  Now, my question to you is to think about it, if we’ve got 8,000 cars a day coming through about how many of those you think are violating the law?  Well, I guarantee you if you look at our statistics, we’re stopping less than 1 percent of them.  How many people do you think an officer should be catching violating the law coming through here?
Everybody here, in here lives in Cottageville.  You’ve seen cars speeding through before and say where’s, where’s the cop, where’s the officer at.  I mean we’re here; we’re doing everything we can with what we’re given.
I’d love to have the million dollar budget, mayor; I would absolutely love it but we’re realistic now.  We’re lean times.  We’re making — We’re building a solid foundation.  They’re doing their end; I’ve got to do my end and I assure I’m doing it in such a way that is fair and right.
MR. ADDISON:    What about after midnight?
CHIEF OF POLICE ROBERTS:     After midnight I actually do have officers out.
Officer Gill (phon.) is a reserve officer. Officer Gill here actually works for free for the town.  He actually will come in sometimes about 8:00 at night and stay out till about 2:00 at night or later.  Sometimes we have officers staying out later.
I don’t like to say it but being that I’m pressed on it, Mr. Addison, I will say that, no, Cottageville, does not have 24-hour protection.  I’m sad I’ve got to say that in a public meeting but we’re working to that.  I can’t snap my fingers overnight to get it but we do work — We are working towards that and I do feel like we will get that.
I feel like that the working relationship I have with Sheriff Malone actually helps us out as well till we eventually get to where we need — we need to be but the unique part about it is that it works out great for what Cottageville does and the professionalism where we’re at right now because, believe it or not, the sheriff’s office actually looks to us to help them out on calls that are outside so we actually end up assisting, just like on the, the shooting I went to several months ago, was assisting and to help them out.
Cottageville’s not perfect by any means but we’re getting there.  We’re getting there.  It’s gonna be a great place to live.  Just ask for your support, bear with us in these lean times and understand that we’ve got to have the alternate sources of income and, really, from a chief of police I really probably shouldn’t even be concerned with it; I should be just concerned with public safety; however, let’s be real about it.  We’ve got to have alternate sources of income, economic boost.  We can get it, just work together.
I think I pretty much beat that dead horse.
MAYOR WHITE:     Thank you.
At this time we will have — or I’ll call for a motion for executive session on personal wage discussion on comp time.  Do I hear a motion to go in to executive session?
COUNCIL MEMBER THOMAS:     I make a motion we go in executive session on personal wage and comp time.
COUNCIL MEMBER STRICKLAND:     I second.
MAYOR WHITE:     All in favor?
(All council members indicated yes.)
MAYOR WHITE:     And the same motion after executive session is over.
Thank you.
COUNCIL MEMBER THOMAS:     I make a motion we come back in from executive session.
COUNCIL MEMBER STRICKLAND:     Second.
MAYOR WHITE:     All in favor?
(All council members indicated yes.)
COUNCIL MEMBER THOMAS:     I make a motion we adjourn.
COUNCIL MEMBER EUSTLER:     I second.
MAYOR WHITE:     All in favor?
(All council members indicated yes.)
MAYOR WHITE:     Thank you.
– MEETING ADJOURNED AT 8:36 P.M. –

I, the undersigned Donna Hartley, Official Court Reporter and Notary Public, do hereby certify that the foregoing is a true, accurate and complete transcript of record of all the proceedings had at the Town Council zoning ordinance workshop for The Town of Cottageville, South Carolina at Cottageville Municipal Complex on Monday, June 15, 2009.
I further certify that I am neither of counsel nor kin to any person attending this meeting nor am I interested in any manner of its outcome.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and seal this twenty-seventh day of June, 2009.

Notary Public for South Carolina
My Commission Expires April 23, 2017