The Charleston City Council met on September 9, 2025, at Bishop Gadsden on James Island. The meeting began with an invocation commemorating the 9/11 anniversary, a welcome from Bishop Gadsden's President & CEO, and a proclamation recognizing the South Carolina Community Loan Fund for its 20 years of service. Council approved routine items, heard public comments on flooding and preservation, and engaged in a lengthy discussion regarding the city's relationship with the St. Andrews Public Service District (PSD), culminating in a directive to develop a legal strategy. A special presentation highlighted the cataloging of 1,800 historical maps.
Sally Radd, if you could please join us at the front, we have a seat reserved for you up here. Are we ready? Right. I'd like to call the September 9th meeting of City Council to order. Madam Clerk, would you please call a roll? Councilmember Greg, Councilmember Shaley, Councilmember McBride, Councilmember Mitchell, Councilmember Brady, Council, Gregory, Councilmember Wearing, Councilmember Seekings, Councilmember Templer, Councilmember Bowden, Councilmember Appel, Councilmember Parker, Mayor Coxwell. Here. I'd now like to ask Councilmember Bow to give the invocation and lead everybody pledger of allegiance. Thank you. And um, similar to uh what Councilmember Appel shared uh earlier were in a few days from commemorating the anniversary of the attacks of September 11th. Um I was in a sixth grade classroom. Uh with Martin was was um was my teacher at the time. Um and you know, I'll always remember that day like it was yesterday. Um I just wanted to to share an invocation related to that. Uh every everybody who was a victim of that attack, as well as the folks who served um afterwards. We pause to remember September eleventh, two thousand one. We remember the nearly three thousand innocent lives lost, the first responders who charged into danger to save others, and the families who continue to carry the burden of that day. We also remember those who answered the call in days and years that followed. Our servicemen and women who step forward to defend our country, many of whom gave their lives, were still there, the women's of that service. In the midst of tragedy, we witnessed resilience. The face of fear, we saw unity. Neighbors reached out to neighbors and communities found strength in one another. As we begin our work tonight, may we be guided by that same spirit of unity and service. May we seek wisdom in our decisions, compassion in our words, and courage in our actions, and may the memory of those we lost and the example of those who served inspire us always to care for one another and to strengthen our community. We remember, we honor, we will never forget. Amen. Certainly appreciate you all hosting. So I will be on especially uh uh good behavior this evening. Edmund and Sally Reddit. Uh, I'd now like to call Sarah Tipton, who is the president and CEO CEO of Bishop Gadson, uh, up to the microphone and say a few words. And again, we really appreciate you all hosting us here tonight. It is our pleasure. Mayor Coxwell, honorable council members, um, incredible city staff, all of Charleston's finest, everyone who's made this happen, and all the citizens of Charleston who are with us today, we welcome you to Bishop Gadston. Uh Bishop Gadston, although we've been on this site for 40 years, we're actually celebrating 175 years this year. And uh 135 of those years were spent on the Charleston peninsula. Uh, but in the early 80s, when it became a little difficult to care for seniors in a three-story uh historic Charleston town, and it was time to envision the future of this community. We received a wonderful gift of property here on James Island, and with the uh with the blessing of the donor of our original homes uh blessing, we uh went to the city and said maybe we become part of the city so that we could fulfill the wishes of that original donor to remain the city of Charleston. So we have a uh wonderful history uh in the city, and we're uh very thankful for that. A little bit about Bishop Gadston. Bishop Gadsden is a mission-driven organization. Our mission calls us to affirm positive living for all live and work here. Um, our our team is very important to us. We serve with integrity. We are uh we are committed to wise stewardship, which uh for everything that we've been entrusted with, and we reach out with a generous spirit, and to that end, Bishop Gadston has been recognized for its um for its uh philanthropy and uh for serving Charleston area organizations, uh meeting basic human needs over the years, uh giving somewhere in the neighborhood of 14 million dollars to a variety of community organizations. Uh we are uh presently we employ about 650 team members, and we are home to about 580 permanent residents. In 2022, we opened a new service line to provide post-acute rehab for uh the greater Charleston community, and we are presently serving about 400 members of the uh uh the Charleston community uh who come to us after hospitalization to recover and return to their homes healthy and well. So um again, we're just so very thankful to welcome the city uh council meetings here tonight. We think it's been about 10 years since this happened, and we'd love to make it not that long next time. So welcome to all of you and thank you again for all who made it happen. Thank you.