MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (WCIV) — Mount Pleasant is holding informative meetings for the public to learn about a new voluntary residential environment program.

The overall goal is to encourage residents to become more environmentally friendly, matching a similar program the town offers for commercial development.

“We hope that this program would be just a very fun and interactive way for people in the community to participate and improve their yards and homes to benefit the ecosystem of Mount Pleasant,” said John Farrell, the town’s Environmental TMDL Manager. “[It would] hopefully create a ripple effect that improves the environment and gives us more resiliency throughout the town to help mitigate any issues in the future.”

The program, put together by the town’s Green Commission, is still in development. Farrell says work started on the initiative in December 2023 and is inspired by a wide variety of other programs across the Southeast.

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The commission is currently looking for residents’ thoughts and feedback about the first draft of the program.

Environmental initiatives are sorted into different point-based categories, ranging from 10 to 50 points.

Examples of 10-point projects are composting, creating animal nesting boxes, or using irrigation timers.

To earn the points, the program is looking to set up a website where residents can choose to register and submit project information.

“A webpage that can easily track them, that way it’ll easily tell us how many points somebody has, where people can upload pictures and descriptions of whatever their project was,” said Farrell.

Point submissions will be reviewed by town staff.

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If a resident has an existing feature or project listed in one of the five categories, the project would be eligible to receive points.

Residents could then redeem 10 points to receive a token, which would translate to a $10 discount at a local business. Those who choose to participate would only be able to redeem 100 points per fiscal year.

Farrell says businesses have not yet been contacted about the project, but says the commission would like to prioritize local or small businesses, or businesses that are considered environmentally friendly.

Businesses would be asked to hold a 50% stake, where for every $10 gift card, the town and business would each pay half.

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Farrell says educational resources and more information about how people can become more environmentally conscious will be available on the website.

The program is also looking to allow Homeowners Associations to get involved, competing with other HOAs, where the winner would receive an award and special recognition.

At Tuesday’s inaugural meeting, people shared feedback and suggestions about the project.

“I’m really excited that as a town we’re coming together to educate and give some resources to everybody to become more environmentally friendly, to protect our resources for our children and the future,” said Mount Pleasant resident Allison Williams.

Residents voiced interests in seeing more incentives for HOAs, and how the associations can often inhibit what homeowners can do.

“I think one of the challenges may be the over 330 HOAs in Mount Pleasant, [they] may stand in the way of some of this because they have very specific covenants that would limit some of the activities that are being suggested,” said Mount Pleasant resident Ellen Moore.

Throughout the meeting, Farrell and others involved with the project emphasized that the program was voluntary.

The program is currently looking to operate for a single fiscal year. The commission currently recommends a budget of $25,000 from the town’s general fund.

The town’s current budget proposal for the 2026 fiscal year says the general fund is over $121.60 million.

Some in attendance voiced concern about the price tag, including town councilman John Iacofano.

“I think is a great idea to have our staff be out there in the community telling, giving opportunities and letting people know what is great for the environment and how we can have a better impact,” said Iacofano. “We don’t need to be using tax dollars to do so.”

The commission will consider the public’s feedback and potential edits to the program, and there is no set timeline for implementation.

The program and its funding will ultimately require approval from the town council.

Two other public meetings are currently scheduled to be held:

• Thursday, June 26, 5-7 p.m., Mount Pleasant Town Hall, 100 Ann Edwards Lane.
• Thursday, July 10, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Mount Pleasant Waterworks, 1619 Rifle Range Rd.