October Rethink Folly Road Steering Committee Meeting

The Rethink Folly Road Steering Committee met on Thursday, October 26.    At the last meeting, the Committee had requested that Charleston County have their consultants prepare a proposal appropriate for an application for grant funding from the Berkeley-Charleston-Dorchester Council of Governments (BCD COG.) 

The Reveer Group developed a conceptual plan and cost estimate for a 12 foot multi-use path on the west side of Folly Road from the Ellis Creek Bridge to Sol Legare Road.   The estimated cost is $15.9 million.   They made a presentation to the Steering Committee.

They identified $9.3 million in possible funding.   Charleston County Transportation estimates that there will be approximately $2 million from 1/2 cent sales tax that can be used for this project.   The Town has committed $400,000 from our hospitality tax revenue.   At the meeting, Charleston City Councilwoman (and Steering Committee Vice Chair) Kathleen Wilson said that she believed that the City of Charleston could at least match the contribution of the Town of James Island.   The largest source of potential funding is $6.9 million of Federal complete street funding that might be obtained from BCD COG.   Adding funding from the City of Charleston, that sums to $9.7 million.     That is $6.2 million short.

The Reveer group also looked at ways to reduce the expense and phase in the project.   One possibility is to put a 5 foot sidewalk in areas where there is an existing bike path on Folly Road.  The cost of that approach is $10.3 million.     (The extra $5 million is largely the cost of moving the curb to the edge of the existing bike lane and then putting in an asphalt multi-use path.) 

They also broke the project down into segments based upon existing conditions.   The first segment is from Ellis Creek to Prescott St.  (Prescott is across from Nativity Church.)    It is mostly in the Town and is in what the Folly Road Overlay initially identified as James Island's  "Commercial Core."  That description was also adopted in the Rethink Folly Road Plan.   There is a bike path everywhere on this stretch (or will be when the Folly-Camp project is completed in the Spring.)    Charleston County Transportation told the consultants to assume that there would be no change to the Folly Camp improvement project, so this cost estimate is based upon that stretch continuing to have sidewalks and a bike path.    The existing sidewalks are very patchy--more like nonexistent.   Completing the sidewalks in this area would cost $2.3 million.   Replacing the bike lane and limited sidewalks with a muli-use path everywhere other than in the area of the Folly-Camp project would be $5.3 million.

The second segment is between Prescott Street and George Griffith Blvd. (Walmart.)   This is in what is identified as the "South Village."   There is a bike path here and an area of sidewalk, though it is only four feet wide, which is substandard.   Completing a 5 foot sidewalk in this area would cost $1.6 million.   Replacing the existing bike path and limited sidewalk with a multi-use path would be $2.2 million. 

The third segment is from George Griffith Blvd. to Grimball/Fort Johnson.  It is also in the "South Village."  There is no bike path there, though there is an existing sidewalk.   The cost of putting in a multi-use path is $1.6 million.

The fourth segment is from Grimball/Fort Johnson to Rafeal Lane. (This is past Signal Point Road.  There is a self storage near this point.)    It is in the "South Village." There is currently no sidewalk or bike lane in this area.   The cost of a multi-use path would be $2.5 million.

The fifth segment is from Rafeal Lane to Sol Legare.   It is in what both the Folly Road Overlay and the Rethink Folly Road Plan describe as "Neighborhood Preservation."    There is an existing bike path but no sidewalks.  The cost of adding sidewalks is $2.3 million and a multi-use path is $4.3 million.

Based upon the decision of the Steering Committee at its September meeting, the County is going forward with an application to BCD COG for the $15.9 million project.   Depending on how much funding is obtained, the Steering Committee will be making future recommendations about ways to reduce cost and phase in the project.

Councilwoman Wilson spoke in favor of building multi-use paths, explaining that if we accept the sidewalk/existing bike path option now, it will be many years, and maybe never, that we will get multi-use paths.   Many members of the Steering Committee shared the view that multi-use paths are better than bike paths on Folly Road.   The consensus is that few people want to ride a bike right next to the fast moving traffic on Folly Road.  That was the conclusion of the Rethink Folly Road plan too.

Also, in the area south of Grimball/Fort Johnson, the proposal is to pipe the existing open ditch and put the multi-use path on top   This saves on the cost of obtaining additional land, which is expensive and also obtaining right of way is very time consuming.     Some members of the steering committee pointed out that the Rethink Folly Road plan proposed "green" infrastructure, such as bio- swales. 

There was also discussion of the Rethink Folly Road Plan's suggestion that we use pervious pavement.   This pavement allows water to soak through rather than run off.    The Town used such pavement on Ben Road and Jeffrey and Lemontree and is planning to use it for sidewalks on Seaside Lane.  It is substantially more expensive than regular pavement, but avoids the need to put in drainage ditches or pipes.  The current cost estimates is for using concrete for sidewalks and asphalt for the multi-use path. 

I shared my view that the Rethink Folly Road Plan has always been about good, better and best.   I emphasized that I believe that getting sidewalks in the commercial core is important.   I think current conditions are a travesty.

I explained that the County needs to put forward the application as soon as possible, and that revising it would result in a long delay.   A member of the committee asked whether we would be limited to the exact plan described in the application.   The consultant said that no, as long as the money was used for bike and pedestrian improvements in the proposed area of Folly Road, things like piping ditches or pervious pavement could be adjusted.   No one voiced dissent regarding going forward with the application as soon as possible.

As we have more information about how much funding we will have, the Steering Committee will be making further recommendations.

The Steering Committee will meet on the fourth Wednesday of each month at 2 PM.   However, our next meeting will be Wednesday, November 29 (rather than the day before Thanksgiving.)

Flood Insurance

    I received a letter from FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) with copies of the proposed new flood maps for James Island.   In the letter, they said that the Town does not participate in the NFIP (National Flood Insurance Program.)   They encouraged us to join so our residents could benefit from low cost federal flood insurance.
 
     Of course, many in the Town, including me, have flood insurance with NFIP.   The Town was accepted in 2008.   At that time, the Town adopted Charleston County's flood management ordinance and did so again in 2012.   There has been no lapse in the regulation since 2008.  Further, through our intergovernmental agreement, those regulations have been continuously enforced by Charleston County Building Services.   Still further, the Town participates in the various educational programs on flood prevention managed by Charleston County.

      I explained the situation to FEMA, but their position was that when the Town was closed down in 2011, the Town's participation lapsed.  In order to make sure that Town residents could continue to renew their flood insurance policies, we applied again for membership last December.

     The Town was reinstated into NFIP this July.   The good news is that residents of the Town can continue to renew their policies.   Those without flood insurance are eligible to obtain policies.

      Unfortunately, FEMA is treating the Town as a new member of NFIP.   This is a problem because a new member must wait one year before applying for a CRS (Community Rating System) discount.  After we apply, it will be some time before our application is reviewed and we can receive a discount.   That means that for the time being, as flood insurance policies are renewed, the previous 30% discount will be removed.

      I have contacted Representative Sanford, Senator Graham and Senator Scott asking for their help.   In my view, it is very unfair for our residents to treat the Town as a new member.

       Since it is impossible to obtain Federal Flood Insurance if your community does not participate in NFIP, when a community first joins, the rates start off high.   As a community begins to implement various regulations and educational programs, its residents get a reduction in rates.

       The Town is not in that situation.  Many of us have had flood insurance policies for years.  It is unfair to remove the discounts when all of the flood control regulations and programs remain unchanged.

        Senator Graham's staff discussed the issue with FEMA.   The FEMA staff agreed that the Town's situation was unique, but they said that existing legislation leaves their hands tied.   There is no provision for any waiver.

       Senator Scott has been working on the reauthorizing bill for NFIP.   I met with members of his staff and they are looking for a legislative fix to help the residents of the Town.

       I have also spoken with Congressman Sanford and he has agreed to help us in the House.  

       I think it will be helpful for residents of the Town to thank Senator Scott, Senator Graham and Representative Sanford for their help and to share with them the importance of fairly priced flood insurance.
   

Harborview Road and North Shore

   Many residents have complained that drivers continue to turn left coming out of North Shore onto Harbor View Road.   I have seen it as well.   A few have even seen cars go into the dedicated right turn lane for going onto the North Shore, going the wrong way!

    I instructed the Island Sheriff's Patrol to work on it and also asked City Councilwoman Kathleen Wilson if the City Police could help.    She did ask, but the City Police say they cannot.   While the intersection is in the City, just to the south, where the cars are turning, is in the Town. 

    The Island Sheriff's Patrol has stopped 39 cars in the last month at this intersection for illegal turns.   Almost 90 percent are not from James Island.   The number one excuse is that their GPS tells them to go to the intersection and turn left.   (Google maps does not show this, but it is "online."  Many GPS systems require updates, which many drivers fail to do.)

    We are working with Charleston County to have better signage on North Shore to better direct them to Harborview Road.