Full meeting transcript - January 14, 2025

» Welcome everyone. Appreciate you coming tonight to this Kershaw County Council meeting January 14th 2025. We've got Mr. Jones absent tonight. He's feeling a little bit under the weather and Mr. Tomlinson is sliding in sideways here in a moment from a child's obligation, a sports obligation. So we've been called to order. We've got an invocation and Pledge of Allegiance tonight. Mr. Councilman Russell Brazel has invited Pastor Eric Boone with Prine Grove Baptist Church. Pastor Boone, would you please lead us in prayer and then the Pledge of Allegiance. Our Heavenly Father we thank you for this day. Lord we thank you that this is the day that you've made and Lord we pray that we might rejoice in it and be glad in it.

» Thank you Lord for this time that Lord we can come together tonight and Lord we pray for the council men and women. Well Lord we thank you for the opportunity that they have to serve this county. We thank you Lord for the appointed time and season that you've given them and Lord we pray for wisdom and guidance Lord from you and all the decisions that they make and Lord we pray tonight for those that are sick unable to be here. Father we pray for a touch from your healing hand and Lord we just ask your blessings upon them. Father we pray a blessing over their families tonight and ask you to bless their families, their homes, their children and Lord we just lift all that up to you tonight. Father we thank you Lord for the privilege to go through this process.

» We thank you for this free nation that we live in and Lord thank you for those Lord who have given their lives that we might do this. But we thank you most of all for the life that you gave Lord that we might be forgiven of sin. Thank you Lord tonight for Jesus and it's in his name we pray. Amen. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you very much Pastor Boone and Councilman Brousel appreciate that. It's great to see so many familiar faces tonight. Happy New Year to you. First meeting of the year. So many volleyball fans here tonight.

» We're going to address the agenda and then get to a proclamation which I think will show how many people here support volleyball. On the agenda we do have some changes coming up. I would seek a motion to remove item 7A, a public hearing, item 9A, a first reading. Both of those items to be placed on the 12825 Jennifer County Council and then also removal of item 11D. Is there a motion? I make a motion. Is there a second? Second. Thank you very much. We've got a first and a second. Any discussion at all? Explain why? Yes. Sure. You had the first but I'll go ahead and share a brief explanation. The public hearing removal regarding the airport overlay district and also the first reading have been moved to the second meeting in January to account for some additional feedback from SCAC.

» That's the South Carolina Aeronautical Commission. We're looking forward to a less restrictive map approval from them and some additional exhibits to be provided to the public. And so that will be beneficial at the second meeting in January. And then again I mentioned Mr. Jones is a little bit under the weather and so one of the items that he had personally placed on the agenda would be better to bring up at another time at his selection. Any further discussion? Thank you Mr. Chairman. Seeing none, all in favor of the amendment? Raise your right hand. It's unanimous for those who are present. Ms. Hanna, thank you very much. Now let's have a motion on the agenda as amended. Mr. Chair make a motion that we approve the agenda as amended. We've got a motion. Is there a second? I'll second.

» Thank you Mr. Tomlinson. Any further discussion? Seeing none, those in favor raise your hand. It's unanimous from those who are present. Ms. Parler, thank you very much. With the agenda approved next item is number 5A. Gentlemen, we've got a proclamation and recognition. Is there a motion? Mr. Chair, I'd like to make a motion we adopt this proclamation tonight for the North Central Volleyball team. Thank you very much Mr. Cato. Is there a second? Second. Thank you Mr. Tucker. You've got the floor. I'll try to be quick but there's a lot I want to say tonight. I'm very proud to be able to to do this and I've been very excited since November to recognize the varsity volleyball team.

» But first I would like to recognize, first of all I want to explain that this volleyball, these volleyball teams are a program. It starts at middle school and the middle school has done an outstanding job this year. Then it goes up to high school to a JV team and then to a varsity team. So tonight I wanted to recognize the accomplishments of both the JV and the varsity team because they both had such outstanding years. So tonight, first of all I'm gonna start with the JV team. So this JV team if you would please stand. If you're a player or coach with the JV team please stand. And I'm gonna get you to come up for a picture when I get done but I want you to listen to their accomplishments this year. So this team went 19 and 0 overall. They didn't lose a game all season.

» They went 12 and 0 in the region. They only lost two sets the entire season, two sets of volleyball the entire season. They also won the Lugoff Elgin tournament defeating River Bluff in a gold division tournament play. Their coach by head coach Christy Holly and assistant coach Summer Schultz who I proudly get to call my daughter. And I'm very proud of them and these young ladies work hard and I'm very proud of their accomplishments and I just wanted to recognize them tonight. The next next thing I want to do is the proclamation for the varsity team. So to give you a little bit of a little bit of insight into this varsity team. This varsity team is coached by head coach Andy Johnson who is the tallest person in the crowd in the very back and his assistant coach Miss Nikki Ganey.

» Miss Nikki Ganey has been the assistant coach for 13 years and Andy has coached a total of 23 years. Now Andy may get a little upset with me because I want to read off some of his accomplishments but he'll tell you this has all been a team effort through the years but it goes to prove just how much he puts into volleyball at North Central High School. So Andy coached two years of JV. He coached two years at Bethune High School. He's been in the playoff playoffs every year since the year 2004. He has a region record a career region record as head coach of 222 wins and 12 losses. His teams have been to the region championship 17 years they have won the region championship and he was state runner-up or his team was state runner-up in the year 2021.

» In the year 2024 he was the state that his team won the state championship for 2A He has had 16 North-South all-star players, 40 all-state players, 19 region players of the year and a lot of you know he has sent many a young lady off to college to play college ball to include his daughter who plays for the University of South Carolina. This team this year has an overall record of 33-0 and 1 one time. That is outstanding to have a career head coaching career that he has had and I just personally want to say thank you for your dedication.

» Tonight as we honor the team I want to read the proclamation that's been signed by the Kershaw County Council and it should be up on the screen and it's the proclamation honoring the North Central High School girls volleyball team 2022 AA state champions and it says whereas the North Central High School girls volleyball team located at 3000 Lockhart Road in Kershaw South Carolina has been titled as the 2020 for AA high school state champions whereas the members of the North Central High School volleyball team have accomplished an outstanding record of finishing the season with a 33-0 and 1 under head coach Andy Johnson and assistant coach Nikki Ganey whereas Kershaw County Council is proud to recognize the school administration the parents athletic director coaches athletes and athletes for

» their hard work and dedication that lead the girls volleyball team to win the state title as and as the 2024 region champs in the year 2024. Congratulations are in order to each of you on your outstanding victory as I call your name would you please stand Gabby Anderson Bailey Baker Addie Bentner Katie Bentner Aubrey Dixon Maya Elliott Mary Norwood Charleston Parker Aubrey Taylor Lake and Truesdell and Bella Walrit and as you can look around the room you can see why these young ladies are so successful look at the support that they have from their families and their friends that have come out tonight and when we get done and they leave you'll see how many people actually was here. Mr.

» Cato thank you so much before we vote on this and bring the teams up any further discussion from council members. Madam, I mean madam, Mr. Chairman, it's been a long week folks been a long week. Mr. Cato would you like to finish out your proclamation on your read now therefore. I'm sorry I apologize I got a little hell of myself. That's okay. You did good. Yeah I know it. But now therefore be it resolved that on this 14th day of January 2025 that Kershaw County Council do hereby honor the North Central High School girls volleyball team for winning the titles of 2024 region champs and 2024 AA state champions. Thank you sir.

» Any further discussion? Yeah well I'll add congratulations I just left my 13 year old daughter's middle school basketball game and I know how fierce it gets on the court so between basketball volleyball you young ladies are fierce y'all actually intimidate me a little bit so congratulations y'all y'all got to be very good to have the the record you have and it's a it's an honor to have you here tonight and congratulations to each and every one of you. Thank You Councilman. Any further discussion? I think now would be a good time to announce our horseback volleyball initiative with this group. Don't forget Polo. That's right. I told him not to say it. Mr.

» Tucker did you have something? Yes I just want to say because I was sitting there listening to Councilman Cato read off these impeccable records and accomplishments and coach Johnson you need to make some phone calls and tell Nick Saban he can take some lessons after you but I want to say thank you to all of you the players especially because it's not hard being a student and an athlete and it gets harder when you move up on the next level but it's definitely a dedication and thanks to the parents because some of these young ladies can't get where they need to be if it wasn't for you transporting and also car pooling other parents taking care of parents kids so it's a group effort community effort and most of y'all ladies were pretty tall I don't know if you're drinking soy milk or what out

» there but you were pretty tall so I see why you're good but congratulations and best wishes for the future of more championships. Thank you. Thank You Mr. Tucker. Any further discussion? Mr. Shear? Mr. Thompson. Real quick I just wanted to piggyback on what Mr. Cato said that is a huge accomplishment you will remember those times for your entire life you will be able to teach your children and your grandchildren the lessons the life lessons that you learned during this competition for this year thank you for representing North Central thank you for representing Kershaw County and it's all based upon the coaches the coaches are in place put together and have done wonderful things for the program y'all will go on to do great things remember the little moments you will never forget them congra

» tulations guys. Thank you very much. I just have a few remarks congratulations it's a huge achievement I've been there I've done it it's not easy you have to have a support network from your parents and your coaches and one of the reasons I know y'all are so tough is not just that you won state but I have two nieces who you competed against on occasion at Camden High School Nicolette and Ariana and I would say tell me about this North Central team and they would like God they're tough you just you can't sleep on them these girls are just flying all over the place and forget about bumps that spike it's like spike spike spike just all over you all the time so I congratulate you it's a big achievement and you know we're just proud of you so thankful to have you here tonight and if there's no f

» urther discussion gentlemen let's bring it to vote all in favor. Miss Hannah it's unanimous congratulations again if we could get the teams to come up please for a photo they're gonna make me look short I don't care where if we could have the JV team come up please we'd like to note for the record that mr. Tucker is also shorter than the JV team outstanding please feel free if you want to stay for the rest of the meeting you absolutely can if you if you need to take off you're not obligated to stay. We'll take just a brief moment let everybody shuffle out that was associated with the volleyball recognition.

» Again it's outstanding to see so many parents and coaches and student athletes who are great examples in the community gentlemen we're gonna be back on the agenda wanted to let those folks clear out so we can get back to a regular noise level here in in the room. Miss Ginger would you mind grabbing the door please Lauren thank you so much they're gonna congregate out there for a little while I'm sure all right thank you gentlemen we're back on the agenda next up we've got public comments it's not a question and answer session it's a time for counsel to hear directly from the public we've got 30 minutes set aside for this and the time gets divided up accordingly based on how many folks sign up Mr. DeBose how many do we have signed up? Seven speakers.

» We've got seven speakers who have signed up for public comment who's the first one? Steve Henderson the subject is Charlotte water interbase and transfer. Mr. Henderson we missed there's Mr. Henderson. Thank you my name is Steve Henderson I'm a resident of Beaver Creek and had a life have had a lifelong attachment to the lake I currently live on the lot my father started leasing in 1954 I've watched the water quality continue to degrade over my lifetime to the point that I no longer enjoy swimming in the lake and eat very little fish out of it Charlotte water has proposed has a currently has a permit to withdraw 33 million gallons a day and transfer into the Yadkin PD River Basin it's important to note that that transfer is a net number they just so they're incented to bring the wastewater

» back into the Catawba Basin I am currently on the Charlotte IBT stakeholders advisory group and I represent my friends and neighbors at Beaver Creek I noticed that the Kershaw County did not have a representative and I got in touch with Councilman Jones who I've known pretty much all my life and offered to also represent the County Council and the other citizens of Kershaw County on that the role of the advisory group is to provide feedback on the proposals from the Charlotte water has put out to propose alternatives and to give a local perspective to the committee this is a long process they've already had one stakeholders group meeting and there's probably be five or six more I hope we can make a difference but we won't make a difference if we don't try so I offer like say there's no ther

» e's no cost there's no learning curve because I'm already involved but I just thought that the Kershaw County needed to be informed and since I'm already doing that I offer my services to the county thank you mr. Henderson this will come up as an agenda item a little bit later thank you mr. DeBose who do we have next next speaker is Holly Hatch AOD zoning miss Hatch I'm Holly Hawk I live at 616 Red Fox Road a home that's been in my family for 40 years I'm not affected by the proposed zoning change for the airport overlay but my neighbors are my neighborhood is and my quality of life is I care deeply about all three I'm not anti-airport my father was a private plane pilot I spent many hours flying with him and his Piper Colt but I also recognize that it's a very small percentage of the popul

» ation in Kershaw County who are private pilots and own their own planes I worked for IBM for 30 years attaining an executive rank in operations the first thing a well-managed business does to determine if any capital requests any capital expenditures are justified is to prepare a cost-benefit analysis before spending any money to implement a project you are the only six elected officials in Kershaw County therefore you are wholly responsible for the decisions and the policies implemented in the county your mission is to quote deliver efficient effective and safe public services while remaining accountable to our residents the Federal Infrastructure Act created the FAA airport improvement program to get a grant an airport layout plan has to be reviewed and approved by the FAA you had to hire

» a consultant to do this because your staff could not possibly navigate this process you received conditional approval from the FAA now you have to do eight property acquisitions zoning avigation easements and other means to protect easements to protect the airport and Byron's that's why we're here tonight to comment the FAA AIP requires you to provide a cost-benefit analysis for any capital expenditure over five million dollars your project outline in the consultant RFQ is for 22 million my comment is you have the cart before the horse the first thing that should have been done is a cost-benefit analysis for this multi-year Camden Woodward field improvement project I asked my council representative for the project cost-benefit analysis nothing I asked five of the council representatives to

» describe in their words the benefits to their district of this airport improvement project nothing from four out of five I asked my council representative for the amount of money already owed to the consultant no response I noticed that the current the current ordinance AOD regulations have not been enforced or amended for 15 years since Florence Lawrence Sumter Bennett'sville Greenville Pageland Rock Hill Spartanburg Allendale Buford Charleston Columbia Darlington Greenwood Hartsville Hilton head Windsboro Peleon did I pronounce that right I don't know and monks corner all received money in 2024 from the FAA AIP I concluded you decided you wanted some too so you proceeded to spend money in order to get an FAA and state grant yet no cost-benefit analyses were done the new AOD zoning proposa

» l should be tabled until you can demonstrate the cost-benefit of this 22 million dollar program to your residence especially because yesterday Governor McMaster announced that he wants to spend 200 million dollars on hurricane infrastructure repairs another 251 million on teacher raises school officers and school choice programs in order to get South Carolina out of the bottom five states for educational quality in the United States and 193.5 million on state income tax cuts I'm sure you're well aware of the deficit problem at the national level the desire for more tax cuts the threats to our security from Russia and China and from the fires in California and federal government has now pledged to fund fighting and recovering from last comment the current zoning ordinance conditionally allow

» s hog and swine production in RD 1 and RD 2 the new AOD permits confined animal feeding operations in zones B2 C&D it also permits hog and pig farming in zone C&D it also allows animal processing and packaging conditionally in zone B2 and permits it in zones C&D it also allows stockyards and animal commodity sales yards conditionally in zones B2 and C and permits it in zone D none of these uses have any business being in the new AOD zoning please see that they're all changed to N or explain to the AOD residents why they should remain thank you so much gentlemen for your time and your consideration I really appreciate the opportunity to speak to you thank you miss hot mr.

» Bose who do we have next next we have Alyssa stall I believe it's the harder but given my mispronunciation of the last one I'll defer to the speaker miss Alyssa good evening and thank you to the county council members for giving me this opportunity to voice my concerns about the airport overlay district I live on a horse farm on Red Fox Road my parents purchased 22 acres in 1978 and built a house a barn and horse pasture we have been active members of the horse community through fox hunting horse showing and pleasure riding and hunt country for decades our property is in zones a b1 and C unfortunately our house driveway and part of the pasture are in zone a we are deeply concerned about the impact to our property in zone a if the ordinance passes with its current restrictions we will be con

» sidered non-conforming although we have had horses consistently since 1978 we no longer have horses for various reasons our property is a horse farm and as owners we should have the right to have horses at any point in the future but the ordinance says if you don't have horses for 365 days then it is abandoned meant and we can no longer have horses how is that fair besides taking away our rights as a property owner you have now taken away most of the value of our property no one would purchase our property if they could not have horses we have also heard the term taking houses and have seen plans where the county wants to buy houses in zone a on Red Fox Road my house is in zone a it is not currently one of the houses on the list for purchase but it might be at some point in the future we ha

» ve no interest in selling and are very concerned that there would be a way that the county could force us or our neighbors to sell how is that fair when we have lived on Red Fox Road for almost 50 years it is our home and we do not want to leave it and we should not have to leave it I am also concerned for my neighbors one of my neighbor has a barn in zone a and has put six figures into expanding and improving it under the ordinance if it is destroyed more than 50% through fire hurricane or anything then they cannot rebuild how is that fair they currently have horses what are they supposed to do with no barn and no ability to build a barn we have heard that there are concerns about horses and pastures bringing birds that would flock and cause planes to crash horses do not bring flocks of bi

» rds the only flocks I have ever seen our geese and they have nothing to do with my horses they will continue to fly overhead whether there are horses and pasture or not we are asking that you protect properties where the owners have lived for years and made significant contributions to the county economy through horses and other activities I ask that you review the requirements for getting federal and state funding do you need to clear out zone a do you need all of these restrictions I would think that the county would prefer horse farms that have only one house and one barn in my case on 22 acres that is extremely low density horse farms in the airport can continue to live in harmony as we have done for decades we are just counting on you to protect property owner rights thank you very muc

» h thank you very much miss Alyssa mr. Bose who do we have next Ted Brunson aod mr. Brunson my name is Ted Brunson I live at 2406 Marietta right off of Springdale this is going to be a little bit of a departure from what y'all might have expected based on my previous history probably what I want to publicly do is thank Danny Templer and Gerald for doing what they did for us they got out ahead of a problem that snuck up I think on everybody and they reached out to the community and some concerned citizens and met with us and answered a lot of questions and and saw the problems that this boilerplate basically produced and addressed many of those and but still have many to address again but what I was pleased with and everybody that walked out of the meeting was their their won in their desire

» to communicate with the community and I know they're basically the liaison and have to deal with whatever you guys sent down or whatever they push up but I want to thank them for what they did and they have continued to reach back out to us and they have said you know as much time as it takes call us we'll get back together we'll continue to revise and improve and and make this the you know I hate to say an AOD but you know this is what it's for and and in researching and looking at it and by the way that was great research miss Hawk but by research we learn more and and again they were they were willing to to listen to us and we look for one or two or maybe even more meetings so we can get this back out to the equine community and somehow I have one foot in each side it with the equine com

» munity even though I don't own a horse but I do own a plane and I spent about six hours in the hangar today working on it so you know again I just want to reach out and say thanks to those two guys and hopefully the information they'll be able to provide and push back up to the council will keep as many people happy and and let's don't do this again guys we don't need another big project to happen in Kershaw County let's let's get this one done and take a rest for a while but again Danny I appreciate it thank you very much Gerald thank you very much thank you very much mr. Brunson mr.

» DeBose next speaker is Kevin Culp on Woodward improvements Kevin Culp yes sir well I'm a little taller than the rest of them good evening gentlemen miss parlor so a lot of y'all know me my name is Kevin Culp I'm a lifelong resident of Kershaw County I'm also the chairman of the Kershaw County Recreation Commission I saw on the agenda that the vote would be later tonight for the bid process for the Woodward Park revitalization and just wanted to come speak you know it's a it's a good example of how I guess constituency to government should work in my opinion it kind of started as a conversation between citizens of how recreation can be better and it blossomed into these conversations and brought on partners who were willing to invest money into something that regardless of a few vocal people

» against it really is a passion in this whole county so you know first of all I'd like to thank everybody that supported it from the beginning you know some of y'all were targets both professionally as councilmen and also in some cases on social media attacked personally a lot of times these were outright lies a lot of times it was just kind of smoke screens trying to to get people away from focusing on on what was at hand and that was revitalizing recreation in Kershaw County but those of you that had that happened to you you never wavered in your support and personally I'd like to say thank you for that because you could easily step back especially the personal attacks and been like I'm not going to deal with this it's not worth it but you know you did what politicians are supposed to do y

» ou listen to your constituency you did your due diligence you talked to to local people like I said you didn't let a few vocal people against it change your to change what your decision had been secondly like I said I'm the chairman of Kershaw County Recreation Commission and although I'm here is just a plain citizen and I know in official capacity is that chairman I do want to thank y'all for allowing us to be such a major major part of the recommendation process you know we also we were put on there by not necessarily y'all sitting members some of us before y'all were there but we were put there for things like this to recommend and advise on what we thought and we went we didn't just say what we personally thought you know I talked to citizens I know my co-commission people that are on t

» he Commission talk they talked to people out in the community and we did our due diligence on what their needs and desires were what what they wanted to see happen with that but we also paid close attention to the budgetary restraints that were set set forth to begin with luckily multiple members had a commercial construction experience and we depended on them to guide us to be able to recommend what we felt was best utilized available funds but also you know based on the bidding process we were also pleased that a completed project will be able to be done under budget which was a what we were told time and time again you know we looked outside of the box to help fund certain things that weren't necessarily in the initial cost estimate so lastly you know as a council tonight y'all have the

» ability to do something that a lot of other councils have not been able to do and that's vote yes on something that's going to move Kershaw County forward when it comes to recreation it's a legacy that you can look at after your time on council done and and a legacy that you cared about young people middle-aged people older people you cared about the wealth or the health and wellness of people in Kershaw County and then my time's up so I'll be real brief this is going to benefit our rec department which is ever-growing this is going to benefit the health and wellness of citizens in Kershaw County and tonight was a good example of how it's going to benefit our local middle schools high schools you're gonna have a lot more of those proclamations to hand out so like I said thank y'all apprecia

» te it and in closing you know just please put your the politics the bureaucracy and everything else aside and I just ask that y'all unanimously the people that are present tonight vote yes on this when it comes time for that I won't be here my wife's birthday is today took a little bit of time out of that because I'm passionate about this subject but I just ask that y'all vote yes and thank you for for everything y'all done throughout this whole process thank you mr. Colt please tell Ashley we said happy birthday mr. DeBose Ms. Lynn Conto Ms.

» Conto if you could speak into the mic please so folks can hear you can you hear me now yes ma'am okay my name is Lynn Conto I live at 1265 Sanders Creek Road and I actually support the airport overlay to a point and my only concerns are with some of the descriptions and terminology used with land use and how it impacts different people in that community some of that term that terminology that was chosen by WK Dickinson actually doesn't go along with the South Carolina aeronautics model and I want share some of those examples with you today you see land use new rules would infringe on the equine property owners and their rights and impact that horse community here's a first example one of the examples that was used with the Sarah South Carolina aeronautics was no game preserves and fish farm

» ing which is understandable but for the word word AOD by WK Dickinson it said no fishing no hunting no trapping no game preserves no animal aquaculture I would suggest removing fishing no fishing no hunting no trapping hunting is our right and part of our Second Amendment fishing has not interfered with any aircraft in Kershaw County to my knowledge however I do understand near the ocean it could draw seagulls but that's not us trapping may actually be needed at different times when animals are rabbit in a community so we're not allowing trapping could create a second problem you're not aware of I understand fenced in game preserves and fishing farms may not be appropriate for that area and that is understandable and I'm not aware of anything in that area at this time so that would not infr

» inge on any ordinance or lay indeed covenants at this time to my knowledge as far as the South Carolina aeronautics as far as pasture and rangeland grazing grazing it is not permitted in zone a however I don't think everybody understands this terminology most of the people have paddocks which is about an acre some have a little more than that but the grazing doesn't exist as far as what you would consider rangeland grazing pastures of that type typically have four to twelve inch grass most people in this community keep their grass cut to three or four inches so I think there is a misunderstanding a lot of times and not understanding what you're looking at on paper and comparing it into that community most paddocks and small pastures have the three inch rule just from for land looking at the

» land and taking care of it's no different than the airport when you look at the grass at the airport a round pen is typically 30 to 60 feet in his dirt no birds tend to be in this area bird strikes are very uncommon I think they've had two and they've been minor the current equine facilities that exist in that area should be have a grandfather clause if you're going to be looking at those particular properties especially in a B one and B two and one of the examples I was looking at very closely is there is an area on Dicey Creek that Camden Hunt hunts in and currently it says in B one it has C three condition which is five or less people that would be a problem if they're casting their hounds and hunting from that area you could have up to 50 people the other area says in B two C five condi

» tional which is 50 or less people at one point we've had up to a hundred people casting from different areas so I'd be very cautious and people who aren't participating in these other areas making these conditions the 365 day rule is a very big concern for most people in this community I'll give you an example there are people coming from out of state who buy land here may not move here for two years but plan to have horses what is your rule going to be then thank you I appreciate my time thank you miss Konto Mr. DeBose I believe we have one more correct Tom Webb on the litter ordnance mr. Webb having trouble mr. Webb one second if we could get the timer set appropriately I think it's yeah okay go ahead mr.

» Webb please go ahead I'm still having trouble with your litter ordinance it's draconian in my opinion I'll start out with the Bill of Rights it was a much argued over and we wouldn't have our Constitution if we didn't have our Bill of Rights Hamilton really didn't want a Bill of Rights he said it was unnecessary and confusing that when you accept one set of rights you're actually excluding the others put it more distinctly the expression of one thing is the exclusion of others so you have in your litter ordinance you have denied me the right to have a flower pot on my property out the boondocks or a glass vase or some tin cans or cardboard things that people out in the boondocks might have and you've taken that away from me so the fifth amendment says that if you take something from me you'

» re supposed to pay me for it how do you pay for somebody's freedom taking it from me you're taking it from everybody out in the boondocks people who just live their lives and don't bother anybody and you're taking their freedom little by little nibbling away at it so Hamilton didn't really want a Bill of Rights but Jefferson said we need a second tier to fall back on in case people in government mismanage the Constitution and I think it has proven to be true that people do tend to mismanage the Constitution and it's really good to have the Bill of Rights so James Madison the main author of the Constitution came up with the Bill of Rights he said if you go ahead and and pass the pass on the Constitution and sign up for it well I'll come up with a Bill of Rights that's good enough to suit eve

» rybody and he did but it was actually 12 amendments but they took two of them all so we have ten I think they put some of it back later in the amendments but this there was so much effort that went into giving us our Constitution our Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence so much work by so many educated people with experience and knowledge and yet we nibble away at it and it brings me to my firewood that I can have it that I'm given the right to have firewood I presume firewood it says wood I guess if it meant lumber it would have said lumber anyway I brought you some firewood because I object to be given something that I already have my rights come from God they're inalienable I'm born with them you don't give me rights you and government do not give me rights so I am objecting an

» d I'm bringing my firewood to I'm giving it to you it's yours now it's not mine this little bit of course it's just I'm just making a big deal of it but somebody has to so if you can give me something if you can give me rights you can take them away so I object I guess that's enough of that thank you thank you mr. Webb Mr. DeBose does that conclude the sign of list? Thank you that concludes public comment on the agenda gentlemen that takes us to the agenda as amended to item number 8a approval of minutes do we minutes do we have a motion? Mr. Chair make a motion we approve the minutes that Ms. Hanna has so professionally submitted to us. Mr. Tucker do we have a second? Second. Mr. Kato I heard Mr. Kato any discussion on the minutes? Seeing none let's move to a vote all in favor. Ms.

» Hanna it's unanimous by those who are present on the amended agenda gentlemen this takes us to resolutions item number 10a included in the packet and provided for the public was the list of upcoming council meetings as proposed for 2025 do we have a motion? I'd move that we adopt the resolution for the meeting dates. Do we have a second? Second. Thank you Mr. Shoemake. Mr. Tucker any discussion on this? So Mr. Chairman I was just looking at these dates I see that we've got two dates in November that look both on holidays I assume we will just revisit as we get closer. Yeah just like the end of last year we'll revisit them as we get closer as has been our practice in the past. Any further discussion? Seeing none we move it to a vote all in favor. Ms.

» Hanna it's unanimous for those who are present. This takes us to new business item number 11a a finance committee report placed on the agenda by Councilman Tucker. Is there a motion? Yes sir Mr. Chair I make a motion to give our financial report from our meeting on last Thursday January the 9th. Thank You Mr. Tucker. Is there a second? Second. Mr. Tomlinson thank you. You have the floor Mr. Tucker. Thank you so much Mr. Chairman. Just like to say first and foremost thanks to my colleagues Councilman Tomlinson and Councilman Shoemake for meeting and also staff for supporting us and getting things done. So we had about four or five items on the agenda that we addressed last Thursday and I'm gonna start off and I'll get some help from staff as well.

» The airport hangars rate for the T hangars and things of that nature that we start with a fee of going by the square footage and the design of the hanger. So Ms. Templer if you want to give more or have your assistant come up it'd be great so we can maybe take some questions if there's any. Sure the and if I get in over my skis I'll get Gerald to help me out but he was he was certainly the one that took this this project on and so what we've come up with is the particular hangers that are not outlined in the provisos of the current budget. We have several hangers out there that were old land leases or just county-owned hangers and so Gerald went through and looked at the square footage of these hangers they're not all the same and also including some of the amenities.

» Some had a restroom some just had a sink so they just kind of varied so assigning different values to these amenities and different square footage we came up or Gerald came up with a pretty solid approach a square footage cost it ranged anywhere I think from ten to fifteen cents to twenty cents based on amenities so this is something we feel like is is pretty equitable again not all hangers are the same out there and they offer different amenities.

» So this also if I could add to that that gave the a level playing field for all the tenants out there and it gave a fresh start so the Finance Committee will be recommending those numbers to council for approval so if staff could get that together and submit that for our next meeting we would greatly appreciate that but we're gonna go with staff recommendations on starting our hanger fees and of course let me do say that this will be an ordinance so it has to be read three times in a public hearing Mr.

» Bose correct and so with that being said it's gonna take a few meetings and then from there moving forward we also were included into our budget for 25 26 and it will roll from there so and you can make adjustments every budget cycle like you do your other fees from recreation to land fees or recycling fees whatever it'll be just to say anything right I don't have anything that any questions any further discussion I've got a question yes sir so did we address every single hanger yes sir so it's it's even across the playing field it is and let me let me address this because I know where you're going I actually spoke to that individual today so well I'm not talking about any one individual I just yeah but I just let you know so we yeah this is across the board also we've asked the Finance Com

» mittee asked Mr. Bose and staff to look at what a economic development project would look like in doing something that's more amenable if you invest 2.5 million or more with abatement and so we don't have that ready to present the council but we are working on that that's why we won't bring that up for a vote or discussion right now because we're doing the we're doing the preliminary stuff so if I can put it another way so basically yes so basically the rates will be the rates for everyone but like any other economic development project if you meet certain economic development thresholds you may get a relaxation of those rates but it would be universal to your point Councilman Brazel it's a universal rate table and then the economic development piece will be universal to Kershaw County busi

» nesses so both would be completely universal and applicable to anyone who meets the requirements before before anyone moves any further into that process I'd like to make a statement that I'd have to abstain my vote I've got a conflict no I know but we're talking about it yes okay all right any further discussion none all right so that addresses hangers what other items do you have stormwater study update I'm gonna ask mr.

» Templar to give us an update on that stormwater if you remember the finance committee recommend back to council to approve the $72,000 isn't changed to do that stormwater study and start forming the committee and it was approved and so we need an update from staff on where that's at and happy to tie in pecan orchards as well since we're moving in that direction yep so the the study continues it's it's it's gonna be an ongoing study for some time this is going to look at how we address stormwater throughout the county it's obviously becoming a large problem with with development and industry and things of that nature as well as some of the the old legacy retention ponds that we have throughout the community or throughout the county that are not being taken care of under the old premise that

» these retention ponds would be turned over to an HOA that almost all of them are now defunct or no longer existing so these are requirements set forth by us or set forth to us by DHEC which is now Department of DES ultimately flowing down from the EPA so we have some of these areas that are in the MS4 which is a particular way we have to treat stormwater and then the other areas outside of that which is typically just run-of-the-mill stormwater but the reason for this the reason I'm excited about this it's kind of it looks to potentially give us some answers to a problem that we lack manpower technical expertise and a solid plan and approach to address public works should normally be taking care of ditches and roads and cutting back some trees but they are increasingly their workload is ver

» y heavily loaded with stormwater issues that honestly should never have been an issue in the first place from poor development over the years when we lack these types of regulations so again that that's that's continuing I will give you all updates as it goes on but it's it's a pretty comprehensive task for these individuals to look at all four corners of Kershaw County as it relates to stormwater and how far are we out on forming the advisory committee do you think so we will engage with council on that where with the advisory committee would consist of different kind of a cross-section of the community of business owner a homeowner preferably a homeowner that's been impacted by stormwater negatively and just again a cross-section we we have a member of the school districts that is interes

» ted in serving they have a lot of retention ponds and so it kind of gets nuanced but we would we look to stand that up sooner rather than later so y'all will be hearing from us on that pretty soon as we would like to get council's input on some of those individuals to be on this committee if you will Mr. May anything that good okay Mr.

» Thomas I'm good any questions council any further discussion did you want me to say anything about yes okay I just I'm PK in orchard to update so engineering continues that was really being driven by the the survey that was just probably 30 days late just due to weather and and the the scope of what we had asked that group to do out there it was pretty pretty big task normally you you know you survey a lot or something like that but for us to ask them to survey an entire neighborhood was pretty unconventional so but they still did it in a pretty impressive time it was a local surveyor so we're happy to engage with local business owners so that is the driver for the engineering that continues we will look to probably have something back from the engineering firm I think is early as maybe the

» end of February so that will kind of drive the next step and just we don't know what that will look like but when we get it back we'll kind of digest it and see what the next steps are and see how comprehensive or how deep that is going to be as far as getting those folks some relief out there go ahead yes another item yes sir yes sir one more okay so thank you miss Templer I want to also say that we had we were tasked by this body to looking to funding the South Carolina equine park requests and the Finance Committee did do is to diligence and we're recommending back that we have staff send a letter out and ask them to come through the budget process since we're kicking off with the budget process for 25 26 and for many a reasons we had a lot of questions that couldn't be answered and I ma

» de this statement in the meeting that I would feel really really bad taking money out of reserves regardless wherever there's emergency reserves or reserves to fund a project that we are needing funds for for water storm water and pecan orchards and that's just hard for me to digest or explain so with that being said where it's not a no but it is a recommendation to come back to the proper procedures and get the questions answered that we have and we will can consider and get them into the budget and not only that if we if we do something like that we would have to warm open back up the budget if you recall when we did it earlier last year it was doing the budget process so that's something else that we don't normally practice so with with those reasons is we're asking for them to come thro

» ugh the budget process anything you'd like to have I think that says it all got a question yes sir what would it be better to work it through the a tax committee they do receive a tax money already so you can work that as well that in because we you know that grows and we don't know what that is just yet so that's gonna be a part of the budget process and we had that discussion as well what are the ways but there's um at this time there's no funds they are readily available to contribute without opening up something and if I may Councilman Brazile that's I think one of the kind of unanswered questions that Councilman Tucker mentioned that we kind of had which is what is a tax committee going to recommend because it may be that a tax committee recommends a certain amount of funding that less

» ens their need maybe ability kind of removes that need and so that's why we wanted to look at it in context of all the other agencies to include those that are getting a tax so I think your your question gets at the heart of one of the reasons we didn't feel comfortable just saying let's approve this funding let's go through the budget because part of what we do in finance committee through the budget is look at those a tax recommendations and kind of balance that against what's in the budget so I can't in the last four years I can't recall the government agency and especially here in Kershaw County donating to a nonprofit that didn't go through the a tax committee that's as much knowledge as I have that's the only tax allocation that that can go to a nonprofit or an organization that is a

» community partner if you will yeah well you know we got our not what we call our contributing contributory agencies that we we give to in the budget as well like United Way they could fall on those categories but that needs to go through the budget process okay and currently the equine Park has applied for a tax and received money each year I think for the past what four or five years and received their allocation amounts during that process but a tax is capped based upon expenditures that's then given back to the state for the county to disperse that number is limited on what they can get because so many applications from different nonprofits around the county are also applying for that limited amount of funds so this is an opportunity to really make the you know try to see what we can do

» to help the equine industry and the equine part because it's a great asset for Kershaw County yeah there's no question I just want to make sure that we do it the right way and it seems like it seems like that's the same thing you concluded in your meeting no we appreciate the questions because you're not there for the discussion so you know that's why we we have this time set aside so we can make sure everybody's on the same page any other questions just a general comment one other wrinkle is as a county asset the county owns the property and I presume we actually have some type of lease agreement mr.

» Templer with them which I have asked for a copy of so I just want to review that and perhaps some of the requests that come across from the equine part don't make as much sense as a core function of government but some of the capital improvements or something like that if there's a repair or something that's needed might fall into the county's wheelhouse as a capital asset or a real property asset that we own and so that's one of the things I think we consider as well look at the contractual relationship and see what's actually an obligation there any other discussion any other report mr.

» Tucker sir my last one I just want to say that the finance committee with staff will be working and we should have a proposed schedule for you by the end of February for our budget meetings and we would have a recommendation as we've always done or the first second and third reading of the budget for 25 26 I would just like to say thank you to the finance committee this is just additional time that you've volunteered to to meet and give us some guidance or dig into issues and interact with citizens and make yourself available for government service so I appreciate the time that you put into it and your recommendations and helping educate us on various issues any further discussion thank you okay seeing none no votes call for required we're gonna move on to the next item on under new busines

» s we've got 11 be before we get any motion mr. Templer could you give us an update on this this is Woodward Park on what would park improvements sorry I'm trying to go as amended I know as amended I know the numbers a little bit different but Woodward Park improvements yes thank you mr. chairman members of council what you have before you is a the long-awaited bid for Woodward Park improvements six bids were received and if you look at some of the notation down below we were able to focus in on a the second highest bidder but with the local local preference that is allowed by state law under these circumstances to allow us to engage a local builder which would be Kershaw builders again was not the highest bidder but based on these the threshold as you see laid out below at the bottom of the

» page it fell within that dollar amount so we were able to award Kershaw builders or recommend Kershaw builders because of the local preference for this project thank you for the update can I get a motion for approval I make a motion that we approve the bid of Kershaw builders for the Woodward project mr. Shoemake got the first mr. Cato is that second second mr. Cato has a second mr. Shoemake you have the floor yeah I just want to say that you know mr. Culp said a lot of it but this has been a long time coming even really before my time I got to be here during some of the votes but this is something this council has been working on for some time so I'm excited to see it and I know I've said it before but I'll say it again my focus at this point turns to KC West and so mr.

» Templar fair warning I'm going to be putting you on the spotlight for a timeline for KC West at the next meeting so because I want to go ahead and start pushing that as well but I think this is great work with substantially under budget so and to be able to go to a local builder for those who they don't have in front of us by well for those who might be listening at home but the state law does allow you to go local if there's a very small difference between the high bid and the second high bid and here you're talking about barely a hundred thousand dollar difference between the second high bid and the high bid or the low bid and the second low bid which is much farther away so the idea that we get to fix one of our parks complete one of our parks and do so while a local business gets to be

» the one to do that work is a win on all fronts to me so thank you guys thank you mr. Shoemake any further discussion yes mr. Kato you have the concur with mr. Shoemake except I want to put a little bit more pressure on you let's not forget about district six the Westville Bethune projects I'd like to see something see something coming across to us on that I appreciate all the hard work y'all done the speediness I know that this is a time-consuming process so I thank you for all the hard work and I look forward to the right department here in Kershaw County thank you mr. Kato any further discussion one quick question is there are what's kind of a timeline that we're looking at mr.

» Templer I know that we got the bid in but we're anticipating maybe a start of construction within the next six months or a year so with this particular piece here we have been there's been a lot of email back and forth because that the road actually leading in to Casey West I mean I'm sorry Woodward is it's a state road so over there and we're in the process of getting that turned over to us we'll obviously refinish that so it's a lot of a lot of technical pieces there but I look for this to start moving ahead and I'll continue to update you now that these projects are starting to kind of you know dirt is moving I don't this is kind of it's gonna be a snowballing effect so certainly look for updates each council meeting okay thank you I appreciate it it's good to see our our recreation depa

» rtment director in the in the audience thank you mr. Duncan for being here thank you mr. Tomlinson any further discussion mr. Tucker so I know we talked earlier when we were going through all this process see the CCC the CTC is still going to do that turning lane for us correct yes and I you know mr. Cobb was here earlier and I credit them with that they were able to shave that was that was a decent amount of money for their efforts to engage CTC we needed a turn lane out there and you know their efforts their tenacity was able to cut some solve a problem and keep costs low so thank you mr.

» Tucker any further discussion just for context first I'm going to support this wholeheartedly I think it was my very last meeting on Kershaw County Council before I was heading off to the State House that I made a motion that we approve a project like this in this form slightly different various council members Brazel and others were able to find some more funds which is great but I made that motion that time and it didn't succeed people needed more information at that time and some of them just absolutely didn't like it but here we are and so you've got two and a half plus years of effort that went into getting this across the finish line assuming it passes tonight and I hope it does this is a representation of Kershaw County recreation doubling up on or more than doubling up on their fund

» s and so you've got MUSC as a partner the health district of Kershaw County I can't say enough about them as a partner in doubling the funds that the county would put into this and also impacting the Westwater area to boot and this is a holistic or larger vision from MUSC and the health district in having outdoor recreation as health in the eastern portion of the county and then I think they're still working on and looking forward to an indoor recreation project in the Westwater area that will have similar magnitude and be a big deal as well and so we look forward to that I'm just really excited about it and as I now have three kids who are involved in athletics and practices and there's only two parents I hope that they can benefit from this field or the ones in Westwater E my daughter had

» a basketball game tonight and I tell you what it never ends between practices and games but this is gonna be a great opportunity I want to thank the Recreation Commission and also Shane for the work that they put into this and the patience of various Commission members over a two and a half plus year period thank this council and those at the time for having the gumption to stick with it and get it done and particularly for county staff and doing that as well any further discussion I'll just mention also the Blizzard family we see KBI I'm so thankful for the local option preference that allows us to try to send business to local contractors as you recall there's some bridges that have been out or there's some serious road issues this is a company that's local and the people who run it parti

» cularly have stepped up several times to help Kershaw County and so this is one of the ways you can use the local options to try to steer business back to to local businesses and people who work hard so I'm grateful for that as well any further discussion seeing none let's move to a vote all in favor miss Hannah it's unanimous for those who are present thank you Thank you gentlemen next item we have on the agenda is 11c Mr.

» Templer placed on the agenda by you yard waste grinding not as fun or elegant as recreation but we have a before you a yard waste grinding service at the landfill this this is services something we need it's mandated by DES as we manage our landfill this is where we have to grind up all of our yard debris that is brought into our landfill out on Park Road so a company will come in and and spend a couple weeks with us and grind up all of this material into them essentially a useless mulch but it creates volume and or it creates areas that we can continue to take these this material in so you have before you that staff recommends that you award Lee County composting and recycling LLC for the sum of a one hundred and thirty thousand dollars thank you for that update do we have a motion I thank

» you I'd make a motion that we accept the Lee County did mr. Shoemake has the motions are second say it mr. Tucker has a second mr. Shoemake you have the floor no comments I think mr. Templer said it all I support this thank you any further discussion seeing none we'll move it to a vote all in favor miss Hannah it's unanimous thank you gentlemen that takes us to our next item on the agenda 11d has been removed takes us to appointments 12 a finance committee appointments I've placed well let's go with item 11e Irish fest it wasn't on my copy all right Danny Templer would you please give us an update sure this is kind of nuanced and this is something we found as part of our Gerald's deep dive into the airport operations well we have Irish fest that is slated to be out at our airport this this

» coming spring they've outgrown their the footprint of historic Camden so we're excited to have host them at the airport I think this is going to be mutually beneficial but as we were digging through paperwork and some just some historical documents we found that council needs to authorize any nonprofit organization out there beyond besides aviation for this event so in a nutshell we're just asking council to help us abide by our own rules and allow us to have hold this event out there at our airport thank you for the update is there a motion mr. Chairman I'd like to make a motion that we authorize staff to host the Irish fest for 2025 at our airport mr. Tucker has the motion is there a second second mr. Tomlinson has a second mr.

» Tucker I have no further I'll appreciate you guys finding somewhere for him to go that's been a growing event for the last few years so yes the huge event you have to be right so this would be great and that will give them room in the future where they can continue to grow because people come from all over the state and out of state to this event especially when the weather's right so thank you Danny thank you mr.

» Tucker any further discussion gentlemen there's a huge contingent of Irish heritage in Kershaw County myself included and it's throughout the Midlands and throughout the state between the food and the drink and the vendors and the wares and tears it's just a great event and they've expanded so much aligned with the construction that's going on at historic Camden that it just made sense for them to move out to a larger facility and so we're I believe happy to accommodate I do have a question though this is more on mr.

» DeBose's line so this is gonna be Irish fest I'm pretty sure there's gonna be adult beverages do we need to do anything in this motion to that on the county facility as well yeah I think those insurance requirements are kind of baked into administrative and operational stuff I don't know that you need to specifically approve a certain aspect of this we just want to make sure why we're doing a motion and and to your point and we'll further research this but you think maybe I think Ben you were here when we approved for the river parcel the consumption of alcoholic beverages with the proper permitting and and the process to go through yeah which and I understand from the Irish fest folks that and you know we'll have you verify this before the event actually occurs but I understand that they h

» ave insurance writers wherein we can be named additional insured on the policy is the venue and so the county and the taxpayer would be protected thank you mr. Tucker seeing no other discussion let's move it to vote all in favor miss Hannah it's unanimous it passes now we'll get to item 12 a appointments I've placed this on the agenda staff brought it to my attention that it's a two-year period in which the finance committee generally serves and so we've come up on that time period mr. Cato do we have a motion mr. chair I do I'd like to make a motion that we reappoint the same slate of individuals to the finance committee to include the chair position he's trying to say no you're not recognized who is there a second mr.

» Brazel has the second any discussion on this one no I think those fellas doing a good job they need to keep working hard absolutely I'll just say thank you as I mentioned before thank you see no further discussion we'll move it to a vote all in favor all right miss Hannah we still have a finance committee it passes unanimously mr. chairman I know that under our rules the the chair appoints the chair of finance as a member of that committee I would ask that you reappoint mr. Tucker to continue to chair finance committee yeah that you know I know I can unilaterally do that I think the motion included the current slate including leadership but yes mr. mr.

» Tucker would be serving as the chair as you've had for the past two years all right that takes us to item number 12 be gentlemen this is an appointment as we heard a little bit earlier in public comment to the Charlotte water interbasin stakeholder advisory group mr. Jones couldn't be here but mr. Brazel has agreed to to handle this one is there a motion yeah I'd like to make a motion to appoint mr. Steve Henderson to the Charlotte order interbasin stakeholders advisory group mr. Henderson would well I'll go into that there's a second mr. Schumacher second mr.

» Brazel okay as we saw Steve earlier came to the mic and told us some about what he's done and his commitment to Lake Watery we spoke earlier today Councilman Jones was working on this with him but Councilman Jones has influenza so I told him I'd happily help move this forward and make the motion with this appointment Steve's been on Lake Watery I think just about all of his life and is committed to water quality even before him his father was part of a small group that took water quality readings on the lake and you know somebody cares about where they live and and the quality of life and dedicated to doing it and doing it for free certainly appreciate him stepping up and being willing to attend these meetings and help bring back reports to Council so we appreciate that thank you very much

» mr. Brazel mr. Schumacher second yeah I concur with everything Councilman Brazel said my parents have a little place on Watery and my grandparents did as well and I think you know our weight quality water quality at the lake is one of those things that you know as a county council we don't have a ton of control over because so much of that is controlled by state entities but but man the idea of letting our neighbors to the north take even more water out of you know going to that lake is horrible and I think everyone up here is fundamentally against it how much of that we can control who knows but the fact that mr. Henderson raised his hand and agreed to serve and kind of be our voice I very very much appreciate it thank you mr.

» Shoemaker any further discussion just want to say thanks to mr. Henderson for being willing and for the connection you made with mr. Jones as the last lake in a chain of lakes sometimes we feel like the redhead to stepchild whatever happens five or six lakes up and aquifers up from us we have a magnified effect of whatever it is if everybody puts in a little bit of affluent or a little bit of pollution in those lakes we end up getting all of it or if it's debris or if it slows down the flow it really impacts our algae bloom and so we appreciate you being willing to serve and seeing no further discussion we'll move it to a vote all in favor miss Hannah it's unanimous for those who are present congratulations Steve yes thank you all right gentlemen that takes us to council member briefings we

» 're gonna start with mr. Cato I'll try to be brief I hope everybody had a great holiday and a happy new year appreciate everybody that came out tonight for the proclamation and recognition that really means a lot that's that's a part of this this position this job that I really enjoy doing is recognizing people in the community that have outstanding accomplishments I want to thank miss farmer to new clerk of court she's here tonight recognized she's back here tonight congratulations she was sworn in I also want to thank the ones that come out tonight to show your concerns and speak about your concerns for this overlay I think it shows just what an important issue we have to deal with and I promise you this didn't fall on deaf ears and that's that's as best as far as I'll go tonight but but

» I do appreciate y'all's time to come out and and provide comments to us one last thing I had the opportunity on the fourth of January to do something really special we had a recognition of a lady in our county for her 100th birthday celebration miss Jessie May Cawthon Isaiah and I was afforded the opportunity to go up to Bethany West for Baptist Church where they had her celebration and present her with a proclamation for her 100th birthday she turned 100 on January the 6th I told her we had something in common we had the same birthday just not the same year but sweet person and you know it says a lot about what she's seen what she's been through tell you a little bit about her she had it was probably a hundred people at her celebration but she had been married for 60 years she spent most o

» f her life she was born in Lancaster County spent most of her life in Kershaw County she was married for 60 years till she lost her husband she had nine children eight grandchildren 14 great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren what a legacy she will she has and she continues to have and and the blessings that she's provided her family and it was just a it was a blessing for me to be able to be there and be with her family and I thank them for allowing me to do that so if they're listening tonight if she's listening tonight congratulations on your 100th birthday thank you very much miss Kato mr. Tomlinson thank you mr.

» chairman I also appreciate everybody coming out tonight providing input this process is but specifically with the AOD has been a huge undertaking by staff the community Planning Commission council members this has been a big effort and a lot of involvement and that's exactly what the process is about nothing starts out with a perfect draft I'd really like to thank all the community for their input and guidance during this process and being able to work with staff though I've received many emails phone calls over the past couple of months regarding amendments to the proposed AOD and I really wish tonight we could have had it on the agenda could have cleared up some of the air and misconceptions in the room and I think everybody would have walked out very happy and then we could fine-tooth co

» mb other amendments to the AOD in second reading but I'm looking forward to January 28th so we can have the opportunity to make these amendments because I wrote down just about everything mentioned and there were amendments drafted that address specifically each thing mentioned and more our staff has worked tirelessly to put this together at our request in a short time frame you know the purpose of the AOD was never to be a slap in the face of a rich culture in the equine industry that was never the intention we have always been a community that has embraced ourselves and our culture and equine is one of those rich resources that built Kershaw County we would never do anything to harm that and we look forward to preserving that in the future and that's the point of this is to preserve our n

» atural resources our history and heritage while protecting our resource in the airport everybody can come together but it takes community input to do that so thank y'all for being out here and lastly I would like to address a comment that was made during the public comments directly miss Hawk we had a meeting set up Friday this past Friday and then we had the storm kind of come up and I was gonna meet you at five o'clock here in town to kind of discuss everything we'd responded to a few emails back and forth just wanted to let everybody know I wasn't not responding to emails or have the ability to set up meetings as was displayed but I look forward to getting together with you going forward I have never been one that does not respond to emails or phone calls that's not me that's not why I w

» as elected to be sitting up here it is because I do reach out to people and listen to their concerns so thank y'all for being out here here tonight I appreciate all my colleagues sitting up here and I look forward to the 28th thank you mr. Thompson for your report mr. Shoemake yeah a couple things happy 2025 everyone I was recently at Hermitage Baptist church for a funeral for my aunt Becky who is my grandma's dear friend who passed away and it was interesting reminded me being at that church is where one of the churches went to as a kid we evacuated and escaped over to Elgin years and years ago but most of my family's still over in Camden and it reminded me that my nephews are the fifth generation of Shoemakes to be members at Hermitage Baptist Church so you know thinking about that and th

» inking about this community as a whole this county's rich history is you know as I go into 2025 you know what we saw a lot of that here today you know as many of my colleagues have already said the way this Airport Overlay District has been approached I think is a perfect example of what small local government should look like which is you come up with an idea people have input you listen to that and you adjust I don't think anybody got the pronunciation of your last name but Miss Alyssa who came up I couldn't agree with her more that having large acreage farms with a single residence and a lot of equine use is exactly the kind of use you want to see in our rural areas particularly near an airport you don't want dense development you don't want a lot of people so I couldn't agree with you m

» ore with that statement so I appreciate everybody coming out and then just looking at the crowd you know I may not get everybody but I see you know a planning commission member Mr. Renfro I see miss Patton with fine arts and I saw miss Schofield earlier I don't know she's still here but with the library and of course our newly elected clerk of court miss Farmer so to have all those folks come and you know be part of this process is critically important because we are a small county that is growing and we've got to do that in a way that you know accepts reality but also keeps this very unique way of life that we've all come to appreciate some of us have moved here for it some of us grew up in it but everyone's here because they want to live in it and so I just appreciate this entire communit

» y and look forward to a exciting 2025. Thank you Mr. Shoemake. Mr. Tucker any report? Yes sir just want to say Happy New Year as well to all who's listening and who's here also I want to say to Mr. Henderson if you don't mind I would love to make sure that you have contact with our director over the Mr. Dennis Cypress who's also very in tuned and involved with the IBT and the Santi Lynch's cog has taken the same position of trying to preserve that water coming down watery because it affects not only Kershaw County but something clarity so it rolls right on downhill from us so any way that we can get you two guys together so we can build our team stronger would be a great event to happen. With that Mr.

» Chairman I would also ask that you put on the agenda for next meeting that we address the vice-chairmanship so we can reappoint my colleague our colleague vice-chairman Brazel for a two-year term. So noted Ms. Hanna please. I also like to say congratulations to Chairman Connell, Brazel and Shoemate for starting their new terms two of them have four years and one's on a two-year so we appreciate it at least we locked in for the next two years with this crew up here. Also I want to bring attention and say thank you because this is a man of a lot of I'm trying to think of the word he's a very busy man so he's always reaching out and doing things and he thought he was going to rest when he retired but he got more busy but I want to say it's good to see you Mr.

» Bill Robinson Chairman of the Democratic Party out in the audience tonight because I'm gonna put your business out here you remember when I read that invite up here in December when he invited all of us to the Christmas party he fell sick seriously ill sick hospitalized very close to terminal illness and of course God spared us life and brought him back and he's back kicking and it's always good to see you because you're always busy doing something in the community so we'll appreciate you that concludes my report thank you mr. Tucker mr.

» Brazel just to address the airport overlay district I probably received I don't know 18 emails a couple of handwritten letters snail mail currently at 17,000 acres of land in the in the district at this point I've still got questions so it it seems like there's a lot of I think probably misinformation there's probably a lot of misunderstanding and there's a lot that I have to have cleared up before I could support it don't think that the calls and emails didn't go I think I answered most of them I think a few trickled in over the weekend I could have missed but we share those same concerns I'm a big advocate for landowners rights and just like the first lady that spoke talking about you've been here for you know on that farm for 40 or 50 years however long it's been I agree I've got a degre

» e in forestry I understand timber resources I understand farms I understand land values and we want to we want to protect the airport there's no part of me that does not want to protect the airport but the bigger part of me wants to put people first and citizens first and and that's how approach any amendments that I may have and everybody at this dais I can't speak for but I would assume feels that same way we want to thread a very fine needle we want to protect all the interest of the economic interest that the airport brings the value that it has to hobbyist and flight enthusiast we want to protect if there's someone who wants to build a plan you can take cam for for example a huge economic boost for the timber industry here in Kershaw County and in surrounding counties I know they fly i

» n and out they have the executives in and out so we want to protect the airport and at the same time we want to protect you so there's just a lot to go through and I think Councilman Tucker earlier stated is going to be a work in progress in several readings three readings so it's a lot to do I'm committed to working with my colleagues as always to define a solution and we'll work through it together we'll work through it as a council will work through as a community with that being said I digress and would like to invite anyone Councilman Tucker stated his congratulations on a new seat in the new election a new term congratulations to you too sir you didn't include yourself in that remarks I'll congratulate you as well you're entering your what 20th 20th year so he's been doing it a long t

» ime I'm entering my fifth and I'm starting to get a little bit seasoned myself but congratulations to Ben and Derek Sammy and I look forward to continuing to serve with you guys so I'd like to invite we've agreed to do a group swearing in Thursday the 23rd at 5 30 p.m. at the Revolutionary War Visitor Center so that's not this coming Thursday but the following we can each have a few remarks and invite family and friends thank you look forward to doing that we just nailed down a date and a time today and with that being said also thank you for continued support as a vice chair I'll always be here if Ben needs to take a vacation I'll be here to help help keep this meeting rolling everybody have a good night thank you so much thank you councilman Brazel I have a few items I'll go over first on

» e is just an announcement I think miss Patton might be here with the Fine Arts Center I'm looking at a very artsy no surprise their announcement showing a roll of toilet paper being cut so a portion of state funds came down over the time we were at the state delegation to create a updated ADA compliant restroom at the Fine Arts Center the the toilet paper roll cutting I guess if it's a ribbon cutting or not will be January 24th 2025 at 10 a.m.

» for anybody that wants to attend I say some of this tongue-in-cheek but it's quite serious if you had seen the restrooms and some of the facilities there they've got a great upgrades with the black box theater in the back and some other things they've done over the years but the bathrooms were wanting and thankfully we were able to secure some state funds and also make sure that they're ADA compliant with the upgrades and satisfied existing building code so I just wanted to mention that regarding the airport overlay district I personally am also a big believer in individual property rights and I recognize that and several of the concerns just know that the council members behind the scenes have been working on a slate of amendments that I think would address and satisfy several folks who ha

» ve voiced concerns to take care of those issues make the amendments but also protect the airport one thing that I've noticed between the time I've served on County Council previously and at the Statehouse is super dense residential growth is not the best way to approach growth in Kershaw County you got to have a smart residential growth if you're not growing you're dying but jobs to me is the best way to make sure that Kershaw County grows the right way and that airport in my view represents an amazing recruitment tool for bringing jobs to Kershaw County to me that airport and its sustainability represents jobs and so we're going to work to find the balance of personal property owners centers of worship and businesses within the area and then also make sure that we have that tool that we ca

» n still use for Kershaw County to recruit jobs let people work locally not have roughly 10 to 12 thousand people leave every day out of the full-time workers that we have in Kershaw County a lot of people leave and go and work in other areas because they can't find a job here that's additional commuting time away from family away from your spouse that's dollars spent on the road burning up gas to get to wherever it is and so we'd like to bring high-paying quality jobs back to Kershaw County and we've done some of that recently we will continue to work on that front I'd also like to recognize Miss Farmer she's got a great legacy of clerks of court to fall in and she has worked with all of them and so who's you know better experienced to step in and handle that and so we look forward to you h

» elping administer justice in Kershaw County and working with the judges and all the courthouse staff over there and I would just be remiss if I didn't say with the California fires it's a it's a portion of our population that has a lot of disposable income but what does that matter when you've lost the pictures of your children and their clothes and lost loved ones and your entire life and all the memories that you consider priceless are gone actually there's a fellow who's a lead singer for a group called Dawes that I just saw his face pop up on the news when I was trying to learn a little bit more about the fires in my view he's one of the best singer songwriters very compelling very deep meaningful words that he sets the music often with an acoustic guitar and it's touched my life person

» ally through tough times and loss of loved ones and otherwise and to to see that he had lost his home you know our hearts and prayers go out to those folks who've lost their homes and I hope that government over there can get it under wraps and and that we can make sure we stay on top of mr. Templer those any kind of issue related to public safety fire otherwise if anything we've certainly invested in fire the last number of years going from a volunteer professional service to to full-time rotational hub and spoke services throughout the county most recently in the eastern portion of the county having a new fire station and so I'm glad that that's been a focus of the council overall but again we pray for them in their recovery and and I just I can't imagine that happening that concludes my

» report we've got we've got the administrators briefing mr. Templer do you have anything for us yes sir just kind of a handful of things first I would like to make thank mr. Brunson for his kind words he had the opportunity to speak at public comments and I've never in my entire time being did the assistant the deputy or the administrator seen anyone come up and thank staff and their time for public comments so thank you mr.

» Brunson I appreciate it yeah I understand but I you know I thank you right you know with the AOD I just want to say that one of the neat things about being able to be a the administrator in the community you grew up in there's so many ties to the community Red Fox Road I grew up there Max Bonham used to let me make some folding money by cleaning out some stalls and things like that my mother used to groom horses over there so she lives on Dicey Creek that's where I grew up so Red Fox Road is and Dicey Creek that landscape there is just very it's important to me and I care deeply about it so I care deeply about the airport as well so I I take this serious I we have had some very positive community engagement with some meetings with some of the folks that live out there and this is not just u

» s trying to sell an AOD or an overlay to these folks this has been an exchange of information I have learned things that I didn't really understand or think about and I think we have helped them understand some things as well so we're going to continue these these efforts so we will have another community engagement out at the airport we'll get as many people out as we can from this community anyone interested will advertise as best we can and in all formats the paper or however Facebook just whatever but and for those that we have the contact information for we'll be reaching out and we want to do this by before the first reading and I've also offered to do these meetings after every reading to make sure that we are covering all the bases and if there's any amendments that are made how doe

» s this change or what does this mean so we can further be the mouse mouthpiece and interface with these folks out there again I just I can't tell you how much I love living out there I still live in Arrowwood I plan on just being there to the end of my days very important place to me so I am ensconced in this this this process and making sure that every you know the the equine community out there in the airport have lived in harmony for decades and there's no reason it can't continue to do that so that is going to be my goal there changing gears contractors have mobilized and began moving dirt at the Veterans Park for the new boat landing the project is scheduled to be completed within 120 days so kind of looking towards the end of May plus or minus there'd be some probably some weather in

» there so the advertisement for the rehabilitation of Boyd Young Park in West in Westville and Copeland Park and Bethune has been out on the street so to speak so the opening is scheduled for Friday or I'm sorry February 13th at 5 so that will be coming before y'all sooner rather than later so alliances is the group handling that for us and they've already started to receive some bid packets so playground equipment for the Mount Pisa Community Center this was part of the budget for the capital projects I'm excited about that I know Danny will be too but this is that so that's that's gonna that equipment has been ordered for the Mount Pisgah Community Center and so we're looking forward to getting that thing kind of completed and we'll keep you in the loop on that progress as well KC West par

» king expansion so we're just kind of into engineering portion of that with permitting and and so we talked about stormwater that's one of those areas we where we have a county-owned retention pond so we have to be very mindful of how we impact that area with this this impervious surface so a little bit in engineering and stormwater more so involved in that but as you made I'll certainly keep you up to date on that I'm excited about these bids how they have come in they have come in under what the cost opinions were so gives me a little bit of breathing room both theoretically and and realistically so one more thing from Shane basketball season is underway and they're starting spring baseball and softball registration this month so we'll try to get that pushed out as well Mr.

» Chairman that is my report thank you mr. temple I have one question for you this is just with another recent announcement so we recently had laser form announced the 16 million dollar expansion in Lugoff and then we had announcement from luck companies and a lot of people know it as luck stone with the 25 million dollar expansion in Kershaw County I'm not sure if you've been reached out to already but please be ready to work with them on any permits or whatever it is that they request that's involved with their expansion so we're cognizant of that and a system as best as we can yes sir and you know luckstone has been an amazing partner for us because if you're driving on a dirt road in Kershaw County you're probably driving on their product they are probably our sole source of gravel so the

» y are very important to us as it relates to county dirt roads thank you mr. Templer mr. Bose do we have any legal briefing we had no executive session listed is there any other reason to call one up now okay no executive session then we're right for adjournment is there a motion mr. Tuckers or second second no discussion all in favor we are adjourned miss Anna it's unanimous