Full meeting transcript - October 11, 2022

» - Bring the microphones up, there you go. That's very good, it's a great day in Kershaw County, Oral American County. Great of y'all to be here when you could be outside in that beautiful fall weather. Football, volleyball, tennis, golf, cross country, you name it, and swim team, just went to the state championships, too. The theme starts out today, just to give you a fair warning on the agenda. We're gonna start out with Duke here to talk about the wonderful work they're doing to improve the lake, and its safety, and its insurance value, and the flood control, and all the things that are associated there.

» But also, I just wanted to mention at the start, and I'll mention at the end, that this weekend we got two very dedicated young men, Mason Wolfe and Carson Morgan, who are gonna get a whole bunch of volunteers below the dam, and clean up the river along below the dam, and also they're gonna try to do the put in point right above the dam, Buck Hill. And then the following weekend on the 22nd, the Lake Watery Homeowners Association is gonna do a clean up, a river, a lake sweep, on the 22nd, so don't get the two confused.

» Below the dam this weekend, mostly in Buck Hill, and then the Watery Lake itself, the 22nd, and then Wanda Swan, our wonderful chairwoman of the Clean Community Council, I think we have Tom here, Tom Webb is here, and other members here that are gonna do a county-wide clean up of the rest of the county on the 5th. So with that, I want to move to a moment of silence. We've had a number of losses. I'll highlight three. Mr. Ron Prestige's dad died, who is a founder of Prestige Farms, that's brought so many jobs to the county. Mr. Paul Townes, those of you that live out in Elgin, during Christmas, no, that fine fella, put up Christmas lights that are just something to see. And this year, he was unable to do it, and finally passed this past month.

» And then we lost Bishop Bell as well, a great leader of the church, a strong Christian soldier. And we just lost him, too. So with that, join me in a moment of silence, please. Amen. Thank you, everybody. And with that, stand and join me in the invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance. I'll lead it today. And let's remember the words of the Bible, where it says in the Psalms, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord." And with that, I pray that all of us this day will remember those three wonderful men and all those others in distress and need, in particular in approaching surgery and things of that nature. And we ask your governing hand on them and on us so that we may behave ourselves and perform such deeds as it will bring honor and glory to your holy name.

» All this we ask in the name of our Savior, Jesus. Amen. Join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance. As promised, we have a briefing that I would like you all to pay attention to, presented by Duke Energy in Watery Dam, Miss Tammy Steyer. Would you come on up, please, Tammy? And we have some slides that could be loaded for that purpose. They're up, Tammy. And over to you. And thank you for coming. I think all of you will profit by this briefing. It's been in the papers, but I wanted to make sure it had visibility in this body. Please, ma'am? No. No. Uh-oh. Test. Test. Well, thank you for having me. I appreciate it. I'm glad to be here. I'm here to talk to you about the enhancements that we're making at the Watery Hydro Station, specifically the spillway at the Watery Station.

» The picture you see there is an aerial photograph from 1951. I like that picture. It's kind of nostalgic. But it looks a little different now, but still basically the same. And I am the licensing project manager for the Catawba Watery Hydro Project, and that is Duke Energy's chain of lakes that start up at Lake James in Marion, North Carolina. 220 river miles all the way down to Lake Watery is the last lake in the chain. And we manage that project as one project. It's optimized for the whole system, not just for one specific lake. But Watery being at the very bottom of the chain, you get a lot of water. So during the relicensing, we negotiated with stakeholders to install an inflatable gate.

» So that's what I'm going to talk to you about today, and that's going to help us with flood releases or high inflows and releases when we have floods. So next slide, please. And in that, I'll give you a couple snapshots of the Watery Dam. I'm going to talk about public access on the lake that will be available during the drawdown because we have to pull the lake down in order to do this construction. Lake use permitting, lake level information, and I'll take any questions that you guys have. The picture you see in there, that is actually the spillway on the right-hand side, and that's called an overflow spillway. Some spillways are made up of gates, and you can open the gate and release water.

» But this is called an overflow spillway, and no water goes over that spillway until it reaches the full pond elevation. So that's how about, I think half of our lakes are like that. Half of our hydro stations have the overflow spillways, and some of them, the other half, have the gates. So this is the inflatable gate that we're putting on as kind of a compromise between a gate and an overflow spillway. So I'll show you some pictures of that. Next slide, please. Okay, so why are we doing this? As I mentioned, when we started the relicensing of this project back in 2003, the original license for the Catawba Watery Project was issued in 1958, and that expired in 2008.

» So in 2003, we started the relicensing process that required us to develop an application and submit that to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which is the governing agency for the hydro stations. And during that negotiation process for the relicensing, the Lake Watery Homeowners Association, Lake Watery Association, were very intent on negotiating that there be some kind of modification done to the dam that would allow us to release more water. And because right now, you have to wait until the lake fills up, and then it flows over the spillway.

» So they wanted some other way to release water that would help reduce the magnitude of the floods that that lake experiences being at the very end of the chain, right? So we agreed to install a 10,000 cubic feet per second release capacity. So we're installing three Obermeyer gates. And what you're looking at in the picture, you see a steel plate with an inflatable bladder behind it. That's called an Obermeyer gate, okay? Obermeyer is the one that patented this technology. So it's a gate that when the steel, when the bladder is inflated, the steel plate is up, and it holds the water back, right? So when you want to release water, you deflate the bladder, the plate falls, and you can release more water. So that's what you're seeing in the upper part of that picture.

» The gate is actually down. So that's what we're installing. It's called an Obermeyer gate. And the design of the gate system is complete. We've awarded the contract to Brassfield and Gorey. They're a big construction firm that does a lot of large construction projects on dams and hydro projects. And we'll be installing 450 feet of four-and-a-half-foot tall gates. So I'll show you a picture of that in just a second. And we have to get approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission dam safety people as well as a non-capacity license amendment from the licensing side of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. So both sides of that regulatory body have to approve before we can start this construction project. So we have received the approval from the licensing piece.

» The dam safety people are still reviewing, but we're back and forth and getting real close to getting the approval from them as well. Next slide, please. Okay, so we're expecting this construction project to take about 14 to 16 months. And it's going to require us to draw the lake down six to seven feet below full pond. And what Duke Energy does, instead of trying to remember the elevation, the top of all of these floodgates that we have, we just make the top full pond elevation equal to 100 feet. So the top of this elevation is 100 feet. So it's actually 225 feet, but we make everything 100 feet. So when you draw it down six to seven feet, you're going to be at 93 or 94. Okay, does that make sense? Y'all look a little confused. I think I'm confusing you.

» So what we're going to do, the lake's going to have to be down about six to seven feet from the full pond elevation, not from the target, but from the full pond elevation. So the Lugoff Elgin water intake is right next to the dam. They have a withdrawal limitation at 92.5. So we're not going to uncover that intake is the reason we're not going any lower than 93. So we expect to begin the drawdown October 15th. Now what you all may have seen recently is that the lake was down in anticipation of Ian, Hurricane Ian. That was originally forecasted to receive four to six inches in the basin, and then as much as eight inches up in Lake James. So we generated a lot, moved some water, created a hole so that we'd have a place to store all this water that came in. Well, it didn't come in.

» It kind of went east of us, and we only got about two inches. So we're having trouble pulling it back up, but it's almost back up to the target, which is 97, three feet below full pond. But on October the 15th, we're going to start a very gradual, slow decline of the lake with a goal of having it at 93.5 on November 15th. So it's going to take us a whole month to pull it down because we're going to do it real slow. It gives people time to get their boats out of the water. It gives people time to unhinge their hinged docks or secure them some other way. We don't want you to, you know, break your dock or have a problem with any of that. So it gives you time to get your boat up on the lift, get it out of the water, however you want to store it.

» We're starting, like, we will mobilize, the construction company will mobilize November 1st, and we'll start the drawdown, as I mentioned. October 15th, on November 15th, we plan to start putting barges in the water. As I mentioned, the max drawdown between six and seven feet below full pond. What's going to happen when we have high inflow events is the lake level is going to rise because all that water is going to roll downhill, right? That's just what it does. So when the water rises, all the construction equipment that's sitting on the spillway there is going to have to move off and put it into, like, a safe harbor place, let all the water go through, and then we'll pull the lake back down, and then they can get back out and start construction, resume construction again.

» So the more high inflow events we have, the longer this construction is going to take. Hopefully we won't have a drought, but we don't want to have a really heavy rain season either. So we're expecting it to take between 14 and 16 months with a target to complete the construction by the first quarter of 24. So we're only going to impact one summer season if the inflows cooperate. Next slide, please. This is a view. Can you go back? Just one second. That's a view. What you're looking at in that picture is an artist's rendering of what the gates are going to look like. So we're going to go in and cut off four and a half feet of the concrete off the top of the dam and install those gates in its place.

» And then we will want to make more releases, we'll drop the gates, and it can release as much as 10,000 additional cubic feet per second, as opposed to what just goes through the powerhouse, which is about 15,000 CFS. Next slide, please. That's a lakeside view of what you're going to see. It's going to be the three sections are going to be right next to the powerhouse. They're each 150 feet long. So there's a total of 450 feet of gate in three different sections there across the spillway. Next slide, please. We're also partnering with the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources to create artificial reef, create artificial fish attractors. It's like an artificial reef.

» So we're going to use the concrete that we take off of the spillway, make it in usable size chunks, put it on a barge, and take it to these locations in the lake. They'll be about 30 feet deep, and they'll be marked with those buoys there, so you'll know where they are. You're not going to have to worry about hitting it with a prop because it'll be about 30 feet deep. That's the most shallow it will be. So that's actually DNR came to us and suggested that we try to work this out so we've got all the right permitting and everything. So this is a win-win for the fish, Duke Energy, and DNR. So next slide, please. Public access during the construction, because we're going to have the lake down, it's going to impact some of the ramps, the access areas. Mollie Creek is a new access area.

» You guys, I hope you've seen it. It's a really nice access area. The ramps at that location are usable as well as White Oak on the other side of the lake. Both of those, we have access on both sides with the ramps. There are some, though, listed there that I'll just let you read, but some of them will be impacted by the low lake levels. Others will not. Be sure you check the website before you go if you go in fishing. Next slide, please. We're also asking residents that live on the lake, if you want to work on your docks or if you want to work on your shoreline or if you want to do any dredging, you need to have a permit from Duke Energy's Lake Services before you do something like that. So just make sure you contact Lake Services. I'm not going to go into the details here.

» But if you want to work on your dock or your shoreline or do any dredging, just make sure you contact Duke Energy and get the appropriate permits before you do anything. Next slide, please. And how do you get information about all this? The best way to get information about this is with our website. We have a, at dukenergy.com slash lakes, we have a website that gives recreation information, but it also gives flow release information. It provides special messages, lake levels, lake use permitting information. There's a lot of information on our website. The quickest, easiest way to get the information is with our free Lakeview mobile app that has lake level information, flow release information, and special messages.

» And you can download it for free, and you can customize it to get information just about the lake that you want. So when we post a message about what's happening to the lake levels on Lake Watery, if you've got, if you've registered to get text messages, then we'll post a special message. It'll send you a text message saying, you need to look at your mobile app because we just posted a special message. So it's real-time information. It's the best way to get it. If you don't have that mobile app and you're interested in lake levels or flow releases, that's the best way to get it. And with that, I will take any questions. Thank you so very much. Questions, please. Mr. Chairman. Yeah, Ben. Thanks for coming tonight. I appreciate the presentation.

» A lot of folks are really interested because they won't be able to use the lake like they're used to for an extended period of time. One of the things I didn't see in your slides, but it's close enough to us to matter, is the Whitewater Rapids facility. I was just wondering when's that going to be online, and if you could tell us if it's Class 2 or Class 3 and what's involved with that. There's, that's at the Great Falls, Dearborn Development.

» And the long, there's a long bypass and a short bypass, okay? And we expect to have construction completed by the end of this year, but we'll start recreation releases in the March time frame next year, which is when the recreation season starts, okay? So we'll be doing some dry runs before that just to, you know, make sure everything's working like it's supposed to. But the long bypass is estimated to be Class 2 and 3 bypasses, and that's where we've put in the safe voter access. If you've gone across Highway 200, you've seen it on your right, or I guess it depends on which way you're going. But it's right downstream from Fishing Creek Hydro Station. That's called the long bypass. It has a safe voter access, which will be a gradual decline into the long bypass.

» That should be Class 2s and 3s. The short bypass is going to require that you put your canoe or portage, canoe or kayak in, you go across the lake to a portage trail. You have to take your boat and get back in, but you have to go around, I'm sorry, around the, the trail, you have to take a trail around the gate that we're releasing the water with and put in downstream of that. So that is going to be Class 3s and 4s. That's for your serious kayakers, that's not for your, you know, family that just decides they want to go kayaking for, you know, an afternoon. That's, that's more for the serious kayakers. Yeah, and that was all part of your FERC permit improvements as well? Yes. Thanks for that update. Other comments? Yes. Yeah, please, sir.

» So, um, District 1 encompasses the entire lake, and I represent District 1. I know that we'll probably get a lot of phone calls, um, is there a way that we could put together a packet, uh, to keep here for, for folks that are interested to know what they can and can't do, and who they should call if they want to do the dock improvements and that sort of thing? Um, we have a, a flyer, a one pager, and, um, it has all that information in it. I'd be happy to send that to you. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. And, uh, what's the best way? Send it to Mary? Yeah, send it to Mary. Everything goes to Mary. Okay. Yeah, I can do that.

» Other comments? Uh, last point on the, on the lake is myself and, uh, Russell and Ben went out in May, in March, and at the request that we made, we had DNR go out and do a shock survey of the, of the black bass, or we all know that as, uh, largemouth bass. And we're getting that result here this month, and we'll share that with people, the fishermen that say they have no success. And maybe these, uh, reefs out here will reduce the number of, uh, fish stories or increase them. We'll see how that goes. Thank you very much. I appreciate you coming. Let me give you something on the way out. Thank you, man. And let's, uh, progress to the next item on the agenda. Agenda is up. Uh, the next item is public comments. I turn to Mr. DuBose. Mr. Chairman, nine people signed up. All right.

» And the rules of public comment adopted by county council limits it to five minutes a person or 30 minutes total. So if you take 30 minutes total and divide by nine, it comes to three minutes and about 20 seconds. And I have, this has been placed in front of me. All right. Well, thank you. And it's a bell. And I've been, the administrator has said that I should ring the bell at three minutes and 20 seconds so people will know their time is up. Thank you very much. And I'll read the rules. Public comments is an opportunity for members of the public to share information with council. It is not a time for debate with or questions and answers from council. It is a time for council to receive input. It is not a time for council response.

» In short, during public comments, council will listen to public comments, but not comment on those comments. Offensive and inappropriate comments will not be tolerated. And comments should be limited to statements and rhetorical questions. If a group would like to speak to council, we would request that a spokesperson be selected and that this person indicate the group that he or she is representing on the sign-up sheet or perhaps when they come up and speak. Public comment is a time to discuss issues and not individuals. Other avenues exist for such comments. Public comment period, as Mr. DuBose said, is limited to 30 minutes. Mr. DuBose, would you start the time and also tell us who they... Mr. Chairman, if I may. Yeah.

» I would like to ask this county council, would they agree with your agreement as well to let everybody have their five minutes? I think that would require a vote and a change to the rules. And if that's a point of order, you're asking to make a ruling on that? No, I am asking in the form of a point of order. Forgive me. I should have said that. No, well, unfortunately, I've been asking for those sorts of items, but that is not what the rules say. And the collective body has approved this over and over again during my time as chairman. We'll go ahead and go with the time limits. Mr. DuBose, go ahead. If I could say one more thing. Yeah, please. What you just said, I want to clarify to state the facts.

» I'm the only one who has proposed changes in the public speaking, not you or any other member, I don't think, of the county council. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Jones. Mr. DuBose, time to start the time. Yes, and the first person to sign up is Dennis Outlaw. Mr. Outlaw. Good evening. Good evening. Ken, I think you've got a phone call out, so I'll take the bell with you. It's an honor to be here tonight. Ms. Wanda Swan generally would make this speech, but she's not here. But the first thing I'd like to open up by saying is I appreciate what you do. It's a calling. A lot of times people don't appreciate what you do, but we with the Clean Committee, we really do. And it's been a struggle.

» When I first moved to Kershaw County back in 1980, one of the main reasons my wife and I moved here was because the county was clean. And it was a mindset. And unfortunately, we've got a certain percentage of our individuals that do not appreciate that mindset, do not appreciate having a clean county. And that's going to put it mildly, but I do appreciate the efforts that this group has made to help us with this. And I'll make this brief. I'm just going to tell you now. We appreciate the litter officer that you have given us. It's something that we badly needed. And I think the individual that's there will do a good job. And we appreciate the sheriff's department and Lee, true to trust him with anything I got.

» And hopefully we can get the county back to where it was back in 1980 when we moved here because it was and still is a beautiful county. It is. We've been here 40 years. There's nowhere else on earth I think I would rather live. But I do appreciate your efforts and being on the council and everything you do. God bless. Thank you very much, Dennis. Mr. DeBose. The second person signed up is William Howland. Mr. Howland, yes, sir. Good evening. Last month, I addressed the county council about the final victory animal rescue, which moved from Columbia in Richland County to 31 Kirkover Lane here in Kershaw County. And recently, the neighborhood received a note from the final victory animal rescue. It's dated September 30th of this year.

» And it says, Dear neighbor, this note is to reach out and let you know that the dog rescue located on Kirkover Lane will be relocating in the coming months. Keep that in mind in the coming months due to zoning issues. I wanted you to be aware that due to this unexpected move, we had to halt plans for the sound barrier fence and indoor kennels that were currently supposed to be under construction. That means that, unfortunately, the barking at times might be bothersome, bothersome. We sincerely apologize in advance and we'll do our best to keep at reasonable times and as brief as possible. Thank you. And that's verbatim. Final victory animal rescue. So it appears that the zoning issue is settled, although I'm sure it needs to play out legally.

» But, well, not but, but I want to say thank you to, forgive me pronunciation-wise, it's Mr. Raskowski and his team in planning and zoning. Thanks to the county attorney, Mr. DuBose, who was involved, I'm sure, in putting together the notice of violation. And there were some folks in code enforcement. Thank you to all those people. They were efficient, timely in their work, and they worked closely with my neighbor, Gina McLean, who initiated the whole process. So thank you. So what's left? I guess we just sit around and wait, right? No. There are still two areas of concern here. The first concern is where animal rescue says the barking may be bothersome at times. I had hoped to play a video, and I can't. I had hoped to play audio, and I can't.

» And I'm not going to stand here and make a fool of myself barking for 60 seconds. But the barking is truly a concern. It's a nuisance under the Kershaw County Excessive Noise Limitation Ordinance. And the ordinance says, any noise of such character, intensity, and continued duration which substantially interferes with the comfortable enjoyment of private dwellings by persons of ordinary sensibilities is hereby declared to be a nuisance. And there's an enumeration of prohibited acts. It shall be unlawful for any person to willfully make, continue, or cause to be made, or continued, any loud, unnecessary, and unusual noise which disturbs the peace and quiet.

» In determining whether an occurrence constitutes a violation under this section, a court or other authorities should consider an addition to all other logically relevant factors, one of the following. They list six, but here are three. The general characteristics of the area where the noise is coming, the time of day or night that the noise is occurring, and the reasonable expectation of quiet that should be expected by individuals on public or private property surrounding the area where the noise is occurring. There are approximately 20, and there are approximately 20 properties immediately adjacent to Kirkover Lane. Okay, so real quick. I know there's a remedy for this situation. I know there's a legal, ethical, and timely remedy for this situation.

» I know that the city administrator and the council take their position seriously. I know you have the knowledge, wherewithal, and you have talented staff to make a legal, ethical, timely remedy for this situation. The remedy is out there. Mr. Allen. I know you'll find it. Mr. Allen, hold on. Go ahead, finish up, please. May I make a comment to you? There are laws on the books right now, public nuisance. If an animal is barking all night in an untimely fashion, code enforcement can go out and write them a notice of violation and bring them to court. Thank you with that. We'll end the discussion now. Thank you, Mr. Howland. Thank you very much. In a public presentation, we have been able to do that before. No, you have not. Thank you, Mr. Howland. Thank you, sir. Mr. DuBose. Thanks, Robert.

» I'll see you later about this. The third person signed up is Tim Taylor. Mr. Taylor, please, sir. I've been here in a while. Last month was a travesty. Some of you went against the will of the people by raising the millage. Mr. Connell, you're going to be leaving this county, so I hope this isn't a taste of things to come when you get to the statehouse. I'm digging into our pockets even deeper. One thing, since you are moving on, hopefully— Sir, we don't talk about personage here. We talk about policy and issues. Okay? Go ahead, please. Okay. Well, if you don't interrupt me, I can, which is my next thing. Please, go ahead. Thank you very much. Hopefully, we can see some hate crime legislation out of you.

» There's none in the books, but I figured that'd be the only time I'd be able to say that. Last meeting, there was a First Amendment question that came up. There was a vulgarity that was spoken by a citizen. It was a homonym for a thing that a beaver built. One of the council members took almost five minutes to admonish a grown man to apologize for what he said. And then the chairman talks about what we said. I think that there's a double standard there that needs to be looked at in your last two months. And I would also suggest that before kicking anybody out, they would look at a Costa versus Costa Mesa. It was a precedent case in 2013. Think Costa Mesa's in California.

» You might have the highly paid county attorney to look into that before anybody gets thrown out and a federal violation occurs. Who is also the arbiter of what is bad? The next word you guys might not like is obfuscate, because that's what you do. Last month, we also had an executive session about a lawsuit that is affecting the county. Who pays for it? We do. But you go to executive session, you keep it a secret, and what are we supposed to do? Well, there's a few of us that are going to start digging into, and we're just going to expose all of you, if you have anything to do with it. The last thing is, transparency, I've heard this out of everybody's mouth. You guys are about as transparent as frosted glass in a 70s bathroom, and it's terrible.

» And hopefully, the incoming council will be able to do something about that. Transparency is terrible. Getting a FOIA request, it's like getting a Congressional Medal of Honor, okay? I think everybody knows what we're talking about there. The council I have seen for a while is sick and dying. Hopefully, the new blood that comes in will help cure the cancer that's stuck on this county council for a while. Thank you very much. Thank you much indeed, Mr. Taylor. Have a good day. Mr. DeVos. The next person that signed up, the fourth person, is Mary Brandenberger. Excuse me. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I thought you all were in need. I don't mispronounce it. Okay. Kind of ramblings of an old lady today. Chairman, there's a lot I have to say about this council.

» Very unhappy seeing some unfair treatment. But I believe you and I have a common acquaintance, a mutual acquaintance. I don't know if you remember Togo West, Secretary of the Army. I believe it was between your stint with the Secretary of the Army and Sarajevo. Well, at any rate, Togo West was a very good man, but there were some problems in the Army. And I was taught to respect the Army. I got a big talking to all the time I was growing up and when I went to the Army. And you can respect the officer, you know, you know, that's been my philosophy for a long time. Mr. Togo West was a very good Secretary of the Army. He did a lot of good things for the Army. But just when he was coming in, he had a firefighter who was badly mistreated at this one Army case.

» The firefighter couldn't get anybody to pay attention, finally filed a lawsuit. And Mr. Togo West ended up being the person who was sued because he was the Secretary of the Army. That case, the person won. Couldn't even get an attorney to represent the person. They won in the hearing. They won in the appeal, the Army appealed the decision, and it went to the Supreme Court where they denied certiorari. Things changed with the Army at that time. Mr. West went after, or I should say Secretary West, went after people who were discriminating against. And it was all because of this one person, this one firefighter who couldn't be listened to about the harassment they were receiving. This case went to the Supreme Court. I am that person.

» And even the smallest person has a right to say whether they're being treated fairly, they have a right to be listened to. I have to say that I am sorely disappointed in this city council. There's the right thing to do. There's the expedient thing to do. I heard at the last meeting when approving the millage that it's the expedient thing to do. We'd have to go back months. We'd have to redo the budget. We'd have to do this. We'd have to do that. People in this county are suffering. They're bleeding. There are people who are losing their houses because of the – it's not the city's – it's the city's fault, not the county's. But raising the millage does not help these people. And I know one gentleman who had to decide whether to make his house payment or pay his electric bill. It's sad.

» And then you raise the millage because it's the expedient thing to do. It was not the right thing to do. And I hope all of you will remember and the new incoming people will remember, do what's right, not what's expedient. Thank you very much, Mr. DeBose. The next fifth person that signed up is Melody and Dalhyn. Thank you. Please, ma'am. As you know, I spoke at the last county council meeting about the budget and the millage increase. And just to refresh your memory on that, and for anyone here, seven of the councilmen, all of you, initially had said no increased taxes or sewer bills at the first two readings of the budget. Then at the third reading of the budget, there was a tax increase and a millage increase presented and passed by four members. Those members were Mr. Burns, Mr.

» Tucker, Mr. Snodgrass, and Mr. Tomlinson, three of which who will not be returning to this position at the first of the year. Time was short and the budget had to be approved at the third meeting when this occurred. I really believe that there would have been plenty of time for the taxpayers to voice their opinion at the first and second budget readings had they known this was going to happen. And certainly, you knew that this was going to happen. You didn't suddenly decide at the third meeting you were going to do this. So that's where the term transparency was said last week. It seems, well, I'm going to skip what I was going to say since my time is short, but I am hopeful that the next year's budget and new council members will really listen to the taxpayers of this community.

» And that they will look at cutting expenses and reducing taxes. Off topic, I did request information from the council in writing in August 21st, I was told a lawyer would have to respond under the Freedom of Information Act. They were just simple questions that I really thought could be answered. In the meantime, another concerned citizen was able to answer two of my questions, and that was regarding what the budget was for 2021 and what it is for 2022. That doesn't seem to be a hard question. The budget for 2021 was almost $60 million. The budget for 2022 that you just recently passed is almost $102 million. So our budget went up by $42 million, almost $42 million. This is a huge number and a huge tax burden for the residents of Kershaw County.

» And according to the Freedom of Information Act and some other information, I looked online, and I could be wrong, I'm not a lawyer, but I think you have 20 business days to respond to a request for information. Again, I could be wrong, but please, if you would, it's been two months. Some additional questions, concerns, I would like to have a clear explanation as to why Lugoff taxpayers are being charged $60 per $100,000 on their property taxes for fire when the rest of the county is being charged $20. I'm sure there's a reason for that. And the second part is, what can that be done to correct this inequity? That is not fair to the residents in Lugoff.

» And again, what do I need to do to get my questions answered? Some of them were, was there a surplus in 2021? And what is the projected amount for 2022 that is expected to come in from all the new growth we've had? Finally, I respectfully ask that this council not pass any more new projects or costs until after the first of the year when the new members take office. And growth for the sake of growth only hurts the taxpayers. Thank you. Thank you very much. As she goes to sit down, I think she meant Mr. Snodgrass, not Mr. Tomlinson. Thank you. Mr. DeVose. Next person that signed up is Gina McLean. Ms. McLean, please. I am here representing many neighbors of Kirk over Hills.

» As you heard from my other neighbor, we have been struggling immensely with this final victory animal rescue that has illegally moved into our neighborhood. We first and foremost want to say that we are thankful for the swift action that the county took in the violation. However, as of the 15th of October, this dog rescue will be in violation or are not compliant of the violation. I'm here to ask two things. But before I do, I would like to give you a little insight to what we're experiencing. There are anywhere from 20 to 40 dogs on the property, they bark without ceasing from 6am to 6pm. Some of our neighbors located on Forest Drive are literally unable to go into their houses without hearing this barking.

» It is something that you cannot imagine unless you actually experience it for yourself. It is causing anxiety, depression, and issues you cannot imagine. We are unable to enjoy our beautiful homes in our neighborhood that we have put so much time and money and work into. Which leads me to my two requests. The first request is a possibility of an expedited court date. I have been told by the county that it could be anywhere from 60 to 120 days or more before this court date is in session. Meaning that the final victory animal rescue can stay put on this property until the court date and until they are found guilty of the violation. Which leaves us suffering for that length of time. And as I'm told, because she has not been found guilty, there is no ramifications for her until that happens.

» So she has no pressure to leave until the actual court date. When speaking, my second request is that we are allowed to make formal noise or nuisance complaints. We have been told by multiple times we have called the code enforcement and I have talked to the point people on this case about the nuisance. And we have been told that we are unable to make these complaints because we don't want to look like we're harassing the final victory animal rescue. So with that being said, we have not been able for the last two months that we have been suffering with this nonstop barking have not been able to make a formal complaint because this for this first violation is in process.

» I'm not sure, but I don't think that just because you are being charged for one law that you're not supposed to be able to be charged for multiple. I didn't know that that was how the law worked. Why are we not being supported? Why are those of us who are upstanding citizens being told to be quiet and waited out? It's completely unfair and it makes no sense at all. While this final victory is able to still continue to run their business, which they are, from this property. They have not ceased. They have not removed the dogs. I live in close enough proximity where I am able to see when the trucks come in and out and they have actually dropped off dogs just this week.

» So again, I ask who can help with an expedited court date to bring peace back to our quiet neighborhood that we love so much? And why in the world has this not been able to, have we not been able to serve a nuisance citation when the barking has not stopped? Thank you. Thank you very much. Mr. DeBose. The next person that signed up is Amanda Steffens. Ms. Steffens, please. Gentlemen, it's been an interesting month, hasn't it? I'm not having social media. I was a little behind in finding out that my speech last month was shared, but I learned two things from that video. The first thing is God is so good.

» I left last meeting depressed and very frustrated at the thought that I had fit this meeting in between my daughter's dance lessons and my son's soccer practices and it didn't seem to matter. What's the point? I asked God. Thankfully, two days later, God responded with that video going viral. Have faith. He reminds me, which I hate to admit is an often reminder. The second thing that I learned from that video is that our residents in Kershaw County do not have a voice in our local government. If you were doing what you were supposed to be doing, I wouldn't be here. Yet here I am. It seems this lame duck county council is determined to spend our residents into debt through the next generation before they leave in January.

» Why would there be any discussion on a $2 million bond on a sewer system that first will not address capacity issues we have? And second, most importantly, when that money doesn't exist, you are asking us to take out a loan on our children for this. And we do not agree that our community needs a YMCA right now. Do not try to use the school board or COVID funds for a project your community does not want and does not have the money for. Do we need more reminders of the dumpster fire that our economy is in right now? We've just had the third straight quarter of negative GDP growth. If you're lucky enough to have investments or a 401k, you probably don't even log into your account to not get mad at the current state of things.

» According to CNBC, 60% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. And lucky for us, OPEC plus decided to decrease oil production, which means we get to spend more than the 25% increase in gas that I just talked about last month. Rent, according to rent.com is up 72% in South Carolina in the last year and mortgages are up 55% and this is without the millage increase that you voted for last month. Clearly this council has shown it is not spending Kershaw County tax money responsibly and considering the majority will be changing in January. I suggest you withhold from any other taxpayer-funded projects before you're out. One last thing I want to highlight is our amazing people. Kershaw County is the best.

» This past Sunday, one of our own had an emergency, little Jonathan, a young autistic boy, was lost in the woods in Elgin. Once the word got out, the largest search in Kershaw County history took place with so many volunteers that they had to turn folks away from the area as they were blocking traffic. Prayers were answered when little Jonathan was found, but I want everyone here to understand these people that answer that call for help are the wonderful people that make up this county. And those same people you are supposed to represent and those same people are the people you are choosing to screw over right now. And I want to let you know that I'm here to fight for those people because those people are my people and I couldn't be more proud to live in this county. Thank you.

» Thank you very much. Mr. DeBose. The next person signed up is Mark Root. Mr. Root. Hi. It's been a while. I've had to travel for work and all that stuff. I know y'all miss me. Don't bother touching that bell. A lot's happened while I've been gone. Russell, it appears you've finally grown up here and started to stand up for your constituents. I'm proud of you for that. Well, based on your comments last month, I see I have to remind you about the rights we citizens have when addressing this council during public comment. I will be using words today that some consider vulgar. These are just words and their unappealing nature helps to convey how angry we are at what you are doing to us.

» I will not stop using words that some consider vulgar until this council stops doing things that we consider vulgar. Because using a vulgar word is much less devastating than performing a vulgar act. Please note that the more you interrupt me, the longer this will take. And if you decide to turn the microphone off at any point, the video I'm recording and the one Jimmy's recording over there will be available to the public. So here we go. In accordance with judicial history, the public comment portion of the meeting makes this area a limited public forum. When the government opens a public forum, it is generally subject to the same free speech standards as a traditional public forum.

» As a limited public forum, you can restrict access to certain speakers and topics, but these restrictions must be reasonable and content neutral. And even those restrictions face a high constitutional hurdle and are subject to strict scrutiny, the highest form of judicial review. I've had discussions with lawyers and they recommend that any comments be restricted to topics that the public has the right to be informed about. Such as the backroom bullshit you snuck into the budget at the last minute using shady tactics, like letting a non-resident vote on it. Yeah, we know that David had already moved out of Kershaw County and the address he gave was his mother's since he had already moved up to Greenville by his own admission on recorded video at his new church up there prior to that vote.

» So the budget should be nullified because it was illegally passed and members of this county are being taxed without representation. Anyway, while they recommended comments be restricted to that, the lawyers confirmed that we could legally say anything here that we could say on the side of the road as long as we don't threaten anyone. That means we can legally say any vulgar thing we feel appropriate during our public comments. We can also speak as long as we want to because you have proven that your time restrictions are content based and not content neutral. Maybe that will change after Julian finally goes away, but I don't have high hopes for this council. Several members of this council keep bringing up the respect allegedly due to this body.

» Some keep bringing up religion in various ways. Some of you have straight up said we should treat treat this room like a church. I'm not a Christian Baptist Muslim or anything else that worships any deities. I can't understand how any God fearing person can accept these statements from anyone here. You are saying we should treat you with the same respect one has for their priest pastors and moms, whatever. You are insinuating that you are operating with your God's authority. What does your God say about stealing from the less fortunate? I'm pretty sure your God say you should help the less fortunate, not do your best to increase your own lot in life by taking from them what is theirs.

» While I admit I do not worship any deity, I know most of the founders were religious, but I also know some of them weren't. They did their best to remove their gods from the political equation and tried to separate church and state so that people like me are free to worship or not worship as they believe. By you bringing up your God here, you are forcing me to be a part of it. I'm not offended by others practicing their religion on their own time. I'm not offended by others placing signs of their beliefs on their own property. I am offended when others try to force me to treat them with the respect they think should be given to leaders of their church. Stop it. It doesn't belong here.

» For the respect you think you should be given, how about you try earning it? Shit, I didn't respect my father just because he was my father. I won't go into great details about my childhood here, but I moved out of my house when I was 16 and finished high school living in my car that I bought and insured with my own money because he and I didn't get along. I forgave him before he died when I was in my late twenties because he apologized for all he had done. But that alone didn't earn my respect. Enough about that. You must earn respect because just like anything else in life, if it's not earned, it's not worth a damn thing. Now to the content that I really want to get to. Excuse me, point of order. You got a bell there.

» If you're not man enough to live up to the bell, let everybody have as long as they want because if we're going to let Mr. Mark have eight minutes because you're intimidated by him, we're going to let that lady get back up and we're going to let the other ladies get back up. I think we've got a few more seconds. So you need to run the meeting. Mr. Jones, we've got a few more seconds. I'm waiting on Mr. DuBose. Oh, I'm not stopping until I'm done. He right. There you are. No, I'm not. Yes, you are. Please remove yourself from the mic. Would you turn the mic off, please? Turn the mic off. We're into recess and I asked Mr. Root to be moved.

» Can you move him away from the microphone, please? I want everybody else to have just as much time as he had because you don't have the guts to run this meeting. Turn these mics off, please. The mics back up. I declare us back in session. Mr. DuBose, who's next on the event? The ninth person and the last person that signed up is Jeff Maddox. Mr. Maddox? How do you follow up on that? Things are getting worse and worse and worse. I got an uncle who spends money like crazy even though he's bankrupt. He spends billions and billions and billions and billions of dollars over in Ukraine sending all kinds of weapons over there. And the money comes back here to pay for military equipment. So the military industrial complex is getting rich while we are all killing people all over the place.

» Now we find out that the U.S. military has got special operations forces and CIA operatives as if we didn't know that. But now it's confirmed over in Ukraine. So it gets worse and worse and worse and worse and worse and worse. Trillions and trillions and trillions and trillions in debt. So my uncle, who's bankrupt, is spreading money all over the place, giving it out for economic development, community improvement, and all kinds of shiny things like fire trucks. Now I see that on the agenda tonight is a resolution to match with $85,000 grant that comes through the middleman, the super Walmart of government grants, I call the Council of Government, for community development. Where we need a fire truck. I agree. I have nothing wrong with shiny fire trucks. I love them.

» They put up fires and all that kind of thing. But our uncle is bankrupt. And so what they do is they write these IOUs to a counterfeiter who's given legal counterfeit ableness to print money out of thin air. And so here we are printing money out of thin air and then sending it down to the politicians at local levels so they can get brownie points for bringing us shiny things. Happens all the time. All the ways economic development. They guide it by restricting the way these grants and loans and little ordinances and all are put in place so that they slowly but surely nudge society into the direction that they want.

» This has been a long time and going but when George HW Bush signed the agenda 21 and created soft policy where the sustainable development and all the sunshine and lollipops of Marxist theory come in. And that's what we're following. And that's what we're following. Whether we know it or not. So we're going bankrupt as fast as possible. People even see in the grocery stores how fast we're going bankrupt. They just see it in prices going up. We see it in look at the housing costs. All that free money pumping in and pumping in the stock market is overvalued. Housing is overvalued. Used cars are overvalued. Look at a new truck.

» So, you know, you can understand when the little guy, the little government, has to raise taxes because the Federal Reserve and the government, the big government, the swamp, is spending money hand over fist. Mr. Bowes, I show time. Can you? Okay. I agree. Thank you very much, Mr. Maddox. I appreciate it. I just want to close. Please close it up. By saying, guys, look, the principle is do not go in debt and do not take free money. And if I was on council at this point on the principle, I could not support this matching fee. All right. Mr. Maddox. Mr. Maddox here. Thank you very much for your comments. I appreciate it. Now, Mr. Bowes. That concludes the sign up list. Thank you very much. Point of order. Point of order. That concludes public comments. Point of order. Go ahead, Mr. Bowes.

» Point of order. I would like, since we failed to enforce, look, I'm willing to give people five minutes, ten minutes, whether they need to speak. But since this council has rules, if we're going to have rules, we need to follow the rules. And Mr. Bowes, if you hit the bell, hit the bell hard. Don't tap it. But my point is, my point of order is, let the other folks get up and have their, the rest of their time as you allowed Mr. Root. Thank you very much. And Mr. Maddox. I will rule on that point of order and I will overrule it. And we'll continue, as I say, with public comments are now complete. I want to thank law enforcement personnel for their most professional execution. A very unfortunate event.

» While we protected the First Amendment rights painfully, it was at the point where we had to intercede. Point of order, you gave me direction. You gave me direction. You're interrupting me. And I will say that in the future, I would ask for legal advice on the presence of Mr. Root coming in here, coming again. With that, we move to adoption of agenda. I think the agenda is up on the screen. Can we have a motion to approve the agenda? Mr. Chairman. Mr. Chairman. Mr. Gardner. I would like to make an amendment to the agenda. Should we put it in place first? Put it in place first and then we'll make an amendment. So moved then. Okay. And a second? Second to the agenda, please? Second. Was that you, Russell? Thank you. Now, Mr. Gardner, you have the right of leading off. Please. Mr.

» Chairman, I'd like to add an item to new business that would address our November meeting. It falls on Election Day. On November 8th, I'd like to move that, to talk about moving that to November the 9th. Okay. Very good. Can we have a second? Do we have a second? That was a second from Mr. Connell. All right. Can you give the reasons and any discussion? Well, it falls on Election Day and most of our people will be off. So I think it would suit us better to move it to November 9th. I think that more people are available. I think there's a meeting on Monday night that would avoid that, that makes Wednesday night better. Mr. Chairman. Mr.

» Connell, do you have any comments? I think also, if it's a state holiday, would we have to pay time and a half or overtime for attendance on a state holiday? Right. Yes, sir. Okay. That's correct. Other comments? Yes, I may. Mr. Jones. I don't think it's a state holiday. That they get off on Election Day. I don't know why we're closing on Election Day. Because we don't have any machines in here. And we only started this about a couple years ago, three years ago, under the previous administration. They wanted to give a holiday on Election Day. I just, I don't even agree with that. But, but bottom line is, we appointed that and I voted against it. Okay. Other comments? Mr. Chairman, you need a finding of exigent circumstances. Yes.

» And to get close to the microphone, I'll repeat what you said. Our definition of these changes is exigent circumstances. So, with that, I think we're ready to go ahead, Chairman. Wait a minute. Did you, did you qualify this as exigent circumstances? No, I don't make that determination. That's a factual finding the chair would make. The chair, well I don't agree with the chair's factual finding. And the council also would make that determination by voting on it. Yeah. With that, I'm ready to call the question. We're ready to vote. All those in favor, signify by raising your hand. And it's Mr. Tomlinson, Mr. Gardner, Mr. Burns, Mr. Brazel, and Mr. Connell. Those opposed, as Mr. Jones, the motion passes.

» And the agenda is amended to formally address that topic when we get to the new business. With that, we have a proclamation honoring Bobby Jones. Tab A. It's at tab, it's item number, page number four. And I turn to Mr. Brazel at Mr. Jones' request to read it, please. Go ahead, Mr. Brazel. All right. Something, change of pace here for a minute. Look forward to doing this for quite some time. This is a proclamation honoring Mr. Robert or Bobby Jones. Whereas Bobby Jones, also known as Uncle Bob, was born on November 14, 1931. He grew up in the community of DeKalb, where he attended Baron DeKalb School. He also attended DeKalb Baptist Church with his mother and brothers. Bobby was the youngest of three sons, including J.D. and Jack.

» He worked with his mom until joining the Army in August of 1952. Whereas, he completed his four months of basic training in Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania. After basic training, he boarded a train to the west coast, where he boarded a ship to Japan, and finally to Korea. In Korea, he served as a rifleman with the 32nd Infantry Regiment for 16 months. Most of the 16 months he spent on the front lines. He then transitioned to the Army National Guard for eight years. He earned the following. He earned a combat infantry badge, the Korean Service Medal, two bronze service stars, and the United Nations Service Medal, and the Presidential Unit Citation. We met and chatted, and he shared a few stories from his days in Korea.

» One that stuck out the most that he shared was about the time they were in active combat, and they were taking a hill or a mountain. When they charged the mountain, he had his M1 Grand Rifle by his side, which weighs about 10 to 12 pounds. They finally made it to the top of the mountain, surrounded by the enemy. As he advanced fire, he pulled his trigger. When he pulled the trigger on the M1, nothing happened. It had malfunctioned. He laughs about it now, but I'm sure at the time he was not laughing. Sadly, he shared that experience with a group of young men that many of which did not make it home. These men gave their lives for all of us today. Whereas Bobby returned home and eventually married, he had three kids that he was very proud of: Angie Self, Barbara Ann Lyles, and Mr.

» Robert Jones II. He always worked hard to ensure that his family had everything that they needed. As a family, they attended the DeKalb Baptist Church, where he is still an active member. In addition to taking care of his family, he's often found helping others in the community. He always said if you have to tell someone what you did, you did it for the wrong reason. Bobby is now retired and living at Lake Watery, where he enjoys spending time with his family, friends, and grandkids. He will be celebrating his 91st birthday on November 14th. Now, therefore, it is hereby resolved, Kershaw County Council recognizes Mr. Robert Samuel Jones for his outstanding contributions to his community and to his country. Thank you, Russell.

» Can we have a motion? Would you like to make a motion, Russell? So moved. Second. Second. For Mr. Jones, discussion. Well, I would like to say that Jimmy and I visited with Uncle Bob up at Lake Watery, and I was delighted to have conversation about his time in the war, and I'm honored to read this proclamation regarding his heroics in the war. There's so much more that we don't know and we don't hear from our veterans, but this is one gentleman that I'm thankful and I'm proud to write a proclamation for and to honor him tonight. Thank you. Mr. Jones. If I may, I'm very proud of this man. I've known him all my life and he's never told me he had two barns. He picked me up at 16 when I had no place to go and he took me in. So I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for him, folks.

» So y'all can thank him for that. But anyway, he's a man's man. I hug him. He tightens up and he asked me why I was asking him all those questions the other day. But Uncle Bob, I love you and I'm very proud of you and I'm here because of you. Thank you. Other comments. Can we have him and his family? Any other comments, please? I will say that the 32nd Infantry Regiment is a fighting this regiment in the United States Army. The 10th Mountain Division. The current, the first black chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Colin Powell was, commanded that regiment in Korea at Tongdechon, where I was based. And that was after the Korean War, after Uncle Bobby was there. The current Supreme Allied Commander of Europe, who is conducting operations in Europe and the Black Sea.

» General Cavoli was a 32nd regiment commander. And it goes on and on. The lonesome men, Bill Carpenter, three-star retired, commanded the 32nd in Korea. And may have walked across Bobby. Back in those days, Bill Carpenter was pretty hard to miss. Tallest man in West Point when he played on the football team. Bunch of great people. Now, I want you to know that a point of order should be entered here that it says in the proclamation, 12 pounds on an M1 Juran. The Army says it's nine and a half pounds. But anybody who's carried it up the hills of Korea, and I used to shoot one. I don't think many people in here could say that. It weighs about a thousand pounds. And so, I join with the other gentlemen up here in appreciation. If you'll just give us a moment to go through a little paperwork.

» Mr. Chairman. We're going to make a vote after you. Jimmy, go ahead. I'd just like to say, too, I know that I got myself composed, because I normally don't do that. I asked Uncle Bob when the gun misfired. I said, you're on top of the hill. And when it misfired, what'd you do? He didn't smile. He didn't laugh. He said, there were plenty laying around me. Thank you. Yeah. Amen. Mr. Chairman. So, yeah, Mr. Connell. I don't know Uncle Bob as well. But looking in the back at the family and friends who are here tonight supporting him, he's clearly left a legacy that has blessed Kershaw County for generations. I can see two or three generations of outstanding people that have contributed to the county and provided selfless service, no doubt following his example. So, thank you. Thank you.

» With that, we move to a vote. All those in favor, signify by raising your hand. And it's unanimous. Russell, if you could get Uncle Bobby up here. We'll present the document to him after everybody signed it. Yeah. Yeah. Y'all come on up. Come on up. There's more. I can't see you. There you go. Good. Take a couple pictures here. Ready? One, two, three. One, two, three. Everybody good? Get him up on the phone. Go ahead and just do it now. Have you got Mr. Tucker up now? Mr. Tucker is going to call in from the workplace. We'll give it just a second. No, I'll just take it. All right. Good. All right. Thank you. Mary, now we reflect under our rules and we now have a full quorum with Mr. Tucker in presence. With that, we move to the next item on the agenda.

» We've, Sammy, to catch you up, we're moving, we've voted to change the agenda to discuss the 9 November event. We now move to the minutes that are at tab B, page five. Can we motion to approve? So moved. Second. Second for the motion on the minutes. Are we having a moment, Mr. Close? I'll second. All right. That's a brave thing to do. Step up like that. And Mr. Gardner first and Mr. Thompson second. Any discussion? With that, we move to a vote. Mr. Tucker, how do you vote? Can you put it close to the mic? All right. He votes yes. Let me have the rest of us show by a show of hands. And it's unanimous and the minutes are approved. Thank you again, Mary. The next item on the agenda is a resolution. Let me make sure I catch up here. I can have a plate. I can't read that. I'll put it here.

» Yeah. Resolution committing Kershaw County to match $85,460 in cash services for the Kershaw County CDBG enrichment project. It's at tab C and it's on page nine in your electronic book for you, Sammy. With that, can we have a motion to approve and we'll get into some detailed discussion. So move. A second after Mr. Gardner. Second for Mr. Mr. Tucker seconds it. Very good. I will read the resolution and we'll have discussion. Whereas the Kershaw County has determined that the Kershaw County fire service has a real need in the fire district area of Bethune. And whereas Kershaw County has determined that these problems directly impact the county's ability to provide for the people of this neighborhood in a safe environment in which to live, work, play, and grow.

» And whereas Kershaw County applied for funding from the community development block grant known as the CDBG in South Carolina Department of Commerce to alleviate obstacles to the people of this community to have a safe environment in which to live, work, play, and grow through the CDBG program for the purchase of a new fire apparatus. Whereas the completion of the project would directly benefit residents within Bethune Fire District of which at least 55.5% qualified as having low to moderate incomes. And whereas the CDBG grant award requires a commitment, a like commitment of $85,460 in cash. Now therefore be it resolved by Kershaw County that the county council hereby endorses the county enrichment project because it will greatly benefit the quality of life and safety of residents.

» And the county administrator be authorized to commit funds in the amount of $85,460,000 to meet the matching commitment required by the program resolved this day. With that, Mr. Templer, you want to give us a little bit of background and then we'll get into discussion. Yes, sir, Mr. Chairman, members of council. This will be funded from the current fire budget. So it will not be an increase in any way, shape, or form. We have a grant match line item in fire's budget. As you know, they're an enterprise fund, so they're separate from the general fund. I'm excited that we get this. We get a half a million dollar fire engine for about 85 grand. Terrific. That's a win-win, especially for the folks up there in Bethune. Very good. And with that, I'll go to comments. Mr.

» Garner, you lead, please, sir. Yeah, very much needed in that area, of course, being the rural area. Of course, it can also help not only Bethune, but back to Cassett over to Mount Pisgah and that entire area. So it's a great purchase at less than 20% of the cost. And the money's already there, so it's not costing taxpayers any more money. Who had the second? I'm sorry. Mr. Connell? No, I didn't have the second. Mr. Tucker did. I'll take comment, though, whenever you're ready. Oh, yes. Let's hear from Mr. Tucker first. No comments, Mr. Chair. Okay. Others? Mr. Connell. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Having worked on the fire study, one of the areas we've struggled with, we had the hub-and-spoke system in the Elgin area with that facility.

» And we're looking at Cassett and another hub-and-spoke system. But Bethune, we've struggled to figure out exactly how to serve. The administrator just went through. And this is one of the ways we've figured out how to fund things for folks in the county that don't have their own fire district. The wonderful lady that got up earlier asking about the difference between Lugoff's fees and costs related to fire service. And those outside of the county, you have a Lugoff Fire Department that has its own independent board that makes recommendations about what type of fire equipment they want to have. And they vote accordingly. I actually have property, my business is there in Lugoff, and I have friends that are up in the Bethune area that this will benefit.

» But it depends on the level of service. And incidentally, Lugoff Fire has one of the fastest response times that should impact your insurance rates if you stay on top of your insurance company or pressure them about response times. And the county has improved drastically over the last number of years having the fire plan being implemented. So thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Other comments? I see Mr. Jones. Go ahead. Just to clarify on some comments that the county administrator made, Mr. Templer, so basically the money's there. Correct. 85, it's there. And spending that 85 to match this grant is not going to hurt the county's budget, correct? Correct. And that we do have a line item in the fire budget for exactly this grant match.

» The citizens will see no increase whether we buy it or don't buy it, correct? Correct. This is a no-brainer. And also it's for public safety. We support our fire. local law enforcement, even where they move slow. Go ahead. Thank you. Other comments? I would say that I was in Bethune about a month ago at their last town council. And this project was brief to them. And they were wildly enthusiastic for the support they're getting from the county up there already with a number of things to include the sheriff's program. And we've got to take care of all of the county. We just voted for some enhancements to Pine Grove. And along with the hub and spoke system, our insurance rates are going down. Our response times have improved across the county.

» And what is one of the first obligations of this county council, which is to provide for public safety. And that's fire. With respect to Lugol Fire District, entirely different. That's a special purpose district. You, the voters of that district, vote for the board that voted for that. And that has only served up to county council to vote on that. So you can certainly talk to that board. They have meetings, I think, once a month. And located in the Lugol Fire Department. So with that, any further discussion? I see there is none. We'll move to a vote. Mr. Tucker, how do you vote, please, sir? Vote yes. All right. And all others, signify by raising your hand. And, Mary, it's unanimous across the board and in passes. Thank you, Danny, for a good piece of work.

» And pass on to the fire district our congratulations for doing the survey. That number 55.5% was an important number. With that, we move to the next item on the agenda, which is item number one. It's at tab D. Sammy, for you, it's page 10. First reading of an ordinance. I'm going to read this thing in its entirety. First reading of an ordinance. First reading now.

» Approving the financing of the Southern Loop Sewer Improvement Phase I project through the borrowing of not exceed $2,745,000 of general obligation debt from the state water pollution control revolving fund by agreement with the South Carolina Water Quality Revolving Fund Authority and pursuant to a number of laws, providing for the agreement to make and to accept a loan, the execution and delivery of a loan agreement between Kershaw County and the South Carolina Water Quality Revolving Fund Authority, the execution and delivery of a promissory note from the county to the South Carolina Water Quality Revolving Fund Authority and other matters relating thereto. We'll put it into motion and then we'll have extensive discussion. And remember, we have three readings.

» Can we have a motion to approve? So moved. Mr. Gardner, a second? Second from Mr. Tucker. Moving to discussion, I first ask Mr. Templer to take us through this, please. Yes, sir, Mr. Chairman, members of council. What you have before you is the authorization, the first reading to engage into a South Carolina Water Quality Revolving Fund loan for the amount of $2,703,740 at an interest rate of 1.6%. This will allow us to complete Phase 2 of the Southern Loop Project we have been working on for a couple years now. Phase 1 is completed. We were able to use the funds on hand to complete Phase 1. This is going to allow us to get the money to finish off Phase 2. I'll be happy to answer any questions. Yeah, thank you. This will be done without a tax rise and without a fee rise. Correct.

» This was encapsulated in the rate study we did a while back. The rate adjustment will allow for these payments to be made from the users and any fees we receive to sewer. So there will be no rate increase, no tax increase, nothing put back on the books in terms of sewer millage, debt millage. And sewer millage was removed in this budget entirely from the county. So with that, Mr. Gardner, do you want to open up discussion? Yeah, this is part of the project that we started, I don't know, four or five years ago, I think. Yeah. When we first talked about this a number of years ago. And this will help us reverse some of that and take some of the flow off number one. Isn't that correct? Maybe take some of the smell off of number one, some of those pump stations and that sort of thing.

» So I think it's vitally needed with the growth that's out there. And because it doesn't cost taxpayers any more money, it's the right thing to do. Thank you. Mr. Tucker, you had to second? No comments, Mr. Chairman. Very good. Other comments, please, gentlemen. Mr. Connell. I defer. Mr. Brassel, please. So taking this bond versus paying cash, do we have the ability to pay cash for this project within that fund? Not out of the current sewer fund. What's the amortization period on the loan? It is 12 years with principal and interest to be repaid in 48 substantially equal quarterly payments, beginning April 1, '23, with a $9,000 closing fee. That's a 12-year payback. Yes, sir. At a 1.6%.

» And that, given the interest rates now, what the Fed has been doing, 1.6 is surprisingly low, considering that. Let me just make sure, Russell, we also have the bond lawyer here, too, if you want to take your questions in further detail. Go ahead. I'm sorry, Mr. Brassel. Okay, I didn't realize that. Thank you. I was just curious as to know the payback period and that sort of thing, just to be comfortable to vote on it. But if we would have had the cash on hand, I'd rather see it done with cash on hand. Right. Go ahead. And that's what we did with phase one. We had that opportunity to use our trouser money, if you will, that's what we had in our pocket, to put that towards that project. But we just simply don't have that capacity right now. Okay.

» So this money won't fund anything? It won't leave the sewer fund. It won't be transferred back into the general fund for any other use or anything like that? No, sir. It would not be. Not at all. Okay. All right. Maybe a point of order for legal counsel administrators. So I heard you say phase two is what we're working on financing, but I'm reading, is it phase one? Phase one is complete. Yeah. What he's talking about is a Scrivener era here. It's phase two. Yes. To explain that. So the text here would be phase two. That's what we're looking at financing. Is that right? I see we have our bond counsel stepping up. Sure, if you would, Gary. I appreciate it. So just Gary Pope from Pope Flint. Go ahead, Gary. We got you. Glad to be with you.

» As a reminder, because I had to remind myself when we got this back in front of us. This project was authorized by a bond ordinance that was passed back in 2019 for six and a half million dollars for both phase one and phase two. Sometimes they're called division, they're different divisions. But the basic idea here is that this $2.7 million financing is going to, this ordinance will rescind the $6.5 million ordinance that was necessary to be in place to begin work so you had an appropriate project to proceed with. And then the SRF wanted this to go ahead and be closed out because they don't want to keep things on their books for three or four years at a time.

» This will then reimburse the phase one project and then there will be a separate application to the SRF if that's what you choose to do. If you decide to finance phase two, then you will do a separate SRF loan for that. And as I fully concur with all the other terms and so forth that have been shared, that's the idea. So a follow-up question, has the net cost that we talked about in 2019 for both projects changed? Or is this a matter of them closing out their books? So, the total cost of the project, I believe that the second phase is being re-scoped right now and that we do not have a final number on what the second phase is going to be. So I can't speak to that because it hasn't been determined yet. But as far as the first phase, it is complete.

» And I think in order to take advantage of 1.6% interest rate, they have told us that we need to go ahead and close this loan now and that they will not wait around for us to figure out what the cost and scope is at the second phase. Okay, Danny, I wanted to just follow up on that. Do we have any guarantees from whoever is re-scoping it that they won't be coming back again or we won't be looking at another bond issuance to complete phase two? No, and so there's phase 2A, 2B, and 2B would be a more aggressive project to if we landed something at the mega site with 30-inch force mains and things of that nature.

» So this phase 2 will allow conduit capacity, if you will, in the system, not capacity in the processing, but more affluent, if you will, to get to the -- The lines were not big enough to handle -- Right, and so this increases certain lines. It upgrades some pump stations that just couldn't handle the flow because they're not designed to pump that amount of water based on the new lines that would go in. So in a sense, it's a workaround until that phase 2B would come in. Which -- okay. I follow. Thank you. Well, that was an excellent question by Mr. Brasel and Mr. Connell. Is that understood by everybody? Very, very good question. Is the map up on the board of -- If he's through, could I -- Can you change if this is the wrong thing? This is the wrong one. This is the wrong one.

» Can you put the other map up and I'll get to Mr. Jones' question right away. We're a little out of order. I think there was a first reading of a rezoning, so -- Can you find the map of the sewer plan? Should be next slide. Because you heard it mentioned this is going to take pressure. There you go. That's it. All right. That is clear. It'll take pressure off the northern route. Jimmy, go right ahead. Thank you, Julian. You know, we talked about the sewer millage is gone. Actually, the sewer millage is not gone. The sewer millage was put on the folks in West Watery who are under the sewer program. Their rates went up. And that's where that money went. Also, the sewer tax district is still in place. There's just no -- we haven't got any monies coming from it.

» But it's still in place if council wanted to do something about that. Am I right, Mr. Pope? Can you come up to the microphone, Mr. Pope? That is an important point. The sewer district will need to remain intact for the maturity of these bonds in the event there was ever a shortfall. Because if -- yes, sir. Because if there's a shortfall, then it's going to go back to the taxpayers under the sewer district. That is how the -- that is how that works, sir. Sure. Thank you. Danny, I don't know if you want Mr. Pope and your engineer to stand up. I have some questions or some comments. Sure. Yeah. Okay. Dan Lambert, if you can step up. We're looking at a 2.7 million dollar bond and, of course, how to pay for it and the Southern Loop of what we're talking about. Phase one.

» What -- what was done or what is done in phase one? Basically, in phase one, we extended a 12-inch force main from the Dobie Mill pump station, which is shown down there near White Pond Road, and highway 12. We extended a 12-inch force main up to the Judy pump station, which is there about 601 and highway 12. Thank you. And by the way, good to see you tonight, Dan. You as well. Let me ask you this. And how was that paid for? That might be a question for the administrator, but how did we pay for that? Because it is paid for. Correct. And that was what we paid for out of the money we had on hand from the enterprise -- the sewer enterprise fund. When we talk about the sewer enterprise fund, let me ask this about Palmetto Utilities.

» They're not named that anymore, but their wastewater treatment or plant fee began paying when? Uh, 19, 2019. I think it was 2019. And how much is that each year? It's about 1.3 million-ish, somewhere in there. That's our take. That's our take. It's more than that, but the school district, correct? Correct. We get a portion of that to fund our SROs. So, right. So, we get about 1.3 million a year from our good neighbors. Right. It started in 2018. And so, because they're not a fee low or anything, it's a fee. They are entitled to a lost credit for tax years 18 and 19 and moving forward. So, what they pay in, there is an adjustment. It's typically about $150,000 back to them or an adjustment there.

» So, it leaves essentially 1.9 and then you minus the SRO fee and typically end up with anywhere from 1.2 to 1.8 million dollars. Now, 2021, they were reassessed and so their value went up a little bit. So, those numbers increased. But, these numbers will go down with depreciation over the years. We hope. Yes. Let me ask you this. What is the daily flow for sewer? To the facility, it's between 700,000 and 800,000 gallons a day. Obviously, the high water mark is 2 million gallons a day. So, our daily flow would be on an average? After this project or prior to? What is our daily flow now? Between seven. Currently, our daily flow is about 800,000 gallons a day. However, the checkbook, if you will, the amount that we've allocated is in the range of about 1.8 million gallons.

» We've allocated 1.8 million gallons of capacity at our existing plant. Well, actually, right after the maximum flow question, that was my next question. How much is the checkbook sewer capacity? Okay, we're about 85 percent. We're at roughly about 90 percent. We've got, okay, checkbook capacity, we've got about 10 percent left. That's correct. Okay, that's in our 2 mil. That's correct. Yeah. A plant that we have. Because if we want to go any further, we're going to have to expand. Correct. That's correct. But we have a permit, correct, to 4 MGD? Yes, sir. Okay. And we've got plenty of land to do the upgrade, correct? Correct. So we don't have to buy land like we argued about last year. Right. Okay. That is just a caveat there. If we continue with the IKEA system we have, we can expand.

» Let me, yeah, exactly my point. Let me ask this question because it all falls right in line. What are the preliminary costs estimate to expand to a 4 MGD? Continuing with the IKEA system, which we have now not changing the way we do business out there. Looking at roughly... 30 million. 36 million. 36 million. Without a land purchase. About a year and a half ago, whatever, when I was talking about 20, 25 million, I was laughed at that it wouldn't be that much. But it's even gone up. So you're looking at about 36 million. How would we pay for that? You know, we've, we have 9.6 or 7 million dollars set aside from ARPA. We've gone out and looked at a, we've applied for a skip program, which is a infrastructure improvement program that will be a grant for 10 million. 10.2 million is the max.

» We have some small amount of money in the fund itself, but we would still probably have, without going out for a bond or going to the taxpayer, we would still probably have a $12 million deficit there. Let me ask you, let me ask you this. What is Kawashima's current flow? Dan? Kawashima's current flow, well, there is no current flow because Kawashima has, has basically ceased and desist. Aaron Mills has taken over for Kawashima and they plan to resume part of their operation. And we have, I believe in the.

» Dan, can you tell me too, how much has it gone down from what it used to be? I think that the, if I recall from this, the document here, the Kawashima is looking at approximately 415,000 gallons instead of the 700,000 gallons that, uh, Aaron Mills is looking at 415,000 gallons as opposed to Kawashima's allocated 700,000 gallons per day. So basically we've got the Southern Loop that we want, that we, you're saying we need to do this bond on. And we know that we're pretty much out of capacity in our checkbook. So what are we going to do? I've got a plan. Yes. And it's coming in January or February. And it will make sense for everybody. And, uh, that's why I have a hard time spending this money here tonight. But we've already paid for it.

» And we've got a new council coming on board that may look at things a little bit different when it comes to spending money in our sewer. And I just, uh, I want information for the public so they can be informed and I can be informed when I make a decision here tonight and vote. And, Ms. Bell, I appreciate you being here tonight as well, too. Thank you so much. Okay. Very good. One point of, one point of information that I had stated that the phase one was a 12 inch force main that goes from Dobie Mill to the Judy pump station. The Dobie Mill pump station is a 900 gallon per minute pump station. It ties into the Judy pump station, which is a 280 gallon per minute pump station. That 200 gallon, 280 gallon per minute pump station discharges in a, into an eight inch force main.

» So you have a major constriction at that point. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, Dan. We have no, this is no punt intended to him because we've been in sewer business long before Dan was here. You've been here about a year? 10 months as a, 10 months. Well, I almost had it right. And thank you for, for, for your comments. But, um, I'm not supporting this tonight. Very good. Thank you. Because, excuse me, because of the timing and, uh, the fact, and the concept of it. Thank you. Very good. Other questions? Uh, Mr. Tucker, just laying it out for you. Any questions? Uh, no, sir. Okay. Other questions? Seeing there are none. Uh, we've heard a very good brief. I think we'll continue this dialogue. And I think, Danny, you, you and your, uh, sewer people will need to be available. I thank, uh, Mr.

» Pope for coming all this way. This is a tough problem. Uh, the sewer is, is vital to us, both in growth and for well-being. And it needs our full attention. So with that, we can move to a vote. I see there's no further discussion. Uh, Mr. Tucker, how do you vote, sir? Yes. Uh, all the rest of you, please signify agreement by raising your hand. Uh, Mr. Tomlinson, Mr. Gardner, Mr. Burns, uh, Mr. Breisel, Mr. Connell. Those opposed? Uh, Mr. Jones, and the motion passes and moves to second reading. Excellent discussion. All very good questions on all sides. Uh, with that, we move to the next item on the agenda. And the agenda is item number two, tab E, page 23.

» First reading of an ordinance of County Council, Kershaw County, to amend the zoning map designation for approximately five and a half, five acres plus or minus of lands with tax parcels. And if, uh, diversified land and timber authorized property, uh, from RD two to general development and providing an effective date, essentially up in Westville at Carolina motor park. Uh, let's, uh, put this in motion. Can we have a, a first motion, please? So moved. Mr. Gardner, uh, Mr. Any, uh, second. Second. Uh, for Mr. Connell, uh, Mr. Um, Templer. Um, Templer, do you want to say anything before we get started here by way of information? Uh, yes, Mr. Chairman, members, council. This, this did go before the planning commission.

» And, uh, two of the neighboring property owners did come forward and just had some questions as to what the specific use for this, these two parcels would be. Um, but the owner at the time, Michael Cummins, did not have any intended use for it in, in any time soon. So, uh, it did, the request from our RD two to GD was, uh, it was unanimous six to zero. Okay. Thank you very much. Uh, Mr. Tony, Mr. Gardner, do you want to lead us off? Yeah. This is, uh, adjacent to the, uh, Carolina motor sport park, I think, isn't it? Yes, sir. Right there. You know, lots of room up there to do a lot of things. We need more development, um, on this side of the river, especially up in that area. So, I think this is in Russell's district though. I think it's in one, district one, I believe.

» But, uh, I'll be supporting this tonight. Very good. I'm going to ask Mr. Tucker if he wants to say anything before we go to, uh, Mr. Connell. Mr. Tucker. Good question for Danny. Is, um, Danny, uh, the owner of this property, is he any way, um, or existing with, um, existence with the current motor park that's up there? Or is this just a separate landowner? This is all the same landowner. Okay. Yep. Mr. Cummings owns the, um, he's the principal at the, uh, motor sports park. Okay. And, um, in the past, he's, he's acquired land as a, as a buffer, a sound buffer. Right. Okay. It's hard to make that clear that, you know, this will not be conflict in the motor sports park because it's one of the same. Yes, sir. Very good. Thank you. Thank you, Sammy. Uh, Mr. Connell. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

» Uh, I remember Mr. Cummings, the owner, coming and presenting in the past. They've already made significant financial investments up there. Um, just, you know, of their own volition, wanting to improve the track. I've seen that increase the, uh, tourism that occurs in that area. And this property, as I understand it, is intended to serve and benefit a motorcycle sports park and increase even more tourism, um, and even higher end cars or vehicles that people want to race. So I'll support it tonight. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Other comments. Yes, Mr. Chairman. Yeah. Russell. Um, in the ordinance, I wanted to point out that it's, uh, it's 53 acres down at the bottom left-hand side under now, therefore be it ordained. And we've got an error in the title where it says 52 plus or minus acres.

» I just won't, I don't want it to cause any issue for the landowner. Um. Yeah. We'll call it a scrivener error. And Mary, you can fix it going forward with Ken. Okay. Can we, do we have a representative here that could speak to what's gonna go on the, on this property so that we've got an idea or no? Not that I'm aware of. I don't see anybody here. We have Joey here, but we have Mr. Cox, who is their attorney. Uh, William, can you come on up and if you're willing to answer these questions. I was wondering why you were here, William. He added a lot of dignity when he walked in the room. Go ahead, William. Good evening, gentlemen. Um, and Ms. Siegler.

» So, my understanding is, last time we were here a couple of years ago to petition the resending for the property on the south side of the park, uh, from R2, RD2 to General R2. Uh, it was being, um, purchased for a buffer with no specific, no specific plans in mind. Um, Mr. Cummings is of the opinion that when property is available, you buy it because it's only gonna get more expensive in the future. So, there are no specific plans at this point in time, uh, but, but certainly, you know, you don't acquire land without having some thing, some idea in the future that you may use it. Uh, but right now there is nothing, uh, planned to my knowledge. Thank you. Well, one thing I will say, he's got a nice facility up there. Certainly, he wouldn't put anything shameful next to him. Amen.

» No, I just... I would agree 100% with that. Yeah. Yeah, I look forward to any future growth. I appreciate his investment in the community. And I'll also make one, one further comment. Uh, last time I was here two years ago, Mr. Cummings lived in Atlanta. He now lives at Lake, Lake Watery. Good. Good. That's a good point. And he's bringing in industry from New Jersey and Watkins Glen, if you've ever heard of that. Oh, I'm gonna support this. Yeah. And, uh, bringing in Formula One race, uh, assembly and manufacture here. So, this is an amazing boon to the northern part of our county. Mr. Chairman. And, uh, we have gone out of our way to support them. I will tell you, he's put in lights. So, they race at night now.

» And the place is filled up, I think, 240 days of the year, where we were lucky to have four or five races a year. Did I interrupt you, Ben? I'm sorry. No, I think I interrupted you. I was just gonna mention, they actually have some of the coolest and high-performance, uh, go-karts that you'll find anywhere. I mean, go-karts getting that high off the ground, just a few inches going 55 miles per hour. And you can go out and race against friends, co-workers, family, uh, somebody you have a grudge against. It's a really neat facility. Now you can do that at night. Yeah. Yeah. We're hoping our delegation can further help us at the State House, some laws that restrict us there.

» And so, uh, we're supporting an initiative to help him in that regard, too, on some restrictive laws at the State House. Uh, maybe I can brief you on that, Brant, and you and I can talk about that. Okay. Uh, with that, I think we're ready to vote. Uh, any, uh, Mr. Tucker, how do you plead, sir? Yes. All others, signify by raising your hand. And it passes, and Mary and, uh, and the attorney, if you could fix those errors that Mr. Uh, Mr. Uh, Braswell picked up on. All right. We move to the next item. Okay. Yeah. William. Tell, tell your client we're very proud what he's doing up there. Oh, okay. Greetings. Yeah. He's a great, great leader. I'll tell you that. New business. Uh, we're up on tab F, uh, boards and commissions. I thank you all in advance of, uh, of this topic.

» Uh, you have put a lot of work into it. There's work yet to be done. We'll do a little bit tonight. Tab F. For those of you watching, uh, long distance and especially Mr. Tucker. Uh, we're going to start on page 37 in tab F, which is a tax. Uh, Mr. Connell, you have a person to put forward. Yes, sir. For district three, I'd, uh, recommend that we add on Jason Endress. Can we have a second? Second. Mr. Gardner, uh, discussion. Uh, first of all, Mr. Tucker, I'm going to go to Mr. Connell first. Ben, any discussion? Mr. Chairman, I'll just mention that Mr. Endress is ex, uh, Special Forces and, uh, owns Glow Dragon in Elgin. If you had a chance to go by there, it's a really fun indoor, uh, glowing, uh, golf place with ice cream.

» I mean, it's just a, it's a great place for families and kids to go. My kids ask me to go there, uh, very frequently, but he's involved in the community. He's involved, uh, in business and interested in this and willing to serve. And for the record, he has got a mobile axe throwing, uh, device where you can, uh, take it and, uh, and throw axes and get prizes. Uh, Mr. Tucker, any comments? No comments, Mr. Chairman. Uh, other comments, please. Right here. Uh, Mr. Jones. Did you say that he's a former Special Forces? And I need to go visit him because we'll have a lot in common. I was a clerk typist. Yeah. Yeah. Any other comments? I will say he served with my children in various places. And, uh, he's a great young man and a good friend of Sergeant Major Payne. Uh, Mr.

» Connell and I got a picture of Sergeant Major Payne, our Kershaw County Medal of Honor winner. And he got a stag with a bow that I think it looks more like it would be bigger than one of our deer, wouldn't it, Ben? As big as one of your cows. All right. With that, we move to a vote. He's a good man. Um, Mr. Tucker, how'd he vote? Did we lose him? Yes. Okay. And all others signify by raising your hand. And that's unanimous, Mary. And I will just tell you all, uh, you've helped us a great deal, but I encourage your further support. We have two more vacancies to be filled. And as you know, this is difficult. Um, with that, I'd also make a note that we don't have a nomination from Bethune yet for the clean community. And we've done the library. I move now to the next item. Mr.

» Chairman, just one point of order. Which open term is most appropriate for Mr. Ingers to start? Mary? For how we stagger. Galloway, Brown, or Tomlinson? All three are coming out. Mr. Conning, it really won't matter. It depends on- He'll just take the next open one for the natural cycle? Correct. Okay. Thank you for the clarification. It really, it really doesn't matter in this case. But you're right. To raise that issue, we should watch it all the time. The next item is on page 39, planning and zoning. We have two nominations tonight. And as the chairman for the at-large position, I make the nomination for George Harkins. For George Harkins to be reappointed. Can we ask for a second? Second. Mr. Gardner, Mr. Tucker, any discussion? One second, please. One second. Yeah, Jimmy.

» Can you repeat? How many terms can you serve on the Planning and zoning commission? Mary, do you have that? Okay. So it's open-ended? Okay. Thanks, Jimmy, for that clarification. Mr. Tucker, any comments? No, no comments. I will say Mr. Harkins is a Navy man. He's done a great job and has volunteered to continue work. Mr. Gardner, do you have comments? Good man. I'll just do what you said. As good as they come. Any other comments? Yes. Yes. Yes, sir. Please. Planning commission needs to get their act together because we'll talk about that later. That's good. Other comments? I see that there are none. Mr. Tucker, how do you vote? Yes. And all others signify by raising your hand. And it's unanimous. And with that, we move to the next individual. Mr. Breisel, you have a nomination. Yes, Mr.

» Chairman. I'd like to make a motion to appoint Ms. Libby Davis to the Planning Commission. Can we have a second? Second. Thank you, Ben. Discussion. You can lead off there. Well, I know that Mr. Blackman, Curtis Blackman resigned and met with Ms. Davis. And she's a lovely lady and she's dedicated to her community and our community. And she looks forward to filling his shoes and serving on the committee. So I'm thrilled to have her. She's very intelligent and hardworking. So that's what we need. All right. Mr. Tucker, any comments? No comments. Ben, over to you. No comments, sir. Okay. With that, any other comments? Seeing there are none, we move to a vote. Mr. Tucker, how do you vote? I vote yes. And all others signify by raising your hand. And it's unanimous.

» Thank you very much, Russell. We've got a full house. Thank you, Russell. She's a good lady. With that, we move to an item we're not going to vote on, page 44, rec committee. I think we had a person fall off, Mayor. Who was that? Mr. Lawson. Lawson. Did he resign or he couldn't? In the mic. Pull it up. Put a mic. We realized he had served two consecutive terms and that was the limit for the rec committee. Does everybody understand that? Okay. Good. With that, we just got a nomination from Russell to go in there. But under our rules, we wait one cycle and we'll vote on it the next time we come up. Okay? So with that... Could I call a point of order? Yeah, go ahead.

» That we allow Russell to make that tonight? Or can we not do that, Ken? I think the rules say that his application needs to be in the agenda package prior to his appointment. Yeah. It was in there. It was in the agenda package. Yeah, but to Jimmy's point, Ken, the protocol that I inherited and been doing for eight years is we want to go through one cycle between one council to the next. So under those rules, we would vote in November. Okay. Okay. Yes, you could vote next time. Yeah. Jimmy, go ahead. Madam Clerk did clarify, it has to be one meeting to the next. Okay. That's good. And that rule was made because of me, wasn't it not? Yeah. It's correct. It's Rick Jay, and I know he'll do a good job. Yeah, great. And we look forward to Mary having that on the agenda next time.

» With that, that concludes Boards and Commissions. Item number two is a short brief from me requiring no vote. It's about MPO and Coates. Under CM COG is a series of slides at tab G, page 46. If you can bring those up, please. And I don't know if I need to vote. We need to vote to put this out there or not. I just vote. Just go through the vote. You can do discussion, Mr. Chairman. Okay. Let's have a motion for discussion. I need a first. So moved. Mr. Gardner, a second? Second for discussion. Second. And many of these things came up as a result of growth. It's on the table. Go ahead and go to the next slide. This won't take very long. It's an update on the COG realignment. Next slide. This is the CM COG that's headquartered in Richland County.

» It's where we're the least of the most of those counties in that COG. We have two COGs. One of them is Santee Lynch's COG, and the other one is the CM COG. Santee Lynch's COG is the one where we get our money from and have been to include the bypass. And now Black River Road, thanks to Mr. Tucker, is in the future. But for purposes of transportation in West Watery, as you can see there, the green area, we are under the Columbia Area Transportation System, COATS, or COATS. And we have been singularly unsuccessful in getting money for roads, in spite of Mr. Connell's best efforts, my best efforts, and the rest of us. In the next five years, we will get $2.5 million from them. But in the last 25 years, we've gotten not a nickel. Next slide.

» So, the summary is subsequent to the Census 2020, this body agreed a resolution unanimously supported by the municipalities Camden, Bethune, and Elgin to move us back under Santee Lynch's COG, where we've had nothing but success led by Mr. Tucker and others that have supported us. And the direction from this body, I wrote letters to the Governor, the Secretary of Transportation, and all our state-level and federal-level delegations, telling them that we've had no new spending in over 20 years, more like 23, from the CM COG in the COATS, which is Columbia Area Transportation System. I will tell you, from my view, and I have talked to most of the delegations, our support has been muted. However, our local senator and representatives have been helpful.

» But we have not gotten any help out of the people who are the decision-makers, and that decision-maker we are now discovering is the Secretary of Transportation. And indications trend towards what I'm hearing, I'm just giving you a report here in October, that there will be no change to the present arrangement, especially as it pertains to the COATS, which impacts our success with all the growth we're having in Westwater Reed. Russell, you know that, Jimmy, you know that, and so does, of course, Ben. Compromised solutions seems to be not very helpful, but it seems to allow the Santee-Lynch's COG to spend their money in the COATS. That is, money that would normally go to Santee-Lynch's COG could be spent in Westwater Reed, could be.

» And Kershaw County will need to maintain the membership on the Santee-Lynch's COG that we currently have, and on the CM COG, Transportation Coats Board, and an adjunct seat to the CM COG. In other words, this county council is split between two COGs. Next slide. Okay, back up to summary. All right, with that, that's a quick update, gentlemen, and I'd like to hear from you. Mr. Tucker, you want to say anything first? Yes, sir. I would just like for our colleagues to understand that, regardless of how we feel as representatives of Kershaw County, it's a region thing.

» So this is going to be a heavy push because you can imagine the other three counties saying, well, we're taking on more territory in Kershaw County, which we're the growing county in the region, but we're not receiving additional funds from CM COG. So not to say it's not going to be done, but it's going to be a little uphill battle to make sure that we try to get some of those monies moved over. So if you know anybody in those regions, Clareton, Sumter, or Lee, please reach out to the elected officials there and encourage them that sit on the COG board, Santee Lynch's, to be in favor of incorporating the West Watery area so we can try to do some transportation issues that are, you know, dire, direly needed in West Watery. The COG did get a $2 million uptick in funds.

» We went from $3 million a year to $5 million a year, and that's what the Secretary of State is putting her hat on, is that, okay, we've given you additional monies, almost doubled your monies from what you've been getting, and we expect for you to be kind and play good in the sandbox and do projects all over Croshaw County. So that's the summary of all what the Chairman just read to you, and we just need your support. Other comments, please? I have a couple of comments, maybe questions, whatever. How much money have we gotten from Santee? You know, Jimmy, Sammy, it's several tens of millions of dollars. Go ahead, Sammy. Well, Mr. Jones, are you talking about, you know, since existence? Because we just spent close to about $40 million on the bypasses. Yeah.

» About, and from the Central Midlands, we've gotten what? I can answer that, Sammy. Zero until, in the last six months, I worked out a deal where I got $2.5 million for the White Pond Road intersection, and I promised to spend it in the next three to five years for a stoplight, Jimmy, and that's it. So that was it with the Central Midlands? Yeah. Not very good, but after 23 years. Well, let me ask this question. Our delegation, I heard you say they've worked very hard, but what have they done? What have they accomplished? They have deferred to the Secretary of Transportation. So they've done nothing? I would use those words, but that's a pretty good summary. Well, okay, but you just said that they've been very helpful. But anyway, thank you. Other comments? Mr. Chairman? Yes, sir.

» Just for the public listening, the reason the CM COG versus Santee Lynch's COG is so important, in my view, is we've been paying into the CM COG system for 20-plus years, and those funds don't get repatriated back to us. We get ranked with our road construction and transportation projects against Richland County and Lexington County. And so every time we come up with a project that seems like a really good one based on traffic counts and population density and other metrics that DOT or some of the folks at the COG who make decisions about where funds go, every time we have good projects ranked, the goalpost kind of gets moved on us.

» So our number one project for Kershaw County next year, just by way of example, may not even match up with the traffic counts and metrics for the number six project in Lexington County and Richland County because they're so much more densely populated. And so we've been severely underserved by the CM COG, and that's why we're making the effort to move to the Santee Lynch's COG and be treated more fairly and actually have taxpayers' dollars come back for what they put into the system. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yep, that's a good summary. Go ahead. I will say this, that of the 16 years I've been here, that's always been an issue, has it not, Ken? Yes, it's always been an issue. But I will say this, I do appreciate you guys taking some action here tonight and moving forward with this.

» I think it's a good thing for our county, no question about it. Thank you. I have to be very frank with you, and Sammy will echo that because he's been helping. I will see the Secretary of Transportation here shortly, but what I'm reading the tea leaves is we're going to go to the solution that I have in the last two bullets on those charts, okay? We will need to work the Santee Lynch's COG to get as much money as they can for us and then maintain membership on both COGs and argue the best way we can. We have very little political clout now that we're being divided up also in our representation, as you know, when we got a new census and redistrict our ability to influence the Statehouse.

» Sammy, any concluding comments, sir? I would just like for everyone to know, too, that renewed our 208 water quality as well last week at the COG meeting. And that's big, too, to make sure that we keep the watery river where we can continue to have capacity and good flow down to our neighboring counties. Yeah, thank you, Sammy. Other comments? No vote is required, and I suggest we move on to the last item, which in the agenda, which is to change the date of the next council meeting from the 8th of November to the 9th. Mr. Gardner, would you restate the preposition, please? I would make a motion that we move the November 8th meeting to November the 9th. Do we have a second? Second. Mr. Connell. Discussion, first of all, by you, Mr. Gardner, and then we'll go to Mr.

» Tucker remotely, and then to Mr. Connell. Mr. Connell. Well, just for purposes already stated, the election day, and we're not working here, so it would require our people to come in, and I just think it's very easy to change. I don't think it affects anybody. I think there's a meeting Monday night, I think, with the hospital board and the health services district or something, so Wednesday really makes more sense. So that's why I recommend it. All right. I'm going to go to Mr. Tucker. Mr. Tucker? Ditto. No comment. Okay. Mr. Connell, please, sir. Yeah, I just was informed by the administrator we'd have to pay folks time and a half, I believe, on that particular date, so it makes sense to move it a day. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you very much.

» Any other discussion? We're going to have a big agenda there. We've got a lot to do, so let's get ready, and I've heard some really important comments here on this sewer line and so on. So we've got a lot of work to do next time we meet, right, Mary? All right. Well, bring a supper with you. With that, we're ready to vote. Mr. Tucker, how do you vote? Did we lose him? He fell asleep. Vote yes. Yeah. Thank you for calling in from work like that. Other people so signify your agreement by raising your hand, and it's unanimous. Thank you very much. With that, Mary, you'll take the appropriate movement. I'll turn it over now to Mr. Gardner to run the meeting. I've got to catch an airplane back to D.C. I'm getting to be a regular. I've got to first drive to Charlotte. Wish me luck.

» I'll see you guys when I get back. Good job, everybody. Thank you. It's like a game show. Chairman for a day. How'd you get that? Well, Sammy's not here. You're not, seniority-wise, you're not in line for it, but I mean, I'm fine with it. Well, don't want me to come over here, so that's all I know. Don't come over here. Anyway, next item, I think, is council briefings, so we will start with Russell to my left. I have no comment tonight. Okay. Mr. Connell. Thank you, Mr. Gardner. Two things. We talked about Paul Towns a little bit earlier. I wanted to spend a moment just to talk about him and the impact that he's had, not just on people in Kershaw County, but regionally throughout the southeast. Elgin Lights, a lot of people have attended it over the years.

» It's a beautiful display, and they're going to have a last hurrah in memory of Paul on November 5th, 2022, 6 to 9 p.m. Christina, his daughter, is really working hard to put that on with several other family and friends, but that event and that effort traditionally went to sponsor and fund Camp Cole and Camp Chemo. I can't tell you how many thousands upon thousands upon thousands of dollars have gone to help kids who were either experiencing end-of-life issues go and have a great time, or who had recovered and found remission, go and have a great time and find some joy in life with all kinds of activities and just everything that those properties had to offer. So that's a life devoted to the joy and happiness of children, and that's a great life in my view.

» I also want to mention November 8, 2022. We have our general election coming up. I always encourage everyone to get out and vote. Exercise your right. It's one of the most fundamental rights that you have, and do not neglect it. Try to make the time to go and vote. Thank you. Mr. Jones. Thank you. I have quite a bit to say, but I'm not going to say it. Just remember, I think we're all on the ballot. So people, please go vote. Whether you vote for us or against us, just go vote. I think that's very important. And Mr. Connell, thank you for bringing up those points. Those children are very special. Thank you. Mr. Tomlinson. I don't have anything. I don't have a great deal. I'd just like to say congratulations to Mr. Jones, who's recognized here tonight.

» You know, 91 years old and great service. We appreciate his service to our country. There's a lot of other Mr. Joneses out there as well. So if you know somebody that we can recognize, I would urge you to bring those people forward, because we're losing way too many of them, and we need to recognize those people before they're gone. So next will be the Administrator, Mr. Templer. Oh, Mr. Tucker. I'm sorry. Mr. Tucker. Thank you, Mr. Gee. I appreciate you forget about me, but no comment. I knew you didn't have anything to say. Mr. Templer. Yes, sir. Could you go to my picture at the very end? I just wanted to recognize Brenda Johnson, 911 dispatch.

» She was awarded the Palmetto Award as given in recognition of exceptional professionalism in the field of emergency communications, and it acknowledges the special contributions to those who have made those daily performances serve an example for others in public safety. Brenda's a long-time employee of ours. She's been there probably 25 years plus, somewhere around there. I remember when I first came on the road, Brenda was one of my dispatchers. So, just dispatch continues to do great things. I always say they are always heard but never seen, and one of the most important components in our first responders. So, congratulations to Brenda. Thank you. Yep. Very much so. Those are the unsung heroes. They start all of our actions on the first responders. Yes.

» So, very, very proud of what she's done. Legal briefings. Mr. DuBose. Mr. Acting Chairman, I have nothing. Thank you, sir. If there's nothing else, I will take a motion to adjourn. So made. Second. And a second. Mr. Connell first and Mr. Brazel second. All those in favor, raise your hand. And it is unanimous. Mr. Jones left. Mr. Tucker, how do you vote? Okay, so it is unanimous and we are adjourned. Thank you.