The Horry County Council convened on March 19, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. for a regular meeting. The meeting included public input on animal welfare and wildfire impacts, approvals of consent agenda items, presentation of risk management awards, and public hearings on several ordinances. Key actions included unanimous approval of most consent items, a presentation recognizing the police department's Crisis Intervention Team, a failed ordinance to allow wind-driven shading devices on beaches on a one-year trial, and referral or rejection of several rezoning requests.
March 18th, 2025 to order. We start these meetings on time so we can end on time. We have a lot to do tonight. We also start every meeting with an invitation tonight by Mr. Gary Loftus, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance, which will be led by Mr. Masquerillo. If I get ready, please stand. Let us pray. Lord, we come before you seeking your guidance as we go about the people's business. Please watch and give us direction so that we can do the most good for the most people. We ask that you watch over our public safety. Make sure that they come home safely. We ask this all in your blessing. Amen. Amen. Liberty and justice for all. Thank you. Please. Be seated. Next up is public input. We've had three people sign up. We haven't had public input for a while, so I just want to highlight a few of the rules. This is a professional venue. We want to hear what your issues are. And uh, but we ask that you maintain professional civility. There'll be no yelling and screaming or calling out staff members or county council members or anything like that. It's a five-minute uh limitation by rule. We do have this cool clock here to help you. The green is go go go. The yellow is one minute, and the red is stop. I have been criticized for letting people speak after the red light. Um, but what I tell them is if you're in the middle of a sentence, go ahead and finish your sentence, just don't start a new chapter or new page. Okay. So the first one to sign up is Ms. Carol Waller, and if I mispronounce it, I apologize. She's gonna be speaking on animal rights and welfare. Good evening. My name is Carol Wallower, and I've been the residence of Ory County for 18 years with 17 of those dedicated to animal advocacy. During this time, I have saved thousands of dogs, but I've also witnessed heartbreaking neglect and death. I've also run the local community spay and neuter program here. Are you aware of the severe animal overpopulation crisis in our county? Our shelters operate beyond capacity daily. We cannot rescue or adopt our way out of this situation. There simply aren't enough homes. The numbers prove it. From January 1st, 2025 to today, just a few local rescues have reported 831. Puppies and kittens. That is 11 per day, and this does not include adult dogs or adult cats. One unaltered female dog and her offspring can produce 67,000 puppies in six years, while one female cat and her offspring can produce 370,000 kittens in seven years. Many end up on our streets and in our overcrowded shelters.