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.
» when you are sorry all right i have time call to order i'd like to welcome everybody to kershaw county county council meeting today tuesday september 10th i'd like to start by um having an invocation and i think mr pastor marion bennett is not feeling well and won't be here tonight so i'm going to ask mr tucker if he'd say say some words to the good lord tonight would you do that for us yes sir yes sir let us all stand if we can and let's bow our heads and open up our hearts uh godfather almighty once again we say thank you thank you for a gracious and glorious and safe day that you provided all of us and thank you for the traveling mercies that you leaned upon us on getting here and we ask that you give us traveling mercy back to our destinations well father we thank you for this country c
» alled america and this whole world that you have created and we ask now that you touch our hearts and we ask that you give us the grace that you have given us and that you touch our hearts and we ask that you give us the grace that you have given us and we ask that you touch our hearts and we ask that you give us the grace that you have given us and we ask that you touch our hearts and we ask that you give us the grace that you have given us and we ask that you touch our hearts and our minds as we deliberate the business of the citizens here in kershaw county but more so law we ask that you touch the minds and hearts of our state leaders our federal leaders and our world leaders as uh things continue to sometimes looks very daunting and very sad but know that we're in your control and that
» you have leadership over all of us our lord father we ask a special blessing for the jones family you heal councilman jimmy jones and give him back his body a special blessing for the jones family you heal councilman jimmy jones and give him back his body a special blessing for the jones family you heal councilman jimmy jones and give him back his body as whole as possible as whole as possible as whole as possible so he can continue to serve the people that so he can continue to serve the people that so he can continue to serve the people that he represent we ask all these blessings in he represent we ask all these blessings in he represent we ask all these blessings in your son jesus name amen in jesus name amen your son jesus name amen in jesus name amen your son jesus name amen in jesus
» name amen pledge of allegiance to the united pledge of allegiance to the united pledge of allegiance to the united states of america and to the republic states of america and to the republic states of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god states of america and to the republic for which it stands one nation under god agenda i'll second all right we've got a agenda i'll second all right we've got a agenda i'll second all right we've got a first from councilman cato a second from first from councilman cato a second from first from councilman cato a second from councilman thomason mr vice chair could i councilman thomason mr vice chair could i councilman thomason mr vice chair could i make an amendment please yes go ahead make an amendment please yes go ahead make
» an amendment please yes go ahead sir yes i would like to amend uh sir yes i would like to amend uh sir yes i would like to amend uh in rep below uh proof of minutes uh b6a in rep below uh proof of minutes uh b6a in rep below uh proof of minutes uh b6a that we add a uh that we add a uh that we add a uh briefing from the finance committee on our briefing from the finance committee on our briefing from the finance committee on our meeting friday please all those in meeting friday please all those in meeting friday please all those in favor of the do we get a second i'll favor of the do we get a second i'll favor of the do we get a second i'll second that all right we've got a second that all right we've got a second that all right we've got a amendment from amendment from amendment from counci
» lman tucker we have a second councilman tucker we have a second councilman tucker we have a second from councilman shoemake um all those in from councilman shoemake um all those in from councilman shoemake um all those in favor all right uh the uh adoption of favor all right uh the uh adoption of favor all right uh the uh adoption of the agenda as amended all those in favor the agenda as amended all those in favor the agenda as amended all those in favor all right we have a unanimous unanimous all right we have a unanimous unanimous all right we have a unanimous unanimous vote vote vote the agenda is adopted as amended moving the agenda is adopted as amended moving the agenda is adopted as amended moving on public comments two people have on public comments two people have on public comment
» s two people have signed to speak for public comments so signed to speak for public comments so signed to speak for public comments so five minutes peace all right welcome five minutes peace all right welcome five minutes peace all right welcome who do we have first tonight sir miss who do we have first tonight sir miss who do we have first tonight sir miss corlin burring all right he tortured corlin burring all right he tortured corlin burring all right he tortured corlin welcome okay so i'm going to try corlin welcome okay so i'm going to try corlin welcome okay so i'm going to try to be quick because i was not planning to be quick because i was not planning to be quick because i was not planning on speaking tonight i actually wasn't on speaking tonight i actually wasn't on speaking tonig
» ht i actually wasn't planning on attending as all three of my planning on attending as all three of my planning on attending as all three of my boys have something going on and two boys have something going on and two boys have something going on and two parents three kids a little chaotic so parents three kids a little chaotic so parents three kids a little chaotic so um i have three things i wanted to talk um i have three things i wanted to talk um i have three things i wanted to talk about last wednesday i received a phone about last wednesday i received a phone about last wednesday i received a phone call from a local scdot employee he was call from a local scdot employee he was call from a local scdot employee he was calling me after he drove through our calling me after he drove throu
» gh our calling me after he drove through our community community community at the request of representative at the request of representative at the request of representative jermaine johnson's office he stated jermaine johnson's office he stated jermaine johnson's office he stated that their ditching is working properly he that their ditching is working properly he that their ditching is working properly he also informed me that the county also informed me that the county also informed me that the county administration office had contacted him administration office had contacted him administration office had contacted him several weeks ago and requested that in several weeks ago and requested that in order to quote make it look better can you guys clean ditches to make it look like we're do
» ing a little more i was sitting at my desk when i received this call and actually wrote that down so i could quote it here for you councilman someone isn't being truthful i'm not sure who's being dishonest but i do trust that you'll get to the bottom of it issue number two a comment was made by someone in this room about residents not showing up to the finance committee meeting that was held on friday even though i provided our emails when i met with jimmy jones and county administration my husband and i weren't included on the email it was sent out at 3 45 p.m the day before the meeting was held it's wild to think that slightly more than 24 hour notice was given and yet a comment was made about residents not attending issue 3.
» to reiterate what i said two weeks ago there is a pipe that the county does not have an easement for that is destroying my property and at times dumping sewage into my backyard to be told that this was a concern by county administration at the time of installation but it was still installed is outright negligence and unacceptable the pipe is still installed the pipe is still installed the pipe is still installed it's well outside the county's 66 foot easement you have 33 feet from the center of the road now as stated at the last meeting over time the center point moves on dirt roads but as of right now this pipe runs 185 feet from the center of the road and that does not include the fallout the county administration and other offices cannot locate any documentation of an existing easement a
» nd i do believe that would be a violation of the fifth amendment and i expect something to be done about this immediately while that pipe is a part of the drainage issue in our neighborhood what appears to be work that was done in the last meeting was not done on the fifth amendment and i expect something to be done about this immediately while that pipe is a part of the drainage issue in our neighborhood what appears to be work that was done illegally is an entirely separate issue thank you thank you ma'am appreciate that very much and um the pecan orchard is is still a continuing topic of conversation for council uh next person please next speaker is tom webb 9 11 and litter welcome i was going to speak about more than one thing but uh i think i'll leave some of it off um got such a pitif
» ul poor audience here today for me to speak to you i heard i heard there were 5 000 people watching this on youtube tonight so you speak away all right well maybe but uh tomorrow is the 23rd anniversary of 9 11. so i'm going to talk about that i do this every now and then i guess once a year it seemed like it was just yesterday but um some planes hit the twin towers world trade center and they collapsed in such a way that is questionable how could they fall straight down seven hours later building seven across the street from them fell in fell in its own footprint seven hours after um so uh larry silverstein owned building seven and he was leasing the twin towers and somehow he came out with the insurance on the twin towers i don't know exactly how that works but anyway planes hit the twin
» towers seven hours later building seven went down and it it looks like it was imploded it fell There have been questions about that. The NTSC, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, did a study of Building 7, trying to figure out what happened. It took them seven years to come up with the information that they made public. They said fire brought it down. It had very little fire in it. When the Twin Towers fell, debris from the Twin Towers knocked out windows on one side and maybe started a fire in it. It had some fire. This is referred to as office fires. It was pretty well burned out by seven hours later when it fell in. What is presumed is that they tried to push the button on it to bring it down. It was already primed and ready to go.
» If something went wrong, it didn't work. So they had to rush back in and redo some things. Then, seven hours later, there was a countdown and Building 7 fell in on its own footprint. I have a book here from the architects and engineers at the University of Alaska. They re-studied it using what was available. There were many diagrams. They came to the conclusion that fire had nothing to do with it. It was said that fire caused some beams to expand and pop rivets. They said it didn't. The original report said that it leaned before it fell. They said that it didn't. It fell straight down. Building 7 was 47 stories high and almost as long as a city block. Not very deep from front to back, but it was a very big building.
» It had information in it that was going to be used for prosecuting some shenanigans that were going on. Money that needed to be recovered, I guess. It was all buried in the rubble. Questions about Building 7 still persist. Ben Laden, Osama Bin Laden, said he didn't do it. Who did? Larry Silverstein, being the connection between 7 and the World Trade Center towers, it looks like there was a conspiracy. When Ben Laden was supposedly killed, SEAL Team 6 found him at a hideaway across the border from Afghanistan. They went in and one man went upstairs. He said, "I'm going to find out who he is," and shot who he thought was Ben Laden. The next one that came up said he didn't recognize him. They'd been shown pictures of what Ben Laden looked like. The guy had black hair.
» Ben Laden would have been gray by then. So they shot the wrong man, I presume may have been kin to Ben Laden. But then they buried him at sea. There have been plenty of other Muslims killed since then who have not been buried at sea. It looks like a plot. Osama had just found his birth certificate. Surprise, surprise. Osama Bin Laden had just found his birth certificate. Surprise, surprise. Three days before the raid on Ben Laden. So it was a distraction. And his birth certificate seems to be phony. Some of it is done like it was done on a typewriter and some of it was done like it was done on a computer. So my time is up. I'll speak to you again. Thank you. Good seeing you as always. Thank you, sir. All right. If that's all for public comments, we'll move to an approval for minutes.
» Do I have a motion to approve the minutes from the last meeting? Mr. Vice Chair, make a motion to approve the minutes from our last meeting on I can't even see right here. August 27. August 27. Thank you. Do I have a second? All right. And Mr. Vice Chair, I will be abstaining since I was absent. That's right. You were sick. Yeah. All right. Yeah, we've got a first from Councilman Tucker, a second from Councilman Take Kato. Any discussion? Thank you, Miss Hannah. Thank you, Miss Hannah, as always. Thank you for keeping up with us. All right. All those in favor? All right. It's unanimous with Tomlinson abstaining due to absence. That takes us to a report from the Finance Committee. I'd like to turn that over to Chair of the Finance Committee, Councilman Tucker. Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair.
» Appreciate that. First and foremost, I want to say thank you to my two colleagues that sit up on this dais, Councilman Tomlinson and Councilman Shoemake for always being willing and able to come to these meetings. And I want to thank staff, too, for, Miss Lauren, you for setting them up, getting everybody in order, and for staff, for Mr. Kato, Mr. Templer, for providing information, and Mr. Jarrell as well. We had a good meeting on Friday. We met for about an hour and a half. Administration provided us with a lot of data on some different areas of stormwater, on some things we needed to do preliminary. We, in turn, turned the back around and asked them for some additional information.
» And our plan right now, before we present anything or recommend anything, is to find out two things, where's the money coming from and the costs. We're double checking on cost and what does a long-term plan looks like from Council on addressing stormwater. So don't have much more than that. We will have much more detail. We will give a full report on the 24th of this month. Okay. And the Finance Committee will be meeting before that. I don't have a date or time set yet. We'll put that together and get that out. But we will be meeting again to give a full report on the 24th. Okay. Ms. Hanna, if you can make note that the Finance Committee will give a more conclusive report on the 24th, then we will have that noted tonight. Mr.
» Vice Chair, can I yield to my colleagues to see if they had anything to add to that? Absolutely. Please do. Yeah. I don't have anything to add. I think you hit the nail on the head. All right. Same here. All right. All done. Thank you. All right. Thank you. Appreciate the report. Can I add something to that? Yes, of course. Yes, I'm sorry, Mr. Administrator. It's all right. Well, my addition is mainly to what was said during public comment. Okay. I just have just a slight clarification. So, when we staff and Council met out at Pekin Orchard, we collected email addresses and they were handwritten. So, some handwriting is better than others. That is one of the mechanisms we wanted to have in place for the residents of Pekin Orchard to share information often.
» And so, I was sent another email list from a gentleman I had talked to out there for years. And it captured people on Guyon Drive as well. So, we had some emails get sent back for address errors and things like that. Some had changed their addresses from the time from almost eight years ago when I started dealing with Pekin Orchard. And that was in the spirit to, again, share information. And there was in no way a call to the meeting. I hope the other residents of Pekin Orchard don't feel like, because no one was there, that we think any less of their issue out there. It was just mainly a conversation piece or an information piece to those residents to let them know that this issue would be taken up with the Finance Committee.
» Again, we were not taking attendance, and I don't want it to be construed in any kind of negative way for that neighborhood out there, because those residents didn't show up. So, I think that was an unfair remark. So, it's not reflective of what I'm trying to do up here. We always look forward to a solution. Yes, Councilman Tucker. Let me just dovetail on that, because this is real important. First and foremost, and thank you, Mr. Administrator, I didn't make that meeting. Vice Chair made it, and I believe Mr. Jones made it out there to that meeting, along with staff, and it was well-attended from my understanding. It was. Pekin Orchard has been pushed by this staff to the Finance Committee on solutions, nothing but solutions, and I commend them for that.
» The Finance Committee is studying for a holistic approach versus one fix and a can of worms being open. I'm just telling you where our mindset is. So, with that, it's not like nobody's not hearing and not listening, and don't care, because that's far from the truth. We do, and we want to get something done, but remember, we represent Kershaw County. There is a lot of problems with stormwater, and I wasn't aware on how wide this river was until we started digging into it. So, this is some of the research and information the Finance Committee is trying to get back, so we can have a holistic approach and understanding, and then we will start moving forward, and we don't have a problem having Pekin Orchards being number one. We've said that amongst ourselves.
» But what's the solution? Do you create more problems, or are we trying to find solutions? And I can speak for this committee. We're solution solvers. Yes. So, being a problem solver, as we are, I know Administrator Templar did, in fact, state that the Pekin Orchard was at the top of the list, but there was indeed a list, so we'll better assess that list, as you said, holistically, and then we'll start moving forward with solutions. So, thank you all for your comments. Yes, sir. Any others? Perfect. All right. A quick note. We have a new public information officer in the audience. I think everybody knows him. Mr. Johnny Dill. No, that's not his name. Mr. Bowtie. Glad to have you here, sir. Welcome to Kershaw County. Glad to have you on the team. Absolutely.
» Moving on to item seven, ordinances. We have a third reading of an ordinance authorizing the amendment and restatement of restrictive covenants affecting designated wetlands, tributaries, and related buffer areas located upon the property within the Industrial Park in Kershaw County, formerly known as Governor's Hill West Business Park, pursuant to the requirements of the Department of the Army, permit number SAC 2006-03871. Do I have a motion to put this on the floor? I will make that motion. Second. All right. We have a first from Councilman Shumate and a second from Councilman Tucker. Any discussion? No questions? Everybody understands this. We've talked about it. This is the third time. All right. Let's take a vote. All those in favor? And we have a unanimous vote.
» So we can move along. Appointments. Now, there was a little bit of confusion in the last meeting regarding appointments. Do we have a Councilman tonight that wants to make an appointment? Let me ask a quick legal opinion. We have someone that rolls off in October. Can I make an appointment tonight that they be effective October when he wants to make an appointment? Yes, sir. That's correct. That's correct. When he rolls off. So let me hear some background. Mr. Cliff Emmons is on the Planning Commission, has only served a year. I was intending to re-nominate him to continue to serve. After speaking with Mr. Emmons, he has basically said that he has enjoyed his service, but has said he's probably going to let his term expire. So I have someone ready to take over.
» The question is, can I nominate them tonight to start upon his expiration of his term, which is next month? Yeah, I believe that would be proper. My recollection, there was a parallel when y'all appointed Mr. Ned Towler to the Planning Commission. He came off BZA. Correct. Subject to his resignation from BZA, so there wouldn't be dual office holding. So yeah, I think you can make a contingent appointment or a springing appointment at some later date. And the reason I would like to do this, gentlemen, is that would leave the District 3 appointment I'd made to ATAX empty, and I have someone in mind for that that I'd like to bring up. But obviously, Mr. Chair, I would like to make an appointment with Mr. Emmons. But obviously, I need to get Mr. Renfrow in.
» So I guess the best way for me to do is I would make a motion. Yes. So I would make a motion that we appoint Chris Renfrow to the Planning Commission to his appointment to be effective upon the expiration of Mr. Cliff Emmons' term next month. You don't have that date, do you? I had it in the other stuff. But, Ms. Hanna, do you have... October 2nd. That way we can be... Correct. So I would make a motion that we appoint Chris Renfrow to the Planning Commission effective October 3rd, which would follow the natural expiration of Mr. Emmons' term. And that is the spot that is currently occupied by someone from District 3. Councilman, you're making that in the form of a motion? Correct. I will second. All right. We have a second. Any discussion? If I could just very briefly. So Mr.
» Renfrow is currently on a tax. He's a business owner out in my area, out in District 3. He has been extremely involved in the community here lately. He's talked to me about many zoning issues. In fact, he was the impetus of two zoning changes we've done recently, which is to broaden some things for RV parks to make that a business more people can get into, and also some impervious soil ratio to help some businesses. So he's well versed in it. He's already met with Mr. Towle, who's on the Planning Commission, to kind of get an overview, and he's extremely excited and willing to serve. So again, I just think he'd do a great job. So that's all I have. So he'll continue to serve on a tax? Is that correct? Only until October 3rd. Okay. And then that...
» So once he goes off October 3rd, that will create a vacancy on a tax. Okay. October 2nd, because he needs to resign, right? Well, correct. I'll get him to resign effective October 2nd. Yeah. We'll ask Mr. DuBose to keep our hands clean on that, please. You'll make sure everything goes along in the time frame that it should. Any further discussion? All right. We can take it to a vote. All those in favor of appointing Christopher Renfro? We have a unanimous vote. Congratulations, sir. Mr. Vice Chair? Yes, sir. I have a question for Ms. Hanna. Yes, sir. Go ahead. Do we have anybody else coming up between now and December the 31st that needs to be either reappointed or position will be vacant? Yes. Off the top of your head. I believe Ms.
» Martin is on correct, isn't her term up in October? Fiona Martin, that planning is on. Oh, yes. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So let's think about how we're going to fill that, because I would like to see this commission hit the road wide open come the 1st of December. Yeah. And just so you're aware, Mr. Tucker, I know there's been one application that came through the email, but obviously, that's the spot that's currently occupied by the only person from District 4, which would be, obviously, Mr. Jones' district. So obviously, I think... I don't think that made it to the packet, but obviously, I think it would be appropriate to talk to him, you know. Absolutely. Yeah. I knew that Ms. Fiona was Councilman Jones' appointment.
» So if that is indeed the district that has a vacancy, that's how we'll move forward. Okay. We'll defer to him. Perfect. Moving along at an expedient pace, we are all the way to council member briefings. And I'll start... I always like to work from my left and my right. So, Councilman Tomlinson? I'm going to be easy. I have no briefing this evening. Nothing to say. All right. Easy enough. Councilman Cato? I really... I just got one comment. I want to follow up on what Mr. Tom Webb said about 9/11 and remembering the fallen. I'll never forget that day. I can remember that vividly. So, just keep those families, you know, every year on 9/11, those families have to relive exactly what happened to their loved ones.
» And so, I just ask you to keep those families in your prayers and, you know, have a great rest of your week. All right. Councilman Shumate? Yeah, very briefly. Congratulations, Johnny. I look forward to having you aboard. I think, you know, obviously I've seen your remarkable work on the media front and all the other stuff you've done. So, I'm so happy you're bringing that to the county. So, really excited to have you aboard. One really brief thing. I'd had some folks reach out to me on social media and I did a post on my Facebook page about, just some growth questions and I'm not going to get into all that. It was very, very lengthy. Feel free to read it if you got an hour. It took me a day and a half to write it. But, and I appreciate staff probably put all the data together.
» One interesting factoid, though, I wanted to pull from that as we talk about some of this residential growth that we certainly are trying to get a handle on. Over the last year, this council has done a really good job of taking the bull by the horns, expanding minimum lot sizes, doing some other things. We got the airport moratorium that we're working to protect there. Here's what's interesting. When we look at major development alone, the planning commission has not approved a major subdivision in all of 2024 and only two in 2023. And obviously it's, you know, we see all this construction. So, when folks are out there seeing all these houses pop up, understand most of that's coming from the old stuff. And I say that as a word of caution.
» It's important that we monitor growth, but we need to understand what we see isn't always reflective of what's happening in the moment. What's happening, you know, in the moment is reflective of what happened about a year and a half, two, three years ago. So, what we've done now is starting to pay dividends. We just need to be careful. I'm a huge proponent of reining in out of control residential growth. What we don't want to do is overcorrect ourselves. So, I just want to point that out because a lot of people say, "What have you guys done?" I think the data actually shows we've seen some slid. I'm in this mega growth. And that's a good thing. Doesn't mean we don't monitor. It doesn't mean we keep on. We're rewriting the ZLDR.
» I just thought that was kind of a positive note as people talk about all the subdivisions popping up and infrastructure concerns. We have seen a bit of a shift. And I see that as a positive thing. That's all I have. Thank you. I agree that we've made great strides in the way we develop Kershaw County. And we won't see the fruits of that labor for another year or two. I completely agree 100% with what you've got to say, Councilman. Councilman Tucker. Thank you, sir. Appreciate it. I was going to talk about the on-ex meeting, but I've already done that. So I want to say to all the effective folks and the widows and children that's left behind from 9/11 that tomorrow will also be a reminder, a somber moment.
» If you've did any public service, first responders, military, whatever it may be, just community work, and you just love America, you're going to feel some kind of way tomorrow as well. And it should be, as Mr. Webb and Mr. Katois stated, it should never be forgotten. It should never be forgotten. With that, I do want to say that I am 100% behind you, Mr. Shoemate, when it comes down to this zoning stuff. This was actually brought up by the panel. The Democratic Party had a meet your candidate panel this weekend. It's a bipartisan issue. I know it is. And that's why it came up, because it's a bipartisan issue. And it was spoken about. There's a lot of things that this council's doing that's in the pipeline. And Rome wasn't built overnight.
» And there's policies and procedures and hoops that we have to jump through in order to be legal when we implement things. So this council is looking at every way possible, how we can do things legally, and how we can implement things legally, and how we can implement things legally, and rightfully, because growth is not going to go anywhere. It's here. The question for us is, and I'm talking about council and staff, what is that going to look like? We have an opportunity to help shape this, because you're not going to run them off. Because remember now, in 2008, South Carolina said, welcome, come. We have a beautiful state, smiling faces in beautiful places. We don't have a license tag running around with that on.
» Why are they here? Okay? And we're not all prepared, and we're not all welcoming the people that's coming. And so we've got to figure out a way what that's going to look like. And it takes time. So be patient. There is a lot of good things in the works. And the other thing that I wanted to say was, let me get around and have a senior moment here. Welcome, Mr. Johnny Deal. Welcome. We really appreciate and love having you on board. And I want to brag a little bit on Santee Lynch's Regional Council. Council Government. I get more dots. I know this is your go-to, Danny, but I'm going to steal my little bit of thunder while I can. I am so proud of that big, red, black machine that's sitting out front of this county building.
» And this colleague of mine to my left said, once you see one fire truck, you've seen them all. I told him upstairs, that's what you said, hunch. I told him upstairs, that's a different fire truck. That wasn't with Kershaw County dollars. So it's special. And so I want to say thank you to the chief. Thank you to Danny. Thank you to Santee Lynch's Regional Council Government board and staff for approving it and stick another one in. So we see when we get another one, I'm chair. Okay. I'll do all I can. I won't show any favoritism, but I do all I can. That concludes my report. I'd like to echo those words. We do appreciate the Santee Lynch's cog and what they've done for Kershaw County. Been a great partner. Dennis Cyphers is your administrator. Yes, sir.
» I want to thank Dennis for what he's done and every board member. And I know Councilman Tucker is chairman of the board. Is that right? Yes, sir. And thank you for what you do. That's a lot. And we appreciate what they do to help ease the tax burden on the citizens by working with the federal dollars and helping us have a new fire truck at a very low cost. I appreciate the grant writing that's being done. I know that's a big topic conversation is making sure that we're applying for the necessary grants that'll help Kershaw County. It'll help us grow and protect our citizens, whether it be fire trucks or EMS equipment or trucks. It's all necessary and it's all part of what we do here in Kershaw County. I'd like to move along and congratulate Mr.
» William Robinson from the Knights Hill Historic Preservation Board. They received a grant for just about $6,000 for the surfacing of a senior walking trail in their community. He's worked very hard for his community. He's in the audience tonight. Way to go. Congratulations. You know, someone who gives of themselves selfishly, whether it's somebody here that earned a plus one or anyone that goes the extra mile or a council member that goes out of the way to help a constituent and solve an issue. These are things that we do together as a community, that we work to solve these issues. And I'm real proud of each and every one here. That's been a part of problem solving. And that's what I feel like we are here in Kershaw County. We're problem solvers, not problem causers.
» So with that being said, can somebody confirm that it's our sheriff's birthday tomorrow? Put that on my phone. Is that right? Let's say happy birthday to our great Sheriff Lee Bone. Appreciate you leading the way. And of course, everybody, I does remember what they were doing on September 11th. I can tell you what I was doing. I know everybody in this room that's old enough can remember exactly where they were at when that horrific event happened. Detrimental attack on our nation and on our sovereign soul. And I'm glad everyone overseas that attacked us paid dearly because we made good on a promise that we were going to protect our nation and our people. Mr. Vice Chair. Yes, sir. If I can just interject, he's going to kill me, but he'll be 52 tomorrow. Also, Ms.
» Sandra Brown, I will not tell her age, our finance director, birthday is tomorrow as well. Oh, how about that? Happy birthday to her as well. And she is a wonderful, wonderful part of Kershaw County in our team here. Let me not leave out Councilman Jones is undergoing a grueling back surgery. He's doing well. Visited with him a few times and he is healing and he is chomping at the bit to get back in this room and see each and every one of you. So wish him a speedy recovery and he's doing well. Everyone that is concerned. I know colleagues and constituents alike want to know how Councilman Jones is doing. He's doing really great and we appreciate him and look forward to having him back soon. Based on the crowd, he's the attention getter. He's the crowd pleaser.
» Well, Councilman Jones does draw a crowd. And he is a fan favorite among us. So with that, we'll move along to administrator briefings. Thank you, sir, members of Council. Got just an update on some of our recreation projects. So our boat ramp, we are working with that. I'm hoping crossing my fingers that we can get that out to bid within the next two or three weeks. We'll have that before Council once that bid comes back. Currently undergoing some. Final permitting with the Corps of Engineers and some DHEC's new name, DES with some drainage just to make sure we're on track. Taking a little bit longer with that, but we're trying to avoid change orders on that to increase the cost. So we're very close on that. Bethune and Westville ball field rehab designs are also in review with DES.
» So we're getting close on that as well. Woodward Park is very close with the. Design is it's one of its critical mile markers of 85% complete. Once it is fully completed, Alliance will review and then they will prepare the bid package to go out. So pretty close to tracking on schedule with that. Casey West complex parking. We're currently doing the geotechnical and subsurface exploration. So we're kind of early into that with permitting and things of that nature. So one of the key pieces there will be, as we all know, we have a paving season and we're coming up in kind of the final time of pavings. So we'll have to be intentional with that. So let's see the original for Woodward Park. Just some dates. The original schedule was bid documents early November.
» And then potentially Council seeing that in maybe sometime in November or I'm sorry, December. I know we typically have one meeting in December. So we'll we'll see what goes on there. But again, we'll be very close to completing all the groundwork there. And then we anticipate that being about a 9 to 12 month project, which has got a lot of moving pieces in there when it comes to lighting and paving and just everything that's going to go on out there. So pretty excited about the progress on that item. One we haven't talked about in a while is our wastewater treatment plant expansion. We're tracking pretty well there. We had to submit an updated schedule to skip for our skip grant last week just to let them know where we were. We're slightly off on some of the timing there.
» We just had to let them know exactly how we're going to make corrections there. So some of the dates on that project will be to advertise potentially towards the end of this month. Received bids next the middle of next month, and then construction, maybe, maybe mid January of 25. And then with an expected completion date, which is very critical, is 6126. But we you know, we have the money there has to be spent by 26 that some of the skip grant money has a shelf life on it. So going to be very important to finish that project on time. So we don't want any of our funding to go away. So I'm so confident on that. Okay, if I may, Mr. Vice Chair, to the administrator. Thanks, because I was going to mention that we we've been very fortunate to get two bites at this apple.
» And what's the young lady's name that's over the skip grant over there in Columbia? Oh, Bonnie. Yes. Yes. Yeah, we want to keep her on our friend side. Well, we did that this week with a very nice response of of updated project frames and things like that. And as you remember, with some of our Woodward Park and our recreation funding, that money has a time table on it as well of 2026. So but that that will be just kind of a strategy of what we spend first. So yes. And I do want to welcome Johnny to our team. That's just great. It's hometown talent. We couldn't pay a national advertising firm to get the following that he has built up over the years. So it just makes a ton of sense for us to tell our story. And a lot of the good things we do.
» So I'm excited to have Johnny here with his skill set. Excited about that. And then you know, with the fire truck, we talked about grants and everything. Will Glover does an amazing job with this stuff. He is just so ahead of the curve. We already have another grant in the works, or an application rather to get another truck. You know, it just goes back to the hometown talent. Will used to take his skills and services to Sumter, but we brought him home and it's just it's been a home run hire. So can't say enough about Will and his guys and what they do over there. They have really taken our fire service and advanced it forward by leaps and bounds. So that's all I have. Thank you. Thank you, Administrator Templar. So recap real quick.
» These are projects that we've started working on probably when 2021 2022 projects. That are just now coming to fruition. We've got a boat ramp that's going to happen in Veterans Park. We should we should get that to bid. You think the next by the next meeting or the following? Definitely not by the next meeting. I wouldn't say that. But I hope the following. Let's shoot for the first. Let's let's put something on the agenda on next. Our next meeting is agenda to hope to have that on the following. So that'd be the first in October. That'd be a great goal. It's a month out. That should give us enough time. That would be October 8th, Mr. Vice Chair. Okay. October the 8th. Also, the West Watery. You talk about a timeline with paving season.
» Is that about the same time frame or is that shorter? Is that longer? Where do you feel like that time frame is going to be? I'll have to get with our engineer, Stephen, who's working on that just to see what his thoughts are. We can pave a little later. It's just very weather dependent. You know, there's always going to be deviations in there with rain and things like that. So let's also set a reminder for the next meeting. It usually falls decent and dry and cool. Sounds good for November on the Woodward Park. And I think we might be on in the next year for the wastewater treatment plant. Does that sound about right? We have to we have to finish in 26. All right. All works in progress and hoping to hoping to get some of this stuff started. Really soon. Legal briefing.
» Nothing outside of the executive session. All right. Sounds good. Thank you. I'd like to conclude briefings by telling everybody thank you for letting me be the interim between the election and like to welcome our new chairman. He'll he'll be he should be at the next meeting if his swearing in goes according to to what we hear is going to be on the 15th or 16th Monday. Monday the 16th. All right. So look forward to having him in this center chair and welcoming our new chairman, Ben Connell. So with that, we'll move to to executive session. Do I have a motion to go into executive session? Take a motion. We're going to executive session. All right. Thank you. We've got a first and we've got a second. Any discussion and a vote? All right. It's unanimous. Let's go into executive session.
» Looks like we might. All right. Mr. Vice chair. Yes. Make a motion to come out of executive session. All right. Second. Second. All right. A first from Councilman Tucker. Second from Councilman Tomlinson. Any discussion? No vote is to be taken. So we are back in session. Vote to come out, sir. Yes. I'm so sorry. All those in favor of coming out of executive session. All right. It's unanimous. Thank you. And that brings us to adjournment. I make a motion. We adjourn. That was fast. All right. Take a vote. All those in favor. Everybody's ready to go home. Everybody have a good night. 1901. You missed it by a minute. One hour.
