Full meeting transcript - January 10, 2023

» All right, good evening, Kershaw County. This is the Tuesday, January 10th, 2023 Kershaw County Council Meeting, and I call this meeting of the new year to order. Moving forward, we used to, well, in the past we used to pray up here. The county council members would pray over the county and the decisions that are being made. Moving forward, we're going to ask any pastors or clergy in the community to pray over our county, the residents, and the decisions made at county council. So for this first county council meeting, I've invited Derek Proctor, my pastor and the pastor of New Life Christian Outreach, to pray us into our meeting. Derek, you have the floor. You can take the podium. Thank you. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, may your holy name be honored.

» We thank you for all your blessings this evening. We are thankful that we belong to you and you are our God. We are thankful that you hear us when we pray and that you answer our prayers. I am thankful for this opportunity to pray for and to ask your blessing for the members of Kershaw County Council and their meetings in 2023. For your word in 1 Timothy 2 states, first and foremost, I urge God's people to pray. They should make their requests, petitions, and thanksgivings on behalf of all humanity. Teach them to pray for kings or anyone in high places for that matter so that we can lead quiet, peaceful lives, revered, godly, and holy. All of which is good and acceptable before the eyes of God our Savior.

» Father, this evening we pray for these members who have made the decision to give their time to serve the people of Kershaw County. We are thankful for our past, our heritage, the foundation that has been laid for Kershaw County, and we trust it is a good and strong foundation. We are also thankful for new beginnings in this new year, this mix of new and existing members. And our request is that you will give them a vision for the future of Kershaw County that will be beneficial for all the people of Kershaw County. We know there will be difficult times ahead, many conversations, many meetings.

» Our prayer is that through the difficult times, through the good times, through the productive times, and not so productive times, that you will keep these members and citizens of Kershaw County in unity. Let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. Bless this board with your wisdom, your knowledge, your understanding, and may they trust in you with all their heart and lean not on their own understanding. And in all things, we will give you the honor for the great things accomplished in Kershaw County. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Derek. Please continue to stand for the pledge allegiance. Thank you. Right next on our agenda is public comments. Mr. Morgan. Madam Chair, we have three people who have signed up for this evening. First is Mr. Tim Taylor.

» Just making a quick, glad to see you guys here in 2023. Well, almost all of you. But look forward to the new year. Hope things go well. And we're all counting on you guys to kind of put some new blood into the county. So thank you. Please. Godspeed. Thank you, Mr. Taylor. And Mr. Morgan, I meant to tell you, everyone's going to have five minutes this evening. And if you will give them a warning at four minutes. And if you're a speaker tonight, when you get that four-minute warning, start to wrap it up because you have one minute left. Yes, ma'am, Madam Chair. The next speaker is Ms. Linda Franklin-Moore. Congratulations, Madam Chairwoman. Thank you. You're quite welcome. And thank you for putting forth yourself to run for public office.

» I come before you tonight regarding the establishment of a sewer committee. I'm opposed to forming such a committee. These committees lack transparency. Additionally, council is not privy to all information and research and must rely on an executive summary from the committee to which they are expected to rubber stamp. Work sessions that are publicly held would be a much better option. Sewer is a vital resource for the county. Whomever controls the sewer controls our economic development. Straight up back, there's no other way around it. Public, private, you control the sewer, you control what type of economic development Kershaw County has. I'm a freelance reporter for The Voice, which covers Blythewood and Fairfield County. I'm also a Kershaw County resident.

» And I recently covered the Blythewood Town Council goal-setting session. And one of their main goals is to make their industrial park the premier industrial park in the state. Now, I'm sure Mayor Brian Franklin would be so thrilled to know that Kershaw County is on the brink of making one of his dreams come true. By having a committee and possibly thwarting your sewer, you know, you just make his park look all the more attractive. Mayor Franklin was quoted as saying the Governor and the Commerce Secretary are hot on his goal and that they are working and striving to make his industrial park the premier one in the state. Well, we have industrial parks here as well. So we might want to check into that and make sure that the Governor and the Commerce Secretary are hot on to us as well.

» If you build it, they will come. We have a finite capacity and a waste load capacity. And we have certain stakeholders. And they're not going to be willing to give up some of their capacity. They may even have some capacity in reserve. And all of these things need to be looked at. But again, in closing, I urge each member of council to take the sewer committee's sewer capacity very, very seriously. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Moore. Madam Chair, the final speaker this evening is Mr. Jeff Maddox. Holy cow. It's a great era in Curshaw County. Congratulations, Katie. Thank you, Mr. Maddox. You too, Danny. And Jimmy, congratulations. I didn't forget about you. It's just been a repeat customer.

» If we're going to have this new era, what are we going to do? What are our goals going to be? For the next four years. Mine is when I look and I see less freedom and more government. And I see government out of control at every level. And it concerns me because over my lifetime, 60, almost three years now. The amount of freedom that we've lost in property rights and individual rights is unbelievable when I look back. And I'm really concerned about that. I'm concerned that our goals are not in a line with freedom. They're in a line of central planning and government control that flows out of the swamp and down through the state and through the council of governments to here. We take bribes because it's free money, money that's printed out of thin air, worth $31 trillion in debt.

» And yet nobody cares. There's going to be hell to pay at some point. I'm not sure when it's going to be. Timing is everything, but I can't tell you when. But I think that we need to build some sort of barricades, some sort of defense for freedom. You can see it, you can smell it, they're tracking everything, they know everything, they want to know everything. Where does it all lead to a feudalist system of fascism and control? What are you going to do to prevent that? You know, I understand recreation and baseball fields and cornhole tournaments and everything is wonderful and so is beer and football. But what's important? When are we going to leave our children? My God, what are we going to leave them? I want freedom.

» I want less government and right now, I'm running out of freedom and all I got is government. So guys, all I can say is let's set some pie in the sky goals, goals that are unattainable but that we strive for. And that is the least amount of government gets the most freedom. And we change the hearts and minds of people that beg for government to do this and that. And we say is freedom more important than recreation or industrial parks or any of these such things? What's more important to you? I know what is for me and that's freedom. Thank you guys. Thank you, Mr. Maddox. Madam Chair, that concludes the individuals who signed up for public comment. Okay, thank you everyone that signed up for public comments. Moving on to adoption of this agenda.

» I'll entertain a motion pertaining to tonight's agenda. So moved. And do we have a second? I'll second it. And any discussion on tonight's agenda? Madam Chair, I have an amendment I would like to make. Under the discussion of our schedule, there's a couple of examples in there. And I'd like to delete those examples because we're open to anything. And I just think it's inappropriate for there to be examples put in there if it wasn't done by a member of county council because it is our schedule. Okay. Item number three under new business. Yes. What you see, if you look at your sheet, we have an example of meeting twice a month for 12 months. And we got another example of meeting twice a month for six months. And then once a month for six months.

» I'm asking that those two examples be taken off so we have free range to make our motions and have our discussions when we get to that part of the agenda. Okay. You move to remove the special notice with the schedules that are in the agenda. The scheduling will stay in there. It's just we're going to move the examples that were put in there. I actually put this on the agenda and I did not request any examples. So I'm asking that to be amended. A second on that amendment. We need discussion. We need a first first. Jimmy, can you restate your motion? My amendment is that we delete the two examples that's in the line for discussion of our schedule because I put it on the agenda and I did not ask for any examples. Do you want a second for? I'll make a second for discussion.

» Oh, we got the second. That's what we're doing this discussion now, aren't we? So there's a motion to approve the agenda. There was a second. Now we're discussing it. Now you've amended it. Yeah, now I've amended it. So I'm looking for a second to amend that. Yeah, for my amendment. I think typically we would make a second to discuss and then we would take a vote, right? I've made a motion and I made a motion to amend the item where it says discussing our schedule. It's very simple. I'm just asking y'all to let's take off the examples that's under there because I didn't ask for examples. I just asked for it to be put under which because it is county council's it is county council's right to set the schedule, not for staff. I'll second it for a vote. That's all right. Okay. Thank you.

» Okay. And I'm calling for a vote on the amendment. All in favor? All right. Mr. Cato, Mr. Tomlinson, Mr. Jones, myself and Mr. Brazel. And Tommy for the- Unanimous. Okay. Found. So now we take a vote on the adoption of the agenda. The motion as amended. Okay. Unless there's any other motions to amend at this point in time, it would be proper to have the motion to approve the agenda as amended. Okay. Any other discussion on the agenda? Okay. I call the vote on the motion to adopt this agenda as amended. So moved. Second it. All in favor? Let the record show Mr. Cato, Mr. Tomlinson, Mr. Jones, myself and Mr. Brazel. All right. Tonight's agenda is adopted as amendment so everyone can take out their special notice with the sample schedules.

» When we get to that agenda item, we'll discuss the schedule. All right. Moving on to approval of the December 15th, 2022 minutes. So the council that was present that are on this council now, Mr. Tucker, Mr. Brazel, and Mr. Jones. Two are here tonight. So we do have a majority of those present and voting. Do I have a motion to approve the minutes from December 15th? So moved. And a second? Second. Mr. Brazel, Mr. Jones, any discussion? No discussion. I'll be abstaining. Mr. Cato? You can pull that mic in front of me. I abstain also. And I do as well. And Ms. Quinton, abstaining all because we weren't present. All right. Mr. Jones, Mr. Brazel in favor of approving the minutes from the last meeting. Mr. Jones, are you in favor? I'm in favor. All right. Thank you. All right.

» Moving on to ordinance. Our first ordinance this year will be setting the rules. Typically, we do a first reading in title only. We actually have the ordinance prepared and ready. So we will be discussing it tonight. This ordinance is amended and restated ordinance by Kershaw County Council determining rules and order of business. And I'll entertain a motion at this time pertaining to this ordinance. So moved. And a second? I'll second. And any discussion on the ordinance? Mr. Jones. Madam Chair, if I may. Yeah, I, uh, what you'll find in the ordinance for our rules of order of doing business, you'll see some changes with the budget. And, uh, you know, what council would do, they would set the budget and they would schedule three readings in public hearing.

» The first reading of budget would be in title only a lot of times. Tonight, it is not because we have the entire ordinance in here tonight, which I wanted to make sure we did that because I think it looks good to not have to go title only. And at the same meeting, the finance committee will, uh, recommend in, in this, in this rules of order, the finance committee would recommend to council a proposed, uh, budget as an agenda item under the, uh, new business of the budget. And the budget would be discussed if then, if desired. Second reading, uh, recommended budget would be set for second reading. And, uh, the council or the administrator proposed the council or administrator to propose amendments on the agenda in writing. Here's what I'm saying.

» What you would do is if you had an amendment to make, you'd put it in writing, uh, five days before we come into this room. And let me tell you why we do that. Because at third reading, I'll give an example. At our last budget session, we had first reading, no increase, balanced budget. Second reading, no increase, balanced budget. Third reading, I was ambushed. Three other members were ambushed. Four members came in. They proposed an entire budget with amendments that, that were absolutely, we were unaware of. So this would prevent that from happening. This would show, I think, more transparency and, uh, help us move further when it comes to accountability as well. But, uh, council amendments or administrative amendments in writing on the agenda.

» And I think that's a good way to, uh, do business. You know, the, the main part of this, the main part of this is the finance committee. And, uh, what this rules of order would say, the finance committee would consider all revenue and spending matters, including financial and economic incentives. Uh, council members can attend, but not vote or discuss. Council members can also submit requests. Council members can make motions on agenda in writing to amend budget on second reading or third reading. Motions will be written on the agenda. So we will not be ambushed. Uh, motions to transfer appropriate funds can still be made by council members, regardless of any consideration by finance committee.

» Uh, takes no authority from any council member or, but it also provides a framework for transparency and public notice. Council as a whole or individual council members can still put amendments to the budget and transfer of funds on the agenda by writing or written motion. Council members can still be made by council members. Council members can still be made by council members. Council member: Thank you Mr. Jones and thank you for working on this. and adding those to our rules. I think they're absolutely necessary. Any other discussion? Council members: Yes. Council members: Questions? Council members: Yeah, well you stayed on me hard enough to get it done. But I appreciate that. And that's a compliment. Council member: Yeah, I'd like to add. I'd like to add to the conversation that.

» Council member: Yes sir. Council member: Mr. Brasel. Council member: I completely agree that that everything should be thought through. And all council members should have an opportunity to review the budget well in advance of a third reading. We had things funded. We were doing work for the fire department. And the way things happened in our last budget cycle, it led me to vote against some people and projects that, to be honest with you, I was thrilled to push forward. But because of the way it happened, I voted against it. And I was disappointed to have to vote against it. But I'd have to agree with Mr. Jones on that point that we were surprised. I had a phone call 45 minutes before the meeting saying, hey, this is going to happen. And I didn't appreciate that phone call.

» I won't say who it was, but he's absolutely right. We've got to be more transparent. We've got to be thorough in our investigations of how money is spent. Tax dollars are precious. And to be quite frank, everybody's department is in need of more. But there's only so much to go around. So we have to be vigilant in the way that we appropriate money. We have to be transparent in the way that we, we hold these proceedings. And I appreciate these changes as well. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. Anyone else for discussion? Just, sorry, go ahead. Sorry, Jimmy. Just to clarify, the, this vote's going to be also on the changes to the public comment guidelines and everything. Correct.

» The entire ordinance includes appendix one, two, and three, which is public hearing guidelines, public presentation guidelines, and public comment guidelines. And the biggest change to the public comment guidelines is removal of the 30 minutes. So each speaker will have five minutes maximum. We will not change that time. If, if 10 people show up or if 20 people show up, everyone will get the same amount of time. Okay, perfect. My only question would be under the public comment guidelines. Um, just wanted to make sure that, and I guess it'd be a question for Tommy, but just wanted to make sure that five and six line item five and six were a public comment period to five minutes maximum allowed per individual speaker.

» And then six, um, I believe the way, way of saying, um, is based on the agenda item and taking away the 30 minutes as, um, Madam chair was saying, but just wanted to clarify that's the case. And item six says public comments to council as an agenda item shall continue uninterrupted to be live streamed by audio and video where available until public comment agenda item is finished and concluded. So that that's related to the agenda item, not to the individual speaker. Correct. Uh, Mr. Tamellons, you are correct. As it relates to number five, the purpose and intent was to remove the 30 minute cap. Okay. And so that way each individual speaker, as Madam chair has indicated, would have the five minutes.

» As for number six, I believe previously there's certain instances took place in which the public comment microphone was cut off and certain things, you know, some of the technology was, was stopped at that point in time. And I believe that's the intent of item number six is to allow that to continue to go forward. And Mr. Jones, I know this is your baby, so to speak. It is. And nobody has the right to turn my mic off. And I think that's exactly what the intent for number six is. Okay. Perfect. I'm perfectly fine with that. I just wanted to clarify. It was done on a regular basis. Go ahead. Once we start the public comments section, we finish it. It's not going to get interrupted. We're not going to go to another topic. We're not going to turn the live stream off.

» It will continue for the entire duration. Mr. Jones. One more thing that's in these rules of order. I don't know if you guys, I'm sure y'all saw it, but let's see. I can't remember what meeting it was, but it was right before Christmas. A motion was made to hang a portrait of every council member that has served three terms, which I thought was despicable and embarrassing. It just made me sick to my stomach. Those two pictures right there were put up there by vote of the current county council. 34 years, 24 years. Okay. There was no law that said, okay, we're going to make sure we put their picture up there in 20 years or 30 years. So what I've done is we've done away with that. And I'll tell you why.

» When I voted to put those pictures up and I agreed with 20 years, I only had nine years on county council. I only got 16 years now, folks. We're going to delete the 20 years. Because Jimmy Jones does not want his picture on the wall. That's not why I ran to serve y'all. I don't want my name on a building. That stuff belongs to you folks. Now, this council can put a picture of somebody up, but it will be like we did for these. There won't be any written law that everybody gets one, because you've been here 10 days. So anyway. Thank you, Jimmy. So I will read that section. It's section 6.6. Naming of county property and displays. Only county council by express action and approval of county council can name county property or buildings.

» And only county council by express action and approval can permit the display of honorariums on or in county property or buildings, including names, plaques, or portraits. So this county council will have to vote on the portraits individually. And anyone can bring that to us. As you said, express action. That's exactly how their pictures got there. It was expressed action. And I was told some families may get mad at me, because they're not going to get their pictures up here. But so be it. I could care less. Thank you, Madam Chair, members of the council. You're welcome. Mr.

» Cato, did you have anything? Any questions? So the main changes in the rules and order of business going forward is that on third reading of the budget ordinance, you cannot bring something up that you have not presented to the public first. It must be on the agenda. The agenda goes out the Friday before the meeting. So you must know that week prior that you plan on bringing an amendment to the budget on third reading. It makes it harder on us to do that. But it's the right thing to do. Thank you. And that, that does clarify only for third reading, correct? Say if, you know, during first reading you had an amendment and you wanted to bring it, would that have to be on the agenda as well? Or what, Mr. Jones? Yes.

» In other words, if you put anything, any amendments you want to make, because you're going to get that, that ordinance, that first reading ordinance, it's normally entitled only, but we're going to try to have it done to where we'll have the entire ordinance. But you're going to have it a week in advance. So if you have an amendment, you'll have time to go ahead and actually have it a lot, lot, lot further ahead than that with the budget workshops and things like that. Mr. Tomlinson, I'm going to read it. Section 2.3, members of county council placing matters on the agenda. County council members can be, can place proposed matters on the agenda subject to section 5.1b by providing the agenda item to the county administrator and clerk to county council by 4:00 p.m.

» on Thursday, preceding the next regular scheduled county council meeting. Which county council will vote or take action on any matter coming before county council together with supporting documentation? So it's not just on third reading. Thank you. You're welcome. All right. If there's no more discussion, then I'm ready to call the vote on the first reading of the ordinance to establish the rules and order of business. All in favor? Mr. Brazel, myself, Mr. Jones, Mr. Tomlinson, and Mr. Cato. Thank you, gentlemen. All right. New business. Our first order of business tonight is the selection of a vice chairman. So at this time, I will entertain a motion to nominate the vice chairman of county council. I'll make a motion. Make a motion to nominate Mr. Jones. I'll second that motion. Okay.

» Nomination for Mr. Jimmy Jones to be vice chairman. Second by Mr. Tomlinson. Any discussion? I have something to say. Yes, sir. I was taking you long enough. Listen, and I'm just cutting up. I've never wanted vice chair. Really don't want it this time. Katie asked me to do that, and I want to thank Mr. Brazel. He yield because he was going for the vice chair, and he's well-deserved of it. But he yield because the chair wanted me to do it, and I did not want to do it. But let me tell you, the authority of the vice chair has nothing. All vice chair does is sit here if the chairman's ever out. And I don't see her ever missing any meeting, so nothing's changed. But anyway, but thank you, members of council. If this goes through, thank you, and I'll do my best not to let you down.

» But you all know my first obligations to these folks out here, as yours is, not to us. But thank you so much. I'm going to read the vice chairman responsibilities from section 4.3, vice chairperson. At a meeting in January following each general election, the county council shall select one of its members to serve as vice chairperson for a two-year term. In the event the chairperson shall be temporarily absent or unable to serve, the vice chairperson shall serve as the chairperson in the chairperson's stead. When the chairperson shall be temporarily absent or unable to serve, the vice chairperson shall, when required, execute on behalf of county council all ordinances, resolutions, directives, bonds, and any other official instruments or documents as required by county council.

» Ready to vote. All in favor of Mr. Jimmy Jones being vice chairman of county council. Mr. Cato, Mr. Tomlinson, myself, Mr. Brazel. And I abstain. Mr. Jones abstains. Congratulations, Mr. Jones. You're the vice chairman of county council. Do I need to thank you? No. You don't? Thank you. Just don't fight with me, please. Thank you, Jeff. All right. Our next order of business, new business. Appointment of clerk to county by council. Clerk to council by council. And Mr. Jones, you put this on the agenda, so I'll give you the floor. Okay. I did. Appointment of clerk to county council.

» I'd like to present a motion that the chair of council be involved in the interview process on behalf of this county council as to a recommendation to this county council as to the appointment by council of a clerk to council. And I'll explain that if you get a second and move on. But that's my motion. Okay. Second. I'll second. Okay. Mr. Cato seconds. And discussion. If I may. Yes, sir. This is the clerk to county council. That is our employee. It's not the county administrator's employee, the county attorney's employee. It is our employee. Now we asked the county minister to go through the process for us because obviously he's got all the tools and he's there. But Madam Chair wants her hands in everything, which is a good thing. And I support that.

» I think this is a good move for her to give up her time to sit in there as it's sort of a second pair of eyes for us. So that's my reason for supporting this tonight. Thank you. Any other discussion? Questions? Okay. Call for a vote on Jimmy's motion. All in favor? Mr. Braswell, myself, Mr. Jones, Mr. Tomlinson and Mr. Cato, and the motion passes. Mr. Templer, how many applicants do we have for that position? Probably around, excuse me, around 40. Okay. And when would, when are you looking to do interviews or get someone in here to serve counsel? I wish tomorrow. Tomorrow? No. I think it would be reasonable to probably look at calling down, if you and I want to sit together, calling down the crowd and I'm looking at the true viable applicants. Okay. And start sometime next week. Okay.

» What is the pay range? I don't have that offhand. Okay. Roughly? 40 to 60,000? Probably 40 to 52. Okay. And is that position still open? Yes. And Ms. Reeder, thank you for being our clerk tonight. We'll try to get someone as soon as possible. All right. Moving on to item number three, the 2023 county council meeting schedule. On your agenda, it shows tab D, but we removed tab D of the agenda. So I will entertain a motion pertaining to our schedule for 2023 at this time. So move. Second. All right. Discussion on the schedule. If I may, I want to keep it simple. Yes, Mr. Jones. I want to keep it simple. We meet twice a month for 12 months. Now, if we need to delete a meeting, Christmas, Thanksgiving, because it may fall on that day, we can do that.

» Or we can have a special meeting which can be called by the chair. Or this council can agree to have, excuse me, an additional meeting. But I think we need to meet two meetings a month for 12 months. And let me tell you why, folks. You go 30 days. You're disconnected. We don't know what's going on. The only reason, and I believe this in my heart, the only reason that was done that way is so they wouldn't have to face some of us up here on county council. And they wouldn't have to, you know, just fight to do business. And maybe some of them had businesses they needed to attend to other than county government. But bottom line is we ran for this position for 40 years. We did two meetings a month for 12 months. And that's the second and that's the fourth Tuesdays of every month.

» And that's my motion. And let me add my motion to that we start at 6:00 PM. And let me tell you why I'm saying 6:00 PM. She asked me to do that. She thinks, and I have to agree with her. There's been many complaints over my 16 years of people saying, Jimmy, I don't have time to get there at 5:30. It's just not enough time. So when she approached me about it when I was doing these rules, as she had on every single other thing I was doing on these rules, I thought that was a great idea. You know, so that's the reason my motion states that. Let's go to work, guys. We got a lot of work to do and we can't do it one meeting a month. I think that shows, to me, laziness on our part. And I know one thing. This is a new group up here and they're ready to go to work. And I'll leave it at that.

» Thank you, Mr. Jones. Any other comments, discussion? Yeah, absolutely. I'm not opposed to coming once a week if we had to. I think, by and large, our role is to help set the budget and then it's to get out of the administrator's way. Would it be possible to find a happy median and move it to one meeting a month in October, November, and December, since that is the holiday season? And we could always call a meeting if need be. Yeah, go ahead. Thank you, Mr. Russell. I respect that, but I disagree with that. And let me tell you what, we need to be in the administrator's way. You know, we hire the administrator. We need to know what's going on. We need to understand what's happening. And I just, one meeting a month, this is just me. One meeting a month just won't cut it.

» I think it's just, I think we need two meetings a month to do the business of the people. And that's my position. But I respect yours. Sure. Thank you. Don't agree with it. Thank you. Madam Chair. Mr. Tomlinson. On our, on our, the schedule listed, we only have one meeting scheduled in the month of December. Is that, so we're doing 11 months of two meetings and then one meeting scheduled in December, or? So I'll ask Mr. Jones to restate his motion. But this schedule that was proposed in the agenda, we got rid of it. We got rid of it. Yeah. Don't even pay attention. To restate my motion, that we meet twice a month for 12 months. We can always cancel a meeting if we need to. We meet twice a month, the second and fourth Tuesdays of every month at 6:00 PM.

» Other discussion? I mean, do we want to hear from the rest of council? We want to. Yes, absolutely. What if we looked with, Thanksgiving being at the end of November and Christmas being at the end of November, what if we looked at just one meeting those two months and two meetings the rest of the year? Can I answer that? Yes, sir. Okay. I'll tell you why that's not a great idea. Because we can always cancel those meetings if we need to cancel them. Thanksgiving hasn't really gotten our way a whole lot, I don't think, has it, Tommy? I can't remember. Generally speaking, Mr. Jones, it has not. No, it hasn't. So, Thanksgiving has not ever gotten our way of having a meeting.

» Now, Christmas will, because a lot of times our second meeting in the month would fall on Christmas Day or Christmas Eve or whatever, and we're not going to meet there. I'm reasonable about it. But guys, look, the people voted us in here for all of us. They want to see us go to work. They want to see change. I think we need two meetings a month, 6:00 p.m., second and fourth Tuesdays. And we can always counsel with due respect, Mr. Kater. We can always counsel a meeting if we find that there's nothing to do or that it's on a holiday like Christmas. We can always counsel it. To me, I feel like we're showing people that we're ready to sit down and put our nose to the grind because we've got a lot to do, and I just think one meeting a month is not a great idea.

» Well, it certainly doesn't bother me. I just thought I'd offer some options. Absolutely. Like I said, I'm happy to come. I know as we work towards budget, I'm sure I'll be up here two or three times a week. So, with that being said, I can support it. Thank you. And I will definitely be supporting it. I think getting it on the calendar for two meetings a month is important than if we have business that needs to get pushed through. We have it, and we can always cancel it. And that's not just for November and December, July, August, September as well, if there's not pertinent business to push through. And, Madam Chair, I think you're going to find that in December, we will just probably meet once a month. But at least we've got it scheduled for twice a month. Thank you.

» That meeting in December would be December 26th. So, it is likely that we will not meet the day after Christmas. But we schedule for twice a month. 6:00 PM, second and fourth Tuesdays of every month. Okay. And thank you for adding 6:00 PM. I think it affords the opportunity for the public to get here. I was forced. Any other discussion? No. Okay. I call for a vote on the motion. Madam Chair, I don't mean to interrupt. I apologize. Mr. Jones has made his motion and there's been a lot of discussion as it relates, but there hasn't been a second in order to have a properly vote. So, I think at this time, maybe the decision is second and then it's at this point in time is ready for a vote. Okay. Mr. Brazel, second. Mr. Jones, motion. Okay. And ready to call for a moat.

» On the motion, we meet two times a month for 12 months on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month at 6:00 PM. All in favor? Mr. Brazel, myself, Mr. Jones, Mr. Tomlinson, and Mr. Cato. Thank you, members of council. Thank you so much. All right. Number four in new business. Distribution of Narcan to all first responders. Mr. Brazel, you put this on the agenda and I'll give you the floor. Thank you. Do we need to make a motion and then get a second or is this discussion? At this point in time, it's my understanding that this is just a discussion. Is that correct? It would only be discussion. Mr. Templar and I talked and it, according to how much it costs, it may call for a vote. So we can just discuss it now and then we can go to a vote if necessary. So that'd be fine. Yes, sir. Okay.

» I think it might be best, Mr. Brazel, if it's a discussion item at this point in time. And I know items five and six say for discussion only. Right. And there may be a situation and I don't want to speak for any of your council members about any of the supporting documentation. I know that's going forward as it relates to the new rules of business. Okay. But I think if you can get a motion and a second on the floor, should a vote be required, I think it's appropriate at this time. Okay. So let's just talk about that. Mr. Morgan and Mr. Brazel, we're not going to change the agenda. So the discussion only items are five and six. So if you have a motion pertaining to this, yes, we need to make it and get a second to get into discussion. Okay. Perfect.

» So I'd like to make a motion relating and pertaining to the distribution of Narcan to all first responders. And to elaborate on that, it would include volunteer firemen. I'll give you a second. Thank you, sir. I won't talk a whole lot about this. I'm going to call on the chief, the fire chief. Where are you at? Sitting in the back. Would you mind coming up and talking about this with us a little bit? I had a conversation, a short conversation with some volunteers, and they were interested in having Narcan on their person in case they came in contact with fentanyl. And so we had some short discussions and stuck it on the agenda. To be clear, there's a DHEC, I think a course that we have to. Yeah. So, Madam Chair, members of council. Go ahead. Thank you.

» Thank you for having me up here tonight. Kershaw County Fire Service is going to enter into the ROLE program through DHEC. The ROLE program stands for Reducing Opioid Loss of Life. That program will allow us to put Narcan on every med bag within the county that we have. The requirements for that would be that we have to go through a certain amount of training. Because we are a government entity and public safety agency, we can't just go to the pharmacy and get the free Narcan that they're handing out whenever you have a prescription, you know, that has an opioid-based substance. So we have to go through certain training. We have to have a certain amount of people train before they'll allow us that drug.

» Once we get to that training point, DHEC will provide us the Narcan for free, free of charge. So the training that's provided through DHEC is free of charge also. So we are currently working with DHEC to get the training date set in stone to start rolling that program out. Perfect. Can you give us a timeline on how long you think it'll take to get this implemented? It's based off of how long it takes us to get each member through training. I've submitted several dates to DHEC right now. I'm waiting their response on when their trainers are available. So as soon as we start getting people in-house trained, we already have some trained in the program. Once we get them trained in-house, we're going to do a train-the-trainer program with them. So we don't have to rely on anyone else.

» We'll have our own trainers in-house to start pushing the training out so we don't have to work around anybody else's schedule. I really appreciate you going to work on it. I think we talked about it, what, two months ago? Somewhere in November. Forty-five days ago, maybe. And we weren't 100% sure if we needed to put it on the agenda or not, but we do want to make it available. And the oddities of government, you know, whereas we can just go get it or we could visit the Alpha Center and pick some up, they can't. They're held to a higher standard, so that's kind of, that was my reasoning behind getting it on here, and I appreciate everything. Maybe you could just report back to us in a couple of months once everything's implemented. Of course. Thank you so much. Mr. Jones.

» I really admire and appreciate Russell's compassion, but here's where I have a problem. One, I support Narcan. I support everybody carrying the Narcan, but one, we don't have a source of where the funding's going to come from. We don't know when. I don't, I think this is something that should be handled on the county administrator's level and not county council, because we don't vote on should they carry a gun or a flashlight. That's something that you handle. And if I'm not mistaken with the grant that's out there, the money's there. The program through DHIC is a lot of a certain amount of money through the grant that you're speaking of. Thank you all, looking at $60,000, aren't you? We know for sure. I'm not sure on that.

» But what I'm concerned about with the motion, the way the motion's in here or was made can lock us in to being responsible if there's not grant money and we don't know where that money's going to come from. I think, one, this is going to happen. I don't think it needs county council's approval. I think the administrator is something he can do on his very own, because you work for him, you know, and that's who you should be talking to about things that you need for your department. Because we're a county administrator form of government, not a county council form of government. Am I right or wrong, Mr. Templer? Correct. And I wholeheartedly agree with you. I just, when a constituent comes to me with a concern of his life, I'm going to bring it to him. Absolutely.

» I'm going to put it on the agenda. Absolutely. And I support your concept. I just think this is the wrong avenue. And it's free. Yeah, and we got it. Yeah, so we're in good shape. I don't think we need a vote. Thank you. I appreciate everything you've done. Yes, sir. Thank you so much. And thank you, Mr. Brazel. I had a lot of questions, Mr. Brazel, but I think the fire chief is going to take care of it. For the firefighters. One of them was Narcan to all first responders. So that includes law enforcement and EMS. But this is just a fire issue at this point? Well, at this point, I'm going to defer to the administrator. All I'll say is it's my hope that everyone who wants it has it available to them. But I'll agree with Mr. Jones that we'll leave it up to you and department heads.

» Thank you. Mr. Brazel, would you like to withdraw your motion? He did. Oh, yeah. I think we kind of already have. We don't need to vote on it. All right. But I'll tell you one thing, Russell. You're right. This is a serious matter. And it's a very important service that we can provide those people. And I do appreciate your compassion on it. I mean that. Yeah, absolutely. I think we got the job done. Moving on to number five. This item is for discussion only. So we will not, I will not entertain any motions and we won't take a vote for anything. We're just going to discuss it. Potential development of a Kershaw County sewer authority. Mr. Brazel, I'll give you the floor.

» So I would, I'd like to hear from everybody, all of my fellow council members, as far as their opinion and their thought. And I specifically want to thank the lady who came up and spoke to that point that you were making is our sewer, Kershaw County's investment, is the key to success in economic development. And I agree with that wholeheartedly. The young men sitting in front of you is my son. His grandfather sat on a sewer committee board for 30 years called Rewa in the upstate. And it's a larger sewer authority, if you will. But what they got to do is they got to become educated on the ins and outs of sewer and what it can do. And growth follows sewer. So we've got a plethora of things to talk about up here. In the past, there have been lines run. We didn't all know why they were run.

» And to your point, ma'am, we were in the dark. My goal and my hope would be to enlighten all of us as the best steps forward, best steps to save money. And if it's a profitable entity for the county, where can those profits go to offset taxes? So your hopes are my hopes as well. I just would like to get everybody's thought on what we like an educated board, such as the Recreation Advisory Committee. We depend on those boards. So I'd ask Madam Chair if we could just open it up for discussion. Yes, absolutely. Gentlemen. So what exactly would the establishment of the authority do? It would be the liaison between council and our sewer utility as a whole? Kind of give a little bit more background.

» I know that you had mentioned the REWA before, but just wanted to get a little bit more clarification about what the authority and what kind of regulatory rules or engagements they would have or be over as far as sewer. So in my mind, if it were a Kershaw County sewer authority, and there were an economic development opportunity, all right? If we needed more capacity, if we needed to partner with someone, they would help make that decision. If we needed to expand the plant, they would make that decision. They would work with state officials. A lot of times, if there's a big economic development opportunity, the state of South Carolina is going to come in and say, hey, we want to help you build that plant. We want to pay X amount of dollars for this economic development opportunity.

» So we run the gamut up here. We touch on a lot of things. I don't think we can be experts in everything. I know I can't be. But I'd like to surround ourselves with people of knowledge. So if we can find some people in the community, if we can form a seven-member board, and each one of those members are educated. I know there's educational opportunities. I defer to Mr. Templar as to different resources and educational tools that these folks can become experts in the sewer world. You know, we're limited. Government's limited. We want to keep it that way. So these folks would come and do this job out of the goodness of their heart. We wouldn't be hiring people. We wouldn't be spending money. I just think it's an idea. I'm not saying it's the only idea. I'm open to alternative solutions.

» But it's been a topic of concern. There's also the topic of concern that the paycheck, if you will, the checkbook, is at, what, 90%. But actual flow is at, like, 45%. There's all kind of unanswered questions about our sewer system and where it should go moving forward. And do we need it to grow? I just, I can't, I can't understand everything about every department. So we just depend on these, these committees. That, that's what I'm thinking. I'd love to hear from you guys. I'd love to hear different thoughts, different ideas. Mr. Jones. Okay. What I'm going to say applies to the next discussion as well, too, when you talk about the architectural board. January of last year, I made a motion for a new comprehensive plan and a new zoning code.

» Our present comprehensive plan and zoning code is basically, was basically done in 2010. A lot has changed since 2010. Zoning and land use is essential to managing growth, which includes sewer and how to manage it and provide it. Administrator, and right now, currently, the administrator is studying and doing an assessment of where we are with our sewer and options. And I'd like to just let us wait and see where we are when we get those options back. And let me say this to everybody here. There's not a single person in this room that knows how much our sewer is worth, including me. There's not a single person in this room that knows the value or really how much flow is coming out. We don't, we haven't looked at the chat, but we, we, we say 90, 95%, and he's right on that.

» But we haven't done any type of assessment. We know nothing about what we have in our sewer. And I don't want to speak for Madam Chair, but I know she's talked to the administrator about doing an assessment and evaluation and getting back with us in 60 days, which I think is appropriate. But the comprehensive plan is our roadmap, not 2030 vision. That's a, that was, that's a wish list. That's a Disneyland list. The comprehensive plan is what controls our growth. Okay. And we, we, we really blew that 10 years ago. We blew it. And the comprehensive plan of the planning and zoning commission, which is mandated by state law, the planning and zoning commission has to meet with us before they finalize that. And the land use ordinance as well, too. So that's where I'm at on it.

» I think we're already looking into it. Now, I will say this, with all due respect, I do not agree with the sewer authority. They had one 30 years ago. They had qualified people on it from DuPont. And Linda, you know this. They had, they had engineers, water authority people at DuPont sitting on it. And we had bureaucracy up to our neck. First off, they have, they have no money. They have no power. They have no authority, but they, but it's just another level of bureaucracy. And yeah, our, our sewer has been mismanaged so bad over the last few years. And if anyone wants to challenge me on that, I'll have said that challenge is in a debate any day of the week. And I'll just give you a little preview, kind of a little appetizer. We needed land. They were going to buy land.

» Then we didn't need the land because it got unpopular. Okay. We could have saved $2 million if we had done a little bit of research on our southern loop, but we're pumping up here. We could have done it where it would go downhill. There's just so much we don't know. But, um, I am, I'm happy to have this study done, this assessment done. It'll be brought back in front of everybody and everybody on this council have a good discussion on it. And, uh, and, and that's what they're doing. The planning commission right now is working on the comprehensive plan, which will talk about sewer and talk about housing authority as well. Thank you. If I may. Yes, sir. I agree with every word you just said. Thank you.

» And it's, it's my goal and my hope that we could gain some help to move forward in a better direction. Um, my intent in, in bringing up this discussion is to compliment what you've been discussing and to compliment what, what we've been talking about for, um, I've, I've only been here two years now. Um, but, um, it's always been an important topic, um, but I've, I've got a job. I've got a, I've got a job in the working world and I've got a family and, uh, just as, as you said, we become disconnected. Um, you're right. I would love a group of people who can become experts on the sewer, bring us educated forward moves. I mean, um, we, we can't, we can't operate if we don't know what our capacity is. We can't plan growth in the right direction.

» If we don't know what our capacity is, uh, we can't, we can't plan anything. And if we can't plan anything and it, if we're expected to be the experts on everything, I'm going to fail miserably. So we're not voting on it tonight, but I would ask all of my fellow council members to at least consider it. Um, now I will say it, it, it relieves us of a certain amount of power. And I think that's why one hasn't been formed in the past. Um, some of the elected officials wanted all of the control and all of the power. And I think moving forward, it'd be much more transparent. These meetings will be open door meetings, not closed door meetings. They will be minutes recorded and everything will be available to the public. But this is, this is important. This is important to our future.

» Um, the, the kind of jobs that we land, the sort of, the sort of jobs that, that, that my grandchildren will have, um, in, in this community lie heavily on whether or not Herschel County is, is able to move forward and negotiate its, its sewer system. So it's really heavy on my heart. I want it to be positive. I want it to be a good thing for, for Kershaw County. And, um, that, that's just kind of how I feel about it. And I, if, if you gentlemen don't want to comment, that's okay, but I'd love to hear your thoughts. Madam chair, um, I, I, you know, I know we have a lot of new members. I, I got appointed to, to fulfill, um, had a couple of meetings and I believe we had the, um, the director of sewer back in the November, October meeting, um, come and discuss.

» But, you know, with another, another member who's going to be coming new, um, at the end of January, I think it'd be a good, good idea to have, um, sewer come and present again. Um, I know that we're, we're waiting on the engineers to do our checkbook, um, to see exactly where our flow is. And I think there was some flow that was promised over 20 years ago, um, that are still on the checkbook. So, you know, the average that we're thinking is about 45%, but we really don't know. Um, but I think with all the, with all the new, um, people, including myself sitting right here, I think it'd be very good option to have, to get our sewer come.

» Um, cause I know there's some other talks in the future, um, but I w I would love some more knowledge and I think that would be the best option if we're going to go forward, especially making decisions on, you know, something that directly affects the people who we serve. Thank you, Mr. Tomlinson. Mr. Cato. Uh, Mr. Braswell, I'll, I'll be the first to say I'm not totally against what you're discussing here tonight, but, um, I w I also would like to have a little bit more knowledge, a little bit more time to see if it's something that maybe we are, that we could find a resolution to, but I'm not, I'm not posing what you're saying at all. That may be something that we may want to look into in the future if we as a council can't find a resolution to our sewer issue.

» And, and that's, that's exactly why I brought it up for discussion only. I, I wanted to start a conversation and it's very important in these conversations to, to realize at this moment in time, I don't know of any real issue, but I know growth is coming. We can all see it. It's going to become an issue. Um, so planning is, is, is what we should do. Um, and, and secondly, I think that we all need to realize that there's only a certain amount of sewage that's, uh, treated, treated water that's allowed to be dumped into the watery river. Currently, we have a permit, Danny, is it 4 million gallons per day? 2. But we, don't we have a permit for more than that? Right, we're, we can go up to 4, but the capacity is 2.

» So, so we, we can pick the phone up and call DHEC and say, hey, we really need 8. Is that possible? That would be another permitting process. 60 million dollars. That would not be possible. So, my point is that I want to protect our capacity that if we needed to, and we can also treat water to a higher level, if, if we were to lose that, Richland County would be pumping on a bunch of sewage in our river and we wouldn't have control over an economic development project in the future. Those are things that I know a little bit about, but I'm not sure if we're going to lose that, Richland County would be pumping a bunch of sewage into our river and we wouldn't have control over an economic development project in the future. Those are things that I know a little bit about, but I'm no expert.

» So, I'd love to surround myself with a group of experts, and, and all of us. I'd love to surround this council with a group of experts. So, anyway, enough of that, thank you so much. Thank you, Mr. Braslin. Mr. Templer, who would you say is the expert in sewer for the county? Currently, at the time, our engineering firm, we, we have as consultants, Davis and Floyd. Okay. And one individual, he is my point of contact, so. Okay. And how many employees are at the sewer treatment facility? Around 20. Okay. And I would think that they are very knowledgeable, um, in the ins and outs. They are, they have to be, um, DHEC certified as, as class B operators for the plant. So, I mean, just for the, the handling the affluent and all, all the inner workings that go on. Okay.

» Treatment facility that have to be certified and licensed. Okay. So, Mr. Braslin, I absolutely agree there's a lot of things we need to know. We need to be updated on a lot. I would like to get briefed, Mr. Templer, on the current sewer situation and the operations. Um, I don't know if that needs to happen through a committee though. Just because I feel like the sewer needs to be addressed immediately and the time that it would take to form a seven member committee or a board, um, get the appointments and get them to be the experts to come back and brief us. I'd rather have the experts brief us now so we can deal with it as soon as possible. I did look up the former water and sewer authority back when we had one. It was abolished in 1999 and I did ask Mr.

» Tucker to speak on this tonight and Mr. Jones, you might remember as well and you can provide some historical context, um, but it was created to work with any water supplier to expand, um, it was also to coordinate planning facilities to deliver water and waste to new service and service suppliers, develop joint agreements with boards and councils, develop wastewater treatment systems, and evaluate existing systems. So that's what they did in the past and it, it didn't, for some reason they abolished it. What they could not do, so this is a sewer authority, they could not do the following: They could not adopt an annual operating budget, including staffing requirements, contract services, or general expenses. They could not prescribe rates, fees, or regulation.

» They could not make contracts of any kind. They could not sell, lease exchange, or transfer any grant options for the purpose of sewer. They could not acquire by purchase, lease gift, or otherwise obtain options for the acquisition of any property for the sewer. They could not borrow money, issue bonds, authorized construction, and several more items. So they were very limited. Um, so at, at this point I really want this council to get as much information as they can from Danny, the employees, our engineering firm, so that we can make an educated decision as soon as possible. This year, probably. I, I think all those rules were, would probably suit, you wouldn't want to, you wouldn't want a sewer authority with complete control.

» That you would want them to bring ideas to us and studies to us and that sort of thing, so. Right. Um, and I don't even think we, our current sewer, did it exist in 1999? Because I remember watching it, watching it being built, and I thought it was in maybe the early to mid-2000s. But that's why they had the sewer authority. They, they were, they were, they were building it. It was the sewer. They were kind of studying next steps in order to actually create a, a sewer treatment facility. When was it built? I don't know what the era was. Are you talking about the construction that was going on? 97. Correct. Is there construction going on in Highway 5 there? Yeah, at Riverview. I think that was a lift station or some sort of component going along with it, but.

» Well, I was actually turkey hunting the property when it was being built. I just can't remember the year. So it, I can remember it, but it, it had to be in the late 90s, early 2000s. It was 97. Okay. And then 99, the sewer authority was disband. If I may. Yes. Yes, sir. Listen, with all due respect, and, and I appreciate you bringing this up here for discussion, but I am absolutely not for our sewer authority. And, and, and let me say, I think it's bureaucracy. I think it's bigger government. I think it's going to stifle us. I, I think it's, I don't think this is what he's trying to do. I think he's trying to do the best he feels what works for the county, and I respect that. But based on, on my experience, well, I'm not concerned about any power with the sewer.

» I'm concerned about money, because we may have a two mil, two mg plant today. We make it go to four million gallons per day, but it's going to cost us 40 million dollars to go to four. That's my concern. My concern is, where is the money going to come from? I can tell you exactly where it's going to come from, folks. Not on my watch. I know. And, and you've been, and I will say this about this man over here. He has, he has lived up to that. No question about it. But if we don't do it, then we won't, we got to come up with something. And I know, and I know Mr. Brasel is thinking in that direction. I'm just thinking in another direction. But bottom line is, we don't know what we have.

» And what I'd like to ask us to do is wait and see what we have in our sewer, such as when, when the assessment, when the administrator finishes with his assessment, and comes back and says, this is what it's worth. This is what we have. This is what we don't have. This is what it's going to take to get to where we want to go, you know, with the planning, with the comprehensive plan and the planning and zoning. Committee. That's where I'm at. But thank you, Mr. Brasel. Thank you, Madam Chair. I think it's all good conversation that, that I just wanted to develop a dialogue. I don't want to vote on anything. I don't want to ask anybody, but I want everybody to really think about how it impacts Kershaw County as a whole.

» All the residential customers, except for one small line in East Camden, which I still can't figure out why it exists, because there's a river in between that line and the sewer treatment plant. It serves Lugolf. It serves Elgin. And I thought about why would you develop a board and, you know, a board in which Danny Cato would, would pick somebody. And he lives in Bethune and it doesn't really impact him. But the more I thought about it, I said, you know what, it really does. Because if our sewer was key in a big economic development win, then people in Bethune can have job opportunities. And that's why I'm so passionate about this topic, just as Mr. Jones is. And a sense of urgency to know the facts. I'm there too.

» I feel a sense of urgency to know the facts, but I don't feel a sense of urgency that we have a major issue that we need to take action on, only because I know if we get a major economic win, it'll take them two or three years to build the facility. And if the state of South Carolina came in with some money, we could parallel building a new facility. And that would not impact taxpayers. Mr. Brasel, how does creating a sewer authority, though, impact a major economic win? Or like whether we have a sewer authority or not, I think the... What would be their role in getting that economic business here? I think they could take the time to attend some courses. They could take the time to meet with some experts.

» And they could really be educated on how sewer systems impact counties and impact economic development. That would be my thought. And they can also, you know, learn how the residential customers impact it. They would just know so much more than I do. You hope, at least. Through education. Yeah, that would be my hope. Yes, ma'am. If I may, Ms. Brasel, would you be willing to just put the... I think you said you'd be willing to just put this off till we get our study back and see what we have. Oh, this is just for discussion. Absolutely. Yeah. Discussing if we need one. Yep. And Mr. Templer, when's our timeline on kind of getting back the study from the engineers? Do we have an estimate on that? Still within the 60-day time frame. I'm having meetings.

» I had a meeting as recent as today at noon with, you know, discussing what options are going to look like. How is it structurally going to look to not have 20 options, but to have three or four viable options that are easily digested and set you all up for success as far as making a decision on what is best. So, right now, we're just hammering out in the structural portion of it. There will be on-site assessments of our site or of our system in the valuation, you know, 60 days. So, you're having our system evaluated currently? Essentially, yeah. For its quality of service or what? Just everything. Just to see where we stand. Going back to your point with the checkbook, I want to know where we're actually at.

» If there's actual flow, and then there's theoretical flow, which is the checkbook, so. Yeah, I mean, we need to know what actual flow is, right? Right, right. And the value. All right, we're getting a little off the sewer authority. Perfect. Thank you for all your hard work, Danny. I appreciate it. Sorry, Brent. Cut it off. Any more discussion on the sewer authority or a committee? Okay, moving on to item number six. This is also for discussion only. Potential development of a Kershaw County Architectural Review Board. And Mr. Brazel, you put it on the agenda so you have the floor. Thank you. Once again, similar thought process. Danny Templar, I can't see two of you up there. It's just one of you. Man, you got a job.

» And 20 plus years ago, somebody told me, he said, "The way to be successful, surround yourself with good people." And you have done that. And I applaud you for that. We've gotten some tremendous remarks lately regarding how well some of our employees are doing. You and I have had private discussions. And I just want to make that public that Danny Templar is surrounding himself with some of the best people in Kershaw County to make Kershaw County government efficient, friendly, customer service oriented, which is something we hadn't always had. But moving forward in talking about an architectural review board, I don't have a specific intent. Again, I want to hear everyone's thought. We've got a lot of friends and neighbors that are seeing a change in Kershaw County.

» They're seeing national builders showing up and building national builders' homes. Now, I've been in the home building industry all my life, or in an industry that serves the home building industry. And these folks come from out of town and they build homes in a community. And we're left with subdivisions in neighborhoods that we have to make sure that we maintain the roads. We have stormwater issues that we have to maintain. Those are all expenses for Kershaw County. An architectural review board can help guide. And I want to also thank Mr. Jones, what you did with getting the rewrite of the comprehensive plan is exactly what needed to be done. We really can't implement any changes until that's done, but that's a long process. That's 12 to 15 months out still.

» That's what planning and zoning told me. So an architectural review board could be a team of local architects, local builders, local experts, if you will, that we can surround ourselves with to help shape the future of Kershaw County. I don't know about the rest of you guys in this room, guys and gals, ladies and gentlemen, but I think Kershaw County is special. I was born here, was raised here. I went to college, I came back, and left since. I intend on being here all my days. Sometimes change is hard to swallow, and I can accept some change, but I want to make sure that everyone that moves to Kershaw County is moving into a county that they can appreciate. They can appreciate the quality of the homes.

» They can appreciate the fact that we did our job to make sure that those homes were built to maybe a slightly higher standard. We're not looking to turn things upside down, but I think we do need a group of experts in this field that could help. We could form a group. We're going to get a lot of public input, but unfortunately, just like on recreation, we didn't get as much input as we had hoped when we held public work sessions. But if we can have a group of experts that could help us when it comes time to rewrite that comprehensive plan, I know it helped me because I almost feel like, gosh, we're alone in this situation, and we need help. We need experts. We need input, and I think that's what an architectural review board could serve as as we rewrite this.

» And of course, we want to keep everything as non-bureaucratic as possible. I don't look at this as bureaucracy. I look at this as community. So when when I bring these things up for discussion, I think an architectural review board would be beneficial and it would help administration. It would help planning and zoning. It would give us all an idea of what we want the county to look like in the future. With that being said, if anybody wants to comment or discuss it. Yes, sir. Go ahead. Mr. Jones. Thank you very much. I'm absolutely against the architecture review board. I understand everything you're saying, Mr. Brousel.

» But you know, to me, it's almost like we're duplicating our efforts because we have the planning zoning committee already working on the comprehensive plan, which will which will also be encumbered with that. They'll be taking care of that as well, too. So I just I do think that's bureaucracy and we have we have a little bit of a respectful disagreement on that. I do think it's a lot more bureaucracy and I think then the planning commission is now going to work with the architecture review board. They got to work with county council. They're already doing what we're asking the planning zoning commission to do and they'll have no authority. The architecture board have no authority. I just think we need to let the company and this is what happened when we started touting the 2030 vision.

» We got off course and it had no teeth. It had no meaning. It sounded good. It felt good. But bottom line is our comprehensive plan is mandated by state law. We are doing that. We are we are working on change. We are working on more control of how the housing industry goes. I'm going to tell you folks, we better really get on the stick if we're going to bring industry in here. You know, we're a textile state and we and that was the first to go when Armageddon hit. And I will tell you we better be thinking of other ways to get economic development here because, you know, it may be in plastics or something, but I'll tell you textile, it's gone. And I can tell you right now, we did not create any 500 stinking jobs last year. I can tell you that now.

» I'll stand on a Bible stack 10 high and I get irritated when I hear that kind of rubbish. If you go back over the last 10 years, you'll see a loss in jobs overall. You'll see a loss in revenue overall. One thing I want to say about this man on my right. He's good with numbers. He's smart. And let me tell you, he's been working on the fee in lieu. And I hope I'm staying germane to the thing. But I have appreciated your efforts on that, Russell. It's been really good. And I support you on those. But I just can't support this at this point in time. I think it'd just be, I think it would be bigger government, more bureaucracy. And let's let the plannings on the commission do their job mandated by state law. And they're going to be sitting down with us and talking with us.

» I don't want to throw it out. The last committee that was established, what was the committee that was established by the past administration that had 40 people on it? No, excuse me, 15 people on it. Just 11. 11, excuse me. My gosh. I've heard nothing from the committee. I heard some nice words in here once in a while. But let's let the plannings on the commission do their job. Let's work with them. Let's sit down at a table with them. We know what, I think we all are thinking alike in here, but I just don't want to see bigger government and more bureaucracy. Uh, it's just not going to work. And I guess, can we legally do that? Um, so it would have to be part of our comprehensive plan.

» So our comprehensive plan is going to include a housing element that considers types, age, and condition of housing, and a land use element. So we will be redoing our zoning and land development regulations. Okay. Okay. If we, um, enact a zoning ordinance that has specific provisions for the preservation and protection of historic and architectural value districts, we can enact a board of architectural review. So until we have it in our zoning ordinance, we can't, that's state law, we have to have in our zoning ordinance specific requirements to alter the exterior appearance of buildings and structures. Then we can create a board to make sure that the exterior of the structures is in accordance with the certain zoning ordinance.

» Um, my concern, if we, if we did that, if we go through the comprehensive plan and we put those elements in there, we have such a diverse county, the zoning ordinance that controls the exterior, exterior appearance of a building or structure. And that's not something I would be interested in doing. I don't think we can tell people what their house is going to look like or if it is a certain way.

» The moving, so that's the, the architect, the board of architectural review by state law, a local government, which enacts a zoning ordinance, which makes specific provisions for the preservation and protection of historic and architectural value districts and neighborhoods or significant or natural scenic areas or protects or provides or both for unique special or desired character in a defined district corridor or developmental area or any combination. So this would be, there would be restrictions in certain areas. We couldn't do it just in, it would have to be the whole county. We couldn't do it in Lugoff or Bethune or Liberty Hill. Um, I don't think that we need to put in the comprehensive plan any restrictions on the exterior appearance of the house.

» I would, I would, I would have to disagree because I know that certain areas and I know we're not a resort area, but this is an extreme case. Hilton Head did it. Um, they didn't break the law. Kiowa did it. Daniel Island did it. This is not necessarily what, not looking to do anything to, to those levels, but it's, it's certainly legal and impossible because I've seen other counties do it. Yes, if it's in your zoning ordinance. So we would have to have a zoning ordinance that has specific requirements for the exterior of buildings. Then we would create the board to make sure and then people could appeal to the board if they don't want to meet those certain exterior appearance requirements.

» But in a county this diverse, the places you mentioned are very similar types of buildings and houses. We have rule, we have city. Well, and I think that, that does, to your point, go back to zoning. So if, if you've got a RD1 or an RD2, that's not subject to this. But if you had maybe a, a denser high density development such as R15 where the locks are 15,000 square foot, well, maybe you don't want that certain low end look in a high density subdivision. So it could be tied to density. It's a, it's a matrix situation. It could be tied to zoning. Yes, it could be. For example, city of Camden, they have a historic value. Right. And, and, and we're not talking about the historic areas. Um, we're talking about what Kershaw County is going to look like in 20 years.

» And growing up, people used to always say, why don't they do something about that? Well, we are they. And to, to do nothing, I think I would feel like I just didn't do my job if I didn't bring it up. Now we can vote on it. And if it's voted down, I respectfully, um, move forward and we'll continue our other conversations that are important. But I literally hear from constituents weekly with concerns of traffic, with concerns of, oh my gosh, I can't believe how busy it is coming through town. And I don't want to restrict builders. I want to help Kershaw County be the best that it can be. I am builder friendly. Mr. Jones knows that extraordinarily. We were on a call today with the gentleman trying to help him. But my point is, this can be done. I know it can be done.

» It's been proven in other areas. And I think we can do it in such a way that we can find common ground and a happy median. And, um, it can be a positive for the community. If I didn't hear from people every day, I wouldn't bring this up. But it's every week, it's every, some weeks, it's five or six days in a row. What are you going to do about it? And I'll say, we have a team now that's willing to look at these situations. We have a new council. And this new council is willing to look at the hard questions. We're not going to please everybody. I understand that. I can't please everybody. We won't please everybody. But these are important things.

» And I can, I really hope that, that we can form some sort of a, even if it's, if it's as small as this, if we can, if we could form a committee or an ad hoc committee that could help with the comprehensive rewrite. Because right now, Danny, who is it? It's, it's Joey. Joey's involved. So we've contracted. Yes, we have someone to do it. Right. It's the contract approved a while back. It was House CEO of Levine. Out of Chicago. They don't know how we want Kershaw County to look. I've, I've seen pictures of Chicago. I don't want to look anything like that. County council has the final say. So we will not let them create a comprehensive plan that. So all I'm saying is a team devoted to, um, our go, our goals and our hopes that is that, is that something that we're willing to look at? I can.

» Yes, sir. I think the comprehensive plan is the way to meet those goals. Yes. We want to do the same thing. I just think the comprehensive plan needs to do it rather than an architectural review board. Okay. So, well, I was deviating a bit from an architectural review board. Are we going to sit in on these meetings as a group to, to help form that? They have to sit, they have to sit down with us. Okay. Well, then I'll ask this. We're already doing it. Yeah. Well, we hadn't seen anybody yet, but it takes, you can't do it overnight. There's different phases. When they get to that phase, they'll sit down with us on county council, members of the planning zoning.

» So if we're going to take that task on ourselves, then, then all I would ask for is the commitment of everybody to, to walk into those meetings really willing to roll their sleeves up and let's, let's help Kershaw County be the best county it can be moving forward. And I think we can all agree to that. Yeah. Madam Chair. Yes, sir. Tommy, legal. Yes, sir. It's mandated by state law that comprehensive plan that we get involved in that process, isn't it? Correct. Yeah. What happens is Mr. Jones and Madam Chair, members of council is that the planning commission are the ones that are tasked with the initial work through on the comprehensive plan. The comprehensive plan is the guideline document that provides the suggestions of what growth is desired to be looked like by members of council.

» And then it's the zoning ordinance that in, in, in basically enacts those guidelines. And so what ends up happening is you have a, a document that's the comprehensive plan that the planning commission through the outside consultants have already started with the rework process, rewrite process. My understanding that they will be coming down and having multiple meetings with members of the, of the community. They may have meetings with members of the commission. Um, community members can go online. They can go and tend in person. Uh, I know that the planning commission is working hard to push that information out on behalf of council so they can get the input. Mr.

» Varazeluk, you're indicating from individuals, whatever side of the river, whatever part of the county they're on and what they want to see. Once that comprehensive plan, there's multiple elements that are, that relate to it. Once that is finished, almost going along, it's kind of like a parallel track, like a railroad track. You'll have the rewrite begin on the zoning, the regulations themselves. And those regulations can be rewritten, but it will be looking towards what the comprehensive hand plan points out as it relates to desired growth, so on and so forth. And that's, and that's our, I mean, we vote on that, we pass it or we send it back, we amend it or whatever. But they will be sitting down with us. They have to sit, we have to have meetings and sit down and discuss this.

» - Correct. There will be, and it's my understanding, and I don't necessarily know the full timeline. There's going to be public workshops. - With county council. - With county council, with the commission and both. - So that's all I'm saying is that we're following state law now for once in eight years. I don't want to, I don't want, I don't want to go do something, create something that, you know, we're already doing that. We're already looking at it. Am I correct or not? - Yes sir, there is a statutory requirement that it be rewritten every 10 years. It has to be reviewed every five years. And there is a differentiation, as Madam Chair has pointed out, an architectural review board, if using that legal term of art, Mr.

» Brazel, is more focused underneath the guidelines of the zoning ordinance and focused more specifically on the historic aspects. - But that falls back to the planning zoning commission. - Correct. - That's what I'm saying. - And then the commission and then be approval by council. - Were you quoting state law, Madam Chair? - Yes sir. - Yeah, that was 629-790 and 870. I'm sorry? - So you can or cannot form an architectural review board as a county? - The county can have an architectural review board. There's no, there's no prohibitions, but it's, it goes through the process. It has to come under the zoning ordinances. - Yeah, absolutely. I wouldn't want to do it incorrectly. - Correct. - Yeah, makes sense. - Sir. - We all agree on that. Thank you. I'll call it. Let's move on.

» - Any other comments, questions? Good discussion. Thank you, Mr. Brazel. - Perfect. Thank you. - All right. We have no old business tonight. And we will go right into council briefings, starting with District 1. Mr. Brazel. - Oh, I feel like I just got through talking. - Um, I'd like to commend our administrator, Danny Templar, for his Plus One program. Can you, can you brief us just real quick on what your Plus One program is here for, for your employees? - Yes, sir. Um, Plus One program is something I've implemented since taking the helm here as the administrator to challenge every employee from myself on down to come to work, do the absolute best job you can, and find one thing extra to do every day. Um, and they range.

» Some days it's, um, instead of telling someone that the, the treasurer's office is the third door down there on the right, you walk them down there. It's, um, looking at, um, issues is just not through the lens of it's not my problem. If an issue comes to you, it's your problem. If you work for Kershaw County, that is your problem until you get it to the right person that can take care of it. Um, it is about uplifting each other. Is, is your, um, your employee, your, your fellow employee helping them when they're struggling. They help you when you're struggling, um, helping the public and just really at the core, trying to change the culture of government, um, to make us a true service provider instead of a red tape dispenser.

» So if we see an issue, we look for ways to, how do we fix this? What can we do? Not what do we have? What can we get out of, um, in terms of our duty? Um, we're, we're servants of the public. This is our community. And I want us to have ownership as employees of this, of this community. Um, so I'm, I'm already seeing these nominations. Um, the way the progress, the process works, there's a nomination card that a fellow employee can fill out. A member of the public can fill out if they see someone doing something exemplary. Um, my favorite example is when we had Kermit here. He was our security guy at the government center.

» I can't tell you how many times I saw Kermit in a security capacity, helping a handicapped person to their vehicle, helping them with their mobility scooter or wheelchair. But he didn't have to do that, but he did it time and time again. To me, that's the quintessential example, plus one behavior. Um, and I, that's the culture I want. That's the type of people I want. I want people to work here with the heart of a servant. Um, and so those cards are, they're unsolicited. Fill out the card, come to me. Um, each month we will have a board look at them for the most exemplary, plus one behavior, and we recognize that person. So y'all will see coming in, in the future, we'll have those employees at council meetings to have them recognized for helping me, again, change the culture.

» So we're really truly serving our community here. I'll tell you what, Danny Templar, you're doing a great job. You work, you wear a million hats. You work, you work very hard. I think we just got a good service briefing. Yeah. Yeah, we did, right? So, um, I just want to say thank you to you. And I also want to say thank you to, uh, to Brant and to Jimmy and to Ben Connell for seating this man last year when we did. I was told it wasn't going to happen. We made it happen, fellas, and we made the right decision. Thank you very much for doing the job that you do for this county. You show us what true leadership looks like. And I'd also like to recognize I went in, uh, to the 911 emergency communications room. Boy, what a job those, those guys have in there.

» I went in earlier this week and they're looking at eight monitors taking these phone calls. They truly are the first ones on the scene. Um, I just want to give them a, uh, a big thank you from, from, from myself and, and I know probably from, from all of us, right, is to the job that they do. But, um, that's all. Thank you very much. All right. District two is absent. District three is unfilled. District four. Mr. Jones. I do not have anything other than, I just want to make sure Mr. Morgan, keep me in line here. Okay. I do want to make a motion to go into executive session dealing with an employee issue. And that's on the agenda after legal briefing. But I know that we, uh, I just want to make sure that that's known in my council briefings. Right.

» You can do that as, as the chairs indicated after legal briefing. That is an agenda item. You can make that a motion at that time. No, no further comment. Mr. Tomlinson. I don't have anything. I'd just like to thank staff. Thank you, Danny, for all you're doing. Tommy, thank you for, um, for filling in. And, um, thank you to Ms. Reeder. She, she's going above and beyond and, um, having to fill multiple positions that she always does and, and run a family. Uh, with a little one and a business. So thank you. Thank you for, for doing this. Um, and thank you to each member of council. I, I, this was actually a blessing tonight, um, being able to sit here and have good, um, board thinking conversations. And, and thank you for Russell for putting out some good ideas.

» Um, I appreciate this and look forward to a happy new year. Mr. Cato. Well, I'm going to take a little bit of time, but not much. I want to start by thanking each and every one of you. I am very humbled, very appreciative to be sitting here. I look forward to what the future holds for Kershaw County. I look forward to what this council can do for Kershaw County tonight. I swore in on this here Bible. This Bible was the Bible that my daddy received in 1971 when he was ordained deacon at Timrod Baptist Church. I can't tell you what that meant to me. I was surrounded by my children, my mother, my wife, my grandchildren, and a lot of friends, a lot of friends I see sitting out there today. With that being said, there's going to be some tough decisions to be made over the next four years.

» These decisions, some people are going to agree with, some are not. But I want the people of Kershaw County to know that I have a vested interest from Elgin to the northern part of Kershaw County. It's not just my district. It's all of Kershaw County. My children live all over Kershaw County. My family, my friends are from all over Kershaw County. And I promise you tonight that I will never make a decision that I think would harm Kershaw County in any way. I want to thank these council members for the consideration they've given me as a new member. I want to especially thank the administration. They have went above and beyond to welcome me, to get me settled for tonight. It's a little nerve wracking coming in on your first time, but I can't thank them enough.

» Danny, I want to reiterate what Russell has said. You're doing an outstanding job and I appreciate that. I really do. Again, I wish you all the best. I ask you this. I ask that you pray for this council, not me, but this council, that we do what we need to do for Kershaw County, whether everybody agrees with it or not, that we do the right thing, the best thing for Kershaw County. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Mr. Kato. Ms. Gwynn. Yes, sir. I'd be remiss if I didn't apologize for not recognizing you and Danny as new members. Welcome. Thank you for your leadership. Thank you for being here. Brant, I'm not going to welcome you. You've been here for a little while. But he did just get resworn in, as did all of you. I'm looking forward to the future with every one of you. Thank you, Mr.

» Brasel. You know, it is so nice to see you let him speak out of turn. I like that. Can I speak? Can y'all see this? Does it need to be bigger? Well, this, we paid nothing for these. Russell Brasel donated these and made them himself. So thank you, Russell. Thank you, Jimmy. My ego's not that big. I got, I got Jimmy's in the back of my truck. I'm bringing it in later. Jimmy did not want to give up his old nameplate. So thank you for making county council. Nor my seat. Look the same. But I did. All right. It's a packed house still. Thank you for staying with us. Everybody that is online and listening, thank you so much for tuning into the special, this first meeting of 2023.

» Um, I want to let you all know in full transparency, this ordinance that determines the rules and order of business, the finance committee is extremely important. The administrator and myself, we'd like to get started with budget season, um, as soon as possible. The first week in February. To do that, we need the finance committee formed. So I will be calling a special meeting to have second reading of the rules and order of business, um, mainly so we can get that finance committee set up and have third reading on January 24th. After third reading, if the ordinance passes, we will establish the finance committee at that meeting. So just a heads up on that. Ms. Reader, I'll get with you for the other members' availability.

» Um, secondly, we have a very special event that happens in Kershaw County every year in February. It's called Night to Shine. It is a prom for special needs individuals ages 14 and up. It is happening Friday, February 10th of this year. And, um, it's a very special experience. And, um, Kershaw County is lucky to have one. We have people that come from other counties just to participate in the one here. So I want everyone, uh, to have that on their radar, have that on your calendar. If you know someone who would like to participate, please let me know.

» Also for the January 24th invocation for the meeting, um, if there is a local pastor or priest or anyone in the clergy that would like to pray over this meeting and the people of Kershaw County, please contact me so that we can get you on the agenda for the next meeting. And that's all I have. We'll go to the administrator next. Um, Madam Chair, members of Council, I'd just like to thank the, um, Council for everything they've done for the employees so far with Plus One. I, I hope I get y'all's endorsement on that. It's important for me to, um, again, um, support the employees. Um, welcome, Madam Chair. Um, thank you. I look forward to working with this council. Welcome, Danny. We go back a little bit in our law enforcement days.

» So looking forward to working with all of y'all and eventually when we get seat three filled, um, I really look forward to what we'll do as a group, as a team for the community. Um, budget season is going to be fast and arduous. So, but I look for a lot of good to come out of that as well. So, and that is my report. Thank you, Mr. Templer. All right. Legal briefing, Mr. Morgan. Uh, Madam Chair, members of Council, apart from welcoming all the new members to Council, there is no legal briefing. Thank you. All right. At this time, I'll move to an executive session.

» Do we have any matters that cause for an executive session tonight? Madam Chair, I make a motion that we enter into executive session to discuss the personnel matter and receive legal advice from the county attorney pursuant to South Carolina Code, um, section 30-4-70-A1. Okay. Mr. Jones, do you anticipate a vote coming out? I do not anticipate a vote. Okay. Motion to go into executive session to discuss a personnel matter with legal advice. So moved. And do we have a second? I'll second. Any discussion? I would like the county attorney and the members of county council. Okay. County attorney and member of county council in executive session. And I'll call for the vote. In favor of going into executive session, Mr. Cato, Mr. Tomlinson, Mr. Jones, myself, and Mr. Brazel.

» At this time, I'll entertain a motion to come out of executive session. So moved. Second. And all those in favor of coming out of executive session, Mr. Cato, Mr. Tomlinson, Mr. Jones, myself, and Mr. Brazel. Council met for executive session. There will be no vote taken. Um, it was legal advice on a personnel issue. We're back to our agenda, and we are up to adjournment. Can I have a motion to adjourn? I'll make a motion. Second. All those in favor and adjourning? Mr. Cato, Mr. Tomlinson, Mr. Jones, myself, and Mr. Brazel. This meeting is adjourned.