Full meeting transcript - April 22, 2025

» How are you doing? This guy's returning right here. Yes, sir. You got one at your thing, but I'm going to get you that one back. Do we have a gavel? I was just looking at the thing right here. Who put that on there? Oh, Lord. Mr. Teplar. Hey, I'm on the phone, guys. Mr. Teplar. We don't care. I'm doing all right. You ready, Mr. Chair? You got a gavel. You want me to bang with my fist? I get it. The gavel broke during the junior leadership here. I think we had a temporary one. I'm not sure what happened to that. All right, we're ready to start. Mic's on. Sorry, we don't have a gavel tonight. We were looking for it, but a 2000 class ring from Clemson University should do the trick.

» um i'd like to welcome everybody to our april 22nd kershaw county council meeting um to start i'd like to ask councilman cato to to do our our prayer tonight let us pray your most kind and gracious heavenly father we just come to you tonight we just thank you for another day here on earth heavenly father we just thank you so much for all the blessings and goodness that you bring to us and that you give us each and every day lord we're all so unworthy but we thank you so much for your love and grace dear heavenly father i just pray for this meeting tonight i pray that you give us the ability and the knowledge that we need to carry out through this meeting and do the business of this county dear heavenly father i pray for our men and women in law enforcement and our military is protecting our

» great nation and protecting our community lord i pray for them and our first responders and their safety and well-being dear heavenly father just lead guide and direct us throughout this night and throughout the rest of the week to come thank you again for all you do for us forgive us all of our sins for us in christ's 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 councilman kato um like to have a motion to adopt the agenda do i have a motion make a motion without the agenda as presented councilman tucker makes a motion do i have a second i'll make the second also have an amendment councilman jones go ahead with your amendment please thank y

» ou i would like to delete the item under new business all right we can delete um the request for reimbursement damages citizens private property administrators take care of that and thank you so much good okay do i have a motion to to amend motion to amend item 10a on the agenda do i have a second second all those in favor all right it's unanimous someone's on the phone oh yeah who do we have on the phone councilman shoemake you've got uh yes and i vote uh i vote in favor of that as well all right we've we've got it it's unanimous thank you um now adopt the agenda last year i also have a another amendment okay go ahead we need to amend the agenda to allow us to have the third proclamation on the agenda tonight good catch okay so we're gonna we're gonna add a third proclamation it's it's alr

» eady listed um that's your motion sir do i have a second second all right all those in favor councilman shoemate how do you vote i'm in favor all right all those present and online uh vote in favor now i'd like to do we have a motion to adopt the agenda as amended make a question we adopt agenda as a minute mr second i second all right a first and a second how do we vote councilman shoemake yeah i'm in favor okay it's unanimous by those present and by those online councilman shoemake thank you we'd like to start with a proclamation proclamation a april is autism awareness and acceptance month this is put on the agenda by councilman danny cato danny would you like to make the motion sir yes i'd like to make a motion that we accept this proclamation on autism awareness and acceptance month fo

» r kershaw county all right do we have a second second i heal councilman jones has a second all those in favor i'll start with um councilman shoemate being that you're online i'm in favor all right all those in present how do we vote it's unanimous we'd like to hear from uh councilman danny cato as he reads the proclamation i will have some comments a little bit later but let me start with the proclamation this proclamation is kershaw county autism awareness and acceptance month whereas autism spectrum disorder, ASD, is a developmental disability that can cause significant social, communication, and behavioral challenges.

» Autism is the fastest-growing development disorder that affects about one in 44 children that causes them to communicate, interact, behave, and learn differently than others. The learning, thinking, and problem-solving abilities of people with ASD can range from gifted to severely challenged. Some people with ASD need a lot of help in their daily lives, others need less. Whereas there is no cure for autism, love, patience, and endurance are a great dosage. But families are encouraged to get involved with early intervention treatment services and can improve child's development. Ask questions and speak with the health care provider if you feel your child is not doing developmentally what they should at certain ages.

» Because autism impacts people regardless of race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic backgrounds, no one is exempt from the possibility of being diagnosed. Now therefore, be it known that families deal with autism every month, but Kershaw County Council would like to acknowledge the month of April as Autism Awareness and Acceptance Month in Kershaw County as we strive to support, promote, and strengthen our families with children who have autism to help them achieve a better quality of life amen thank you councilman um do we have any comments anybody want to make any comments regarding this proclamation i'll start with councilman shoemake i just appreciate you guys putting this on the agenda i think it's a very important cause so you are councilman thank you anyone else any comments yeah jump jum

» p ahead of you i would just like to say that uh out all the things that we do here this county council this is probably to me one of the greatest things we can do is recognize this you know these kids are angels and uh god bless them and god bless the the parents and the loved ones who care for them and uh thank you so much thank you councilman anyone else i just want to say and you normally don't hear me talk about the uh federal politics but i think sometimes um well most of the time they get it wrong on the federal level up there but um i really i don't know who put this together but I really appreciate the title that it was written in autism is not a disability it's a difference in ability and I think that says it all right there for me a lot of people like to take this as it's it is a

» difference amongst men and women who don't do things exactly like we do things who says that we're normal they may be the normal ones and we may be the ones that's having issues, and it looks that way from the way that we're leading our citizens here in America. I say that because there was a lot of kickback on social media on some of the comments that came from the federal government about autism, and I think rightfully so, they deserve that. But thanks for you, Ms. Hanna, and whoever else had a hand on this proclamation, and I wish autism programs and nonprofit organizations nothing but Godspeed. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman. Mr. Vice Chair, very quickly, can I give a shout out? Of course.

» You know, I didn't really see this until the other day and didn't have been out of town, just came in town to be in this meeting because we were running short of bodies. And I want to give a shout out to my buddy, my hero, Austin Brown, and if I'd had enough time I would have notified him, but I didn't get to, but I just wanted to say that. Thank you so much. Of course. Councilman Cato, anything further? Yes. First of all, I would like to thank Ms. Hanna for putting this together. Ms. Hanna has an autistic child, and she knows the struggles daily of what that's like. We have several employees here in the county that have autistic children. I'd include Sheriff Lee Bone and others. And I tell you, it's humbling. It really is humbling.

» My daughter worked for a year or so with autistic children up in Greenville. She's now with special resources. And I have a heart. It's just deep in my heart for these families and these children. And I thank you for sticking by your children and standing with them. I really do, I admire you. And I hope this is just a small piece what kershaw county can do to show our appreciation for what y'all do for your children so thank you all and i'll add as well god god makes no mistakes um every child is loved and um acceptance is something that that we all must work on from time to time um praise god for for our families and our loved ones um with that being said we've already voted on it will we like to have a picture made tonight yes we'd like to present the proclamation who's who's here to rece

» ive the uh proclamation we're going to present this in in kershaw county and i think we have some of the employees with some of their children that's here tonight and miss hannah and whoever's bone old mr bone to come here if well if you if you're here for this proclamation and you want to come up for a photo please come up now thank you so much and Dalton bone we're so glad you're here this afternoon too buddy and glad you came up front he said that's enough Jimmy thank you all for being here our next item is a proclamation for the North Central High School weightlifting championship 2025 also placed on by councilman Danny Kato do we still have Derek online you do councilman like to like to make a motion councilman Cato would you like to make a motion to accept this problem yes I'd like to

» make a motion to accept this proclamation for the North Central high school weightlifting team state championship 2025 his motion stated we have a second second my councilman Tucker there Derek you might want to hit the mute button we just heard a home run with that being said how do we vote on this item councilman Shoemake I voted favor that was batting practice and all those all those here how do we vote everybody in person voting in favor and also online voting in favor of unanimous vote thank you Danny I'll let you continue with the proclamation sir this proclamation is um in honor of the 2025 2a team state championship and it reads whereas the north central high school weightlifting team located at 3000 lockhart road kershaw south carolina has been titled with the 2025 2a team state ch

» ampions whereas the members of the north central high school weightlifting team have accomplished an outstanding record which has led them to winning season winning a winning season of two consecutive years as 2a state champions and whereas kershaw county council is proud to recognize the parents staff athletic director coaches and athletes for their hard work and dedication that led the weightlifting team to become the 2025 2a team state champions also it lists on here the principal Davey Branham, assistant coach Dennis Stevens, head coach Ryan McDonnell, and Daniel Sist, athletic director. We also have an individual state champion in this unlimited weight class, Aiden Wiles. He squatted 570 pounds, he benched 370, and had a broad jump of 101.5.

» Double-A state champion weightlifting team members was Aiden Wiles, Jalen Wesley, zemaine bennett and kaylin bradshaw and jonathan coates who was part of the jv team now therefore be it resolved the kershaw county council do hereby honor the north central high school weightlifting team on the 22nd day of april 2025 for winning the 2025 2a state championship wow congratulations and i got some comments um well i i'd like to say this real quick and then we'll move into discussion i just hate that ben connell isn't here so he could challenge them to a wrestling match or something oh these guys are pretty strong i i couldn't even arm around my money's on aidan mr vice chair uh ben is getting older so uh he's still a pretty tough guy um any comments i do i have some i would i i'm i'm honored anyt

» ime i can recognize any school for a state championship but lately i've got to do it quite often for north central and i'm very proud of this school very very proud of the coaching staffs at this school this this takes a lot of hard work and dedication on their part as well as an athlete and they really and truly put a lot of time and effort into developing these young people and it doesn't happen overnight it takes a lot of training aiden i know you're the only one here tonight the other members um had a rescheduled track meet and and they had to attend that um to live up to their expectations of their teammates and that's totally understood aiden you excelled excelled as the individual state champion and these are some pretty impressive numbers um i i'm very proud of you and And if I'm co

» rrect, and correct me if I'm wrong, but you're going on to play football with the Citadel. Is that correct? So congratulations on that achievement also. Following in Coach McDonald's footsteps. But I am really, really proud of the accomplishments y'all have had and back-to-back years. It really says a lot about y'all's dedication and the coaches' dedication and the way y'all handle yourself. And I thank you so much for being here tonight. And after all the comments, we're going to get you all up, and we're going to present you with this proclamation. And you can proudly put it in the trophy case there at the school, and you can always go back and show your kids your name on this proclamation. Thank you, Councilman. Anyone else, comments? I'm next. Councilman Jones.

» I want to see this guy, Aiden. That is some big numbers. You know, I used to guys work out a lot. Let me tell you something. I was part owner in the first gym that ever opened up downtown Camden. And we used to go in there and squat and lift. Never, ever hit those numbers. Never. My gosh. But that's something to be proud of. And then going to the Citadel as well, congratulations. You have a bright future ahead of you. Stay with your weightlifting, though. It'll always benefit you. Thank you. Councilman, he may have a black belt as well. I'm not going there. Any other comments? Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair. As Councilman Cato has stated and I often remind people out here and the citizens in Kershaw County that North Central is a hidden jewel.

» A lot of people don't believe that, but I've had the opportunity to work with the staff and students at all three, actually all four high schools, County Academy and Military Academy here in this county. And it is a place that is special, maybe because I like the country and maybe because my dad's from Cassett. so there might be a little bit of partiality there. But it is a hit and jewel because I think that you guys have all the amenities that any school would want, and you have less of the headaches that some of these bigger schools have, and then you have staff, coaches, teachers, and parents that do nothing but love up on students. And that's amazing to be a part of that.

» And it reminds me of some of the older days as some of us came up with wooden paddles, Jimmy Jones and myself, where people really cared about you getting your education. They encouraged you to do other things, but they really made sure that you got your education. So congratulations. Keep pushing them through. Some of you, I've actually got my fingerprint on. I won't call no names. But I really, really am proud of all of you out there and continue to make good men and women for this place called Kershaw, South Carolina. Thank you. Mr. Tucker, you know, when I listen to you talk about that, this brings back memories to me when I was into bodybuilding, Body Beautiful. Body Beautiful? Back in 1978. Yeah, you guys wouldn't have known me then. That's the year I was born, councilman.

» Coach Noah Dixon. Does anybody here know Coach Noah Dixon? Yes. I actually helped him learn to pose on one of his contests. Noah was a-- I don't know how he looks now. I haven't seen him in years, but he was a man in his day as well. good memories good minutes well look as much as uh we all like having a little fun and joking around i suppose we should move on um we we've already called the vote next thing we need to do is invite y'all up for a photo come on up oh councilman schumann we voted beforehand does he want to derek would you like to say anything to these fine people i just i think that's awesome i'm at a high school sporting event myself the things you guys are learning in these high school sporting events are laying a foundation for the rest of your life and the skills that you'r

» e going to learn here are going to reverberate through your 30s 40s 50s and 60s so congratulations amen i'm so sorry i keep forgetting about you up there above us let you forget it y'all come on up okay if y'all could squeeze in just a little bit more That'd be great. Oh, I can do it there. One, two, three. Two, three. Congratulations. Yes. All right. Congratulations. Thank you, sir. Yes, sir. That's nice of you. Congratulations. Thank you so much. We appreciate you. Turn it up. Good work. Danny. Danny. If I had known the fatherless ahead of time, I had that picture of you on there. I'm not speaking. That was good stuff Danny. Thank you. Well that young man is a grown man in my book. He's a big dude. Congratulations to North Central. Big accomplishments from a smaller school.

» Smaller schools do great things that's uh i have to agree with councilman tucker and in the way that teachers are able to teach in a smaller classroom it's a good setting all right we're going to move on here uh we've got one more our third and last proclamation and this is put on by councilman tucker the month of april is fair housing month um like to go ahead and have a motion yes sir mr vice chair if i can make a motion that we approve a proclamation for the month of april as fair housing month with the motion stated by councilman tucker do we have a second our second all right we've got a second from councilman cato um go ahead and take a vote and get that out of the way yes um how do we vote uh councilman shoemade i'm in favor all right and all those here how do we vote all in favor th

» ank you for that um would you like councilman tucker go ahead - Go ahead and read that, sir. - Thank you, Mr. Vice Chair. Proclamation for Proclaiming April as Fair Housing Month. This is something that we do at the Santee-Lynches Regional Council of Government, so I'll read this. I don't have my glasses, so bear with me. Whereas Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, known as the Fair Housing Act, was established on April 11th, 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson enshrined into the federal law the goal of eliminating racial segregation and ending housing discrimination in the United States.

» Whereas the Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing based on race, color, religion, sex, family status, national origin, disability, commits the recipients of federal fundings to affirmatively further fair housing in their communities. Whereas Kershaw County is committed to the mission and intent of Congress to provide fair housing, fair and equal housing opportunities for all. Whereas our social fabric, economic, health and environmental are strengthened in diverse inclusive communities and whereas more than 50 years after the passage of the Fair Housing Act, discrimination in the housing market still exists and many communities are segregated.

» And whereas acts of housing discrimination and barriers to equal housing opportunities are refunded to a common sense of dignity, fairness, decency, fairness, and dignity. And now, therefore, Farshad County hereby proclaims this month of April 2025 as Fair Housing Month and encourages all citizens to prevent discrimination and reverse housing segregation by increasing opportunities for minority homes, ownerships, and invest in affordable housing across our county. All right, thank you, thank you. Are we going to present this proclamation, sir? Yes, sir, we can, and I'll be happy to. We have another board meeting next month, April, I think, April, May 5th, and I will present this back to the board, so I'll be more than happy to accept this.

» Are any members here? No, no one's here, because I actually thought we read it last month in my absence, so I didn't invite anybody today. - Okay, so any need for a photograph, or are we okay? - We're okay. - All right, perfect. Thank you so much, Councilman. - You're quite welcome. And thank everyone for their support in this, and I would say that the paragraph in there that I really take to heart is the second to the last when it says that the common sense of decency, fairness, and dignity. I don't care where you live, what you look like, how much you have or don't have. You should never be deprived of those things. We are human beings, and any one of us could fall on hard times, bad times, or whatever that, but none of that should ever be taken from you. Thank you, Councilman.

» Any other comments? All right. With none, having no more comments, We'll move on to item six public comments. How many folks do we have signed up sir? All right, we'd like to welcome them to the podium Did I hear Lake watery Welcome what was your name again? I'm sorry Leanne Leanne. Yes, sir Fishburn welcome We've had property at Lake Watery since 2002 and we've really seen a change in the water quality and I know that there have been other people that have come here to talk with you about it and I don't want to rehash that and waste your time. I am simply here myself with my sister who is here for moral support who lives next door to me.

» What I have seen since the time that we bought property at Lake Watery, the algae around her house in particular but now it's migrated to my house is causing a problem for boating and i do know that the lingvia has been discussed here and what i'm here for is just to ask that you please fund taking care we can't eradicate it but we can certainly bring it under control what's happening and in one particular case it was about 10 o'clock at night and i heard a boat that obviously was stuck they went in where the lingvia was and they were stuck so i was watching them get out and what happens is without them realizing what's happening is it's getting around their propeller and as they get out of that situation then they go over to another part of the lake and what they're doing is they're bringi

» ng the lingvia and the cove that we actually live in is where the camden water take is and i went on the gis mapping software that the county has today and from where the mass mat of algae is between my house and my sister's house it is a little bit less than half a mile to the camden water intake now the problem with the lingvia is that it can clog it up it ends up costing more money overall so that's what i'm here for and i just ask that you guys please um send the money we need it we need to um take care of this so that's what i'm here for and thank you can't imagine you have any questions for me well this in this forum we we can't have dialogue so we're here to listen and and and we we support lake watery and lake watery is in my district so thank you for coming and speaking tonight and

» um be happy to give you my number my email address if you'd like any further communication oh that is wonderful thank you so much thank you blessed day mr vice chair would you also let the folks know they're never bothering us by coming and speaking we absolutely not we need to have we need to hear that we do thank you thank you so much for being here y'all have a wonderful night okay with um with only having one public comment that moves us to approval of minutes um do i have a motion for the approval of minutes from our april 8th meeting make a motion we approved the minutes from april 8th okay do i have a second i'll i'll second it um let's uh how do we vote councilman shoemate how do you vote on approval of minutes it approved him all right yes sir i will be abstaining we have one absta

» ining and then how do we vote gentlemen unanimous uh with one abstination from councilman tucker all right minutes are approved all right and now we have under item eight first reading in title only an ordinance to provide budget i'm sorry sir no no i didn't say anything oh i thought i heard somebody come after me from my right item eight first reading and title only an ordinance to provide budget appropriations for county purposes in the county of kershaw for the fiscal year beginning july 1st 2025 and ending june 30th 2026 and setting the millage rate for kershaw county for the fiscal year beginning july 1 2025 and adopt and implement the charge and collection of service and user rates and fees and for other tax purposes and county appropriation purposes and matters related there too do i

» have a motion for this ordinance in title only mr vice chair i'd like to make a motion that we read our first reading entitled only about 25 26 budget all right do i have a second this is councilman she may call second okay thank you councilman shoemake um the ordinance entitled only do we have any discussion i would like to just make a couple of comments if i may please um i know dealing uh with the finance committee and having to work with staff so closely um that they're doing all they can we've we've had some uh tough times before since i've been here but i think this is going to be one of the toughest and so um we'll be prepared next month for second reading to have the breakout of the budget am i correct by saying that mr templer uh down to the last penny um we're still just working o

» n details and trying to figure out what state's doing what federal is doing and um where we're going to be able to put the puzzles that make the best sense it is i'm telling you guys you don't hear me say this a lot of times but it's very challenging this year and we're trying to make a lot of chicken salad out of chicken thank you mr vice chair thank you thank you any further comments on our budget councilman not tonight councilman second reading um i've got a question regarding um since we just heard from a homeowner on lake watery i had sent in a budget request to the finance committee was that request received um i'm sure staff has it but we haven't gone down line item by line item yet in our finance committee meeting we have one this thursday which i was going to announce during my cou

» ncil briefing and we'll we'll get those requests all in order so we we have not plugged any any numbers in on the request yet because we've had some disruption since we've had some unfortunate um tragedies up here on this diocese we had to cancel meetings as well as as y'all know so that's where we're at in real range so yes sir so i'd like to state for the record that there has been a um a financial request from the lake wateries homeowners association of thirty thousand dollars to help fight uh the algae problem before it gets out of hand it's it's come from uh lakes north of us in the watershed and um i do support tackling it now before it becomes a major problem for the people that live on lake watery and everybody who enjoys spending time on lake watery and especially the months ahead

» and it's getting warm people are going to want to water ski and fish and we do not need a mess with that being said i'm pretty blind when it comes to the rest of the budget i'll support it in title only but we've got a lot to dig into this year and a lot to hash out and i'd like to see numbers on natural growth versus um where we were at last year i'd like to see a year-over-year cost analysis and um like to make sure that we're spending that money as wisely as we possibly can we will have that is the next meeting is that what you're talking about at the second reading second reading yes sir yeah not not tonight at this reading but um just as an overall statement um that's good stuff so with that being said we'll take it to a vote councilman shoemake i vote in favor all right all those here

» we support the first reading of the budget and title only yes sir thank you we'll dig into the specifics it's second and third reading moving on under ordinances second reading an ordinance to amend kershaw county south carolina unified code of zoning and land development regulations to require the installation of fire hydrants for minor subdivision development where existing public water infrastructure is capable of sustaining fire flow um initially well let's first get a motion um do i have a motion for this second reading i'll make a motion i'll make the motion i yield okay i'll make the motion then councilman shoemake has the motion um do i have a second second councilman cato has a second um let's uh let's let's put this on the floor for discussion councilman shoemake do you have anyth

» ing that you'd like to discuss no i mentioned it in our last meeting i mean i'm supportive of this i think it's necessary and the reality is we end up having to pay these prices down the road if we don't have adequate fire systems so i'm fully supportive of this tonight okay thank you sir um mr debose there were some unclarified topics that we discussed at the last meeting do you recall the specific questions you let me kind of go over my concerns yeah i recall um some of them A review might be helpful, or I can proactively address what I do recall. Mr. Bullard, Chief Bullard is here as well to speak to the genesis of this.

» So I can understand that we had an issue on Pine Grove in which I requested a couple of fire hydrants where some homes had been built, and I understand the premise of it. But I have a concern in which if someone wants to just break land in two, say they have three acres and they want to make it two or three, one or one and a half acre lots, what's the tipping point? So a minor subdivision involves, well, does not involve more than 10 lots, creation of a new street, extension of public water and sewer, all various other factors kick something into a major subdivision definition.

» other than exempt subdivisions which are in the support materials in the agenda package most other subdivisions would qualify as a minor subdivision one important exemption are gift conveyances by deed as long as no new streets are involved and those are more or less among nuclear family but inclusive of grandchildren so those conveyances of gifts among family would not be included in minor subdivision but in a hypothetical scenario where someone wants to say subdivide two or three one acre parcels out and then build homes on those for sale advance or just sell the lots those would qualify as a minor subdivision. So they would have to install a fire hydrant? Yes, under this ordinance, they would.

» Now, that is premised on them not satisfying some other exemption, like one of the state law exemptions. If the parcels are greater than five acres and there are streets involved, then it would fall under state law exemptions. But, yeah, a hypothetical scenario of, say, a five-acre parcel that has three one-acre tracts chopped out of it, so it's four total parcels, three one-acres and one two-acre remainder, that would meet the definition or requirement of a fire hydrant insulation if sufficient flow exists there and if that subdivision is not within, I believe it is 500 feet of an existing fire hydrant. But, again, Mr. Bullard can kind of speak to the specifics of the ISO rating and the public health and safety aspect of it.

» So if I were to walk into planning and zoning with a plat to get approved in your scenario and I said, hey, I'd like to get this plat approved, and they say, oh, no, you've got to get these fire hydrants, who would I write a check to to have those fire hydrants installed? as this is drafted it would be the developer's responsibility to install it just um i mean not dissimilar to if a developer's developing eight lots with single family um and they are responsible for getting the utility services to those blocks they would have to interface with the water provider and make sure that the hydrant was installed well is the the water provider are clear on these items because we have many in the in the county that we deal with correct again it would be premised on fire flow existing from those pr

» oviders and i will say that chief bullard is interfaces with lugoff elgin water kershaw lee regional water authority etc he could speak to again the specifics of how those conversations for fire flow and fire hydrant requirements for like major subdivision major group projects already occur within the development well and i understand that and the concern is that with those developers they're building roads and so of course you have to install infrastructure we're asking someone to go back in on a state right-of-way and have work done it it may be challenging for the person to to navigate that we're creating a law that is well intended and i understand that completely um but i still have more unanswered questions because if say someone has to go to lugov elgin water and say we we need to bu

» y two fire hydrants because we're breaking up seven lots or whatever it is at that point who sets the price on the fire hydrants and i defer to mr bullard on the logistics of that infrastructure installation that's cheap chief you want to speak to this and that's uh kind of development services minutiae that i'm typically not involved in yeah so to kind of address your concern or question a little bit about the right-of-way so for these hydrants to be installed the infrastructure has to already be there so therefore the utility right-of-way will already be in existence because the water line will already be there so they will just have to basically go where that utility right-of-way is along the DOT or the roadway right-of-way to install the hydrant.

» So there won't be anything changing because that utility right-of-way already pre-exists if the infrastructure is there. What we're running into and what we're finding is that because the ZLDR does not already have it in writing that says that a minor subdivision requires the installation of a hydrant, that developers are bypassing it and doing these road frontage strips whereas even a major subdivision it's it's already in the verbiage to where the infrastructure exists we do have a subdivision already that's actually currently under construction now to where the infrastructure does not exist it is a major subdivision but we don't have hydrants in it at all and we're talking probably over a hundred houses that's going in but there's no water there so therefore I can't enforce it to make th

» em actually put hydrants in so it's the same kind of principle with this as well if the water is not there then I cannot make them put the water there now I will say that there's plenty of municipalities and counties across the entire state that actually make developers get the infrastructure upgraded to actually get it to the point so they either has to come up with a some type of water storage enough to meet the largest structure within that neighborhoods fire flow requirements whether that be an above-ground storage tank or they actually have to take and actually increase the amount of lines with the water districts um but those are the kind of things that there are municipalities and counties around the state that are requiring that was my question yeah and i did too when you finish the

» donut holes because i know we don't have water in 750 square miles of this county that's right you can't that's right this is not gonna this is not gonna be an all-inclusive situation so there are there are areas in kershaw county um like you mentioned the pine grove road area um to where we purchased those hydrants that infrastructure existed for us to be able but we had to purchase those hydrants as a county this would actually yes it puts it back on the developer to put those hydrants into place and uh to what mr debose said you know if the infrastructure exists the hydrants would would be required now if there is a hydrant on that line you know the way the the way the code and the way the fire code reads it has to be within 500 feet so therefore the house may be within 500 feet of an ex

» isting so therefore if you build a a thousand foot strip along the roadway you may not necessarily have to do another hydrant because if it's with within 500 feet either direction you're good um but then again you may have nothing and you may have to go 500 feet from the first one put a hydrant then you can actually go a thousand feet because you would be able to go 500 feet on up either direction of that hydrant another hydrant will be installed to cover the other 500 feet in between and you end up with two hydrants 1500 feet with two hydrants right mr vice chair what about this will this will be part of the land use ordinance yes that's correct why don't we send it back to planning and zoning they already voted on it they've already voted they did vote on it six so reading it in there ver

» y good and i respect that chief thank you yes sir so how much are may i ask mr how much is a fire hydrant about six thousand dollars so could we write could we write it so that the developer could pay the county and the county could work it out with whoever is providing the water because what happens in these situations is is they get put on a merry-go-round of nobody knows what's supposed to happen and i'd be i'd be happier with this if the developer were to write a check to the county and knew what they were writing a check for the county understood what was happening and then they could they could send the funds to the appropriate people therefore they could go ahead and approve the plat they could keep moving it wouldn't stop the project I'd feel a lot better about supporting it if we m

» ade an amendment instead of just saying well I don't I don't know you got to go talk to right you know so and so down there at their office right yeah I know typically when we do approve subdivisions and I know you know developers typically when they're doing this or whatever they normally go through the water district and they they do the installation they purchase everything straight through the water district so i'm that's that's normal everyday practice for developers when building subdivisions um but i would imagine this would not be anything any different this just kind of includes the minor versus you know not trying to go too deep in the weeds with this but just this would include the miners in with the majors as well chief with all respect mr vice chair i think you make a valid poi

» nt because we see people going around in a circle maybe has nothing to do with this issue and this is a good issue by the way but he's trying to get it spelled out so that the protocol will be set and i agree with everything you just said miss vice chair we i'd feel better if the protocol was set in writing to where we knew they would know exactly what is what is it so we don't get caught in this circle right and mr i mean is there anything that i mean can that be done as far as the going running that through planning and zoning just like as a fee for doing that or yeah i mean i think one one issue with that is um i think there could be slight variability in the cost um perhaps based on hydrant type et cetera et cetera um but that would be i think that would be stated i think a an operation

» al concern would be that um many of the minor subdivision developers are true construction kind of development parties and and again it's it's council's prerogative but um it essentially might delegate and interject the county as a pseudo agent for the developer and having to make those calls and undertake those efforts and furtherance of a development requirement that as mr bullard pointed out at least the major subdivisions is 100 born by the developer you could have a hypothetical situation where abc builders builds a major subdivision and they have to do the interfacing but if they build eight lots the county suddenly has that job of doing the thing that they abc always does which is contact the water authority well i don't i don't think there's anything legally prohibited prohibitive o

» f collecting the funds and trying to facilitate it just um could be a could be an operational and administrative issue i i like the fact i'd like this council to set the protocol for that for me to support it but councilman cato so if if the county puts in a hydrant if if we put in a hydrant who puts it in and what's the protocol for doing that now do we contract that out we We would contact the water district and call the water district to go install the hydrant. And they've got most, I mean, some of them actually do it, you know, but most of them have third-party contractors that actually do the same thing for burying and adding water lines that you see Cass at Water or somebody doing. It would be the exact same thing. They would have them go out.

» They'd create a work order and go out and have them install it. So, in turn, doing it this way would actually probably add more cost to the contractor than doing it the way you propose. Yes. How would it add more cost? Because they would have to go through a third party. Contractors typically are going to be able to do it cheaper than what we're going to be able to do. No, I'm not asking that Kershaw County perform the work. No, no, no, I'm not saying that either. What I'm stating is that we make it simple. We create a simple – we're creating a process that I'm not really thrilled about, to be honest with you, because this wasn't an issue until the major subdivisions showed up.

» This became an issue when major subdivisions showed up and started building 200, 300 houses, and then this came behind it. For years and years and years, people have been building houses on roads. Every road you drive down between here and home, you're going to pass houses on those roads. And this was not necessary. But now that we've seen a few little blips here and there that's caused a little bit of a headache, so then we're going to push this headache back onto the consumer. I'm not a big fan of it. I'm trying to stomach it. I'll make the amendment to support it. Otherwise, I'm going to not support it. Mr. Vice Chair, can I give a word of advice here that I wasn't here for a first reading, but, you know, you do what your heart and your conscience tells you to do.

» We still got another reading. I think if we can get with staff and our county attorney, maybe come up with some language where we can amend with some better understanding. But third reading versus, you know, just voting against or trying to hodgepodge the the amendment now. And the reason I'm saying that is because if the big subdivisions can contact the water authorities, why can't the small and it keeps the burden off of staff? Well, let me tell you why. If you want to talk about it, we can talk about it.

» and i have something to say i can tell you exactly why because as i've said many many times i have done business with people that build homes for people like you and me and everybody else in this room that that'll that can afford to buy a small parcel of land divide it up into four or five or six lots and they can feed their family that's their trade that's their craft they're they're getting hurt because of the big guy the big guy has attorneys on staff he has 20 people in office they're building houses nationwide it's not the same thing and when we apply the same rules across the board we hurt the little man it happens time and they're already having trouble keeping up with the way these national builders come in and build on slabs they're building a better house a custom house a house th

» at they take pride in these people take pride in their work so when we put more headache more problems on them that affects them in their their home their household how they feed their children so we can make an amendment tonight or or i can vote no that's going to be totally left up to you but but also the same way you're talking about the little guy i'm concerned about staff being able to produce to all citizens um being being in the minutia of trying to figure this out for small contractors i don't know how much burden it will be or how little it will be but i do know it will be some administrative actions there and then if you turn around and say well we're going to have to charge them from that then you're going to say okay well now we're not being fair or they can't afford it so so wh

» ere where's the balance to the to our staff administration well here's the staff is the one that's proposing this so we ought to be able to do the work mr chair from the you're asking for communication to to the people that are going to be affected by this and i think there's nothing wrong chief i applaud you for coming here i support the hydrant um the hydrants being installed we just are trying to figure out the communication we want between the folks that are going to be hit with it and i'm sorry i i think it can be quite confusing i've seen simpler things that this get very confused we get calls on it with planning and zoning i think it needs to be spelled out we need to have some good direct communication mr vice chair and i i appreciate you uh handling it this way can i make a suggest

» ion maybe this is a legal question so can we table this second reading at ordinance for 30 days postpone not to postpone i'm sorry postpone the ordinance for 30 days and allow staff and the fire service to maybe come up with a solution before we have a vote on the second reading sure yeah yeah again council has a broad array of options on any pending ordinance unless it has a hard and fast deadline like a budget ordinance i will note for the record that a public hearing has already been advertised on this as required by the zldr but a public hearing can always occur in isolation from an actual reading so um council could hold the advertised public hearing uh receive input from the public on it and even hold a second reading isolated from that publication well maybe that would give us maybe

» that would give us and vice chairman the opportunity to maybe find common ground in jimmy jones it gives it would certainly give staff and people an opportunity to kind of explore um what we can and can't do the collection of funds creating the install um whether that's super viable whether it's operationally um too much of a burden shift why would it be too much of a burden ship i think excuse me to communicate with the citizen i think the issue is the only essentially becoming stepping into the shoes of the developer and accomplishing the developers development task with outside parties um it's not a perfect analogy but it would be too dissimilar from saying county um if you're going to require additional driveway installs county staff's in charge with getting in touch with dot and gettin

» g the encroachment permits it's it's not a perfect analogy but um again i don't think there's anything that prohibits a deferral for 30 days to study the matter get y'all some additional information um and explore how how that is to collect the fee and do the contact with the water could you guys hear me typically outside the flow of a typical development approval project A single family home that gets subdivided and needs power from Fairfield Co-op, they have to call Fairfield or whoever. So nothing you've said just now. Hey, can you guys, can anybody hear me? Yeah, go ahead. Oh, I was just going to say that I think tabling it is a, I would not support tabling it.

» I think that, you know, I do agree with some of what John's concerns are, but we don't have a lot of things where we shift that burden back on staff. And I know this is unpopular to say, but I'm going to say it. Some of our most egregious violators of our planning and zoning laws are some of our smaller builders. And I think we need to have these regulations. So, obviously, you know, the vote's going to be what it is, but I won't support tabling it tonight or amending it. All right. Then let's call the vote. Hold on, Vice Chairman. Go ahead, Councilman. The Administrator has something to say. Just from an operational standpoint, just gives me a little bit of pause to shift the burden back on to staff.

» that I think we're kind of dabbling or putting our toe into some water that we're unfamiliar with. It is a fire plug, but when we talk about flow, and I think it has to be a four-inch pipe, and it just, I just, I don't know if that would be the way to shift that load onto, because it's going to be the fire staff more than likely. And then, because they know the playbook for the most part, but as far as, I just have some hesitancy. Well, any time we create a law, we create red tape. And the question herein lies, are we willing to cut the red tape, or are we going to ask the citizens to do one more thing that they have to do on top of their day-to-day life? Do they have more red tape to cut through? That's really what this boils down to.

» And that, for me, I understand that fire hydrants are necessary. No issue with the fact that they're necessary and that we want homes to be safe but for hundreds of years we've managed without this one burdensome piece of ordinance that frankly might cover 12 to 15 percent of the county the rest of the county is probably not going to comply anyway go ahead would you like to say something no no no i just i just don't understand why we couldn't postpone for 30 days and work on this i mean why ram it down our throats if we have some concerns and you could possibly get more of us on board but i'm not willing to vote for it as it stands tonight there's just too many unanswered questions i mean i understand i understand some of what you're saying russell um however i think we're comparing the pas

» t till now and at this particular point the density in these particular areas the the growth has grown so much that now if we was to have a fire and we look at it from a fire aspect if a fire was to break out say like it did in myrtle beach or like it did up in oconee county if that fire breaks out and they don't have the water sources you know how many homes would be destroyed and and it's come to a point where um i don't think the county has the resources nor the finances to put these these hydrants into place now with that being said and i know this from being on a rural water board the systems up in the northern part of the county um can't sustain fire hydrants they don't have the water flow they don't have the water pressure the water line they don't have it so what the county has had

» to do and i applaud them for this that they've they've had to go to alternate water sources and they go to um landowners that have ponds and streams and and you'll see those marked and the landowners sign off on the agreement so they can come and pump water but there again then you got the hauled water you got to take the tanker back and forth and from serving on the fire department years ago way before technology we have now i know how that works but i i can support this i i really i really hope that maybe we can dig in between now and third reading to answer some of these questions so maybe these guys can support it on third reading so i would ask that even if we don't table it i would ask that maybe i'll just come back with some of these answers to try to provide a little bit clearer vie

» w and we can look at it again on third reading but i i can't i cannot support it because i think it's very important that we have these hydrants mr vice chair councilman thank you um mr dubose any of those things that you spoke about a few minutes ago um if we take second reading prohibit us from doing um due diligence is my first question the list of things you went down about um making sure that uh staff and that were you know not in any legal trouble if we decided to run it through the county and things of that nature and uh vice chairman russell's questions councilman jones questions there's nothing said that this has to be on the first meeting in may we can put it on the agenda when we see fit to do so and they can make and bring their amendments as many as they like for third reading

» and it doesn't prolong today that that's where i'm at guys gentlemen when it comes down to his second reading ms jones if it was third reading then i probably would uh punt with you but i can't put pump with you on second reading when i know there's another bite at this apple thank you thank you if i may i'm just we're the regulation county i i did there's so many regulations on the books now and there's so much confusion confusion within citizens going to the planning zoning and uh that's just a fact we hear it all the time and i think they're working very hard they're trying to win i appreciate the chief and his staff bringing this before us i am pro hydrants i just want some communication so that when the public comes in and they have to do something there's a protocol set and i'd like t

» hat protocol to be set by this county council that's what i'm asking for and uh because right now if the protocol is not set we haven't got any clear-cut answers to how they'd be installed or paid for as it stands now no clear cut we've gotten a somewhat so if we're getting that here and what's going to happen if we pass it in the state that it's in now i think it needs to be clear communication by us on what we expect staff to carry out as far as policy on our behalf and then i would support it if the communication was there but i won't support it in his present state i respect that all right let's let's call the vote councilman shoemade how do you vote i'm voting favor the amendment as is all right everybody in presence councilman tucker councilman cato vote yes councilman jones councilma

» n brazel vote no second reading passes three two i would still ask mr vice chair if i can state that we get your questions answered i appreciate this and if it if it's not in a timely manner within the two weeks that we have then let's push it into the fourth tuesday of may well i really appreciate it says that it has to be done the second tuesday is what i'm saying so you still have your time for us to do due diligence thank you well frankly i'd i'd like to have heard that tonight but both comments i heard from administration were of the negative nature so i don't feel like it it was going to change between now and third reading and i bet that it doesn't so with that being said we're going to move on from this and we're going to move to item c second reading an ordinance by kershaw county

» council authorizing the conveyance of certain water facilities and the public right-of-ways of black river road and the mount olivet road to kershaw and lee county regional water authority do i have a motion i'll make a motion that we approve a second reading do i have a second i'll suck i'll second i yield all right we get we've got a motion from councilman tucker we've got a second from councilman cato um we we talked about this some in the last meeting this is basically um gifting the the water um the water line to the the kershaw county and lee regional water authority from kershaw county is that correct yes that's more or less correct i believe the county has approximately 48 000 of its own money in the line most of it was paid with uh for through grants um and this line was put in pla

» ce to serve governor's hill business park um and i believe specifically put in place in contemplation of the prestige yeah so kershaw county acted on behalf of a business and making sure that they have water yeah this is all part of an economic development project and initiative to make that business park viable so kershaw county actually did what we just talked about kershaw county wasn't able to do well this was this is a little different because kershaw county doesn't require developers to upsize lines and bring water for specific flow amounts to where they're located the industrial park with a high water user required upsizing of the line but again it was a part of an economic development project well i'm i'm pro economic development and pro prestige farms but i'm also pro small builder

» okay and coming from a household that that survived off of a small builder i find it interesting that we can support large projects but we cannot support the small projects when it comes to building because building homes is economic development as well because everybody who moves here to cut turkeys apart or to to to make fiber cable they deserve a home and anything that we do that we can do to help them we should help facilitate no differently than we facilitate this um we've got a first and a second councilman thank you sir um mr dubose so by turning this line over to presto's farms how does that advance or hinder our future access to governor's hill using that line increasing capacity things of that nature so this turnover is to um what was formerly cass at water um kershaw lee regional

» water point in fact they are currently supplying the water out there right um this just has them in direct control of the infrastructure there's issues with the water line the county is not the party repairing them or replacing them county's not making any money selling water to prestige county's not in the water business the background of this was the county had a bulk water purchase agreement with city of camden when it needed camden's water cassette water can now supply it and i think again has been supplying it this just gets the installed infrastructure that was a again a vehicle for that part becoming viable um in the hands of the actual water suppliers and water authorities so i mean my understanding is the for lack of a better term the asset of this water line is not independently c

» apable of being utilized by kershaw county and if anything is a kind of contingent liability right now for repairs um county's not monetized it at all all the other parties agree i'm sorry i don't know i'm sorry correct um i did want to point out that in the support material um and this is a ancillary document already authorized by the terms of the ordinance there's a certificate of termination and waiver of notice for the city of camden water agreement the exhibit um that is a uh just extra document it's not attached as an actual exhibit but it's an ancillary document that okay um upon third reading the city and the county would execute it yes the current agreement um and both parties agree the current agreement uh would theoretically run for another nine and a half years but neither party

» 's operating under it so this just formalizes the termination i did want to point out that material was not in first reading it's been included here and city of camden's attorney and i've worked together to get mutually agreeable language in that termination document and i guess my last question to you is um that um i know it's grant money but it's still a lot of money that line had no um monetary value that we could have sold not to my understanding uh mr burgess i believe is present tonight and is intimately familiar with this project but um yeah i don't know that it has any real independent intrinsic value um and there was some contemplation in the original uh agreements i want mr burgess to come and give us an explanation yeah there's there was a contemplation the county would lease to

» Cassett or convey to Cassett, leased it for many years, now it's kind of in the conveyance realm. Section 3 in Exhibit C, I think, would be what you're looking for, Councilman Tucker. It's lease a water line, maintenance and repair, compliance with all regulations. Kershaw County hereby leases to Cassett Water, the line which extends to Governor's Hill Business Park.

» It is further agreed that during the term of this lease, Cassett shall be solely responsible for all repair maintenance and upkeep of the line provided however that responsibility for repair maintenance and upkeep of the line shall not commence until a customer is online and using the water therefrom during the term of this lease cassette shall totally be responsible for compliance with all governmental regulations concerning the use of the line and the sale and conveyance of the bulk water through the line this includes but is not limited to dhek rules and regulations and all testing requirements provided however kershaw county shall be responsible for initial testing and startup testing at the time of the usage begins thereafter all dhek requirements shall be cast its responsibility um i

» think that speaks to some of your questions maybe as to how how it was originally written and the way i understand it is uh for for ten dollars we're uh just turning this line over in a quick claim deed is that correct sir correct so we we helped fund it help get it there installed 12 fire hydrants on this line 9 539 lineal feet of a 12 inch pvc line that we put in for a great project that we're glad they're here um we're thrilled that prestige farm is here in kershaw county and and they decided to build their plant here as well so with that being said if there's any further clarification that's needed yeah i wanted to who put this on the agenda economic development i want to hear from mr burgess mr burgess you available sir good evening yes sir evening what you need to know about it i mean

» anything direct just basically why you felt the need to put it on the agenda the request came from lee cass at water because that was part of the agreement going down the line this was brought up back i would say prior to vic carpenter leaving the line is just sitting out there at that point in time so she asked if we were ready to turn the line over to them we started the process it started in a legal process between their attorneys and ours and at some point well you know what mr burgess let me tell you something i was going to vote no on this but i'm going to vote yes now thank you you're welcome thank you sir any time thank you appreciate it jeff burgess does a great job here at kershaw county a few of us got to visit um stairlight industries and uh business parkway today very fascinati

» ng how they manufacture the fiber optic cable here uh he also gave us a very quick to the point clarification yeah i appreciate that jeff sharp thank you guys i didn't say all that i just said he did a good job on this all right let's call the vote um councilman shoemake i vote in favor all right all those in present how do you vote do you vote yes councilman Jones it's unanimous all those here vote in favor of with that we will leave ordinances and we have one resolution a resolution authorizing the assignment by didn't dinke America of the 2011 fee agreement and the 2021 fee agreement by in between Kershaw County South Carolina and dinke dinke America probably mispronouncing that um formerly known as oak mitsui and all economic development property related there to camden copper holdings

» llc and camder camden copper re llc and other related matters do i have a motion for this resolution and to be fair mr burgess i'm so sorry we may need a little clarification from you i'll make a motion mr vice chair all right do we have a second all second all yield all right we've got a we've got a motion by councilman tucker and we've got a a second by councilman shoemake um is there anyone here from camden copper holdings that would like to speak or would like jeff burgess like to speak on their behalf yeah i'd like to hear from them if they're here they're here welcome for time getting back up here uh it's my pleasure to to introduce you tonight.

» Adam Johnson, CEO of PMC, the group that is purchasing, that has purchased the DENCAI assets, along with Wes Spurlock, who is the COO of the facility. They will be having their announcement tomorrow, basically the unveiling. I hope you can all make it. I know that Chairman Connell is going to be there to speak, as well as Mayor Shaheen for the event. But basically, PMC came in, as unfortunately as it was, DENCAI did file for bankruptcy. And DENCAI Nippon, which is the home office in Japan, liquidated all of its assets. The one immediately impacted by this was, of course, the DENCAI America facility. In 2021, we entered into a FILO agreement with DENCAI for a $14 million expansion plan. To let you know where that stands, we just went back and looked. They invested over $30 million.

» So they were well above it. The problem was, DENCAI basically went bankrupt. So in a mad scramble there was a lot of work done behind the scenes to find a group willing to come in and pick up this asset this is the first time that this facility will be American owned with that I'm not gonna take away any of the highlight because these guys are doing a ton of the work behind the scenes so I will let them tell you what they plan on doing and how it goes I'll answer anything to do with the philo and what this means but basically what they're going to do is it's basically striking the name of Denki off the phyllo and putting Camden copper in its position as that sponsor for it so basically they're assuming the same role producing the same item hopefully more of it better of it because it is the

» only supplier for copper in its nature of this type in the U.S. and in North America basically so it's filling a vital role but I'm going to steal your thunder one quick question before you leave sir oh I'm going to stay right here just one quick question for you um a fee in lieu of tax agreement is typically between one entity and the county is this this name's two entities is pmc can be the sponsor of the actual company that's going in we have that in effect kind of with sterilite because weston owns the property as you were out there but sterilite actually has the equipment so they can sponsor a group going into that building. Okay. What's the amount of the field? The field that was in place for, for Denki, it was 14 million on that one.

» And as I said, they've already invested 30 million. So that's well above what they originally projected. What was the rate? The rate. The terms. The terms was 20 year field of lot millage. Locked at 6%, 4%. 6% instead of 10 and a half. Correct. And 4% only if it's 125 million or more. If they decide to do that, I'll be more than glad to bring that up to you we would talk more thank you so much for the information welcome my first uh time addressing a group like y'all so thank you so much we're really grateful to be here um you know it's amazing to see you know the care that you all have for your community here this morning or it's afternoon evening i guess whatever time it is i don't even know what day it is um but we're we're here to you know hopefully get this thing running right keep all

» the jobs keep producing copper foil here kershaw county um and happy to answer any questions we can for you so you bought the operation to continue it as it was hopefully not as it was but yes sir yeah better producing the same product yes sir are you just out of curiosity are you in this business already as well or is this a new venture for you um so we've been in critical minerals and materials for quite some time, had some meaningful success bringing rare earths, lithium, other things to the United States. We were called because we had shown some success in that before by some friends who wanted to see this thing be successful, unlike what we feel like the leadership of the previous company had done, meaning outside of the United States, not the leadership on the ground.

» And we were asked to come and see if there was something valuable here. And we believe that there is. And so we're here to do whatever we can to turn this into a very successful business. Let us be the first to welcome you to Kershaw County. And thank you for your investment in our community. Yes, sir. And we're going to continue to do that. That's fabulous. We have good plans. And we're meeting everybody on the ground. We're spending our time here.

» and we're gonna continue to do that okay is that your bodyguard next to you this is my co-founder and COO Wesley Spurlock glad to have you guys thank you guys so much and I have to echo your comments on Jeff he's been amazing making us feel welcome helping us figure out and the community and also I think I think it's really the double tap the reason we're here also is it's a matter it's a really national security thing this is a critical national security this copper foil i am 20 years i just retired from the air force i've been doing this service and this is uh as as important a mission as i've ever been a part of and to meet the people in this community and the people at now camden copper uh they are very much mission aligned and we're really excited to hit the ground running and get to w

» ork with them i think they're as committed to this as we are and we look forward being a part of the community part of this mission and and getting to meet each and every one of you guys so thank you for having us and thank you to jeff for bringing us tonight we just as a target of opportunity to get to meet you all and uh to be up on the on the big screen but uh thank you guys so much and uh thanks for having us thank you mr vice chair councilman um if i if i may um remind me of how many uh folks you guys employ out there uh we anticipate it'll be about 50 and maybe a little more okay and um i will say this uh to to both of you and and your entire company um as you begin to get your foundation here and your footing um lean heavily on your resources jeff burgess administrator uh the mayor a

» nd when you meet that council they're not as good as we are but they okay um but don't hesitate there uh raise your hand or pick up the phone and call just something that we can assist you with versus stumbling through some things that you might just need a tad bit of uh guidance or help with so welcome and thank you and um thank you so much for saying that we are very grateful we will need it um but also same same thing so you know i don't know how how often the previous owners uh were out here um but i can tell you what they look like i i can tell you this uh if there's any issue anything that comes up anything that you all see that needs to be done like my business card brought it for you all like i i we're we're the ones who you you need to call like buck stops with us like we're here w

» e're looking for a great partnership appreciate it yes sir and jimmy lives next door so he can come visit with you look forward to it where is this at thank you thanks thanks for coming up thanks for speaking all right oh okay we we had a lot of discussion um mr burgess thank you as well sir all those derek you still there i'm here how do you vote in favor all right thank you sir um and all those here how do we vote vote aye all in favor it's unanimous resolution 9a passes all right um item 10a has been stricken from the agenda so now we'll go to council member briefings um council councilman shoemake would you like to go first sir sure and i don't have much thank you guys for letting me call in again i've my son's only got a couple more weeks of baseball so i'm trying to watch all his game

» s so thank you guys and i look forward to being back in person in two weeks we'll see you then thank you um you're going to hang around are you going to drop off i'll probably drop off to sort done with voting items yep okay have a good night um councilman tucker yes sir um i just want to uh say thank you again for y'all support on the fair housing act and um i'm looking forward here within uh next month i don't know if it's going to be first meeting or the second meeting in may of uh giving an update on some of the projects west of watery uh on our safe roads um i have to get with the administrator and also the uh mr uh dennis uh cypress with the cog and uh we should have an update from dot but i hope everybody had a blessed uh easter and uh continue to have a blessed week that concludes m

» y report thank you councilman and uh i do want to say this because i just found this out uh this afternoon um keep um the most important person in councilman jones's family um on a recovery um miss mara she had a little freak accident and um so she's trying to recover so keep her in your prayers thank you thank you thank you councilman tucker uh councilman jones would you like to i have no comment no comment tonight what's wrong beach is waiting on me councilman cato i'm shocked he caught me off guard now um just a couple things um this friday uh at the camden military academy we're gonna have the champions in action which is um kind of just like the special olympics that used to be the special olympics so that'll be taking taking place this friday at the camden military academy i think all

» the athletes leave the chick-fil-a around 8 45 and head out to the camden military academy so if you can go out and and support these athletes that would be awesome um the next thing is uh this saturday april the 26th as you see on the screen everyone's invited to the ribbon cutting for the new mount pisgah community and resource center at the mount pisgah community resource center uh this playground is in the back the old school uh playground we've turned it into mount pisgah buffalo community playground and we're going to do the ribbon cutting there at 11 a.m so i would ask that anybody that could attend that and lastly just want to wish my oldest daughter a happy birthday tomorrow hard to believe that i'm going to have a child 34 years old happy birthday happy birthday to her absolutely

» that ends my report thank you councilman cato um i'd like to briefly say that um i appreciate everybody all my colleagues you know not not every time we agree on on a topic but yet we're civil and and uh remain cordial and i appreciate you all on that um you know they're rarely an item that i that i don't really in my heart want to support but um some items i've been in the shoes of these small builders and i just i know how they that these things can affect people that are trying to make a living so um thank you for enduring my passion on that topic and until all of our firemen and our safety uh my vote is nothing to do with you and your job and what you provide for our community completely um support safety it's it's just about process for me in the way that we handle things for uh for ev

» ery customer and citizen i would like to share something regarding the uh the pecan orchard i wrote a letter to the to miss bonnie ammons the executive director of the rural infrastructure authority and she wrote me back stating i wrote a letter on behalf of the pecan orchard in support of the grant she wrote me back dear vice chairman brazel thank you for your letter supporting a funding request from kershaw county for an infrastructure project to make storm water improvements in the pecan orchard subdivision the application is being considered by the south carolina rural infrastructure authority under its competitive basic infrastructure program projects are reviewed based on a comparative analysis of need impact feasibility and leveraging funding announcements are expected to be made by

» the end of may 2025. i appreciate your interest in this project if you have any questions do not hesitate to call and then she she gives me her number i just like to to say to her, thank you so much. And I would like to say to anyone that lives in the Pekin Orchard, if you'd like to write a letter of support to the Rural Infrastructure Authority, feel free to do so. They're great people. They do great work all across the state and they support people in situations like we have. And I hope that that comes to fruition.

» With that being said, thank all for a nice short meeting and um that concludes my remarks mr jones didn't didn't have anything to say tonight he did not ready to go but we will move on to administrator briefings mr templar yes sir just a couple updates on some of the wreck projects as uh jato mentioned the mount pisgah playground is completed looking forward to that ribbon cutting this saturday 11 veterans park boat landing construction is still ongoing the estimated completion date looks to be around mid-june woodward park construction is still ongoing uh it's made a completion date for that is january of 2026.

» we do have a groundbreaking ceremony scheduled for wednesday april 30th at 10 a.m so everybody's welcome to come out for that boyd young park and copeland park uh the pre-construction meeting is scheduled for wednesday april 23rd uh 9 30 and so and that will be on site at the boyd young park in westville kc west park and expansion we're waiting on a permit from uh south carolina department of environmental services once that permit is issued we will schedule a pre-construction meeting with the contractor on that that's all i have sir thank you any legal briefings no legal briefing um and i don't think we have an executive session tonight so that's vice chair yes sir motion to adjourn second we've got a motion to adjourn in a second how do we vote all in all here in favor everybody have a good night