Actions taken by Loris City Council on Monday

By Kaye Collins

The Loris City Council met on Monday, August 4, at 6 p.m. in council chambers. The agenda was emailed on Friday, Aug. 1, and posted at the council chambers for the public to view. The city also posted the agenda to their Facebook page and the city website (https://cityoflorissc.com/).

Present at the meeting were councilmembers Joan Gause, Lewis Hardee, Andrea Coleman, Kelli Gerald, Carroll D. Padgett and Tonya Sykes. Mayor Mike Suggs, Treasurer and Interim Administrator Angel Neighbours, City Attorney John C. Zilinsky and Planning & Zoning Director and Code Enforcement Division Meredith Holmes.

Mayor Suggs asked council to approve the minutes from the Public Hearing held on Thursday, May 29, the regular council meeting held on Monday, June 2, Special Council Meeting on Monday, June 16, and the regular council meeting held on Monday, July 7. All minutes were unanimously approved.

The Mayor’s Report included information on the Highway 701 North construction project. He said, “It is substantially complete, SCDOT should be putting the finishing touches on that over the couple of weeks.” He stated the project on SC Highway East 9 Business is progressing, traffic pattern changes beginning at the Presbyterian Church in the coming days, there will be a lighted sign to advise the lane changes. Clean up of the old Loris High School site is practically finished. There is still mowing and other minor clean up issues to be addressed.

The city’s offer for the refurbished aerial platform truck (ladder truck) was accepted by the Upper Mani Fire District in Pennsylvania. The truck passed inspection and has been certified. The purchase was completed in the amount of $33,000, which is $2,000 less than originally quoted. Loris Fire Department Chief Jerry Hardee picked up the fire apparatus

The mayor stated written reports for the committee meetings from May have been provided to the council.  Upcoming Committee Meetings will be announced on the city’s website and Facebook page.

The city lacks a gun ordinance to prevent reckless discharge of firearms in the city limits. Kimberly Rudelitch addressed the council stating she has a neighbor that fired a handgun in his own yard. It was reported that he was running back and forth and shooting at trees. She feared for the safety of her child and her pet, if a bullet had ricocheted what could have happened. “It was like he was playing a video game,” exclaimed Rudelitch, “running from the front to the middle to the back of his yard, just target practicing very carelessly.” She stated she believes in the right to bear arms, however, what she witnessed was not safe gun usage.

Upon contacting the police, she expressed her “dismay” upon discovering that the city lacks an ordinance to prohibit individuals from recklessly discharging firearms, thereby jeopardizing the safety of others. Police Chief Gary Buley confirmed that the city has no such ordinance, and presented a sample ordinance drawing from ordinances in other towns for council to consider adopting. If sanctioned, it would ban the discharge of a firearm “in a way that demonstrates a reckless, willful, or wanton disregard for the safety of individuals, property, or domesticated animals.” Offenders would incur a penalty of as much as $500, along with a potential jail term of up to 30 days for a first violation. The ordinance would also prohibit firing a gun between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., and firing a gun on city-owned property.

Marc Wood, CPA for Sheheen, Hancock & Godwin, LLP, Certified Public Accountants, located in Camden, South Carolina, addressed council with a preliminary report of the audit requested and unanimously approved by council in September 2023, sharing some of their findings.

The ongoing audit is being broadened to encompass hospitality fund transactions from 2024 and 2025 due to the recent findings.

Wood said the 90 purchases that don’t comply with the law total nearly $119,000.

Wood stated that the audit, which the council approved in September 2023, is expected to be completed soon, with a final report to be released in a few months.

A preliminary audit report indicates that at least 90 purchases funded by the city of Loris’ hospitality tax fund from 2017 to 2023 did not comply with South Carolina regulations, which stipulate that tax receipts must be used solely for tourism-related expenditures.

He categorized an additional 292 transactions, amounting to almost $1.2 million, as “questionable in terms of compliance with the state of South Carolina guidelines.” Out of the 495 transactions reviewed, only 113 were definitively permissible.

Wood told the council that several problem areas stemmed from spending on recreational facilities and concessions where it was unclear if the purchases benefit visitors, or just city residents.

He said some of the “questionable” transactions were questionable “due to not having an invoice or approval from city council.”

Wood said the audit, which council authorized in September of 2023, should be finished and a final report issued in several months.

Once the audit is completed items can be corrected, and get new procedures and policies implemented, staving off further problems going forward.

“As soon as I have everything done I will be giving council a final report and I’ll be happy to come back and share all of those findings,” said Wood, “and we can go into detail about why some transactions didn’t meet guidelines.”

The state treasurer’s office determines if the city will be penalized for the errors or if the city will have to reimburse the hospitality fund for purchases deemed ineligible.

“I think the preliminary findings are incorrect.” explained Todd Harrelson, “I think they ‘insinuate’ a lot.” He stated that ‘they’ put things out there right before election times.

Several expenditures from the hospitality fund reviewed shows that $20,000 to pay performers at Loris Bog-Off festivals and $14,000 to an artist to paint a mural on a downtown building which neither had been authorized by the city council as required under South Carolina code and the city’s procurement policy.

Wood said the state code requires that the hospitality funds must be spent on tourism-related buildings, facilities and services, and for advertisements and promotions for tourism development. The hospitality fund consists of money derived from taxes on restaurant checks and lodging tabs in the city.

The full audit is expected to be presented to the council in a few months.