RESULTS -- NOVEMBER 1 NORTH MYRTLE BEACH CITY COUNCIL MEETING
The North Myrtle Beach City Council met at City Hall on Monday, November 1, for a 7:00 pm meeting.
-- During the meeting, Mayor Marilyn Hatley presented a proclamation highlighting December 3 as Arbor Day in North Myrtle Beach.
Mayor Hatley’s proclamation offers some historical information about Arbor Day and the value of trees.
Arbor Day traces back to 1872 when J. Sterling Morton proposed to the Nebraska Board of Agriculture that a special day be set aside for the planting of trees. This was called Arbor Day, and the day was observed with the planting of more than one million trees in that state.
Trees reduce erosion of topsoil by wind and water, cut heating and cooling costs, moderate the temperature, clean the air, produce oxygen, and provide wildlife with habitat.
Trees are a renewable resource giving us paper, wood for our homes, and countless other wood products.
Trees in North Myrtle Beach can increase property values, enhance the economic vitality of business areas, and beautify the community.
Community forests also offer some protection to life and property from damage caused by low-category hurricanes and tropical storms.
Trees, wherever planted, are a source of joy and renewal.
-- The Arbor Day Foundation presented the Tree City USA Award to the City of North Myrtle Beach. This is the 16th year that the City has received the award.
According to Lois Edwards of the South Carolina Forestry Commission, who presented the award, North Myrtle Beach meets the four standards required to become a Tree City USA community. According to the Arbor Day Foundation, Tree City USA communities must have a tree board or department, a tree-care ordinance, a comprehensive community forestry program, and an Arbor Day observance and proclamation.
The Tree City USA Program is sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the National Association of State Foresters and the USDA Forest Service. For more information, visit www.arborday.org/TreeCityUSA.
-- The Community Law Enforcement Appreciation Committee (CLEAC) recognized Beach Patrol Officer/Lifeguard Coordinator May Lauzon with its Officer of the Month Award.
For the past several years Officer Lauzon, through the Public Safety Department’s Ocean Rescue Division, has coordinated the Junior Lifeguard program, teaching ocean lifeguard skills and protocols to about 500 people ages 9-15. For successful participants, the program can also offer a path to eventual seasonal employment with the City as one of its paid ocean lifeguards at 16 years of age.
The Junior Lifeguard program offers two winter and two summer camps, with over 120 participants annually. Participants are taught basic rescue and self-rescue skills, beach safety protocols, rip current awareness, skin protection, physical fitness, CPR, rescue board use, and teamwork concepts.
Officer Lauzon is also an avid cyclist, swimmer, and runner. She has participated in Ironman Triathlons, and she enjoys surfing.
To learn more about CLEAC, please visit: https://www.lawappreciation.com/the-project
-- City Council approved a special event permit for the Annual North Myrtle Beach Christmas Parade scheduled for Saturday, December 4, at 5:30 pm on Main Street from Ye Olde Kings Highway to Ocean Boulevard.
-- City Council passed the second (final) reading of an ordinance adopting revised flood damage control standards. The revised ordinance is beneficial to the City’s standing regarding FEMA’s Community Rating System (CRS), which results in reduced flood insurance premiums for North Myrtle Beach property owners.
-- City Council passed the second reading of an ordinance adopting the revised Flood Insurance Study and Flood Insurance Rate Maps issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and periodically updated, to take effect on December 16, 2021.
FEMA has updated its Flood Insurance Studies and Flood Insurance Rate Maps as they pertain to North Myrtle Beach and they will take effect on December 16, 2021. To remain compliant with the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), the City must adopt the most recent revisions to FEMA’s flood study and maps
To find all of the new North Myrtle Beach flood maps in one location, please visit https://www.nmb.us/356/Flood-Information. Click on “Index Panel 450551CINDOB”, then find the panel number that best reflects the general location of your property. Exit the Index Panel, then click on the map panel number for your property location, and determine your flood zone status.
If the link does not work for you, please visit https://www.nmb.us/, enter “flood information” into the search bar at the top of the home page, and then click on “flood information” in the list of choices provided to you.
-- City Council passed the first reading of an ordinance to lease office space and to authorize the use of a portion of the pool and other areas of the North Myrtle Beach Aquatic & Fitness Center to McLeod Seacoast Hospital.
The term of the Agreement is for one year and it would renew automatically for 5 additional one-year terms unless otherwise terminated as authorized in the Agreement. The Agreement provides that McLeod would lease two offices containing approximately 124 square feet and 107 square feet, respectively, for $20 per square foot, equivalent to an annual rental rate of $4,620.
McLeod would be authorized to utilize a portion of the warm water pool for physical therapy purposes; however, McLeod could not exceed more than 8 participants (including McLeod staff and patients) in the warm water pool during a single therapy session. McLeod would also be authorized to use the fitness room and the basketball courts for patient rehabilitative purposes but the lease would require McLeod to coordinate with the Aquatic & Fitness Center staff at least a month in advance regarding the use of the basketball courts. McLeod would pay to the City $6.00 per patient per visit for the use of the above-referenced areas of the Aquatic & Fitness Center.
If you would like to review the documents associated with the November 1 City Council meeting, please access the interactive meeting agenda here:
https://www.nmb.us/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_11012021-216?html=true
If the link does not work for you, please visit https://www.nmb.us/ and click on Agendas & Minutes.
The City received the Arbor Day Foundation's Tree City USA Award. This marks the 16th year that the City has qualified to receive the award.
North Myrtle Beach Beach Patrol Officer May Lauzon (center with plaque) accepts her award from the Community Law Enforcement Appreciation Committee.