Council approves budget amendment, grants and multiple contracts; votes at a glance

At its Oct. 12 finance committee meeting, the North Charleston City Council approved a series of ordinances, resolutions and contract awards including a budget amendment, a large disaster-assistance grant, a school resource officer agreement and multiple procurement awards.

The items were approved by motion, second and voice vote; no roll-call tallies were provided in the transcript. Several items drew brief discussion: council members asked about street lights before accepting certain streets into the city's maintenance system, and a council member thanked grant staff after the disaster-assistance award was introduced.

Votes at a glance:

- Ordinance amending the budget ordinance adopted 07/01/2024 (Agenda item 3): Motion moved and seconded; approved by voice vote. (Motion text as read on the record.)

- Resolution authorizing the city to accept the South South Carolina Housing Trust Fund disaster assistance program grant in the amount of $94,327,327 to assist citizens with weather-related damages (Agenda item 4): Motion moved and seconded; approved by voice vote. A council member publicly thanked grant staff for the work on the application.

- Resolution authorizing the mayor or designee to execute an agreement between North Chester County School District 2 and the city for the school resource officer program, 2024-25 school year (Agenda item 5): Motion and second; approved by voice vote.

- Resolution accepting Bending Flats Way and portions of Cottage Landing Drive and Plowfield Lane into the city maintenance system (Council District 9) (Agenda item 6): Motion and second; approved by voice vote. Council members asked staff to confirm whether street lights on those streets are operational and who will pay for them before final acceptance.

- Resolution accepting a new area of public right of way and authorizing necessary acquisition, including eminent domain for a portion of Track C (TMS 3930000463) near Crosspoint Drive (Agenda item 9): Motion and second; approved by voice vote.

- Agreement with Woolworth Incorporated, North Charleston, to develop a "warship master plan" for the city in the amount of $137,000 (Agenda item 9/related): Motion and second; approved by voice vote. The vendor selection was described as having been put out for bid and scored.

- Proposal award for engineering services for the Northwood Estates stormwater retention improvements to the Revere Group, North Charleston, in the amount of $161,880, funded by District 3 funds (Agenda item 10): Motion and second; approved by voice vote.

- Bid award for a fire department shipboard firefighting training facility to WRG Fire Training Simulation Systems Inc., Newburgh, Oregon, in the amount of $2,998,000 (Agenda item 11): Motion and second; approved by voice vote.

- Bid award to upgrade the ETC sensor lighting dimming system at the North Charleston Performing Arts Center to Production Unlimited Inc., Roebuck, South Carolina, in the amount of $381,455.18 (Agenda item 12): Motion and second; approved by voice vote. Staff said the existing system is about 25 years old and parts are no longer available.

- Authorization to purchase the PrimeWatch core platform software suite for the North Charleston Police Department from Bridal Watch Technology Corporation, York, Pennsylvania, in the amount of $169,056.25 (Agenda item 13): Motion and second; approved by voice vote.

Motions and vote counts: The meeting record shows motions and seconds followed by voice votes on each item; the transcript does not include roll-call vote tallies or names for each "aye." No item was recorded as opposed on the audio record included in the transcript.

Several procurement items were noted as funded from specific sources (for example, the Northwood Estates engineering award was funded by District 3 funds). Where committee members asked for additional confirmation (street-light status), staff said they would verify and return the item if installation was incomplete.