City administrator reports surge in Halloween visitors and staff retirements; council praises volunteers and urges voter turnout

City Administrator Adam Emmerich told Cowley City Council on Nov. 3 that October's downtown events produced unusually large visitation numbers and that the city will see economic effects in coming weeks when hospitality fee data arrive.

"We had 456,900 people in downtown to visit downtown Halloween," Emmerich said, adding that the city's peak day was Oct. 18 with about 37,500 visitors and that the month represented nearly a 50% increase over the prior year. He said average daily visitors in October were about 14,800 and that some downtown restaurants reported their best months ever.

Emmerich also announced that Fire Chief Lee Hendrick will retire at the end of the year after 32 years in the fire department and 11 years as the city's fire chief. "Lee has served as our city's fire chief for the last 11 years and has been in the fire department for 32 years," Emmerich said; councilmembers offered congratulations and appreciation.

The mayor yielded Emmerich's remaining time to Captain Tammy Carter, who announced her retirement effective Saturday and delivered remarks thanking the community and colleagues for 26 years of police service. "After serving the city as a police officer for over 26 years, I wanted to take a moment to express my sincere thanks to this council," Carter said.

Councilmembers used the general comment period to praise volunteers and staff for Halloween events, raise concerns about sidewalk conditions for residents with mobility needs and request attention to neighborhood speeding concerns in the Wild Wing community. Multiple councilmembers also urged residents to vote in the city election the following day.

The council approved the 2026 meeting schedule earlier in the meeting; Emmerich previewed the Dec. 4 kickoff to the Christmas season and highlighted upcoming Coastal Carolina University homecoming events expected to affect downtown traffic.