Volume 40:9 September, 2016 Publisher: Folly Beach Civic Club est. 1938 Editor: Susan Breslin, [email protected] (843) 588-3026

Presorted Standard U.S. Postage Paid Postal Permit 03 Folly Beach SC

POSTAL PATRON FOLLY BEACH 29439

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Building a Better Folly Beach If you have a building (or empty lot) and you’re going to build something, remodel something, or do a big repair or spruce-up, you’ll have to comply with a lot of state, county, and Folly Beach rules and regulations. Fortunately, you’ll get help and guidance from the Building Official, Eric Lutz.

City’s Tree Fund. And Lutz will visit the site frequently to make sure what’s being done is legal. He’s looking for safety and structural integrity problems, not cosmetic issues. As a former contractor (he and his partner built the new Bowens Island restaurant), he’ll also suggest ways around a problem.

Lutz knows that people don’t like all the paperwork and rules. He stresses that most of the rules are written with your safety, and the safety of your family, visitors, and neighbors in mind. He keeps pictures of the harm that avoiding regulations can bring – burnedout buildings and collapsed decks are big ones – and keeps in mind the serious injuries (and one or two deaths) they caused.

There’s a building boom going on, and many owners are tearing down their existing houses to build new. They’re also putting in elevators, which can cost $50,000. All this attention to detail has paid off for Folly Beach owners. The CRS rating, a program insurance companies sponsor, has come down to 7, and Lutz thinks it will soon be 6. That means lower flood premiums for everyone. Lutz stresses that you should hire a licensed, bonded, insured contractor. He doesn’t recommend most contractors referred by Lowe’s. It will take at least six months, and typically 8-12 months to build. All that and more (septic permits, driveway permits, stormwater permits, etc.) may seem like a hassle, but people who’ve done business with other towns and cities in the area say Folly Beach is a marvel for courtesy and efficiency – that staff is tough but fair. Lewis Dodson, who owns the Drop-In Deli and also businesses in Avondale, is scathing about City of Charleston officials. Bryce Hoch, who started a solar business on Folly, says he chose Folly because its officials were so much more competent and helpful than those in other locations in the county.

Where do you start? See Aaron Pope for a review of the zoning and required flood Three boys were seriously hurt when a nailed-in porch railing gave way.

elevation for your property, and a review of whether buildings on it comply with those elevations and conform to zoning for your property. The zoning will also dictate how big your house can be, and where it must sit on the property. The Planning Commission has adopted some standards which are relative to the site’s size – how big the house can be, how wide oceanfront and side setbacks have to be – and Pope will calculate that. Then see Lutz (they have adjacent offices) for a review of what you’ll have to do to get started.

Lutz loves his job and Folly Beach: “What I look forward to is easy: coming to work every day, helping to protect the public, and giving back to a community that has been very good to me. Folly stole my heart when I first arrived after active duty service in the Army, September 1997. I was looking for a place to start over, and Folly was it for me from day one.” Lutz has also taken on directing the sanitation part of Public Works, and is a Folly volunteer fireman. He lives on Johns Island with his family.

Any substantial project will need plans from an architect or engineer. If your property isn’t flood-compliant, planned additions can’t exceed 50% of the appraised value. (Some people have jacked up their houses so they’re not limited by the 50% rule. Others have torn down their houses and rebuilt so they can get out from under the rule).

NOTE: Weekly recycling collection on Folly Island will end September 12th. The next pick-up will be September 26th. Recycling and trash will be picked up Tuesday, September 6th instead of Labor Day.

You’ll need to take out a permit (for rental housing, a licensed contractor must do it). If your plans have changed, you’ll need to submit new ones. If trees have to be cut down, you’ll need to plant new ones, or pay into the

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Folly Clubs and Organizations

The Garden Club will meet Tuesday, September 27th in the Community Center at noon. Troy Burgess with Carolina Turf and Irrigation will speak about outdoor lighting. All are welcome. Lynn Ray Smalley (843) 588-0093

Civic Club I hope everyone has survived the summer and is ready for a wonderful Fall on Folly. The Civic Club is already planning some fun events. For our September 20th meeting, we’ve invited representatives from Folly Boards and Commissions to come talk about what they do, take your questions and encourage you to get involved.

[email protected]

Exchange Club We are happy to host the MUSC mobile mammogram unit Tuesday, Sept. 6th at 8:45 am in front of City Hall. If you pre-register at 843 792-0878, MUSC will bill your insurance company or the cost will be covered by a MUSC grant. Thank you to everyone who donated for the Fort Johnson Middle School supply drive! Principal David Parler and Jill Sneed attended our August meeting to collect the HUGE amount of donations collected. Check our Facebook page for more info and pictures.

In October we will do something really special – sort of an homage to Folly history. We invite one and all to come to the October 18th meeting to record your stories about Folly Beach. We also plan to set up in the park on Saturday, October 22nd during Art in the Park to record even more stories. The idea is to have an archive of these stories and also to get some ideas for future oral histories to be part of a Folly history archive.

Exchange and Folly Association of Business are hosting a Patriot Day litter sweep on Sunday, September 11th, 2-4 pm. We will meet in the River Park for bags and team assignments, with a cookout to follow at Loggerhead's (thanks for the August membership drive!). All are welcome!

We’re really excited about this project and can’t wait to hear some wonderful remembrances and impressions of our beloved town. And don’t forget the Civic Club’s Halloween Carnival on Monday, October 31st. Volunteers needed! Regina Anderson (914) 400-6435 [email protected]

Please join us at our Sep 15th 7 pm dinner meeting. Our guest speaker is from HALOS DJ Rich (843) 475-9787 [email protected]

Home and Garden Club Folly's September Yard of the Month, 616 East Arctic, belongs to Jerry Poer and Albert Burt. Jerry came to Charleston as a young man in the service. Folly's bohemian attitude and live-and-let-live lifestyle led them to make this their permanent home after Hugo.

Senior Citizens We hope all have enjoyed their summer vacation and are ready for some good food and fellowship with our seniors. We will meet Thursday September 1st at 11 am in the Community Center. All 55 and older are invited.

Their stately white home, built in 1990, is encased by full, plush plants bordering thick green grass. Jerry's secret ingredient: lots of water. A pleasing central wood bench anchored on either side with topiary boxwoods in formal planters preceded by a rug of slate installed by Albert is the focal point.

Marie Lowther will provide fried chicken. Others are asked to bring their favorite dish. Our speaker will be Teresa Marshall from the Folly Beach Green Team. We are helping those in need by giving money to the Folly Beach Baptist Church Food Closet.

The design is symmetrical: humongous sago palms among Pittosporum and palmetto trees are in the front beds, and slender, statuesque palms follow with five foot ligustrum hedges offering privacy along each side.

Our sympathy is with Boots Anderson’s family with her death. Boots was a long time Folly Beach resident. She was very active in the Baptist Church and the Garden Club. We hope to see you September 1st!

Vivid pink, orange and red hibiscus flank the entrance. Fan palms with pink vincas growing from their trunks, hefty holly and lavender butterfly bushes enhance these beds. Camellias and red and orange calla lilies thrive with purple Mexican petunias, wandering Jew and hydrangeas are along the left bed. Pots replete with yellow daisies sit with others hosting red and purple petunias among white impatiens along the far right side. Preparing the flower pots is Albert's expertise.

Pauline Ray (843) 588-9580

Green Team We have several Community Garden plots available for interested gardeners. Contact Teresa Marshall at 828-5534670 or [email protected] for information. Green Team members are replenishing the mutt mitt containers as needed. If you see an empty one, please email us at [email protected].

The beauty and bounty of their garden is accented with their latest addition, star-like solar lighting. Witnessing the beauty and change has been Jerry's joy, while caring for their plants keeps him outside.

We meet the first Thursday of every month, 6 pm at the Community Center. Everyone is welcome. Penny Travis (843) 259-1143 [email protected]

Congrats to Jerry and Albert. The heartiness of their garden is witness to its constant care.

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From the Desk of the Mayor

your own family plan. As the recent disaster in Louisiana proves once again, help can be delayed and slow to reach victims in wide-scale natural disasters.

With the end of summer, we have already seen stirrings in the tropics: those nasty visitors from the African coast called tropical depressions, named tropical storms, all the way to Hurricanes. It’s time to make all your preparations just in case the worst happens. Remember, a lot of extra people have moved into the area and live between us and a “safe” location, so if you think you will need to evacuate, do it early. Don’t wait to the last possible minute, because you could get stuck in a quagmire of traffic.

If you have questions or need help, we are here for you. Andrew Gilreath 843-588-7003 [email protected]

….. from the City ….. The City won a $330,000 grant for milling, repaving, and restriping work on Center Street to create a single travel lane in each direction with a shared left turn lane in the middle. The project is also updating many curbs and creating pedestrian “bump outs” at the Indian and Erie crosswalks.

September also brings with it a storm of a different kind; Football Season! Whether it is the football teams of the youngest players on the playground, high school or college teams, here’s to a successful year for them all.

….. Over $20,000 has been raised for bricks on Center Street. Bricks have been installed in the median between Rita’s and the Sand Dollar. The fundraiser is ongoing: https://www.bricksrus.com/order/follybeachcenterstreet/

Speaking of success, on Thursday August 25th, Folly Beach experienced another Great Day in her history! It was the day of another wonderful, spectacular, I don’t have the words to adequately describe the day, successful Surfers Healing Camp! Our thanks go out to Izzy Paskowitz, and his band of professional surfers, Nancy Hussey, and her crew of hard working volunteers, families of the participants, and last, but not at all least, the hundreds of young participating surfers themselves! Although it is always good to see Izzy and his band of surfers, and it is miraculous how Nancy and her volunteers pull off these successful events. Nothing compares to the heartwarming, tear-jerking feeling you get as each young participant comes out of the water with a grin on their face that could melt a block of steel. If you have not experienced this at Folly, next year in August you will have another chance. Whether you enlist as a volunteer or just come to watch, I promise you will be infected. Coming back is the only cure!

….. Public Works has been working jointly with SCDOT and Chas County Public Worksi on drainage improvements, including vacuum-clearing the Center Street drainage system, and a new tidal check at the end of the system. ….. Private no parking signs in the public right-of-way are not allowed on Folly, but have been left temporarily while Council considers if some properties should be given an exception under certain circumstances to have a sign. ….. City Council passed first reading of an ordinance prohibiting businesses in Folly Beach (including Bert’s and Harris Teeter) from using or distributing plastic bags, or styrofoam coolers, cups and takeout containers. If it passes, businesses will have until January 2017 to switch. ….. The City is developing a Youth Services directory for our webpage. The goal is to create a portal that links youthoriented activities, job training opportunities, and sports. If you know something in the Greater Charleston area that should be featured, email [email protected] with YOUTH SERVICES in the subject line.

As always, you know where to find me: (843) 792-0298 or [email protected]. Mayor Tim

The Chief’s Corner

Letter to the Editor

August was another busy month with just shy of 1,500 calls for service, 162 citations issued, 44 arrests, and 745 parking tickets issued. Officer Cavallaro graduated from the Police Academy and joins a growing list of officers who are completely dual-certified between police and fire.

There are still issues with Folly Road traffic backing up in the left lane just before the first bridge. Regulars stay in the left lane to cross the bridge with its single lane. The right lane is empty. If a stray car dares to drive in the right lane up to the merging area, drivers in the left lane inch closer to keep the driver from merging.

September doesn’t slow down very much, starting off with a literal bang. Labor Day weekend will be fireworks on the 4th at approximately 9 pm. September will see an increase in training as the calls for service begin to slow. That being said, we are right in the middle of Hurricane season so your men and women of Public Safety have been working hard to ensure that we are as prepared as possible for any scenario. This year’s season is predicted to be busy, and early months have proven that accurate. Please look at the city website and all of its resources in order to make

We need a sign just past Sol Legare that reads, “KEEP MOVING - CHANGE LANES LATER,” like the sign at the Cosgrove exit from I-26. We should use both lanes, drive all the way to the merging area, be courteous to each other, and merge alternately, one car at a time. That would remove the dangerous backup of cars in the left lane all the way to Fort Johnson Road and beyond.

Andie Weathers 843-729-9196 3

Folly Fun Stuff! The Folly Association of Business is sponsoring fireworks at 9 pm Sunday, September 4th at West 3rd St. and the beach. July 4th fireworks had to be cancelled because of King tides, leaving too little beach to set them off safely. ☼ ☼ ☼ Patriot Day, a National Day of Service and Remembrance, is Sunday, September 11th. The Folly Association of Business and the Exchange Club will honor that day with a litter sweep of the island from 2-4 pm. Meet in the Folly River Park for bags and team assignments, then sweep designated areas. Afterwards, participants are invited to Loggerhead's for a cookout and football. The Exchange Club will collect discarded flags for proper disposal by the American Legion. ☼ ☼ ☼ The United Methodist Church plans a service at 10 am Sunday, September 11th to commemorate the 9/11 attacks. Folly First Responders will be honored at the service. All are welcome. ☼ ☼ ☼ The United Methodist Church’s second "Shag and Snack" event is Wednesday, September 21st at 6:30 pm. All are welcome for fun, fellowship, and lessons on our state dance, the shag! Sandwiches and snacks will be served. ☼ ☼ ☼ Billy Noel will sign copies of his latest book in the Folly Beach mystery series, Silent Night, on Thursday, September 29th at the Lost Dog Cafe, 7:30 am–1 pm, and at the Grill and Island Bar, 6–9 pm. ☼ ☼ ☼ The 28th annual Beach Sweep/River Sweep event will occur Saturday, September 17th from 9 am-noon. This is the largest one-day volunteer clean-up event in the state. To sign up yourself and/or a group, email [email protected]. “Headquarters” is underneath the Folly Beach Pier to check in, pick up supplies, and be assigned a sections of beach.

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Save the Light is hosting a ceremony at the beach overlooking the Morris Island lighthouse on Saturday October 1st at 7 pm, the 140th anniversary of the first lighting October 1, 1876. Thanks to generous SCE&G engineers, lighthouse windows and the lantern room will be lit by remote control at 7:30 pm for four hours. The gates will be closed, but there may be a golf cart shuttle. Plan to end your day at the East end at sunset to see our lighthouse sending light into the night sky like she did between 1876 and 1962. See www.savethelight.org for more information on the lighting, and on efforts to save the lighthouse.

FOLLY BEACH LIBRARY We have Story time and a craft on Mondays at 10:30 am except for Monday, September 5th (closed for Labor Day). On Wednesdays at 6 pm, we have Knitting on the Edge. We will be open Saturday, September 10th from 10 am–2 pm; at 11 am we will show The Lego Movie and make a fun craft. The Book Club will meet Wednesday, September 14th at 2:30 pm to discuss Lawrence in Arabia by Scott Anderson. For more information, give us a call or like us on Facebook. Mary Bushkar 843-588-2001 4

Publisher: Folly Beach Civic Club PO BOX 884 – FOLLY BEACH, SC 29439 www.facebook.com/Folly Beach Civic Club

Printer: Print Shop of West Ashley City web page: www.cityoffollybeach.com City Radio Station: 1610 AM

LIBRARY HOURS OF OPERATION MONDAY 10-6 WEDNESDAY 12-8 FRIDAY 10-6 2nd SATURDAY 10-2 CLOSED MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 5th

CALENDAR FOR SEPTEMBER Council Chambers 12th Planning Commission 13th Council meeting 19th Design Review Board

7pm 7pm 6pm

Clubs, Organizations & Committees 1st 1st 1st 7th 8th 8th 15th 20th

Senior Citizens Exchange Club Board Green Team Save the Light Surfrider Foundation Folly Association of Business Exchange Club Civic Club

11am 7pm 6pm 7pm 6:30pm 6pm 7pm 7pm

Library Closed Monday, September 5th for Labor Day. 12th, 19th, 26th Story Time, craft 10:30am 7th, 14th, 21st, 28th Knitting on the Edge 6pm 14th Book Club, Lawrence in Arabia 2:30pm 10th Open Saturday 10am-2pm The Lego Movie, craft 11am

Recycling Mondays EVERY Monday on Folly Island during summer (ends 9/12; next pick-up is 9/26) Off Folly Island: 12th and 26th

Volunteer Fire Fighters 1st, 8th, 15st, 22nd,29th

6pm

County Parks on Folly 1st, 6th, 8th, 13th, 15th, 20th, 22nd, 27th, 29th: HIIT the Beach, Park 5:45-6:45pm 7th, 14th, 19th, 21st, 26th, 28th Yoga 5:45-6:45 7th SUP the Surf Zone, Park 8am-noon 9th Lighthouse Bird Walk 8:30-10:30am 10th Cast Off Fishing Tourn., Pier 7am-3pm 19th Moonlight Mixer, Fishing Pier 7-11pm

Special Events 4th 5th 11th 19th

Fireworks, 3rd block West 9pm Labor Day Patriot Day (Litter Sweep 2pm) Moonlight Mixer, Fishing Pier 7-11pm

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