Machine transcript of the county's live stream. Each » marks a change of speaker; the captions don't say who is talking, and names are often misspelled. For the readable version see the recap; the official record is the county's minutes.
» It's 6 o'clock. I'm going to call this meeting to order. If I could, I'm going to take just a moment to read a message from Madam Chair Katie Gwynn. Kershaw County citizens, early this morning, my mother, Jean Ann Collins, passed away after an intense battle with pancreatic cancer. She loved coming to Kershaw County, and so many people here treated her like family. Thank you for your outpouring of text messages, support, and love. A public service to you will be part of her legacy. Thank you again. I will be absent tonight and look forward to getting back to the people's business as soon as possible. Respectfully and sincerely, Chairwoman Katie Gwynn. If I could, I'd like to just have a moment of silence. Thank you. Thank you. We're going to do the invitation. Pastor Eric Boone.
» There you are, sir. Come on up, please. Glad to have you with us tonight. Thank you. Would you lead us in prayer, please? I will. Many blessings of life. Lord, we thank you tonight, Lord, for this meeting. Lord, we thank you for these who serve, Lord, so faithfully this county. Lord, we thank you tonight that we realize that no power comes, Lord, to anyone unless it first comes from you. And so, Lord, we thank you that you have appointed them and ordained them for this time and this season and for this purpose. And so, Lord, we pray that, Lord, you'd be with them in every decision they make. Lord, we pray that you would be with them in the difficult ones and the challenging ones. Lord, we pray that you would be with the ones that are uncertain and, Lord, often are unpopular.
» So, Lord, we ask your blessings on them. Father, we pray tonight for them, Lord, physically and emotionally. We pray for them spiritually. Lord, we ask for their blessings upon their family and upon them as they lead their families. Lord, as they lead the families of this county and, Lord, just the citizens of this county. Lord, we do want to offer a special prayer tonight for a chapter of Gwen. Father, we pray for her family, Lord, in the passing of her mother. Lord, we ask you tonight that, Lord, your grace that is sufficient for every hour would surround them. Lord, we pray for your peace and your comfort and, Lord, even your strength in this life. So, Lord, we ask you, Lord, just to be with them tonight and, Lord, even in the days ahead.
» Lord, we pray tonight again, Lord, that we're thankful, Lord, to be a part of a democratic society. Lord, we're thankful to be a part of a free nation and, Lord, a free county. So, Lord, again, we ask your blessings on this time together, Lord, on this council, Lord, on this meeting, and, Lord, on our nation. Lord, as always, we ask you to forgive us for we fail you. Amen. Amen. Can we stand for the pledge? Senator, did you leave us? Yes, sir. Congratulations. Good bye. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. We're going to move into number four, adoption of the agenda. Do I have a motion? Make a motion we adopt the agenda, Mr. First Chair. Is there a second? Second. Is there any discussion? I would, Chairman, I would have, I would like to make a motion to amend.
» Specifically, I would like to amend the agenda as follows. I would like to add immediately, after the adoption of the agenda, an item for executive session, receiving legal advice related to grant funding. This will be followed by a brief discussion in open session about grant funding, add the two-page document labeled grant award to the agenda packet, and add an item under public presentation from Tim Taylor on the Good Neighbor Award. Mr. Chair, the grant agenda items are necessary due to exigent circumstances, including potentially expiring deadlines, and to the extent necessary, the additional item is necessary under exigent circumstances, given it was only recently received, and our next agenda is already quite full. So, I would make that motion to amend the agenda.
» All right, so those are two separate items, correct? Three, Mr. Chair, would be to adopt the agenda to add an executive session for receiving legal advice right after the adoption of the agenda. Number two would be to add that two-page document to the agenda packet. And number three would be to add Mr. Taylor's presentation under public presentation. Okay, do I have a second? I'll second. Is there any discussion? Okay, I have a couple comments that I want to say. I want to make sure that we have complete transparency to the public as to the public documents we'll be discussing. Hello? Okay. The agenda packet does not contain the grant acceptance by Kershaw County. So, I talked to Mr. Shoemake earlier today, and he agreed to put it on as a part of the record for a part of any discussion.
» And also, Mr. Shoemake, I had asked you that. Would you find that acceptable? Also, I intend to make some factual comments about the public record when we come out of an executive session as to the acceptance of the sewer grant. And everybody up here will have equal opportunity to speak. So, I appreciate that, and we have a motion, and we have a second. Any other discussion? Okay, we will be going all in favor. Let it show that it was unanimous, okay? And, of course, Madam Chairman Gwynn is not here. If we could, we've already had the motion. We combined them. Would you just do the motion now to go into executive session? Well, we have to do the motion to adopt the agenda as amended.
» Okay, do we have a motion to adopt the agenda as amended? So, I'll make a motion we'll adopt the agenda as amended. Madam Tucker, we have a second. Okay, very good. Brant, any discussion? All in favor? Okay, let me just say this. It carries unanimous. We're only going to be about 10 minutes in there, and at the most, we're going to get a legal briefing. And at this time, I'll move us into executive session. I'll make a motion. I'm sorry. Executive session, Mr. Vice Chair. I'll second that. Okay, do I have a motion to go into executive session? Make a motion we're going into executive session, Mr. Chair. Second. Second. All in favor? Okay, we move into executive session. Mr. Chair, I'd ask that the county administrator and legal team join us in executive session. Okay.
» All right, if you would, please. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it. It's still two hours. Do I have a motion to come out of executive session? So moved. I would second. We have a motion by Mr. Thomason, a second by Mr. Shoemake. Is there any discussion? Not on executive session, but I think we do have some. Mr. Dubose. Mr. Vice Chair, you want to take the vote? Yes, let's take a vote. All in favor? Okay. Ready to move forward, Mr. Shoemake? Go ahead. Do you want me to begin the discussion? I'd like you to begin the discussion. So one of the things that we discussed in there was the grant award is I think a lot of folks in here are perhaps in here for as well. So I'm going to give my sort of two cents on it. I know the administrator is going to brief us.
» So here's sort of the analysis as I see it. Back in 2022, the then-Kershaw County Council applied for a grant, and the grant was for $10 million. At the time, we had approximately $9.9 million committed to sewer and ARPA. That was noted in the grant, as was the fact that we would procure an SRF loan, state revolving fund, a loan of about $12,400,000. So the three buckets of money would be the $10 million grant, the $9.9 million in ARPA, the $12.4 million in change in SRF. Between then and now, obviously, we've been through some changes, and I'm not going to get into the whole sewer discussion.
» We've had that before, but there's been some priority changes on council as to the money that was allocated to sewer, the first of that being $3.5 million that was moved over to radios for first responders, and then the other money that was moved in the last meeting for recreation, for the ambulance, for a number of other things. So after that meeting, the grant was actually received because these things can take some time. And the grant that was received and signed for is a grant that was received and signed for. The special conditions state that the funds are contingent on approval of SRF funds necessary to complete the project. Again, those SRF funds are a separate bucket, and I'm going to leave it to the administrator to discuss that.
» But it's my understanding that in his conversations with the folks who control the SRF, that SRF funds are almost certainly not available to us. So even if the ARPA funds were there, the SRF funds would not be, which is a condition precedent, to get any grant money. So, you know, the way I see this is, you know, the grant issue, I mean, it almost certainly should have been addressed in first or second reading, and it wasn't. But, again, it doesn't change. What it doesn't change is the fact that the grant award is contingent on those SRF funds as well as ARPA funds. So based on the legal opinion that we did get, there's no – we have the ability to modify that.
» And I also understand that the county administrator has a meeting with these grant folks to potentially modify that in light of what our priorities have changed to. So, again, I want to be as direct as I can without inserting personal opinion, which I certainly have some of those. But I think, Mr. Chairman, I think that's a fair summary of what occurred. And with that, I may have some opinions, but I think I'll just leave that summary there. Very good. Mr. Tucker. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to echo just a little bit what Councilman Shumate was saying, and I want to do the timeline, just making the audience and citizens aware that when we did meet earlier with the finance committee, this information was not available because we were not awarded.
» So it was not included into our discussion. And as he stated, some things have changed because we've re-obligated some monies from OPERA that the county administrator, once getting the award of the skip grant, has not had time to have a conversation with those folks over at the state. So my heavy recommendation tonight is going to be kick this back down to the finance committee, allow us with the administration to get some answers on some recommendations that he's going to recommend tonight, and then we'll have a plan come the 27th of June. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Tucker. Mr. Brazel. Well, I'd really like to comment after Mr. Templar gives us options, but I think I agree with that. I have no problems with that. I agree with that.
» I would allow that if you would let me move on to somebody else. Okay, that'd be great. Thank you. Mr. Kato. I have nothing. I think Councilman Brazel and Tucker explained it pretty well. I have nothing. Okay, before I give my final thoughts, Mr. Templar, I'm going to give the floor to you. Thank you, sir. So just to clarify a few things on my end, in 2021, there was a resolution to allocate ARPA funds towards sewer. So this has taken us back to a previous council. And at the time, there was the will of that council to heavily invest in sewer with ARPA. So based on that notion, we have a 2 million gallon upgrade we need to do at the plant. Is it something we need to do tomorrow? No. But it's something that that math is eminent and we're going to have to do it at some point.
» And whether we do it in phases or all at once is a different discussion. So with that, under that current council, we applied for skip grants to allow us to get closer on what I think is about a $38 million project with $10 million in skip money. At the time, we did have the 9.9 allocated in our budget as a line item, and we had a $12 million shortfall. So the goal there was to go out for an SRF. So with this is a large project, according to the state, this is a high risk project because we are not just putting pipes in the ground. We are putting added capacity to our wastewater treatment facility and facilities are a much different project because that's where everything happens. It's not a conveyance system, it's a processing system, and there's just a lot going on there.
» So this created a high risk, which they knew this, but they ultimately awarded us this grant. After that, we decommitted or appropriated ARPA funds to radios and things of that nature. We had second reading to appropriate the money for rec funds. So with that in mind, I ultimately reached out to the state to let them know that the numbers on our application and our budget summary were no longer accurate. So with that, we didn't know what would be there. We didn't know what our ability was to replace those numbers. As sewer is one of our most robust departments we have in terms of revenue. So there is true capacity there for that. So we just didn't understand at the time which way we were going. We sought guidance from the state. They told us to go ahead and submit.
» We submitted electronically with an email caveat that our operational goals have changed, but we still wanted this money because we still have sewer upgrades to do. On the southern loop, at the plant itself, we've got lift stations. So there's plenty of opportunity to spend $10 million on our sewer. So with that, they said there was some wiggle room, if you will, in this. So we asked if we could set up a meeting, which is happening Tuesday, to reassess our priorities and see if we can keep this money and update and modify our application with a project and with updated figures that are truly reflective. My concern was that I did not want to take this money on false pretensions by saying we had $9.9 million in ARPA set aside when I knew we did not.
» So they appreciated that, and I notified the finance committee at our last meeting on Monday, and this is where we're at right now. So I'm happy to answer any questions. Any questions? Yes. Go ahead, Mr. Broussel. A small bundle full, sir. Go ahead, sir. Mr. Administrator, is it true that our operation, our sewer operation, operates without tax dollars? It's fee-based, yes, sir. So no citizen pays any sort of tax that goes into that fund. Is that true? True. Okay. Is it also true that the system operates at about 45% capacity currently on a day-to-day basis? Of actual flow, it'd be roundabout. I don't know for sure, but it's not at capacity. We're not at 2 million gallons of actual flow.
» In your professional opinion, what would be the driving factor for us to double the capacity of the sewer? Absolutely, growth. Needed growth or growth that's coming, whether we like it or not? I would say the latter, not the former. You know, I've heard a lot of things from a lot of people, a lot of good friends, a lot of neighbors, a lot of constituents. And the most pressing issue in Kershaw County is not a need for sewer. It's a need for quality built homes. It's a need for homes that are built in reasonable zoning ordinances. And I think that's something this council is working on. I think it's something this council is very keen to. So I'm in no rush to build a bigger sewer plant to enable outside agencies, outside developers, to ravage Kershaw County.
» I think we're getting a little bit off course, but I'm going to let you finish. Mr. DeBose, am I off course? I believe the chair went ahead and said he'd allow you to finish. Thank you, sir. But I'll let you finish, just finish it real quick. Thank you. The point I'm trying to make is this. I've been a citizen of Kershaw County since 1978. I watched that sewer plant when it was built. When was that, in 2006? Okay, Russell, sum it up, buddy. As much as I appreciate the grant, I think there are other pressing issues. I think we need to take care of the citizens that are here in Kershaw County. I think we need to improve facilities. I think we need to focus on public safety, fire, EMS. And I think our recreation facilities are in shambles. So I think we need to take care of what we do. Mr.
» President, we're going to move on from there. Thank you so much for your extended comments. I want to try to stay on course, folks. And anybody else up here that would like to say anything? Okay. Mr. Templer, anything else you'd like to say? Just one more thing, one quick item. At that meeting on Tuesday, I plan to just submit in rough form some ideas that I have five options for sewer improvements that are not quite the price tag that we have now. The almost $40 million. But just to see if we can capture some of this grant money for the infrastructure of the sewer, the southern loop and things of that nature. Anything else? No, sir. Anything else from anybody up here? Because I've got a few more things I can say. No, no, no, no, no. We're good. Because I'm going to have the last word.
» And I've got some comments I want to make. Kershaw County, what I do know, and I'm just going to state some facts here, okay? Kershaw County accepted a $10 million grant from the state of South Carolina on June 6, 2023, for sewer plant expansion without any knowledge of county council. And this is it. This is it right here. Kershaw County was awarded a grant for $10 million by the state on April 24, 2023, without any knowledge of county council. Kershaw County committed to use almost $10 million in ARPA funds for the expansion without any knowledge of county council. County council voted to use $6 million ARPA funds for ball fields and use ARPA funds for, excuse me, to buy public safety radios. Kershaw County has double committed ARPA funds without council's knowledge.
» Let me make myself clear on this. There was no misappropriation. No misappropriation has taken place because the money has not been spent or appropriated yet. But, and I'm sure they'll work with us on that when you go over there Tuesday. But, however, this gives us, you know, our integrity, our reputation is everything. And I think this gives us a huge, great, big black eye for Kershaw County and a poor way of doing business. And I think we should have known earlier. I think we should have been made aware of this. And you say you're going over to the State House tomorrow, I mean, next Tuesday? Yes, sir. Okay. And are you going alone? Because I heard you were going over there. Are you going alone or? Jeff Burgess will go with me and then we'll phone in our engineer. Okay.
» Because Madam Chair will be back as well, too. And I know you'll get with her and fill her in on everything. And, you know, here's the situation I feel that we're in. On 6-6, you signed the grant award. So, even though Mr. Shoemaker is absolutely right about everything he said, all these things have to be worked out. But they were committed. They were committed. And County Council had no knowledge of that. And at least I didn't. Some of the rest of them may have. But what we're faced with now, we've got a $10 million for $10 million. We've got a $6 million for $6 million. And this council is going to have to make a decision. I would have rather the grant award not be signed. Because I know it was signed on the 45th day. Was it the 45th day? Yes. We waited because we needed clarification.
» So, I signed it on the 6th and submitted it on the 9th because of the clarification we needed. But now you also knew that we had recommitted the money. Yes, I did. Okay. That's why I made the call over there. Okay. All right. Mr. Jones, also, if I may, that this grant is outlined in our proviso of the current budget. It is part of our budget package. Department 400, SCIP, an SRF loan, $10 million, no continuation, $2.5 million match, no FTEs, and no cost of FTEs. It's the last line on page 19 of our current budget ordinance that we're up. And let me just say this, too, and I appreciate that, and I get that. But what I can tell you that I know is that we knew nothing about it.
» And we are obligated to address it now because it has been signed, and we've got to move forward at some point and another. Go ahead very quickly. Sorry. Just one quick question. So, I think the recommendation is to send the grant back to Finance Committee for Finance Committee to review, to then bring back a recommendation at the next meeting, which is the 27th, I believe. Correct. That's correct. Okay. So, that's the recommendation that we have going forward. Okay. And I have no problems with that. I think I might have even suggested that when we were talking earlier. And I have no problems with that. Finance Committee taking it and bringing back a recommendation for us. But I'm just saying that I still think it was – we may not have to pay anything.
» We may get out of this, folks, but we've got a black eye in Kershaw County. It's as simple as that. A lot of people want that money, $10 million. And I guess we'll see what happens when Finance Committee comes back. Okay. Having dealt with that, moving along, we need to go to Mr. Dubose, public comments. Okay. The first person – Mr. Dubose, come here, please. You got a list, too, or is this the only list? You call them out. Yes. That's normally how we do it. Mr. Vice Chair. What? Can you give us the total, please, of people? Excuse me. Mr. Dubose. There are 10 people signed to public comments. The first speaker is Irving Branham, subject rezoning. Come on up, Mr. Branham. Welcome. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Your time has been noted. Can you see it? Okay. Five minutes.
» I won't take five. But thank you, Mr. Chairman and council members. And our prayers and thoughts go out to Ms. Quinn tonight for the loss of her mother. My name is Irving Branham. My address is 324 Rapid Run Road, Camden, South Carolina. The reason that I'm here tonight and my brother also is we want to inform the county council of a meeting on June the 27th that, or a proposal that will be coming from planning and zoning. We had a meeting last night with planning and zoning, and they're going to come back with a non-recommendation or rezoning a piece of property from RD2 to B2. I want to give you a little history about that property. My brother and I own a property called South Ranch Properties in Ridgeway, South Carolina.
» It's actually in, I say it's Lugol, but the address is actually Ridgeway. It's about a half a mile this side of the BP station on the right. We have six homes in there that are rental homes. And about 700 feet up the road, the mic's not working. Wait a minute. About 700 feet up the road on the opposite side of the road is 2689 Ridgeway Road, and it's 6.3 acres that we're asking to be rezoned. In February of 2022, I was contacted by Dollar General, if we would consider selling the property to them to place a Dollar General there. Well, we consulted a commercial attorney out of Lexington. We got down to two days before signing the papers, and our attorney, Rex Casterline, passed away with a massive heart attack. Of course, that delayed everything. We had to go back to the drawing board.
» Actually, our firm, which was a commercial, you know, firm, took over. And what we want to do is get a contract that was good for us, also good for the, you know, residents in that area. We believe that, you know, people that own property have the right to do with that property what they want to do with it. So we're coming to you tonight asking that you'll consider not going along with the recommendation coming from planning and zoning and that that property will be zone B2. We have a petition with over 100 residents in that area that support, you know, Dollar General going there.
» This piece of property with the Dollar General, Dollar General is going to invest $2 million in that property and make a, and my brother will, you know, tell you that information on that about a new type of Dollar General. In addition, that's going to raise $20,000 a year in property taxes for Kershaw County, not counting any state revenue that you may receive from sales taxes. It also is going to create 6 to 10 new jobs for Kershaw County people. I think that's a good investment. I think it would be good for Kershaw County, and it will definitely be good for the neighbors in that area. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Brown. Next. Next speaker is Marshall Branham, rezoning. Welcome. Thank you. Good afternoon. Mr. Chair and Councilmembers, my name is Marshall Branham.
» The Dollar General that Irvin addressed and the Dollar General that is being proposed for our property is the new standard for Dollar General. It will include almost all grocery store items, which today cannot be purchased within approximately a 10-mile radius of the proposed location. Last night, I visited the most recent Dollar General store that was built located on Highway 601 in Lugov. The prices are very reasonable. For example, one dozen of eggs cost $1.65, and a loaf of bread was $1.25 less than a loaf of bread that I bought at Kroger in Columbia less than a week ago.
» The residents living within the community of a two-mile radius of the proposed Dollar General on our property now drive a minimum of eight miles to the nearest commercial store to purchase everyday products needed for their homes. My brother and I personally spoke with over 100 residents and have over 100 signatures, addresses, and phone numbers in support of rezoning and a Dollar General. We touched base with every household that touched our property north, south, east, and west, and the residences along Indian Mound Road. This road is approximately 150 feet east of our property, which make up a substantial portion of the residences. As a note, the property directly north of our property is already zoned as B2.
» There was 100% support of a Dollar General being built in the community with the exception of one residence near the property. There's something noteworthy on the one exception that I will detail momentarily, but let me first say the remainder of the population outside the immediate property and within a two-mile radius was approximately 95% support. Their enthusiasm was due to not having to make a 16 to 20-mile round trip for their household purchases. The general comments were around the money it was costing to make those trips for gas, additional mileage they were putting on their vehicles, and the amount of time they spent on the roads doing this.
» Regarding the one exception of the one residence near the proposed Dollar General, some of their neighbors had discussions with the husband and wife to try to get the support. My understanding, the couple did not want a building next to their house. The couple did not understand that the south end of the Dollar General building would be approximately 200 feet north and 150 feet west of their house and the Dollar General building most likely would be completely obscure from their view by the remaining wooded area. Other facts regarding this couple, they bought their property last year and has never lived in the community. Since 2015, it appears they have moved a number of times buying and selling residences and selling them at sometimes substantial prices above their purchase price.
» Records appear to show they have sold the properties in Ellery, South Carolina, Spring Hill, Florida, and Bowling Springs, South Carolina. While they are now a residence of this community, only since last year, all other residents around the property are generally of a long-term residence in the community, some as long as 86 years. Last night, the Planning and Zoning Commission asked the Planning and Zoning Director the road fronters of our property. He gave faulty information. He stated it was 255 feet, but the correct answer is 285 feet. I don't know if this makes a difference, but the commission immediately took a vote after they received the incorrect information.
» This is my property, and I feel I am being denied the opportunity to use my property for the overall good for the community, and the community is being denied the needs that they desire. And one additional note, Morning Consult Brand Intelligence reports that dollar stores rank high in positive community impact. Mr. Chair and Council Members, this is a very rural community that needs your help in approving this rezoning as we in the community look forward to your approval over the next few weeks. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Mr. Marshall. Mr. Brinham, appreciate it. Next. Next speaker is Eddie Grant regarding paving Colonial Lake Drive. My name is Eddie Grant. Thank you, Chair, and thank you all to Council Members.
» I am the president of Colonial Lake Corporation, which is a few miles north of Camden on 521. I've been there 38-plus years, and I know since I've been there 38 years, the road has never been paved, and I've had other members of Colonial Lake come here and speak, but I had a couple other things to speak about. We only have 20 members of Colonial Lake Corporation, so that sounds like not a lot of traffic, but since then, a fellowship tabernacle church is built on the same road, and the traffic has four times. It is incredible, the traffic up and down that road, so I think that's a big important part. Here's another important part. We have been changed by DHEC from a Class 2 dam to a Class 1.
» That's like Watery Dam, and that's because we are the main artery that 521 coming into Camden, if something happens to that dam and it floods 521, the all artery for 521, and it happened during the flood after Hugo. The only way to get from north to south into Camden is actually across our pond dam, which you have to come onto Colonial Lake Road to go across, not asking to pave our dam, not any of that, but it's already happened several times. There have been bad wrecks on that road. My phone rings at night. I go down, let the ambulances and rescue people go across it and get through there.
» None of that's been mentioned in earlier requests, and I think it's very important because if DHEC sees it important enough to change us to a Class 1 dam, I would like your consideration to pave the road, to make it a better access and a better access back into Camden in case of emergencies. I'm speaking on part of the dam because don't laugh, I'm the dam committee chairman. That's my title also. Okay? But Sanders Creek is important because it can happen. It goes all the way down to the Watery River, and I've seen it happen. I've witnessed it because I've had to get up during the night and take care of that. So thank all of you, and I thank you for everything that you do for this community. Thank you very much for stepping up. If you would, please give Mr.
» Templer your name and number, your contact information. If you would, Mr. Templer, get in touch with him tomorrow. See how we can assist in getting him through the process. Mr. DeBose. Next speaker is Amanda Stephen regarding the budget. In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. That's George Orwell. Truth is a hard thing to face at times, but it is essential to face it if we ever want to grow as people. Lies and secrets prevent someone from seeing the problem and addressing it. Truth is the only thing that can help. They say shine a light on things and the truth will come out, and that's why I'm here today. There are so many truths that need to be said that I didn't know where to start.
» Should it be the priorities of we the people that we set for our government? We pay taxes assuming our government will provide infrastructure like roads, public safety like fire departments or jails, and utilities like sewer. And interesting enough, this is not how the county is prioritizing the budget. Or should I start with the fact that this council is spending money that it had already previously allocated? Every time there's a new election, does the county priorities and do the county projects change? Maybe that's why we have so many failed-to-complete projects across the county. That's an awful misuse of other people's money. But no, I didn't want to start with those. I figured I'd start with something easy, free money. Free money that we will get if we spend money.
» First, we all know that free money is a lie. There is no such thing. But for the sake of the argument, let's say it is. This council, based on the last few days, seems to indicate that they are willing to take $6 million of free money and turn down $10 million of free money. You're willing to turn down the higher amount? Please help me understand this. Let's talk about the $10 million, though. In September of 2022, the county submitted an application for a grant from the South Carolina Rural Infrastructure Authority. In this application, it stated, and I'm quoting, the county will commit $12.5 million in match for Kershaw County Lugoff and Wastewater Treatment Plan improvements.
» Kershaw County will utilize a combination of American Rescue Plan Act ARPA funds and unrestricted county sewer funds to assist with the project costs. These funds are currently available. End quote. How is this council not aware of this commitment back in February when bringing up the request for ARPA funds to be used for recreation? I see that this grant was also approved on April 24th. Two different dates and two different opportunities to make sure that this council was aware and somebody failed both times. So what do we do? Given that the money was already spent and promised and given that this free money is a higher amount, that's where the ARPA funds go on top of the fact that this is the higher priority.
» Taxpayers funding everything in this budget this year with an exception of the federal government's ARPA funds and we require infrastructure, public safety and utilities. This is the easy answer and this council has one last chance to get this right before next meeting's budget. Look, here's the deal. This county has a spending problem and you and the council refuse to acknowledge it and fix it. We have to speak truth to power and say what's happening in order to address it. So we the people, myself included, now will have to make you see where you're misstepping and help you fix it. Here I am bringing the receipts and asking why you think I'm working against you. At the end of the day, I'm bringing transparency regarding the Kershaw County government.
» I'm working for the taxpayer, aren't you? Then we should be on the same side to do what's best for the county. For we cannot oppose truth but must always stand for the truth. I will always speak the truth when I see it. I suggest that you start doing the same before the lies and the secrets catch up to you. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Ms. Stevenson. Next, Mr. Bowes. Belinda Webb on the budget. Welcome, Ms. Webb. Good evening, Councilman. It's a pleasure to be here. Thank you for your time. I would like to back up a lot of what Amanda Steven just shared.
» I think there are serious questions that need to be answered about the priorities placed by so many council members who ran as common-sense fiscal conservatives that don't appear to be making common-sense, logical, and fiscally sound decisions about their stewardship of the taxpayers' money. I do find it troubling that there seems to be some confusion and the left and the right hand don't know what each is doing. That is troubling. I also think that if you are a conservative, and supposedly we have a majority of conservatives on this council, that you put essential services that serve 100% of your constituents above ancillary services that are not essential. 100% of your constituents need flowing water out of their sink and to flush their toilet.
» And whether or not it's an emergency at this point, proactive planning on your budget provides savings and the ability to plan wisely rather than wait until the emergency comes to you. I personally have a well and a septic tank. This doesn't impact me, but as a newly elected member of the KCGOP, I have constituents coming to me constantly troubled by the priorities that their councilmen set without considering these facts. Whether it's a tax or a fee, if those fees increase, so does the cost of living for the average family. And we have approximately 25% of the adults with school-aid children in our county and 10% play sports approximately. This field, this ball field, as I understand, is for travel ball. Mostly people that don't even reside in this county.
» And I agree that that's an overextension of funds and monies for something that has to be maintained after it's constructed. Look at the Kershaw County Tennis Center. My husband loves that facility. It has 80 members paying $100 a year. These people can afford more than $100 a year. I'm assuming that the maintenance of the property, even though I think it was originally funded through grants and other fundraising efforts, I think the taxpayer is funding the ongoing salaries of the two full-time employees and the maintenance and the resurfacing of the courts, the maintenance of the bathrooms. That's coming out of the taxpayer's pocket, is it not? I don't think that the average taxpayer who doesn't play tennis wants to fund that. I think they want essential services.
» Why do we keep doing this? We have plenty of infrastructure issues that need to be addressed, and as Amanda Stevens stated, they need to be completed. So why isn't that the priority of fiscal conservatives? I really appreciate the opportunity to speak to this, but I think this is honestly the appearance of a serious malfeasance of fiscal responsibility on the part of the council, and a complete misallocation of funds that can be better utilized in much-needed infrastructure repairs throughout the county. I've driven up and down 97 where I live, and I'm constantly seeing signs that they need volunteer firemen.
» Well, why don't we fund firefighters? Why don't we fund a lot of services that are essential to our survival, and more of a priority than recreational ball for 10% possibly of the students who play sports in the county? Thank you for your time. I yield my time. Thank you so much, Ms. Webb. Mr. DeVos. Next speaker is Sissy Griffin-Ballu. That's about as close as anybody ever gets it on the program. Good evening, gentlemen. Thank you for this opportunity. I come here to you tonight as the president of Kershaw County Republican Women's Court. We are basically a conservative group of grandmothers, and as all grandmothers like to do, we love to see our grandchildren play and have a good time.
» We enjoy watching them compete and grow as they compete, and the values that they get from being a team member and all the other things that come with that. I personally will be going to Hartsville to a baseball tournament this weekend. My oldest grandson is an all-star for the county, so we will be going up there. But just as much as we enjoy watching our grandchildren grow and develop through sports, we enjoy them staying around when they get older and become adults. Kershaw County needs to do what it needs to do to keep our families together. We need our infrastructure, our fire, our EMS, and all these other essential services essential, not recreational, essential to people's lives and their livelihoods to be taken care of. These projects have been kicked down the road.
» I have been in this county for almost 32 years, and I have been hearing the same things for almost the entire time. Quit kicking the can. Our families, our grandchildren, need you to do the hard work that you stood in front of your constituents and said, I will do. Thank you, gentlemen. Thank you, ma'am. Next speaker is Rodney Copeland regarding the budget. Thank you, council members, for your job, which y'all are doing with the county. It's not an easy job. Now, I'm going to be maybe parroting what the last few have said. If we build it, they will come. Well, that's good for, you know, a movie script, but it's not good for a county that has tight budgets, limited budgets, and priorities for the citizens of the county. Don't get me wrong. I love sports. I love baseball.
» I love traveling sports. I have been part of traveling sports with my kids, with myself, my whole life. I come from a big city in Dallas where traveling sports is huge. It's expensive, and it's very competitive. And the competition to get the teams, the clubs, to spend their money in the various cities happens all over the place. I would love to see great baseball fields, football fields, soccer fields, volleyball, what have you. But is it a priority in this county when we have infrastructure and we have other issues that are important for every citizen of this county? I don't think so.
» Unless there is a pro forma, unless there's a research and study that has been paid for that goes out and takes a look and talks to clubs around the country, around the southeast, and says, what will it take for you to come play a competitive tournament in our city? That's what you have to hear. not from the local people in various towns. Oh, we would love to have baseball fields here that take thousands and thousands of dollars to maintain. We'd love to have that. But traveling baseball only, who's coming here? What's the 10-year projection for revenue for that? What is it going to cost the taxpayers? I'm just going to use the tennis facility as a perfect example, and I think everybody knows it. I don't see tennis tournaments running here on a monthly basis.
» I drive by there every day empty. So do we want to do that again when there are priorities for these funds to be spent for the citizens of Kershaw County, not for a few, and for a few that might come to a tournament once or twice a year? The competitive nature to get traveling teams from all over is challenging. If you go to Charlotte, go to Charleston, go to Augusta, go to Atlanta, and talk to these huge clubs and find out why would they come here and what are the issues, infrastructure, hotels, restaurants, why are they going to come here? And I don't think those questions have been answered.
» And unless those questions are answered in that it's not going to cost the taxpayers down the line, it's not a wise decision to use funds for this county when there are priorities coming through for growth. Mr. Brazel spoke about homes. What I'd like to do, if I could, sir. Yes. You are well said in what you're saying, but I'm not going to allow any council members' names because... Oh, I'm sorry. I apologize. You can call... You can talk about me. I apologize. You can use my name and talk about me any way you want. Referring to a council member's comment about homes. That's exactly right. The homes are going to be built. The infrastructure for those homes have to be there. If we want this county to grow and to attract business and attract citizens, we have to have the infrastructure.
» We have to improve the quality of the schools and the education so we can attract people here to make this a better county and all the cities around. Priorities. That's number one. Thank you for your time. Thank you and very well said. Appreciate it. If I couldn't, I suppose I would move it further. Our rules state we don't personalize it and I know it wasn't intended, but you can personalize it with Jimmy Jones all you want. Call me out, talk about me, call my name, but I'm not going to allow it for any of the staff or any of the colleagues up here, even though I don't agree with them half the time. But anyway, thank you. Next person. Amanda Oden on the budget. First of all, prayers for Ms. Chairwoman Gwen and her and her family. I know this is a very, very tough time. Thank you, ma'am.
» And what she's going through. Thank you, Vice Chair Jones and Councilman for allowing me to speak to you this evening. I ask you to bear with me because there's been some new things that came through. I had bullet points, but I've got a little notes added. We all know why many of us are here tonight and we can go through who's to blame, you know, who knew what, when they knew it, how they knew it, whether it was withheld. But none of that is going to accomplish anything at this point. What is important is what will you do with it now and how we get past it. So you all now have the opportunity to make this right.
» Now, I agree that with one of the council members that we need to take care of our own first before we take on too much growth and that our current facilities should be brought up to their, the glory that they were prior to what the state that they are in now. I will remind, well, first of all, the number that I've heard about the sewer facility has been the 20 to 22 million mark, okay? And that project has been looming for years over this county council. It's caused much division on this county council, whether to privatize, whether to not privatize, and I feel that you all have the opportunity to put that argument to rest and we can move on. Now I'm hearing 38 million. Well, I can only assume that that's a $2 million increase in capacity. I can, I know you can't answer that question.
» I'm, I can only assume that. I'm going off the 20 to 22 million that was originally what is necessary for the citizens who currently live in Kershaw County. The other 18 million, I don't, I'm not worried about that. If that's for future growth, then maybe we should consider those impact fees that we've been tossing around and have those pay that additional $2 million addition to the sewer plant. It's ironic because a couple years ago I sat here and you guys did such a good job on the budget that there was extra and it was rolled over. And I said, well, why can't we put it in a rainy day fund? And I was laughed at and brushed off. It's kind of ironic now, isn't it? Sure would be nice to have that rainy day fund right now.
» Plus the resolution in 2021, the ARPA was supposed to go to the sewer. How can that resolution be ignored when it was passed? Maybe not by this body, but it is on record. That is my one question that I added. But between the ARPA money and the grant money, we can take care of this. You can take care of this. We can worry about the $18 million upgrade later through impact fees or however you all seem to want to approach that. So that $11 million in ARPA funds, federal COVID relief money, was meant to benefit all of Kershaw County. Yet a large portion, as been stated, was allocated to a ballpark for travel ball. We have an A-tax for that. There are restrictions on how that money can be spent, and it is to bring tourism into our county.
» The A-tax should be paying for that ball field, not these ARPA funds. This fund, that fund, not ARPA, should be used. Now, y'all received a lot of pushback on that project, but the $10 million state-funded grant from the treatment facility project now has come to light, and combined with those ARPA funds, it seems that we can take care of what is needed for the citizens of Kershaw County right now. To me, this is a win-win and a no-brainer. So maybe you'll have to amend or rewrite a small portion of the budget. You may have to postpone the final reading for a few weeks of the budget. So what? That is what you all were elected to do, to be good stewards of the taxpayers' money, and at times make tough decisions for what is right for all the Kershaw County citizens.
» Doing the right thing is not always easy, but it is just, and the outcome is always worth it. I thank you for your time. Thank you, Ms. Hooten, so much. We're working with some of that as well, too. Go ahead. Next speaker is Jeff Maddox on the Fourth Amendment, I believe. I guess I've got to move this up. Hi, guys. I want to congratulate everybody here for coming out and speaking. It's kind of lonely up here sometimes when nobody's here. But, thank you, guys. I've got a little bit to talk about, but first I want to talk about how I come into this place and how I'm searched every single time I come in here. And I've made this comment several times that I feel like a domestic terrorist or something.
» Why is it now that all Americans are looked at by their government as terrorists? I mean, how many terrorist attacks have we ever had here in Kershaw County? You know, I've made a comment before. They all know me. Every time I come in here, I get searched. You don't. You don't. You don't. Rules for thee and not for me. I'm really upset this time because it was extraordinary this time. And I don't think in the land of free, this is the way we ought to act to each other. Freedom is dangerous. It is. So is this promise of safety. And I would like to see this end. That's enough of that. Let's talk about this Grant situation. The first time I became aware of it was September 22nd, whenever the conversation between Mr.
» Jones and Danny here, where it was referenced that we were putting in the application for this grant. And I thought that was very interesting. The next time I heard about it was when the agenda packet landed on whatever it was, Thursday or Friday. And I said, I remember this. I remember this. And you know me. I'm all the time looking at videos and all that kind of stuff like that. So I go to the date and I do my research and I hear that conversation. And then now I come up and nobody knows it. Even though three councilmen sitting up here now were there. Nobody knew about it. Then it shows up that it was approved in April. And when did we vote on the Woodward Park thing? May. The end of May. Somewhere around the end of May is I think when we did that.
» So how come there wasn't an email blast out saying, look guys, yay, we got this $10 million grant. No, it seemed like something to celebrate. But no. Silence. How come it wasn't shoved up to the finance committee that was struggling with the budget? No. How come it was never, how come the new council was never briefed that this was a possibility? Why was that? So it leads you to draw the conclusion that it is a complete and utter incompetence or could it be willful ignorance and malfeasance? I don't know. But it doesn't, you know, what do they say? It smells rotten in Denmark or something. Something like that. You know, trust in government has been shattered over the last few years because of the Corona-Rona thing and the social distance.
» And, you know, you guys even recommended the clot shot to everybody and wearing masks and all. So I don't trust anymore. I don't know how you're going to rebuild it. You know, I long ago told you I've become an anarchist because I figured out that collectivism doesn't work and it ends up killing millions and millions of people every single time. And this republic is no different. We can see we're headed down that trail. So I know you guys have pretty much decided that we're going to get recreation. And that's fine. I don't do baseball. Thanks. Thank you, Mr. Maddox. Next person. Next speaker is Ryan Trowbaugh, Budget. Welcome, Mr. Trowbaugh. Thank you, council. My name is Ryan Trowbaugh. I live at 125 Grassmere Lane. And I'm the president for my precinct through the GOP.
» And so I'm going to kind of try to hammer this out as quick as I can. So if I had to make a decision between the ballpark and a life-saving ambulance right now, so I'd have to say no for the ballpark right now because we have to get our priorities in order. And, you know, y'all heard this. I'm just repeating everything. Nothing that you've heard new. From my understanding, so I'm seeing a misappropriation of funds. And we have a lack of information about the ballpark, such as, like, estimates, where they're coming from, who's submitting those estimates, and the plans. Those are some things I'd like to see, and those are some things I'd like to, for to be made publicly available. Let's see.
» Furthermore, how much is the maintenance going to be every week, every month, per year? Do we have a budget for that? Have we looked that far ahead? And then, real quick, I have a secondary concern with my roads in Ashley Creek. Those roads were supposed to have all been paved, and only one road was paved a few years ago. And it seems like we were just simply forgotten about. Please consider us in Ashley Creek. I appreciate y'all's time. Y'all have a good day. Thank you, Mr. Troll. Mr. Troll, if you would give Mr. Templer your information, contact information. Mr. Templer, you should contact him tomorrow. I appreciate it. Mr. Jones, there's an address on the sign-in form. There he is right there. Yeah. Oh, I got you. Next. Mr. DeBose. That concludes the public comment section. Okay.
» We move on to the public presentation, and congratulations. Thank you, Councilman Jones. Listen, would you mind just saying what I'm talking about with your graduate? My son. Yes. My youngest son, Benjamin Watson, just graduated from the United States Naval Academy. He started the basic school for the Marine Corps on the 5th of June, so he went right in, but we're mighty proud of him, our newest little second lieutenant. His granddad. His granddaddy was a Marine as well. And I'm going to take a point of privilege as the chair to say this. Her dad was the chair and also served on this county council, Ms. Max Ford. He was a mentor to me, and he was my friend, and it's always good when I get to see you. So, thank you. Thank you so much. So, go ahead. The floor is here.
» It's an honor, Councilman Jones, to be in front of you tonight and other council members as well. I am Beth Ford. I'm the chairman of the A-Tax Committee. This is my second year. I've served on that committee with Brant Tomlinson. So, I just have some recommendations for you tonight. As you know from years past, these are simply recommendations from our committee. We do receive the applications, go over the applications, discuss them at length, and then decide on recommendations for funding needs of nonprofits that submit their applications. I will say that Tyler Kirk was extremely helpful this year. So, please thank him on behalf of our committee. He provided us with some great information. So, you probably have, you can see the breakdown here.
» Our budget, or what we had to decide on to disperse, was $129,000. We always leave council about a 10% reserve so that between now and the end of the budget year, if someone comes to you and they have a great project, we always try to give council a little bit of wiggle room for new projects because that's really what we like to see. We did have a number of new projects this year. We have a rating system, so we will look at all the applications based on how it's been filled out, the information that's been given, if the budget is clear and precise, if they can tell us some demographics, things like that because this money really needs to be about getting people to come into Kershaw County, stay in a hotel, eat in a restaurant.
» So, we really try to target those events that are over several days. Now, if, you know, we like to err on the side of caution, I will say. We want to give this money away. These nonprofits work very hard on these events to bring people into Kershaw County and that's really the point. So, you will see the recommendations that we have made. Some events are very well known. We do have several awards of about $500. So, maybe it was a new event that wasn't quite convincing for us. We did give them a little bit of seed money and then we can go back to them and say, we're giving you this little bit of money. We hope that it does well. Give us some more information next year so we can give you some more money.
» So, those are the recommendations from us and if you have any questions I'll be glad to discuss them. If there are any in-depth questions, I'd prefer them via email just so I can make sure that I have the correct information. Under our new formal way we do the budget, we appreciate your recommendations. We're going to strongly take these into consideration and I think what I'd like to do is ask them to go to the finance committee so the finance committee can take them and bring them back to us. That's how we're working things now but we really appreciate very much your hard work. It's a pleasure. Always good seeing you. Thank you so much. Congrats to your son, Semper Fiore. Yes. Thank you, Beth. Good to you. Okay. Very good. Mr. Vice Chair. Yes.
» Can I ask the administration if you would Mr. Templer can you see who was have us a match on who was awarded last year because I think it's quite a few new non-profits that's on here and that dollar amount so we can compare to have it for our next meeting. Yes, sir. Okay. Thank you, sir. Okay. Next is Tim Taylor Citizen Award. Hope everybody's good tonight. I'm not here to talk about money. So many times we focus on the negative or the problems in life just like tonight. Everybody's got things they got to take care of. We can't ignore the negative but we also have to have some positives so let me inject some. There's a lot of compassion and good that is around us in Kershaw County. There's a lot of great people.
» Everyone in this county has the potential to be a superhero and everybody has a superpower. You never know what kind of battle someone's fighting internally. A kind word or deed could change the world for that person and that's what good neighbors do. It's important that people are recognized. Compassion needs to be showcased. That is what I hope this Good Neighbor Award will do. Ryan has the website up. When you go to the website if you click on County Council and you go to the far right it'll say the Good Neighbor Award. Click on that. There's a big thing right there that says nominate here so you don't miss it. The rest is just a reading and then when you click on the nominate here it gives you a little blurb to read. It tells you the dates. First quarter deadline is August 31st.
» If you scroll down on that it'll give you a choice of who you are, how I can reach you and actually how my team can reach you which Amanda Stevens is part of. She's going to help do this. Nominee's name, nominee's address and their phone number and what they did. It could be any kind of deed. I mean something that easily that can change somebody and we're just looking for people to send in these things so we can highlight the citizens of the county. So what happens is our team of volunteers will read and vet all the submissions, pick three finalists from each district, each council member will pick the winner from their district and then the chair will pick that quarter's winner. I don't think I could have streamlined it any more than that.
» We need all the information asked on this sheet so we can make good decisions and I do want to note that the council members will not know the identity of the citizens they are choosing from until the presentation. That way we can have open transparency and nobody can shake a finger because I don't want this to turn into anything ugly. Everything will be stored on Google Forms so it's FOIA requestable. Anybody wants to look at it so it's on the county website it follows the county rules. We need the council members to promote this social media friends however you want to. I'm going to solicit local businesses to get some stuff and get it moving. The award is going to look like this.
» My hero is a medal of honor winner don't say that recipient so I kind of styled it after a medal of honor award citation. They will get this and then an award from a different local company that's willing to put money in. The first one is going to be Millican industry law firm Millican law firm they're going to do the first award which will be given two weeks after August 31st in council. That's it. I'm short concise. Any questions? Tim thank you so much. Appreciate it. Any comments questions? I'd like to commend you for this Tim. This is cool. You brought this up months ago and you followed through and here it is on our website. I think that's very cool. Thank you for pushing that forward. That's a wonderful thing here for Kershaw County. Anybody else? I just want to say thanks.
» I think one of the things I talk to my kids about is the importance of understanding civics and I notice you're here at almost every meeting and I'm sure there are plenty of areas we'd have respectful disagreements on but I just want to say I see you here every week paying attention following and that means a lot. It's the exact kind of stuff I talk to my kids about. I appreciate you running this. I think you're well suited to run this and I appreciate it. Thank you. Anything else? I'd just like to thank Mr. Taylor. I've enjoyed some conversations and some texts back and forth and just as clear and concise as he was during his presentation he's exactly like that on the phone too. But I appreciate all your hard work that you've done.
» I know the time that you put into it and we're honored to be a part of doing this. Thank you. I've got one more thing. This website is only done because of Miss Lauren Reeder who's sitting back there and if she would come up here for a second if she doesn't get embarrassed. She doesn't embarrass at all. This website would not be the way it is without Lauren and Danny's approval. So we got you a gift or I got you a gift certificate. Stephanie Massage by Stephanie and I got together and gave you a one hour massage just for all your hard work. You're welcome. You have to be recognized for this. That's all I got. Have a good night. Thank you so much. Thank you Tim. Brant said it was him getting an award. He got missed on that one. Okay we're moving to approval of the minutes. Mr.
» Vice Chair make a motion that we approve Tuesday May 30th regular meeting minutes. Okay do I have a second? Second. Is there any discussion? All in favor? It's unanimous. Tuesday May 30th. Mr. Chair I would move that we approve the minutes for the special call meeting on Tuesday May 30th 2023. Thank you. Mr. Shoemake is there a second? Second. Mr. Cato any discussion? All in favor? The unanimous. Okay we have moving on down to number eight ordinances third reading of an ordinance of the Kershaw County South Carolina to amend the county's official zoning map designation for approximately 89 acres of land tax parcel 294-0000 045 for Allen and Donna Barton from a R15 to an RD2 and providing an effective date. Third reading do I have a motion? Mr.
» Chair I would make a motion to approve third reading of the 89 plus or minus acres for the tax map ending in 045 for Allen and Donna Barton. I would second. Okay let's show that Mr. Tucker made the motion Mr. She may second any discussion? Mr. Vice Chair I just want to thank my colleagues for if this passes tonight this will be all that the moving forward with their property and I hope that we all support this and I think this is a prime example of allowing people to have liberties and freedoms of their property and be able to use them so I'm 100% in support of seeing this through. Thank you Mr.
» Tucker all in favor it's unanimous thank you congratulations guys second reading an ordinance of Kershaw County to amend chapter two article x division five of the Kershaw County code of ordinances related to the planning and zoning commission do I have a motion to put this on the table I brought it up Sammy is we and something we really haven't discussed is Mr.
» Tucker brought up the issue of maybe expanding those terms just a little bit the planning and zoning requires some specialized training that's a little different than most of our commissions so the idea of having just two three year terms to basically a consecutive term of six years for this but I just wanted to open that up to discussion and see if there was appetite to change that I mean I admittedly as the newer person here I did it show Mr. Brazel Mr. Shoemake Mr. Thomason and myself voted yes and no Mr.
» Sammy Tucker thank you it passes I have one okay resolutions a resolution by Kershaw County approving and authorizing the execution of a government obligation contract between Kershaw County and Fleetwood Finance Leasing LLC for the financing and acquisition of body camera systems for emergency medical services I have a motion to put this on the floor so moved second second and let Mr. Thomason said made the motion Kato second any discussion could I have some clarification Mr.
» Templer yes sir and before I get to that I will just state that exhibit E has been updated as the source of funds it was originally in your packet as a general fund that is not accurate it has been changed with this group as we speak to reflect enterprise fund these funds will be coming from EMS and not any general fund so does that need to be changed just yes we will change it it's been changed on the staff side but just to let you know there's been an update to LDR code ordinance update and storm ward ordinance update comprehensive planning zoning and land development regulations this is placed on the agenda by madam chair Quinn councilman Derek Shoemake and councilman Russell Brazel so I'll go ahead and Mr. Brasel or Mr. Shoemake I'll begin I think Mr.
» Brazel's thing might be a little bit different so I'll begin with the I have a motion I'll read the motion and if it's seconded I'll explain what I'm thinking here but the motion should do that in Elgin and West Water there's been an explosion of high density single family residential subdivisions and before long high density projects and residential projects will begin to appear in other areas of Kershaw County I believe these high density residential subdivisions are having negative impacts on Kershaw County infrastructure by generating high traffic counts on county roads not designated as high capacity roads exhausting capacity that is better directed for economic development efforts and flooding the schools with too many students these high density projects also play strain on natural r
» esources by increasing impermeable surfaces and stressing the county stormwater system I believe that Kershaw County should address the negative impacts of high density single family residential development by amending the ZLDR to increase the minimum lot size for single family residential development to 15,000 square feet in all zoning districts I believe that increasing the minimum lot size to 15,000 square feet will result in more sustainable and desirable land development patterns in Kershaw County and prevent county infrastructure from being overwhelmed thus I move the Kershaw County council direct the administrator to coordinate with the planning director and legal and then to apply for a proposed ordinance amending the ZLDR to impose minimum lot size standard of 15,000 square feet fo
» r all single family residential parcels and all zoning districts to the extent of this motion is to increase minimum lot side standards has an impact on other ZLDR standards such as setbacks and conditional use I include them as part of this motion that planning and legal make appropriate suggested amendments to those other related ZLDR standards so that the intent of this motion is realized Thank you Mr.
» second and just basically for the purposes of I mean I think the motion sort of explains itself basically what this does is it begins the process of increasing minimum lot sizes I'm not sure if folks are aware but technically technically although we don't see it very often technically in Kershaw County we're allowed to have the effect of is in places that have sewer infrastructure the minimum lot size would be a third of an acre but for places without sewer the minimum lot size would be a half acre again that is what it would become right now it's actually greater than Mr. Brazel I have no discussion I have to set a separate motion on storm water all right the motion for the dissertation excuse me I mean did I say that go ahead please if I may Mr.
» Vice Chair I believe y'all's adopted ordinance has a separate item for a potential storm water ordinance and ZLDR code update placed by Mr. Brazel originally I believe those matters were combined as one issue on a preliminary agenda but to that point unless Mr. Brazel's motion is related to this specific item I just wanted to put that okay I didn't have an update on my sheet so we're dealing strictly with the ZLDR code or Mr.
» Chairman what this is doing is basically just doing away with R15 and can you explain a little bit deeper with what you're doing this vote tonight doesn't do anything in terms of changing zoning this under our rules and regulations it in reality is September is probably the process and what the process would entail and something that again having spent a lot of time these last couple weeks digging into these zoning ordinances I was surprised to learn that most business districts in our county allow for the highest density residential use so if you have an area that's zoned in most of our business areas it would actually allow you with no further approval to put 8.6 houses per acre so that's something that I don't think a lot of people realize and once I in applicable zoning districts and ma
» ke that a minimum of 15,000 square feet effectively like what that ultimately amounts to is if you have sewer infrastructure you could do a house on 0.33 acres without it you'd have to have half an acre and this is just starting the through yeah that's a good question so so basically until it passes anyone who drew a permit that permit would be valid if after and again I know John can speak about this a little bit but after it passes let's say you owned a home and it burned down and your home would be non compliant if it is rebuilt there is an avenue in our zoning ordinances to allow you to rebuild exactly the way you did before now there is a couple extra pieces of paperwork admittedly that's kind of the downside but it isn't a strict no you can't do it so there is a it's what's the word I
» 'm the absolute intent of this is not that right the intent of this is to address the you know I mean there there's you know there several lots of hundred plus acres that are seeking to be zoned business which again that's fine and we talked earlier about people being able to do with what what they want their property but the line is the old Benjamin Franklin quote is you know the anybody else Mr.
» Brazel the only thing I was going to state was this is all just for new development anything that was existing or pre-existing I think would still be available even if there were a pre-existing lot that had not been built on if it's got a deed if it's been surveyed it's a buildable lot what I wouldn't want to see happen and this is something when you get into the weeds is if there is an existing lot that has not been built on that it would not be adversely affected I think this would be for future development only right I mean if you had a lot that was just empty and you had not pulled any permits at all then you would be you would have to apply for a non conforming use if you had pulled no permits on your lot well let's let's make sure that nobody's existing properties are negatively affec
» ted and I think that can be done Mr. Templer do you have any comments on this no sir Mr. Dubose no any other discussion all in favor the director showed that it's unanimous okay B stormwater ordinance and ZODR code ordinance update placed on the agenda by councilman Brazel you have the floor thank you sir let me take a motion first have a motion to put this on the floor yeah so you do move to put a motion yes I'm about motion I've got a little dissertation as well so I've heard a lot of complaints lately from developers private property owners industry and commercial property owners that Kershaw County has been too involved in permitting outside of the MS4 that is not the issuing agency for I want to make clear that I'm not expressing any criticism to any of our staff or our administration
» they've been doing what they think's the right job in enacting these Kershaw County should be devoting their resources and their time and their efforts to enforce permits are you making a motion this is a dissertation no I can't have that I need a motion better before then we get a second then we'll have discussion it's coming for permits it did not issue and I believe a better policy is that permit enforcement should be I move the Kershaw County Council direct administrator to coordinate with the planning zoning directing and legal to draft and submit proposed ordinances admitting the storm water ordinance in ZLDR so that county staff can address storm water regulation outside of the MS4 on a compliant based process that was my motion I'm just now striking your motion I'm teasing do I have
» a second second Mr. Jones loves me don't get so long winded next time that was shorter than his okay now is there any discussion I just want to state for the record that I am consistently targeted for being long winded when I'm half as winded as anyone else on council thank you Mr. Brazel thank you Mr.
» Jones is there any discussion I just really find the humor in our council right now thank you guys I'm dead serious okay all right so we had a motion do we have a second second I'm afraid to ask for any more discussion any more discussion all right if we can all in favor let it directly show it's unanimous thank you very much all right this y'all promised me a light agenda okay this is one I'm very proud of I'm very very proud of this next one Lugov Fire Department 2023-24 budget resolution and annual budget chief Chris Spencer called me he's at a training he could not be here tonight he sent certainly he sent his chief deputy and I see some of the rest of them out there and will we're glad to have you here I will say this is a balanced budget they've asked for no increases and I want to sa
» y too that I commend Lugov Fire they're working very well with Kershaw County Fire and we were paying them $20,000 for mutual aid and of course now listen they earned it they were running calls they were there they were there with equipment and personnel so I want to thank you they're not asking for that $20,000 this year so not only we have a balanced budget but they're not asking for $20,000 so having said that is there a motion to put this on the floor so moved is there a second second all right is there any discussion really needed for such a great budget on Lugov Fire Department if there's no tax increase no we love our firemen and we want to get it passed stand up chief we just want to say thank you very much for you and your staff all you do all in favor very good let the director sh
» ow this unanimous all right good stewards of the tax dollars no question about it okay moving to council briefings I'll start with Mr. Kato wow I'll get to start twice in a row well I promise you I'm the least of the long-winded people up here so I get the award tonight I just want to send my condolences to our chairwoman Katie Gwynn and her family and I know this has been a long battle for her and her family and my heart goes out to them my prayers go out to them and she was a sweet lady she sure was but I heard a lot of comments tonight and we've said this we've said this before there's a lot of things that we need to look at there's a lot of false narratives to some of the things that was said tonight and there's no way to really help people understand all the truth I guess you could say
» and it's there's a lot of things that I heard tonight that does raise a lot of questions with me there's a lot of things that was said tonight that I have concerned about but there's a lot of things also that's being told out in the community that are not true they're just not true and it's a false narrative so be careful what you believe and be careful what you're being told because some of it is just not true but again I'll say this and I'll continue to say this I won't do anything that I think is going to be detrimental to Kershaw County I want to make Kershaw County a better place for our kids for our families and this is where I live this is where my family lives I have family all over the county not just my district and I do stand up for my district because I feel like that's what I'm
» supposed to do and I feel like my district has been left out more than any so I'm looking out for them on a lot of decisions I make because that might be the only way we can get anything so that's that's my say in this I appreciate the input tonight and I appreciate all the people coming out thank you for spending your time to come to the council meeting and thank you for your excluding councilman mr. tucker i'd like to give a shout out to one of my good friends who's in the audience mr.
» freddie galt freddie galt works for our esteemed congressman ralph norman thank you for we're glad to have you back in district five appreciate you coming to the audience just want to say thank you staff and also my condolences and prayers go out to the gwen family miss katie gwen and her mother and family that is a sweet lady and i know that madam chair has been back and forth between here and ohio trying to run a county a family a business she's had a lot on her so hopefully everybody keep her in her prayers thank you to mr. jones for running the meeting so gracefully it's hard to stand in the place of madam chair but thank y'all for being here tonight thank you thank you mr.
» thomas i think i'm the one who is being accused of being long-winded um i'll try to be short so amen you can redeem yourself um couple of quick things as i mentioned to mr. taylor i just want to thank everybody that that spoke tonight um i'm sure there are several areas of disagreement that i've had discussions with many of the folks who spoke uh one-on-one but it's always been respectful and like again i really do uh to the extent my son is sick of hearing about it because he's 16 the importance of being civically involved and staying engaged it's critical um and to that end i have no other comments other than to say this i have a lot of comments i could make on this but i'm going to be uh for those if you follow on my little uh government facebook page i'm going to be scheduling a town ha
» ll in the next month and a half i'm going to start doing those quarterly so if you live in district three or if you just want to come um i'm going to try to keep a small portion of it to the rec stuff since the whole last one was devoted to that what i really want to talk about is infrastructure and specifically i want to talk about impact fees i want to talk about uh growth and those issues that particularly affect elgin but but obviously anyone's welcome to come so that'll be announced on my page where um we can all have a conversation about it so thank you thank you mr shumake mr tucker thank you mr jones um not much to say tonight but i do want to say um i think you did an awesome job mr jones tonight with one exception um i would ask you because i've sat in that chair where you've sat
» majority of my tenure on county council as vice chair um allow councilman brazel and others um to complete because i have been so gracious to you and others of talking up here and being very long-winded and sat very patiently um so that's my negative my uh positive is i thank you for standing up when we had one of our public um speakers which he wasn't about to say anything bad he was just about to repeat what a council member said but you were quick to address to make sure nothing bad was said so i commend you for that but just keep that in mind because sometimes people just you know want to want to be heard and um this is uh where we can be heard as elected officials and where we can get our point across where we agree or disagree um i want to say to miss katie gwen and trip gwen and fami
» ly uh my condolences my love and prayers are with them and um i hope that they have safe travels when it's appropriate for them to come back home and um we had prayer for them our last council meeting and for anyone else who's going through things with your family loved ones and even neighbors continue to pray and stay positive thank you mr vice chair thank you uh miss took for those kind words uh mr brazil yes sir and for the record um sammy as as much as i appreciate that i did not put him up to saying that he did um so a few things obviously we're prayerfully concerned about katie and in the gwen family also don't want to mention trip's father has also been diagnosed with stage four esophageal cancer cancer so they have been hit with a double whammy guys pray for this family um trip's a
» good man he's a friend of mine and um we were able to actually sit and talk today and i just don't i don't have words for for how upsetting it is to see what they're going through right now so you know what if if you got your health and i know we got a lot of things we can fuss about right we all do but um if you got your health and you got your family good gosh we're blessed so um it just it just sheds a different light on on life and i'll tell you i think we live in the best county in the state i love kershaw county born and raised here um i did a little bit of quick math i think whether it's 70,000 people mr templar is that how many people live here 68,000 68,000 people we've got about 1,800 houses on our sewer system is that right approximately two and a half people per house what's the
» average they they go by residential units and i i can't remember but it's it's roughly 4,500 people get the the privilege of being on a sewer system not having to have their septic tank problem that's about six percent of the population so i'll say this we're a rural county we'll never get sewer everywhere sewer is a economic development um stronghold and our county knows that and and we value um being able to expand it especially for that reason i think to to mr shoemate's point i appreciate the the talking points regarding high density development i haven't talked to anybody in kershaw county not one person that says gee i love those houses where you can reach out and touch the next one that's basically what he's talking about so let the records show we are doing the work of the people we
» do care about the people we can't satisfy everyone in all areas nor nor would i ever try to myself because i would fail miserably but but what i want to say is um everybody on this council cares about kershaw county and i think in different ways we express how we care um yes i think we are fiscally conservative this is the first budget that i know that i'll be able to vote for it's no tax increases this is my third budget and this will be the first one that i support so i i want to thank everybody for that um one more point that i'd like to make still talking about the sewer sum mr administrator i look for solutions when i'm when i'm at work when i'm at home when i'm with my family if there's an issue i try to be a solution provider and i know you have an opportunity next week to uh to rect
» ify the situation with the grant uh potentially save it restructure our application and i just ask you find us a solution find us a solution to the problem so we can move forward in a positive manner and and that's what i think politicians should do um just backbiting and fighting and fussing and you know going at one another and being at one another's throats i'm over it i'm not doing it anymore i'm not fighting i love everybody up here i can tell you that right now and i love every one of you being here thank you for being here and thank you for caring enough to be here but i'll say danny bring us a solution and then council let's provide a solution for the citizens together that's all i had to say thank you all right that was actually well said russell but mr tucker i appreciate your kin
» d words but i'm not going to listen to you bottom line is i'm gonna i'm gonna make sure we stay in line with what the discussion are and not getting into a disneyland or a storytelling time but uh everybody up here did a great job listen i have a couple things but i want to start with uh again my thoughts and prayers with the gwen family uh they are going through quite a bit with uh gene passing away i i got the opportunity to know her over the last year and she was a lovely lady and uh she always told me she said i'm watching you jimmy jones how you treat my daughter on county council and i'm sure she's watching me now as well but uh as i said thoughts and prayers go out to her folks let me just tell you where i'm at and i represent this whole county i don't go i don't give a rat's nest ab
» out a district i represent this whole county if somebody calls me i'm going to be up there and i'm gonna fight for them as hard as i will anybody else one thing i am i've been here 17 years my fifth term and i have always fought for the truth and transparency and martin you know that yeah you do know it and he just raised his eyebrow but uh but bottom line is it is the truth i have and uh you know that we can be i don't know this was the case i don't think it was we can be right on something but if perception is that we're wrong with the public we're wrong we got to communicate we got to make sure everybody understands and i stand by my position with this sewer grant i stand by it i'm mr chempler i am looking very forward to hearing what your thoughts when you come back with us on at third
» ricos bottom line it is an opportunity it's 10 million dollars and i would hate to see that just thrown out but anyway um transparency and the truth and i'll make sure we keep everything in front of the folks and one lady got up here and spoke tonight she was speaking about the truth and if you're telling the truth even if it's ugly it's the truth but how can you go wrong all right having said that uh i pray for her pray for madam chair to be back at the next meeting and uh at this time mr administrator do you have a briefing just very short um two items uh again i just wanted to echo what some of y'all said about uh tim taylor's work he's um you know he talked to me about this a while back and and and he made it happen so um thank you tim and lauren and anyone else involved in this i think
» that anytime we can do something positive and recognize um our neighbors or friends or whoever and and um recognize what they're doing in a positive light and and share it in this forum i think that's that's a pretty special thing also want to thank my staff this has been a pretty arduous uh monday and tuesday um but um they they never let me down they they work hard and um when i task them with something it uh they deliver so i'm just extremely proud of all of the staff be it my staff or anyone working for kershaw county um we can always improve we can always do better in any area um nobody's perfect no organization is perfect but i appreciate all the work we do sometimes it's thankless um sometimes we get recognized for things um but i i appreciate the work they put in on a daily basis an
» d that's my report all right mr templar thank you is there a legal briefing no mr vice chair all right mr vice chair let me ask yes sir do i have a motion to adjourn mr tucker is there a second i didn't say anything motion to adjourn mr brazil second motion to adjourn is any further business or discussion this meeting is thank you there mr jones who second that you did robi no sorry no no no no no no no no no no no no no no
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