Call this January twenty-seventh, two thousand twenty-six meeting of City Council to order.

Madam Clerk, will you please call the role?

Councilmember Greg.

Here, Councilmember Sheeley, Councilmember McBride, Councilmember Pulquet, Councilmember Brady, Councilmember Di Alessandro, here, Councilmember Waring, Councilmember Seekings, Councilmember Tinkler, Councilmember Bowden, Councilmember Appel, Councilmember Scardon, Mayor Cogswell.

Here.

Oh, Di Alessandro.

Okay.

Never mind.

I'd like to call on Councilmember Di Alessandro to give the invocation and lead everybody in the pledge.

Should I just bend over like this?

On this day of remembrance, let us think of those that were unable to escape horrendous injustices.

Let us think of those forced into horrendous injustices.

Let us leaders at the local, state, and federal levels have compassion for those wanting a safe and hopeful life.

But unhesitatingly, you ran to save us Jews.

Amen.

We are uh honoring the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Whereas January 27th is recognized by the United Nations and the international community is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, marking the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz in 1945.

And whereas the Holocaust stands as one of the history's most devastating manifestations of state-sponsored hatred, resulting in the systemic murder of six million Jews and millions of other victims, including Roma, people with disabilities, political dissidents, LGBTQ individuals, and others targeted by Nazi ideology.

And whereas the Holocaust did not begin with violence alone, but with words, policies, and the gradual erosion of democratic norms, human dignity, and truth.

Whereas remembrance is not a passive act, but a moral obligation that compels societies to confront the consequences of hatred, anti-Semitism, indifference, both past and present.

And whereas anti-Semitism and other forms of hate continue to threaten communities across the United States and around the world, making Holocaust education and remembrance, urgent civic responsibilities rather than historical formalities.

And whereas education, commemoration, and civic leadership play a vital role in fostering empathy, safeguarding democratic values, and ensuring that future generations understand both the history of the Holocaust and the dangers of silence in the face of injustice.

And whereas the city of Charleston affirms its commitment to human dignity, dignity, pluralism, and the responsibility of local government to stand clearly and publicly against hatred in all of its forms.

Now, therefore, I, William S.

Cogswell, Mayor of Charleston, do hereby proclaim January 27th, 2026 is International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Would you like to say a few words?

Or Anita?

We can all light our candles here.

I'm sorry I'm not prepared with words in front of me, but I can tell you that my parents were Holocaust survivors.

So this day is very important to me.

I have been in Auschwitz-Birkenau.

It is it was so powerfully upsetting to be there at a time like we're celebrating and commemorating at this moment.

I greatly appreciate all of you in the city of Charleston for what you do for us as members of the Jewish community, your love and your caring, and the fact that we are having an event like this today means so much to my family and to our community.

Thank you for keeping us as part of our community because we have a rich heritage here in Charleston, and we thank you so much and look forward to many years of working together and then to never forget what has happened in the past, so we can never allow it to happen again.

Thank you all so much.

Thank you.

Absolutely.

Okay, we have one more proclamation tonight.

I'd like to ask coach Daryl Capleton.

Capleton.

Oh, yeah, I'm ready.

And the West Ashley Junior Wildcats teams and their coach.

Come on in, guys.

Come on in.

Come on up.

How are you, man?

Good to see you.

Like that medal.

See you.

Good to see you.

Good to see you.

Hello, man.

Good to see you.

Are you Daryl?

Oh, oh, oh.

Uh oh.

Champions.

I like it.

The crew here, man.

Gentlemen, gentlemen.

Are you see you?

Good to see you.

See you.

All right.

Come on up, coach, man.

You gotta get on stage.

See ya.

How are you doing, man?

All right, all right.

Wildcats.

Whereas the city of Charleston proudly recognizes the city of Charleston West Ashley Junior Wildcats for their exceptional accomplishments during the 2025 athletic season.

And whereas the junior Wildcats demonstrated extraordinary dedication, teamwork, discipline, and sportsmanship by completing the 2025 season with an undefeated record of 18 wins and zero losses.

Boys are gonna go to Indiana.

And whereas the junior Wildcats success extended beyond the field, with 14 players selected the all-star team and 16 student athletes achieving A or A B honor roll recognition.

Exemplifying excellence in both athletics and academics.

Whereas this outstanding season reflects the commitment and leadership of the coaching staff.

Daryl Capleton, pronouncing that right.

All right, all right, all right, all right, yeah, Kevin Glears, Peter, y'all got hard names.

Peter Fami, Jeff Buncher, and Daryl Scott, right?

Let's all give the coaches a round of applause.

Whereas the City of Charleston Junior Wildcats roster.

Great, I got a lot of names.

Adrian Yates, y'all, y'all raise your hand when I called, okay?

Adrian Yates, Aiden Joyner, Amir Coles, Bo Buncher, Carter Washington, Chance Moore, Carter, Connor Lee, Grayson Capleton, Capleton, Hudson Payne, Hampton Rowell, Jacob Fommy, Camille Smalls, Kyle Smalls, Mason White, Micah Lane, Maverick Mims, Miguel Kimborough, Morgan Burnett, Amari Jones, Peter Fame, RJ Williams, Richie Richardson, Remington Herker, Hercombe, Sincere Scott, Zane Simmons, TJ Goodwin, and Wyatt Massey represent the very best of Charleston's use youth through their hard work, perseverance, and character.

Let's give them a round of applause.

And now for the drum roll, I William S.

Cogswell, mayor of the city of Charleston here by commins and congratulates the junior Wildcats on their undefeated 2025 season and recognizes their remarkable achievements, encouraging them to continue striving for excellence in athletics, academics, and community leadership in another undefeated season next year.

I just want to say thank you for recognizing the boys.

Thank y'all so much, man.

I couldn't have a better group of boys on the field and off the field, man.

Thank y'all so much for letting me coach out.

Amen.

Let's get a picture with you.

You hold that out front.

I gotta show the golden seal there, man.

Boys up front.

Look at the camera.

Which one?

All right, guys.

Next year.

See you next year.

Come on, you guys.

Stay up here all night.

You good?

Yeah, man.

Oh, yeah.

Good job, boys.

Thank you, coaches.

Very well.

I mean, I'll let yeah.

All right.

That's impressive.

All right.

We have we have one more uh presentation or recognition that I missed here when I was first going through the agenda, but I cannot wait for this one.

So I'd like to call on Councilman Waring for a very, very special surprise recognition.

Thank you, Mr.

Man.

Uh, at the employee recognition breakfast uh last week.

We had probably the most key person to the numbers in this city that we all know and respect that burns the midnight oil.

She got recognized at the breakfast, but we'd like to call her up to a little special recognition right now.

Amy Wharton.

If you walk the past day, all the city thank you for all of your hard parts.

I mean, truly we uh you were the guardrails to keep this city moving.

And I think everybody around in this room uh appreciates and understands just how much you do for the city of Charleston.

So we wanted to have you up here embarrass the hell out of you and say thank you and say thank you.

Let's give her a round of applause.

If you want to get a speech, you can very much.

I appreciate the recognition.

You know that I hate to be the center of attention.

So anyway, but thank you so much.

I really really appreciate it.

And you know, I've been here 25 years.

I love the city, I love everything I do, and I love working with all of my people.

So thank you very much.

Yeah, thank you.

All right, we are now on to public hearings.

There are nine public hearings tonight.

Uh Christopher Morgan, you could join us and present.

Look at the slides going here.

You may hear, members of council.

Here we go.

Right.

So the uh first item is uh 2089 Savage Road and 2083 Savage Road.

This is a recently acquired property that the city has for our future um uh vehicle maintenance facility, police vehicle maintenance facility.

I believe we have a map here if this will advance for me.

There we go.

It is um adjacent to um an existing business park.

This is an undeveloped property.

Uh it is within very close proximity to I-526, as you see in the red line in the middle there, and it is uh accessed off of Savage Road.

It would come into the city with the zoning of business park, which would allow for that kind of vehicle maintenance and be compatible with the adjoining business park adjacent to it.

Um that is we have a couple images of it, they can lot, and then we move on into some residential annexations.

We have uh 1031 terracotta, which would come into the city with a zoning of SR2.

We have the images of that, and then we have um 1603 jasmine, which would come into the city also with SR2, and it's rolling West Ashley.

Then we have Ironstone Alley 2016, Iron Stone Alley, which would come in with SR2, and then we have um 4037 Halein Street, uh, which would come in the city as SR2, and then it's nearby neighbor of 4045 Killing Street, uh, also SR2.

And then uh 875 Print Street, SR1.

There it is.

And then um 1442 Edgewater uh drive, and that would come in the city as SR1, and then 23 Furman Drive, SR1 as well.

Those are the public hearings for this evening.

Okay, Madam Clark, do we have people that have signed up to speak on the public hearings?

Um, I believe we have two.

There are some people who signed up, I think, that need to speak during citizens' participation.

These are just for the properties that Christopher presented.

Um I would say around two.

Okay, so give a give uh each speaker a minute and a half.

Uh just remind everybody the rules of decorum.

We're here to hear uh your comments.

Uh, we ask you to adhere to the rules of decorum.

If you do not do not interact directly with council members, I will give you one warning.

If you persist, um we will uh have you we will ask you to leave the meeting.

So, madam clerk, please call the first speaker.

All right, Anthony G.

Bryant.

We hope that the people on the side identify themselves to speech.

I'm here to talk to the rules of decorum.

Um, we're here to talk to the rules of decorum before I speak.

If I'm the minute 50, then I missed it.

Supreme Court of South Connor St.

Anthony G.

Bryant, we paid our property taxes.

AG Bryant crew ink S760 out of Goose Creek, a senator authored a bill for for criminal enterprises.

2023 Courtland After Salem 29403 S85 is the threshold for Junior Juvenile Street Gangs from five to three.

You if you look into Charleston County records at our physical to say address in my minor years, I would qualify.

Some August 8th, 2025 until January 20th, 2026, before you right now, at an author of a bill in Berkeley County.

We annex in Berkeley County the author of the village in Berkeley County.

We annex in the Berkeley County for Daniels Island for which white people, and Anthony G.

Bryant gets an inquiry made on him.

I think the law about me.

I think it's Anthony G.

Bryant law.

That's why I'm here to tell you the rules of the coral.

We'd identify these on the corner.

Who are they and why they hear five speech?

Mohammed Idres.

Apologize for the typo and the paper that I gave you.

And I will take time to correct your own in this variety.

So I apologize.

I do not have anything else to say today.

Thank you.

All right.

Was there anyone else who needed to speak to any of the public hearings?

We'll have citizens participation later.

This is just on the properties that Christopher just presented.

All right, I think that's all we have.

Zoom move one through nine.

Second.

Motion made, probably seconded accept.

Um items one through nine.

Um further discussion.

If not, all those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Opposed.

All right.

Eyes have it.

Uh moving on.

We are now on to uh council minutes.

Motion made, probably seconded.

Any further discussion?

If not, all those in favor signify by saying aye.

Opposed, have it.

We're now on to citizens' participation.

Period.

Madam Clerk, how many people do we have signed up on this one?

All right.

We have about six.

All right, we'll keep it at a minute and a half.

Uh again, just remind people of the rules of decorum and look forward to hearing from uh you all.

Madam Clark, please call the first speaker.

All right, Anthony G.

Bryant.

And the B said humiliated at my door.

I'm not like no creature.

I'm not going to be praying with nobody.

You come to my daddy's door with this out of Berkeley County, the Senator out of Williamsburg County, a brother.

On this law, our young people in this city are poor and have nothing.

You put three of them together to fight downtown, all of them going to jail, and their parents, they're felon.

But they're felon the city of Charleston.

They'll go to jail under this law.

I'm here to submit to you that I'm not gonna let that go down in my block or in North Charleston to high school there.

People that can't, they can't even afford Jesus no more around.

They can't afford rent, they can't afford nothing.

They can't afford God.

And I bear witness you the data.

I'll stand tall to that.

My father is the man of the boy that house.

I'll stand tall to that.

You understand me?

There'll be no marching and preaching over me.

Frank Walsh.

Thank you.

Frank Walsh, 22-year resident of South Carolina in Charleston.

Last Friday night, my wife and I attended the symphony at Gail.

With us was a couple, he's blind.

The Gale Yard, the average age there at the Symphony is about 110.

Uh the building itself has staircases.

It was probably built before ATA.

It's probably ATA compliant.

However, given the age of the people who attend there, it's very difficult place to empty.

There was a fire alarm.

If it had been a real alarm, I wouldn't be here to talk today.

I was one of the last people out.

It took quite a while.

Like to talk to somebody later on another day about what can be done and what we saw is wrong.

Not gonna take your time down.

Thank you.

And the next speaker, um, I believe the first name is James, and they're here to speak on Carmax.

Hello, uh James Rogers.

Um I've lived in Charleston since 1967 in uh Melrose Subdivision.

Since then I've got married and moved back to Melrose in 1989, before there was a Lexus dealership to the south of me and a CarMax to the north of me.

Um actually I don't have a problem with neither one, except that the entrance to Lexus is on Melrose Drive, and there's a slew of traffic that um is used by employees, um, people doing uh maintenance on the cars there and test driving them and such.

Um and then before Lexus was Carmax and Carmax, once again, I don't have a problem with Carmax, but they put the entrance right across the street from Eddawan Avenue.

They didn't put it out on Savannah Highway.

Actually, that's the only entrance into CarMax is from Savage Road, which is adjacent to the end of Edouan Avenue.

So what type of traffic do we get from this track of trailers hauling cars that use Eddawan Avenue all the time?

I got pictures to prove it.

Um we've had multiple car haulers stop on Etawan Avenue to unload their cars.

I mean, how how safe is that?

It's not safe.

It's it's a residential road.

We have time.

Okay.

Um no um commercial vehicle signs from one end of the street to the other, and now they want to put a parking lot on the end of Edward Avenue.

Once again, I'm not opposed to the parking lot, but the entrance and exit is is now on Edamon Avenue.

The first rendition that we were aware of back in March of 2025 was on Savage Road, which we have no problem with.

They want to put the parking great, but they they've moved the the exit and entrance on to Edward Avenue.

We we got too much traffic on Edwards.

What we'll Brian Hellman.

Hi, uh Brian Hellman.

I'm actually here on behalf of CarMax.

I think there are a couple other people that have signed up to speak, and I could respond to any of the comments they have if it would be better for me to speak last.

Or I can respond to any questions or comments anyone has here today.

But CarMax uh is uh annexing into right now it's in the county, it's annexing its main property into the city and annexing two other parcels uh as a way to deal with overflow.

Carmax does not unload on Edawan, but its entrance does the curb cut does line up with Edowan, and that's where this uh extra parking would uh would line up for better traffic flow.

Originally, as the gentleman said, the entrance was on Savage, but through the design process, it was suggested to relocate the entrance for better traffic flow so that the curb cuts line up with Etawan.

So that's why it moved it, it works better.

It actually allows CarMax more uh uh flow on their property so that uh the deliveries will actually work better for the neighborhood and improve uh a situation that's there.

Thank you, Michael Wiggins.

Michael Williams, and I live in Marrows also.

I'm here to let you all know that if they do put that entrance on the Edamon Avenue back in 2011.

I requested a study.

We have Long Branch and Shassbury Subdivision that uses Manola in Melroads.

Go to Merrose Drive, then take a left on Edoan Avenue to cut through.

They did the survey.

12 hour time, 1,793 cars went to that intersection.

This was 2011.

Now they're wanting to put an entrance and an exit on Edouan Avenue for Carmax.

Like Jimmy said, I ain't got no problem with CarMax putting a lot there.

They're gonna have 106 parking places.

Put it on Savage Road.

We are residential subdivision.

We do not need any more traffic on the Edwin Avenue.

Thank you.

All right, and that was everyone that we had signed up for tonight.

We did receive two comments online.

One was from Mr.

Bryant, which was sent to council and poll.

Um, and then we also received a comment from a citizen who felt that the first amendment ordinance was excessive and interfered with their first amendment rights to freedom of speech and public assembly and petition.

And those were all the comments that we received.

Okay, thank you, madam clerk.

Um, can I ask a question on item 12?

You bet we um just wanted to ask and and want to thank Mr.

Rogers and Mr.

Wiggins for coming and speaking tonight from from Melrose.

I'm hearing from some people when in Melrose, and I guess I just want to ask the question of why would there not be ingress egress off of Savage Road rather than Etawan?

Mr.

Morgan, can you speak to this?

Sir, Mr.

Mayor, Mr.

Sheeley.

So it's my understanding that there is an improvement coming to Savage Road, extra turn lanes, and so the county, when they were working on that improvement, suggested that the driveway would be better off of Edouan than on Savage, that that would help with the traffic flow better uh to have it around the corner, and it does line up on Eddowan with their current access point, and of course, all the discussion about unloading of things.

This new expansion will allow for more room for that unloading to happen.

So that should help traffic flow as well.

Okay.

Would the trailers will there be a way to control which side they come in off of on Savage rather than going down Melroads Drive coming through the neighborhood with these tractor trailers?

And uh Mr.

Hellman may have more info on this about the uh uh uh way the uh site is being organized, but it was my understanding the trailers were going to unload on the CarMax proper site in general.

Um and this was other overflow parking on the edwan site for other vehicles and employees and things like that.

But for clarity, this is what we're considering tonight is annexation.

This is and uh this will allow us the opportunity to review and scrutinize any future site plan that is proposed.

Uh so this is the beginning of the process of design.

So respect the opinion and appreciate you all coming out tonight.

Sorry, sir, that we had to cut you off.

Um we'll try and keep it pretty strict, just make sure everybody can speak.

So we will have a lot more details to be flushed out on this site, I would say, in the coming weeks and months.

All right, I understand.

Now it's already it's already gone in front of one board.

Is that correct?

The planning commission as part of the zoning process.

Part of the zoning process.

Okay.

And there was a layout of the ingress egress at that meeting.

No, planning commission didn't look at that.

I think there was something that may have been presented to the neighborhood that originally did show an access from Savage, but again, upon further consultation, they were so it was suggested that they move it around to Edamon.

But as the mayor said, it is going to be going through further reviews.

So there is an opportunity.

And I think it's important to make sure that residents are made aware of the plans for Savage Road that the county's proposing so that it's a more holistic picture of what we're talking about on this site.

All right.

Well, I I would like to suggest that we have a community meeting with that Melrose Long Branch Subdivision before we go too far with it.

That's a good idea.

Okay.

Thank you.

Any further questions on these topics?

If not, we will move on to where am I?

Ways and means.

Motion made, property seconded.

Any further discussion on ways and means.

All those in favor, signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Eyes have it.

We are on to second reading.

Move one through twelve.

Nine, ten, and twelve as amended.

Nine.

I got three, eight, and fourteen is amended.

You've got to type out.

I got an old, I got an old form.

I got it right here.

Okay.

Forget what I said.

Nine, um, ten and twelve is amended.

So Mr.

Seek, Councilmember Seekings motion.

We have a second.

Motion made, probably seconded.

All those in favor, signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Closed.

Eyes have it.

Um can we get a third reading on this?

Move for third reading and ratification.

Second.

Motion made, probably seconded.

No further discussion.

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

All right.

Um moving right along, guys.

So I gotta slow down a little bit.

Um we have one bill up for uh first reading, which is right of way of CWS.

We have a motion made, properly seconded.

All those any further discussion on this.

You're welcome to discuss it.

If not, all those in favor, please signify by saying aye.

Opposed.

Ayes have it.

Good.

Okay.

Any further comments, questions from council?

If none, that concludes our business.

The next meeting will be on Tuesday, February the 10th.