Full meeting transcript - June 17, 2025

» I'd like to welcome everyone out tonight to this Kershaw County Council meeting, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. We've been called to order. Appreciate everyone being here. Thank you so much for EMS, law enforcement, and other county staff and servants who are present. Let's go ahead and have the invocation and Pledge of Allegiance to help be led by Councilman Brant Tomlinson, District 5. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the privilege to serve the community and the people of Kershaw County. May we do you with wisdom, integrity, and compassion. May our decisions be guided by a deep sense of justice, fairness, and responsibility to all those who call this county home.

» Grant us clarity to see what is right, the courage to do what is needed, and the humility to listen to open minds and respectful hearts. May this council work together with unity of purpose, placing the good of our community above personal interest and striving to always for the betterment of the county and our population. Let us do the Lord's work here in Kershaw County. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. 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. Hey, any of you guys' screens working? No. No. We got some TI moments.

» While staff's working on some technical issues, we'll keep working through the agenda unless we need to stop for presentation or seeing something on the screen. Thank you, Councilman Tomlinson. All right, next up on the agenda is adoption of the agenda. Do we have any motions? I would make a motion we adopt the agenda, Mr. Chairman. Okay, is there a second? Second. We've got a second. Mr. Shoemaker's on the floor. Yeah, I have a motion. Can I make that now, or should I wait? You may have an amendment. Amendment, yes. You can. So, I would make a motion to amend the agenda for exigent circumstances to add the public hearing for the budget and millage setting ordinance for fiscal year 25-26, which was advertised for public hearing on June 17, 2025, at 6 p.m.

» by publication in the Chronicle Independent newspaper on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. Okay, that's the motion. Is there a second? Second. We've got a second. You have the floor, Mr. Shoemaker. Yeah, Mr. Chair, basically, it's just a Scrivener's error on the agenda. We need to have third reading of the budget tonight. We're passing the budget. It was noticed in the Chronicle Independent, and I would argue that it's exigent because we have third reading tonight, and we need to do it on third reading. But it was just inadvertently left off the agenda, but was published for notice in the paper back on June 17th. Okay, thank you. Any other comments or questions? Seeing none, I do find that it's exigent under the circumstances. And as to the first amendment, we'll go ahead and move it to a vote.

» All in favor, raise your hand. Ms. Hanna, it's unanimous for those voting in present. Where's that going to be placed? Under our order of business, it'll go after item number five, after item number five for public hearing on third reading of the budget and setting millage. All right, so we have one amendment that's passed. Any other amendments? Yes, sir, Mr. Chair, if I may. I'd like to make an amendment to defer on the 521 property due to we do not have the purchase and sales agreements between the two parties. And so, therefore, we need to make sure that we have all this intact for the exhibit items and would ask that we defer this item at this time. Okay, that is number 8D. I know they were working on the contract. That's the motion. Is there a second? Second. You've got a second? Mr.

» Tucker, any further? No, it's not ready, so there's no need to sit here and try to go through something that's not prepared. All right, any other? Thank you. Any other comments for discussion? Seeing none, we'll move deferral of 8D to a vote. All in favor, raise your hand. Ms. Hanna, it's unanimous. All right, that's two amendments. Are there any other amendments to the agenda? Mr. Chair, I have one more amendment. Mr. Shoemate, you've got a motion. I would make a motion that we remove 9B from the agenda and defer that to a subsequent meeting when the administrator is ready. And I can explain after a second. All right, that was 9B. Is there a second? Second. Got a second from Mr. Tucker. Mr. Shoemate. Yes, Mr. Chair, this is a governmental agreement that was adopted by the city.

» I had a chance to have a good conversation today with our magistrate judges over at the county, and they just had some questions, fair questions. They're not opposed to it by any stretch, but they just had some questions. And after talking with the administrator, he thought it would make more sense for him to sit down with our magistrate judges just to walk them through everything. And so this motion would just give him time to do that. And then when he feels comfortable, bring it back on the agenda after he's talked to those judges, he can put it back and we can have that discussion. Okay. Thank you. Mr. Tucker, you had the second? I had the second. Yes, sir. I just agree.

» It's just, City just read it last night and we just need more time so the administration and our judges can get together, especially our chief magistrate. Okay. Because he's actually implicated in it, so. Okay. Any other comments or questions? Any discussion? Seeing none, we'll move it to a vote. All in favor, raise your hand. Ms. Hanna, for the record, it's unanimous. And are there any other amendments for the agenda? I think that's enough for tonight. Seeing none. Yeah, seeing none. And if there's no other discussion, we'll vote on the agenda as amended. All in favor, raise your hand. Ms. Hanna, it's unanimous for the record. And I would just please remind staff that for the deferrals, let's make sure they naturally end up on the next agenda. All right. So the agenda is approved.

» That moves us to public comments. Mr. DuBose, good to have you back. I hope you had a good vacation with family. I did. Wonderful. Who do we have for public comments tonight? First speaker is Len Kanto. Impact fees. Ms. Kanto, please. How many we have, Ms. DuBose? We have four speakers, so they all have the max time. All right. Thank you. And I'll just note, we still can't see our screens for whatever reason, so if you can keep the time, I would typically monitor that and try to remind folks. Oh, no. That's... No, no. That's not her yet. That's the next one. Yeah. I was confused. I don't have one this time. First of all, I wanted to thank everybody for considering impact fees for Kershaw County, especially for municipal services.

» We have community members that depend on fire, EMS, and other programs in Kershaw County that are really going to need those fees to support it with the number of homes increased in Kershaw County. We also need to work very closely with the school board. This is an ideal purpose because they're going to need your help. They're in the business of educating students, not in the business of building schools, and they don't have the funding or resources for this. So working with the school board to come up with fees for schools would be very helpful. I know you're not able to do that at this time until they present you with that information, but as soon as they do, I would work diligently to complete that process.

» A moratorium will allow the county to address the needs and complete the capital improvement plan and the Kershaw County comprehensive plan. I know you're not speaking about that this evening, but I really appreciate you taking the time looking at that. Unchecked growth is not acceptable. Charlotte has exceeded their water source because they had unchecked growth. It is not what should happen in Kershaw County for our future. Smart growth and responsible growth is needed and necessary. Finally, I'd like to request a little more clarity on the ordinance for rural events venues. This is a very broad term.

» How will it impact, for instance, horse shows and other horse events that are mobile throughout Kershaw County and move to different locations? If you can just explain that for the public a little more, we would appreciate it. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Ms. Canto. Thank you. Mr. DeBose, I didn't hear you initially. How many speakers do we have? Four speakers. Okay. Who's number two? Number two is George Pullen, zoning changes. Point of order, Mr. Chair. Yes, sir. Mr. Tucker, I think they're having problems with their mic. No, monitor. Oh, you all are. Yeah, all the monitors aren't working right now, Jimmy. But you can interrupt George any time you want. Mr. George, please. He's too big. Good evening. Good evening.

» I don't speak very eloquently sometimes, and I don't have anything printed out for you. I think a lot of the, from what the first speaker were hinting to is the ordinance, so the changes in the ordinance, it's not very clear. Like she said, it's very broad, and a lot of, I was able to contact a few other citizens in the area and let them know about this. It was very short notice. I think I got notified Friday that this was going to be on the agenda for tonight. And the people who in Kershaw that live in rural areas don't want somebody to be able to pop up event venues next door, next door to their house. If it's going to, if you're going to have event venues, it should remain in commercial areas or commercially zoned areas. No rezoning of, of areas.

» For instance, just to give you an idea of what I'm talking about, in the area over off of Cherokee Boulevard area, in Kershaw, in the Elgin area, a parcel of land was sold. And the individual bought it, clear cut the property, put in, and I consider it an event area where they have soccer games, they sell food or have food that's served there, they have a bar, they built buildings. And when planning was approached, they had no idea that this was done. They never got approval for any of this. And it's just, it's going unchecked. It was supposed to be for agricultural purposes only. And at this point here, if items like this keep going unchecked, they're going to be popping up everywhere.

» So I think there needs to be more clarity in what you want to change and when it comes in reference to these ordnances. That's all I have right now. Thank you, George. Thank you. Thanks for coming out tonight. Mr. Bowes. Next speaker is Melody Hardin, Pecan Orchard. Ms. Hardin, please. I'm going to bring it down for the short ones. Okay, good evening. My name is Melody Hardin, and I live in the Pecan Orchard. As all of you are aware, our neighborhood has had stormwater issues for years. I understand we did not get approved for the grant, but something still needs to be done to address the stormwater issues. At the meeting in August of 2004, I asked several questions to the council.

» Most of them were, why haven't the ditches been maintained? Why hasn't our roads been maintained? Why haven't trees been trimmed and cleaned up to help from our ditches getting clogged from the debris? What's going to be done for the fact that there's sewage issue when we have a lot of rain? And why hasn't the county come up with a way to fix it? After that meeting, Jimmy Jones and Russell were nice enough to hold a meeting in our neighborhood. After the meeting and after speaking and it being on the news, a lot of promises were made. We were told we would be helped and the county would come up with a plan. It has been 10 months since those questions were asked, and it seems the county has taken a stance of waiting.

» We have waited on the survey, waited on the engineering report, waiting on the report to be completed before any work can be done. Then we waited for the grant. The grant was not approved, and now we're continuing to wait on the next engineering firm. As of today, the roads still haven't been maintained. They have been scraped a few times, but all that does is create piles of dirt and rock that keep the water in the road and create a speed bump at the end of the driveways. Nothing has been done to help with the stormwater. Ditches have not been cleaned out. No one has taken the sewage that sits in our yards and ditches seriously. We have been promised updates. That has not happened. Most of the neighbors have no idea what is happening.

» We do not know what the survey said, what the engineering report said, and what work could be done to help with the stormwater and what neighbors it will help. I would like everyone on the council to think about how they would feel if this happened in your neighborhood. How would you feel if when it rained, your children or grandchildren couldn't play in puddles or play in the rain or play in part of their own front yard because of sewage? Yes, the water has been tested, and we were told there was no sewage in the water. But in the same breath, we were told, but don't let anyone in that water.

» So what does that tell you? There is so much work that can be done to help with the stormwater issue, maintaining the ditches, replacing pipes that are too small, properly maintaining roads, adding to ditches, or adding ditches to all of the roads in the pecan orchard, as some do not have a ditch at all. The county has put a ton of effort into doing projects that some consider are great for our county, the veteran park, the fishing ramp, baseball fields. The county can put money towards so many things, but can't find a way to fix our neighborhood. I would like the county to put forth the same effort towards this issue as it does affect their taxpayers.

» What happened to the promises that were made last year to do the work that needs to be done to help from stormwater? We were told before the grant was known about that there was money that could be used for emergencies, and several on county council agreed that this issue should be considered an emergency. The finance committee was aware the grant may not be approved, but didn't bother to budget to fix our stormwater issue. The pecan orchard would like answers as to why nothing is being done. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Hardin, for coming out tonight. Mr. DuBose. Final speaker is David Dabney on moratorium. Mr. Dabney. Yes, sir. Well, thank you guys for allowing me to come up here and speak with you again. Again, I don't have anything prepared.

» I'll ride down the road and talk to myself for the past two hours trying to figure out exactly what I want to say. Nothing comes out right. Nothing's under five minutes. So I'm wasting time now actually saying this. But I just wanted to stand up here, and I actually wanted to thank you. And it's not a political move by any time. I just want to thank y'all. Every time I come to a council meeting, there's always people that come up and tell you the best way to do it and the better way to do it and the cheaper way to do it and the way they would do it and the way you should do it. And I think all you guys have the best interest in mind. You live here within our county. You have family here. And I think what you're trying to do is the right thing.

» And I think you're trying to do the right thing for our county. And so with that being said, I did talk to a couple councilmen this week and got some good information from them. And I appreciate that conversation from them. One was, it was a little bit, I wouldn't say disappointing, but it was a little bit less than what I thought I would get out of it. And then another councilman actually gave me some information that I could kind of hang my hat on a little bit. And I believe it has to deal with tax revenue and things like that. He mentioned that a person living in Kershaw County and working in Kershaw County, the county sees about 12 cents on the dollar from that in the good.

» And somebody working in Kershaw County and working, or living in Kershaw County, but working out, it's a negative impact of about 7 cents on the dollar. So there's 19, 20 percent difference there as far as what people do, which leads me to my point. Again, I'm a small local builder, and we do do some small subdivisions, and subdivisions that are usually, you know, large slot size subdivisions and things like that. But I subcontract out everything that I do within my company. And all the subcontractors that work for me, I kind of sat down and figured it up, that about 95 percent of them work and live in Kershaw County.

» Relative to the larger home builders, and I've got a little bit of experience with this, because I worked with Essex, Mungo, and Syntex Homes for a period of about 10 years, when I was directly out of school. And the subcontractors that are working for them, not necessarily them, so to speak, but the larger builders that are coming in town now, about 95 percent of them have contractors coming from other parts of the state. With the exception of maybe some concrete guys or something like that, Kershaw County seems to have more concrete finishers than any other county in South Carolina that I've come across. Got some good ones, though. But so with that being said, I kind of figured out there was about 75 to 80 people that usually show up on one of my job sites from start to finish.

» That would constitute about 65 to 70 people that I know are living and working in Kershaw County. And by directly affecting us as far as the small builders and stuff like that, you're also affecting that many people and that many people who live and work in Kershaw County. So I would just ask you to take that in consideration when you think about this. And I was also in Camden Builders this afternoon in our local lumber yard, and I asked them, I said, how much money does these large builders, how often do they come in here and buy things? And there was two people sitting there. One of them said absolutely nothing. Another one said a bolt maybe every now and then. So I buy probably 75% of all the material that I use locally. There's some things that we can't buy here locally.

» They don't sell it. But again, local businesses such as that, carpet galleries and look off and things like that. And I understand there's different things that we're looking at, but 2006 and 2007 and 2008, building pretty much stopped, which created a deficit in homes for people. And right now there's still a national deficit. And that created a backlog. And the thing that didn't stop was population growth. People are still needing a residence, whether it be apartment or house or what have you. And as much as we don't want to see the large-scale growth and things like that, we're forced with growth with the economy and what's coming in around us. So that's all. I just ask, take that into consideration as you deliberate on this.

» I know it's not a topic tonight, but it's an ongoing topic for the next month or so, I think, until July, until the third and final reading. So I just kind of wanted to stand up and give that little bit of information, put my input in, and I'm going to go sit back and listen to whatever else is happening tonight. Thank you, Mr. Dabney. Thanks for coming out tonight. Well said. Next up on the agenda, we've got public presentations. It'd be the Art Center of Kershaw County. Before we get there, I just wanted to ask the council if there's any interest in moving item 9A under the chair's prerogative so we can let the EMS folks get back to their jobs. So I'm going to move 9A to right after the 6A public presentation so we can let EMS get back.

» Chairman Connell, we have the matter of the public hearing after public office. Oh, yeah. Let me go ahead and do that first. All right. So public hearing doesn't require a vote. We're going to go ahead and open up the public hearing. This is for related to the third reading of the budget for setting the millage and budget for Kershaw County from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026. Do you have anybody signed up? No one signed up on the sign-in sheet, Mr. Chair. Anyone public wish to come up and speak on the budget or setting the millage tonight? Seeing none, the public hearing is closed. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you. All right.

» And so as we were just discussing, under 6A right after that, I'm going to move 9A regarding the EMS resolution right after 6A so we can let EMS get back to their jobs. Is there a motion on the public presentation for 6A? Yes. Defer. I'll make a motion that we have a presentation from our executive director, Ms. Dolly Parton, from the arts. Is there a second? Second. Mr. Kato has a second. Thank you, though. Ms. Parton. Yes, ma'am. Come on up. Ms. Pat, we don't have the slides, so you're just going to have to be very visual and describe it. I'm so sorry because I had a special picture just for you. Thanks, Dolly. And Mr. Chairman. I don't think I want to see that. It was a set of stairs, absolutely. Yes. We need to fix that problem.

» Thank you so much for having me on behalf of the board of directors and our staff and our volunteers. I am so pleased to be here. I have some information to share that I think you're going to enjoy, and again, I'm sorry you're not going to be able to see the photographs. So, on behalf of the Arts Center, welcome to the Arts Center, where we get creative, where the arts happen. So, I want to start by telling you that the Arts Center, this is the new way I've been describing the Arts Center this year. The Arts Center has really three business units. There are three areas that we focus on. We are presenting performance venue and visual art gallery. We are an educational institution. And we're a nonprofit, where we invite people to come in and participate.

» And what makes us really special, and we are the only organization in the state that does this, is we are an umbrella that provides programming and events and classes in all four mediums of art. Every other town that you go to, every other community, it's all separate. There's an art gallery. There's a theater group. But we put everything together in one place, which makes us special and a lot of work. But we have a good time. So, this year has been super special for the Arts Center. I know y'all have heard it. You've seen it. I hope you have. It's been the 50th anniversary. So, back in 1974, some very wonderful visionary people got together and created the Fine Arts Center, which is now called the Arts Center of Kershaw County. So, I want you to think about what you were doing in 1974.

» Some of you might not have been born, maybe? Yeah. Some of us were. No. So, we did some really cool things this year to celebrate the 50th anniversary, and we started with an encore performance. People who have been on our stage for the past 50 years came back and performed. We did an exhibition in our gallery where we papered a whole wall with all the posters from the last 50 years, and we pulled out programs and photographs. And it was a wonderful, joyous way for people to celebrate. And they came from all over, even out of state, to reminisce about the Arts Center.

» And during the year, we also had numerous theatrical events, musical concerts, visual art gallery shows, and we brought back, because education is so important to us, the York Street Players, which is a youth theater club that started back this year, and you're going to hear more about that as time goes on. But our most significant project for this year and the previous year was the work that we did to our facilities, and that is thanks to the wonderful support that you gave us. So in my next slide here that you can't see, are pictures of what our bathrooms and our Bassett building looked like. They were a lovely red shade with a very aromatic drain in the floor that we were really tired of smelling down the hallway.

» And when you look at these photographs, you would see that the wheelchair can't make it in the accessible stall, and the person in a wheelchair couldn't reach the knobs on the sink, and not only that, they were knobs. Maybe if you had a hand issue, you couldn't turn them. So, thanks to your support, you know, that building was built in 1983. There were no ADA rules back then. We were able to renovate our bathrooms, and this slide shows you one of the demo. I mean, five months, concrete flying everywhere. God bless the staff, they put up with it. And then we got these beautiful new bathrooms where everything is ADA compliant. And we even have the automatic door openers on every one of the restrooms, the men's, the women's, and the family. So we're super excited about that.

» Now, we also, we received that grant from the Arts Commission, and you generously matched it and did more to get those bathrooms done. We were very blessed that our legislative delegation and our chairman helped us secure $500,000 from the state that also worked on our ADA projects, which helped get that family restroom, but also some repairs and upgrades to our parking lot and our building. So this slide shows you a window because we had to replace 44 windows on our education building. They were leaking. I believe when y'all came to tour, a clay student came running out and said, "Please fix the windows. The water comes in." We also striped and sealed the parking lot because the ADA spaces were not the correct size and our signage was all wrong. And we refinished our dance floor.

» It hasn't been refinished in 30 years, and there was tape all over it. The last two photographs are the ones I'm sorry you can't see. The first one is the ramp that would go up to the Daniels Education Building, and it was so rotted that the construction company, Kirk Construction, actually put caution tape and wouldn't let you walk on it. They really thought someone was going to get hurt. And then there are the stairs. And when y'all came to visit, the stairs were in bad shape. It was a little scary. So the steps are all fixed, the decking is all fixed, and it looks fantastic. We'll come stress test it for you. You've got to step on it at the same time. That's what you do. We're also much heavier than we need to be. Yeah. Two biggest guys on the worst stair. Yep. On the worst one.

» So as we have been very frugal with those donations and that funding, we have a few more projects that we're finishing up in the first part of July. And the first photograph over to the side shows a photo of our practice room and our music studio. We will now -- we've had two practice rooms now. We have three, and they're soundproof, so we can offer more classes at the same time. We also did a renovation in the main area of the music studio with new carpet and painted it, and we're getting a smart TV so that the teachers can use that to help teach the groups of students that come in. And then we're super excited about that.

» And then all on that decking at the Daniels building where the doors are, there's eight doors, and they are sorely out of date and not working well, and you can't get replacement parts. So we're getting new ADA-compliant doors there. There's a photograph of the floor in the clay studio, and the clay in 2D studio is cracked and broken, so when we mop, the water gets up under. It's not a good thing. So we're getting new floors, and then the last photograph is of the front of the Bassett building, and everyone recognizes the red doors. But the red doors are not ADA-compliant, and they are extremely heavy. So we will be getting new doors on the front of the Bassett building, and they will have the automatic door opener, so another little improvement there.

» So all that said, again, thank you, we've had a great year. We've had wonderful programming. This slide shows you some photos of things we had this year, jazz music in the black box, South Carolina Ballet's Nutcracker. We had two local artists, Keith Tolan and Rogers Boykin in our gallery, and then we closed our season with a big production, sold-out production, all shows except one, of Hairspray the musical. So everything – it's been a long four years of getting our feet back under us and getting things to have that excitement and going well, but we feel like we're there. And now we're ready for next year. So we've been busy planning the new year, and we will start with a party at the pavilion in September, a band on the pavilion.

» We've got jazz and Broadway planned for our black box, we're going to do a historical presentation with Trey Dunaway, and we'll do a theatrical performance in that black box theater. And if you have not visited the black box theater, it's the coolest space in the county, I think. We also are going to have some gallery shows, local artists there, and then the holiday market and the spring market will return. And a big part of what we do – and you would see that in this slide – there's a group of about 60 kids on the stage because education for children and adults is important to us. We have a great partnership with the Kershaw County School District, Arts are Rising. I know some of you are familiar with it, maybe somebody was in it. And we have it going on right now.

» But we are kicking off the season next year in September with a children's production of Wizard of Oz, so mark your calendar. And we will do the Black History Month Heritage Tea Program, we'll have the high school poetry contest, and we're just really excited about those opportunities to partner with the school district. We want to thank the school district, and the Kershaw Health Service District, and the Arts Commission, Duke Energy, and the City of Camden, and Kershaw County for supporting Arts are Rising. This program is almost a $90,000 program because we don't charge the children and the families very much at all. It's funded through the school district and grants that we write, so it's super important that we give a pat on the back to those organizations that are helping us.

» Some other highlights, and this is the slide I really wish you could see, we're bringing the South Carolina Ballet with Midsummer Night's Dream in January, and we will have Gospel Fest and the Duke Pitchforks. But one of our biggest events will be in February to kick off Irish Fest, and it will be the Red Hot Chili Pipers, yes, they are Scottish musicians in kilts with bagpipes that play rock music, so you've got to come to that. And then we will also have our theatrical production on the main stage will be the Music Man. And as always, our Starry Night Gala, which has sold out for two years in a row, will be out back, so mark your calendars for those fun things as well. I know that's a lot, so we have a lot going on, but I want to say wow.

» And again, thank you, because the inspiration for people and the opportunity to transform lives happens through the arts. And so we invite you and everyone here and everyone watching on YouTube to come and see us, attend an event, volunteer, we'd love to have volunteers, provide some feedback, tell us what you want to see, what do you like that we're doing, what do you want to see that's new, take a class, and rent our venues. We have lots of parties, people, graduation parties, birthday parties, wedding receptions, and as always, my favorite part, consider making a donation. The Arts Center is a non-profit, and we survive on donations from individuals and businesses and organizations that help us keep the lights on and keep the programming coming. So thank you again for that.

» And in closing, I want to say everything that you have heard and maybe seen today, from the facility improvements to the programs to all the exciting things we have planned for the new year is possible because of your support and the way you have helped us spread the arts and make the arts accessible to everyone in our county. And on behalf of the board and myself, I want to thank you for that. And I also want to thank you personally. I've been at the Arts Center for four years, and as some of you may have heard, my time here is short. I am retiring from the Arts Center at the end of this month.

» So I wanted to personally thank you for how welcoming you have been and how you've made this such a warm community and made it so easy for me to talk to you and share and get your thoughts on what we do. And I just can't thank you enough for supporting the Arts Center, but also personally supporting me. And I really appreciate it. So thank you for your time and happy to answer any questions. Thank you, Ms. Patton. Let's see if there's any questions or comments. I have some. Mr. Chair. Mr. Hsu, go ahead. Well, first off, Ms. Patton, congratulations, although it's a bittersweet congratulations because I hate that we're losing you. I've thoroughly enjoyed, obviously, I've only been on council a little over two years, so the entire time I've been up here, you've been in that job.

» Both my children did Arts are rising. I did some stuff way, way, way a long time ago, and I think that two things that are so important about what you guys do, one is adding this arts reach to the school district is critical. Having seen my own children go through it, bluntly, I had to drag my son into it. He never really took to it, but I can still see the lessons that he learned from it, even though it's not something he sort of thought he wanted to do. I can still see the lessons he learned from it.

» My daughter was the opposite, took to it like a duck and water, did some cooking classes there later, but I have yet to see a kid that goes into the Arts Center in one of those programs that doesn't come out better for it, and the better our kids are, the better jobs they can get down the road. And also, when we're looking at businesses, particularly large businesses, and trying to recruit them into our area, you know, they want to know what they can do for recreation, what their kids can do. So having things like, you know, recreation and a good arts center are critical to our economic well-being. So, you know, it's not just a nice thing to have. I think it's a thing that's critical for ensuring that our young people are equipped and also ensuring we can get businesses here.

» So I thank you for all your work, and really, really sad to see you go. Can't wait to meet your replacement. I'm sure that they will have enormous shoes to fill, so thank you for all you've done. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Shoemake. Any other comments? Yes, sir. Go ahead. Miss Dolly, I can't say thank you enough. When Mama Jones spoke of who they had hired, I had no clue who she was talking about. And that's not part of our duties anyway as an elected official. But she made sure that I got down there to meet you. And you filled me up with more information than I could drink at the time. And I appreciate that, because there was a lot of things, even being a residence from here all my life, I just didn't know, and the improvements that really needed to be done to the center.

» And you took that on, head on, and you ran with it, and you made things happen. You made the meetings where people invited you to the table to speak for this county and this community. And look at all the, you know, the fruits from your labor that you have produced. I will be definitely missing you when your day come. But I do wish you nothing but the best moving forward. And one thing I can say about you is that you know when you have gone where you needed to take us and what is best for your next movement in your future. And when you're able to recognize that, that's a special talent and gift as well. And so as much as we're going to be missing you, I'm going to be saying many prayers for you to just continue to have God's speed and success. So thank you, thank you, thank you.

» And Mama Jones and I have already had a conversation about you, and we will have many more to come. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Tucker. Mr. Chair. Go ahead, Ms. Kato. I just want to just thank you for everything that you've done for this county. You have moved everything in all four corners of this county. So I thank you for what you've done. And I'm extremely disappointed that you're going to be leaving us. I was shocked. That's the first I'd heard. Sorry. But I do wish you the best. Wherever you go, you will do great. And I just thank you for what you've done. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Kato. Mr. Thomas. Mr. Chairman, Ms. Patton, I want to say thank you as well. You have been a bright star, bright shining star here in Kershaw County ever since you came here in 2021.

» You know, you took an organization that has been a staple of this county for a long time that had a lot of work to do and you spent the time and hours and have met with the community and really built back something that is wonderful for every single person here in Kershaw County. It gives an opportunity for not only our children, but our adults, families to be able to go to and experience different things that they would never have the opportunity to. And that's because of you. Thank you. I want to give you a round of applause. I wish we could do something to keep you a little bit longer. But congratulations on your retirement. You will be missed. And we hope you best, your best in future endeavors. Well, I do want to add that I did not do all this by myself.

» We have a great team, a great board. And I would be remiss if I didn't take a moment to thank your staff, Danny and Lauren and Tyler. I've kind of gotten to know a little more than others, and they are just super supportive and easy to reach out to and get in touch with. So please give them a pat on the back, too. Thank you, Mr. Tomlinson. Mr. Jones. Mr. Jones. Dolly, I was caught off guard when you said you're not going to be here anymore. I really hated to hear that. I want to just share a personal experience. When my son came home from Carnegie Mellon for a break, he wanted to do a trombone performance. We worked with him. We had a great crowd that came out. I mean, top notch. Your staff, yourself, the way you made him feel welcomed. And I just want to thank you for that.

» And the Fine Arts Center means a lot to a lot of us in this room. And if you decide to go somewhere else, come back here. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Mr. Brazel. Ms. Dolly, you saw how they skipped me. They just skipped right over me. That's why he kept mumbling the whole time. Went right around. You and I met, I can remember when you started. I had not been here long. And I was also starting a business downtown. And we saw one another a lot at the coffee shop. And you have always just been so kind and genuine. And I appreciate that. And a human is someone who's genuine. And as far as the Fine Arts Center goes, you have done a tremendous job. It's not a venue that I met much. But I certainly appreciate the arts.

» My oldest son was in plays and that sort of thing at his school when he was in high school. And I really enjoyed seeing that. So I know there's so many people in Kershaw County that have enjoyed seeing their kids and their family members perform and sing and act at the Arts Center here in Kershaw County. So thank you. Thank you for being who you are and thank you for being so genuine. Thank you, Mr. Brazel. Ms. Dolly, I'll just wrap up. It's been great working with you. Particularly working in developing one of the nicest bathrooms in any Fine Arts Center in the entire state that's ADA compliant. That really was a great project. And while I'm very sad to see you go, just be grateful that you came on after I embarrassed myself doing the worm at your center trying to dance.

» And that you're leaving, I guess, before I disgraced my family name by trying to dance over there again. We really will miss you. You've been a fireball to work with over the last number of years at the county and the state level. And so we wish you all the best. Thank you. Thank you. Any further discussion or comments? Thank you so much. Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you. Ms. Dolly, grab your phone. Thank you, gentlemen. That takes us to item number 9A. We're going to move that up as discussed. This is a resolution of the Kershaw County Council commemorating 10 years of service of the Kershaw County Emergency Medical Service placed on the agenda by Deputy Administrator Blanchard. Is there a motion? Yes, sir, if you don't mind, Mr. Chairman.

» I would like to make a motion that we approve the resolution for Kershaw County Council commemorating 10 years of service to the Kershaw County EMS Medical Service. That is my motion. Is there a second? Second. Mr. Cato. Mr. Shoemake has a second. Yes, sir. Mr. Tucker. If I can, can I recognize Mr. Gerald Blanchard at this time to come up, give us a little bit of history lesson here and accomplishments, and then we'll move from there. Please, Mr. Blanchard. Councilman, thank you. I'm not going to spend a whole lot of time up here because I do want to give the current director the opportunity to speak a little bit about EMS.

» I just want to tell you how blessed and appreciative I am to counsel, previous counsels, and the staff that I have behind me, the staff that's behind me for the 10 years of exceptional work that the EMS service has done. I had the opportunity to work to be the director and work with these folks during the transition from Kershaw Health back in 2015, and the hospital did a lot of good things with EMS over the years that we were there. Me personally, I was at the hospital for 26 years, I started as a driver and was able to continuously work my way up. But the team that we have and the opportunities that the council has given us over these past 10 years, we have found a home and we appreciate that. Since only two of you were here, if I remember correctly. That is correct.

» Yeah, since only two of you were here, Councilman Jones and Councilman Tucker, I would like Councilman Tucker to read the actual resolution and then give Jim the opportunity to step up and speak a little further. So again, thank you for the opportunity. Thank you for believing in us. And 10 years ago, we made the promise that we wouldn't let the county down and we won't do that now. So thank you. Thank you, Gerald. If you mind, Mr. Chairman? Go for it. All right. Resolution number 006.2025, resolution of the Kershaw County Council commemorating 10 years of service of the Kershaw County EMS Medical Service. Whereas emergency medical service in Kershaw County had been provided by Kershaw Health Hospitals since its inception in 1970s.

» And whereas the Kershaw County Health Hospital, while transitioning from a not for profit to for a profit hospital, could no longer fund the operations of EMS for Kershaw County. And whereas on June 20th, 2015, Kershaw County officially took possession and control of emergency medical services in Kershaw County. From Kershaw Health Hospital, operations said service as Kershaw County EMS. Whereas Kershaw County EMS is the sole proprietor of emergency ambulance service in Kershaw County. Whereas Kershaw County EMS has continuously grown since 2015 from a three 24-hour service ambulance and 24 full-time members to today's five 24-hour ambulance and 52 full-time team members.

» Whereas Kershaw County EMS responds to approximately 8,000 calls in 2015 and will respond to approximately 12,000 calls in 2025. Whereas Kershaw County EMS has demonstrated unwaverly commitment to the health and safety of the community through rapid response, professional medical treatment and compassionate care. And whereas Kershaw County EMS has played a vital role in fostering public health awareness, education contributing to safer communities. And whereas Kershaw County EMS has been working with Kershaw County EMS has consistently exhibited excellence in their duties and under challenged and high-pressured circumstances.

» And whereas Kershaw County EMS has continuously sought to improve its services through advanced training, acquisitions of state-of-the-art equipment, implementation of best practice in emergency medical care. Now, therefore, let it be resolved on this 17th day of June, 2025, the Kershaw County Council do hereby commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Kershaw County EMS Medical Service and its members for providing emergency medical service for the citizens of Kershaw County and those who pass through it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Tucker. Appreciate that. Come on up, sir. Thank you very much, Council. It's an honor and a privilege to stand here before you. Whereas this 10-year anniversary has very little to do with me, but a whole lot to do with about 10 people behind me.

» Those of you that have been here the whole time, if you would stand up, please. Come on, Don. You're not that old. Wouldn't Dr. Robinson back in the back? On the wall here, you've got several of our newcomers who are part of a core of wonderful people. that are going to continue to serve this county. Who'd have thunk it 10 years ago? Right. And I'm just going to tell you, Gerald and I, Carrie, the rest, we've put a lot into this, but there were some visionaries at the beginning. I hope all of you had the opportunity to know Gene Falkenberry. He was a great leader, and he did a wonderful job. He and Judge Trapp of coordinating the transition of EMS over to the county. Seamless, and more importantly, setting the standard very high.

» We have people come from all over the state that want to work for us. I can look them square in the eye and say, you might have had it as good as us. You never had it any better. We've got the best physical support from this council, from previous councils. We've got the best administrative support, Gerald, Mr. Templer, Lauren. We've got the greatest people, and they, above all, want to serve the people of this county and the people that drive through this county every day. Amen. Also, well, another one of the king visionaries was Chairman Burns at the time. Guys, without Mr. Burns, Mr. Trapp, and Mr. Falkenberry, I don't believe we could have put it together as cleanly as we did and built what we built for this county. We continue on a slow, steady upward vector.

» We'll never get to the peak because we'll keep raising the bar, but we'll never stop trying, thanks to you and all the people I've mentioned. Thank you so much. You're welcome. Thank you. Thank you. Councilman Tucker. Thank you. I'm not ashamed to say, but it just, it kind of marks me in time. Yes, I was one of the original ones here, but I want to say to those ten people, I think it's ten total, right? That was the original? Okay. Thank you, because you really didn't know what you were about to embark upon, and you went with your leadership, which went off the word of the council that was sitting, that we were going to do right by you, by the administrator of what was sitting, by what we told you that can happen and will happen, and you believed in us.

» It could have been easy to go north to Lancaster, go east to Florence, and if you're crazy enough, you can go west to Columbia. I don't think you're that crazy, but you could have. With that being said, it was a commitment and a dedication, and I want to say personally, for myself and this council, thank you for sticking it out, because we do have the best EMS service care here in the state of South Carolina in all 46 counties, and I'll put that up with every little bit of pennies I have. So thank you for your hard work and your commitment. Thank you very much, Mr. Tucker. Mr. Brazel? You're not going to skip it this time? I'm not going to skip it. I can't reinforce that any better than what Mr. Tucker just said.

» I will say, during that transition period, I knew absolutely nothing about county council or county government, but I do know this. I do know that that was a difficult time for a lot of people. It was a transition period. My older brother, Jody Brazel, was the chairman of the hospital board during that time. Probably nobody knows that up here because I've never brought it up, and I can remember our offices were side by side, and I can remember walking in his office, and I said, "What are you doing? That has nothing to do with wood products," and he was diligently working on county hospital issues, and I don't know the details.

» I know the outcome was change, but there were people supporting you that you may have met, you may not have met, and the end result is 10 years later, here we are with a fantastic group before us that knows exactly what they're doing, and you know what, I never get any complaints on our EMS. And I think that in itself is a huge accolade. We hear about a lot of things. We don't just come up here and talk because we hadn't received maybe 10 or 15 phone calls prior to a meeting. We hear about the problems in the community, and I have never heard of an issue with our EMS. So that speaks volumes to me, and I just want to thank you for your service to our community and our county. Thank you, Mr. Brousel. Mr. Cato. So I want to go back to something Mr.

» Blanchard said when he started out as a driver at the hospital. Tonight is about the 10-year anniversary of the EMS, but it goes back before that. And I see a lot of faces that was there before that that helped develop this to get us to where we're at today. You know, way back when there were rescue squads around this county, and a lot of you probably worked on those. I was fortunate enough to work on the one in Bethune and had a lot of leadership. Mr. King and Larry Davis, Charles McCoy, Kershaw Graham, I could go on and on. Mount Pisgah and all the ones that I was familiar with. I see a lady here that was with me, EMS, on one of my darkest days of my life. And I'll never forget seeing her standing there that day. Y'all are a special group. You mean a lot to me.

» I appreciate everything you have ever done and you will continue to do for this county, for the victims of this county. Even through the Sheriff's Office, there's several of you that's been on some pretty bad calls that I've been on. And you're just absolute professionals all the way around. And I thank you for that. And I thank each and every one of you that stuck it out. And it's got this program here where it's at the last 10 years. And I know that it's going to just continue to get better. So thank you all for your service to this county and beyond. Because sometimes we don't just do work in this county. Sometimes we have to back other people up too. So thank you for what you do to the citizens of this state. Thank you. Thank you very much. Mr. Shoemake.

» Yeah, just obviously what everybody else said. And I think one of the things that, you know, the sole provider of emergency medical services countywide. I mean, that means that, you know, people are looking at you guys for answers that maybe you don't have sometimes, right? Some complicated medical issue you show up on and you guys have to do your best, but you have this immediate position of authority. You're with people who may be having their last breaths and you're the last face they see, the last comfort they get. And more importantly, there are people that are alive today walking this county because you guys chose to put on the uniform you're wearing. So, again, as Councilman Kato and everyone else said, on behalf of every person in this county, thank you all. Thanks so much, Mr.

» Shoemake. Councilmembers, any other comments? Mr. Thomas? Yeah, Mr. Chairman. I'm going to be short. I think everybody here has kind of hit the high points, but I really appreciate all that y'all do. You know, a 50% growth rate in call volume over a 10-year period, and each one of you have stepped up to that challenge and made sure that every resident in Kershaw County who needed ambulance service, EMS, has been taken care of. And I, too, like Mr. Brazel said, I've never received a call about anything negative for EMS here. And that's a statement to how hard y'all work, your diligence, and your willingness to serve this county. So thank each one of you. Appreciate all you do. Thank you very much. Mr. Jones? Absolutely. You know, we talk about we haven't received any calls.

» I have, but they're all positive. I've had people call and actually brag on this department. And, you know, the older I get, the more I appreciate you guys. Yeah. I hear that a lot. And, you know, I had made a statement years ago when we were in the negotiations, Mr. Blanchard, and I made this statement that I did not want the EMS unless you were coming with it. And you did. And, of course, Chief Edge, you know, the torch has just been passed. And you folks, all of you, I appreciate it. But the ten of you that came over and took a chance with us and believed in us, thank you. Thank you very much. You mean a lot to all of us. And each and every one of you, I know it's a hard job. I don't know how you do it. I don't think I could do it. I was in law enforcement all of my life, ran to jail.

» But to go out and do what y'all do and see some things y'all see, God bless you and Godspeed. And we appreciate each and every one of you. Thank you. Thank you so much, Mr. Jones. Any other? I'll just mention I'm very thankful for you. Over the years, there's generations of us who have been here. You've saved some of my family members' lives. You really have. And so I've gotten some positive calls from the community, but also my own family saying EMS is just awesome. And it's funny how things work out now. We've got a really strong local hospital and a great partner there that's thriving. And EMS is growing and we support you. And Mr. Jones' comment made me think of the late and great Charles Baxley. The Kershaw County Education Foundation did scholarships every year, and they still do.

» You know, to the tune of $40,000, $50,000, depending on how good the year was for the foundation. But he would always emphasize we're going to give scholarships and even a little bit of extra and invite them to come back and apply for more for those who are going to get involved in a career in EMS or nursing or anything like that. And each year as he got older, as you mentioned, Mr. Jones, he would focus more and more on that. It became more and more important to him. He said these people are so essential. And you don't need them all the time, but when you do, you really need them. So thank you for stepping up. We appreciate you very much. All right, gentlemen. Oh, do you have a -- yeah, if we could have you come up in whichever way you want to organize, maybe two rows. Yeah.

» And let's move it to a vote while everybody's moving up. I know what it's going to be. All in favor? We don't have it framed. Ms. Hennett's unanimous passes. I'm going to take the resolution up. Thank you. Yeah. Thank you, buddy. Sorry about my seat. I'm coming up here with y'all for the picture. Hey, I'm Brandon. Yeah, I'm going with the people. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Hey, how are you doing? Thank you. Thank you. It's a little over time. You're the one who took me this time. You're looking. Oh, man. How's it going? Let's get to see Spencer. You're welcome. What's going on, boss? How's it going, man? Good to see you, buddy. How's it going? Good to see you, buddy. How's it going, man? Good to see you, buddy. How's it going, man? Good to see you, buddy.

» How's it going? Good to see you, buddy. How's it going? Good to see you, buddy. Come on, everybody. We're standing together. We're standing together. No, no, no. I'm good. Off set. Is everybody good? We got a timer on you? Oh, no. You're fine, at least for me. Great. Are they good for you? Mm-hmm. All right. All right. One, two, three and a half. Okay. All right. Thank you, gentlemen. We'll give them a moment to clear out. That was good stuff. The approval of a minute's next. That's right. I got so many papers here. I don't know. Well, as they say, with EMS, we've come a long way. All right, gentlemen, that takes us to the next item, 7A, approval of the minutes. Is there a motion? I'll make a motion. We approve the minutes submitted by Ms. Hanna. Mr.

» Tucker, as the motion, is there a second? Second. Mr. Tomlinson, is there any discussion, Mr. Tucker? No, just want to thank Ms. Hanna for a fine word. Any other discussion or questions? Mr. Chair, I'll be abstaining due to absence. Please note that, Ms. Hanna. I'll also be abstaining. I was only on the call for maybe 20 minutes. Please note that, Ms. Hanna. Well, I'm not going to abstain, and I got up and left early. But you were here for the majority of the meeting, so you can vote. I was here for the majority of the meeting. All right. So, all in favor of voting? Thank you. Vote. For those who are voting, Ms. Hanna, it's unanimous. You just got me taken ahead. With the two abstentions noted, please. You just got me laughing. I know it. The minutes are approved. All right.

» Gentlemen, that takes us to item number 8A, first reading. This is to amend the ZLDR regarding sections 3.3, 3.4, and table 3.3, relating to commercial event venues, rural event venues, county clubs, and addressing bed and breakfast language. Is there a motion? Mr. Chairman, I'd like to make a motion just to kind of put it on the floor for discussion. I don't have any background or prior knowledge of it, so I'd like to kind of get a little bit of that, maybe from staff, and then we can get forward from there. Okay. Is there a second? I'll second it for him. Mr. Tucker has a second. Mr. Tomlinson. Yes, sir. Would staff be able to provide some background on why this is on the agenda? Good evening, council members. Thank you, Joey. Good evening, Joey.

» So this text amendment, I've actually been here six and a half years, and this is a section of the code that I have wanted to address for that entire six and a half years. We are increasingly seeing inquiries from people who want to come to this area to open up event venues. We have local citizens that want to run event venues. We have rural property owners that want protective measures put in place because of these event venues. And then there's staff. We have worked tirelessly to try to shoehorn uses into the existing code. This isn't just about wedding venues. We've had inquiries about meditation retreats, rural conference centers, hunting preserves with guest cottages, and golf courses with guest cottages.

» So we've had a number of solid interests, and we've just gotten to the point where we can't any longer call this a bed and breakfast with a wedding venue. We just don't have the tools in the toolbox anymore to shoehorn these uses in. So this amendment is more about the private event venues. We're not talking about public venues, such as, let's say, rodeos, or I know we don't -- maybe a golf tournament would be a good example. Or if you have a horse show, that's where it's advertised, the general public comes in. That's what we label as a public event. Those events are already covered in our code very comprehensively. So, for example, tonight it was mentioned about horse shows. Those are already permitted in the rural districts. So we don't have to address those.

» We're trying to address these niche private event uses that we're getting inquiries about. So what's before you is some definitions. We have the commercial event venue. We have a rural event venue. And then we have a rural country club that we're bringing before you. The Planning Commission did review this. And it comes to you with a six to zero recommendation in favor of approval of this amendment. And what I can do is just run you through or stop and ask any questions that you might have of that and then get into the code changes, however you would like me to do, Mr. Chair. Mr. Tucker still -- Mr. Tomlinson still has the floor.

» Is there anything in particular you want to hear before we hand it off or questions or any further presentation? So just kind of looking through the chart here, so you're removing the bed and breakfast wedding venue reception from there, adding in commercial event venue, rural event venue, and rural country club. Yes, sir. And that's going to be in every zoning designation that we have? So the commercial event venue is going to be in your business districts and also within the RDE -- let's see, let me flip over real quick. It's only going to be in your general business, your business too, and your office districts. And that commercial event, we're not talking about bars or nightclubs or anything of that nature. That's already covered in the code. That already has regulation.

» What we're talking about is a commercial event venue that wants to host a -- let's say a wedding center in a general development zone, something of that nature. And then the rural event venue is similar to the commercial, but it's for the rural districts only, the RD1, RD2, and RD1s. And it has a five-acre minimum lot size limitation. And then you step up to the next category, which is your golf club and country club with guest accommodations. Is there a limit on the number of people that are required? So if you have a five-acre minimum and you have -- I mean, a wedding would -- I mean, you got 250, 300 people, that's cars.

» Has that five-acre fit all that cars and the surrounding property owners? Well, and that's why you have that commercial development review process that we already have in place. Okay. Is -- that's to ensure that these type of -- this is actually going to be a conditional use. So this is to ensure that the parcel and its activity can -- Can meet the demands? Meet the demands, but also be protective to the property owners that adjoin it. Right. Because we feel like five acres, that's -- not to get in the weeds, but that's a state exemption standard for subdivision. We feel that that's the minimum acreage that these smaller venues can even fit on. Mm-hmm.

» And then we have a 20-acre minimum size for a -- like a golf club or country club or hunting club that has accommodations attached with it. So if I -- if I currently have a piece of property that's zone general development now, I wouldn't be able to put a commercial vent venue on there? I couldn't have a -- Yes. I currently -- Well, I mean -- I currently could. With the text amendment? With the text amendment? Yes. With the text amendment, you would be able to operate a commercial event venue. I'd like a little bit more kind of information on this. I don't know if the rest of my colleagues have any questions, but I'd like to make a motion to kind of -- go ahead. If you don't mind. Yeah.

» And, Joey, I see in the ordinance that you gave us, and I'll be coming by your office, there's a lot of mark-throughs here that I need some explanation on. Sure. And how does this affect the existing venues that we have now? It would not affect existing venues. If there are existing venues out there that were permitted prior to this code change, then if there's any aspect that's non-conforming, it just remains non-conforming. Okay. They won't be able to expand in that area as well, or will they still be able to -- you know, so like if I had a small venue on my personal property, there's a lot in my district, I can tell you that now. Sure. And I want to expand that. And I want to expand that.

» Will this prohibit me from expanding on my property? Will I have to come in compliance to the new regulation is what I'm asking? Yes. Okay. If you were to expand, then you do have to come in conformance with the new regulations. But I do -- Entirely or just the part that I'm expanding? Just the part that you're non-conforming. Okay. Yes. And if I could add to that, Mr. Tucker. Please. And I should have made this a little bit more clear in the staff report. But, for example, there are items in each of these that just highlight existing regulations that we have now. They're not new regulations. So, for instance, under the commercial event venues, use regulations, item A and B are new. But C, D, E, and F, that's all in the existing code.

» So, that's not -- it's just referring back to what's in the existing code for clarity for people that want to take advantage of one of these new tech sections. So, there really isn't a lot of change. It looks like there is. Right. But it's actually just following existing regulations that we have now. It's more so for us to be able to get these uses identified in the code. Well, that's the reason why I'm going to come by and see. We've got some time before our next meeting. So, I'll drop in and see you to get some more clarity. That's what I'm here for. I'll be in support for tonight. I have a question. Yes, you make. Good. So, here's a hypothetical that may ring familiar.

» What if somebody has a commercial sports venue on their property at this point, and it's in a rural district? How does -- in that hypothetical, how does an ordinance like this impact that use? When you say -- hypotheticals are really difficult in zoning, but -- Right. Well, I guess if I'm in an R.D. place, in one of the R.D. zones, right? If I'm one of the R.D. zones, and I'm currently operating a commercial sports venue, what does this -- what does this particular ordinance do in that example? It would do nothing to that existing use, because that use is in use today. So, anything that it's out of compliance with, then it would just be deemed as nonconforming, which we have a lot of -- we have a lot of nonconformities throughout this entire county. Right.

» Because the rules change afterwards. Correct. Mm-hmm. Or we didn't have rules in place at the time that they were built. There's a lot of that as well. Do we currently have rules in place preventing commercial venues in the R.D. districts? Yes. Yes. They're actually not allowed at this time. If it's a public event venue, there's nothing in the code that allows like a sports arena or something of that nature. Now, if -- such as horse shows, if there's a stable or a corral, something of that nature, that is addressed by the code. So, there's -- there's individual uses, and if anybody is interested in knowing if an individual use is allowed in a certain district, let me know, and I can certainly clarify that for you by the next meeting.

» Joe, were you here for public comments? Did you catch the public comments, or did you come in after? Yes. No. So, Mr. Poulin made a comment about a specific thing, and I don't -- I'm not going to ask you to comment on a specific use. But would you mind you or someone from your staff reaching back out to Mr. Poulin and just -- because it sounds like that particular issue may not be impacted by this one way or the other. Would you mind having you or someone from your staff reach out to Mr. Poulin? His info should be on the sign sheet. And just kind of follow up on that, and then let me kind of -- because that's in my area as well. Sure. If you could just kind of let me know. That's a side issue, and we don't have to bog the meeting down with that. But if you would, I'd appreciate that.

» I understand. Yeah. I'm aware of that issue, and I can do so. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Shoemake. Mr. Basel? Hey, Joey. How are you doing? I'm all right. Good, man. Thank you. I hope you are. I know you love having to bring this stuff to us, and I appreciate all your hard work. I looked at this maybe six months ago, and I didn't have an appetite to put it on the agenda. And there were some concerns. I think one of the concerns that I would have is, are we creating a way to create commercial space in rural areas? And if we are, is it just a way around zoning laws? That's why we have zoning laws. We can rezone something or we can not. That takes a majority vote.

» And if we do create this work around, if you will, for these venues, I've been to many venues in the county that are, I would assume, nonconforming, a grandfathered end if this were to be passed. Really nice, nonproblematic. I've been to weddings. I've been to parties at different places that friends and long-term residents of Kershaw County, they own these event spaces and/or farms. So if I had, I'm going to use a for instance, that I used to own a 60-acre track of land off of Lockhart Road. That would be in Danny's district. And it was a beautiful pond with a big hill. It actually crossed my mind at one point that, man, people might would use this as an event space.

» So if I'm, you know, I was like three miles past North Central School, had I wanted to build maybe an open-air barn, call it, I don't know, 13,000 square feet, 14,000 square feet, would I be required in that open-air barn that I might would use for wedding venues? Maybe I built a gazebo. Maybe those were existing things on my property and I wanted to start having weddings there. Would I be required to perform the same measurements that I would with the commercial building? You know that we just got through our business building and commercial building here in Kershaw County. And it's very expensive. It's quite a lot of work for everyone, including the fire department. We had to make sure that we had the correct water flow for the sprinkler system.

» And I don't know that that water flow was available in those areas. Would we be required to have a sprinkler for an open-air or closed space of that size? Very likely, yes. So would you be able to actually provide the correct water flow to have a wet system? Yes. Those rural event venues such as that can have either in-ground cisterns with the pump system or above-ground storage tanks in order to get the correct PSI and the duration of flow to the sprinkler system. So it is possible. Yes, sir. Okay. So that's expensive. That's a huge expense. So we go from having maybe a barn dominium or an open-air barn in which somebody may occasionally have a wedding there. I don't think you're having weddings 52 weekends a year.

» I'm also concerned about the fact that most of these rural areas, if they had something at their farm, they would need parking. And I bet that parking would be susceptible to state law that would require asphalt, curb and gutter, and a detention pond. Not necessarily asphalt, curb and gutter, you can do gravel parking in the county. Because it's impervious as well. Yes, but they would be possibly subject, given the amount of disturbed area and impervious area, they may have to do stormwater treatment or detention. So in this unfortunate circumstance, we've created a situation in which we've created a zoning workaround for commercial use and all the commercial applications would then be applied.

» I can understand probably the frustrating part of not having the right, be able to check the right box and give someone a clear answer on what they're trying to do. But I don't know that the outfall from something like this is, I don't know that I understand it clear enough with those questions in mind to support it. I understand there's people that want to do these things. And I understand that people that have already done these things, I think they call them barns, pole buildings, whatever they might call them. And if they have an event, a party, a get together, what have you, they're short term and they're short in duration in nature.

» So I don't want to put that kind of burden on someone in a rural area to have to do all these things that may cost between $300,000 and $500,000 between a sprinkler system, parking lots and the detention pond. That in itself could be a half million. I wouldn't want to do that. And then I wouldn't want to create a workaround for commercial uses in a rural area. I think that might further stoke the fire of an unfriendly neighbor. At this stage of the game, our sheriff would, if anything were to get out of hand, he could pay a visit and make sure things were handled at said party or venue space or home or whatever it may be. That's where my mind's at tonight. And I just kind of wanted to vocalize my thoughts.

» I know you guys have worked hard and I will do the same thing that Councilman Tucker said. I'll come by your office and try to work through it with you. And if there's a way to find something that I can support, I will. Sure. Absolutely. Thank you. Doors open. Thank you, Joey. Mr. Chairman, I have one more question. Yes, sir. And I have a comment after you finish. Just looking at it. So it states of event venues shall not be open to the public or permissible to the public. What if it's a private establishment that has a membership? That would be your country club, that second use, or excuse me, that third use being that country golf and country club environment.

» So they could be open past hours? Well, we actually have some hour limitations in there that we copied from other sections of the code that other uses are subjected to throughout the code. Okay. So that's some hesitation that I kind of have right now. But I'll go to you, Mr. Chairman. I got something to say. Mr. Jones, go ahead. Joey, welcome. It's good to see you. You know you'll like what I got to say. But anyway, I don't support it. Guys, let me ask you all something. How many of you up here have had citizens come here and say, create more bureaucracy for us in our lives, create more issues for us to have to deal with? You know, I would think the planning zoning department has enough to do without creating more regulation. I don't like this. I'm not going to support this.

» I don't need to go by and talk to anybody. I don't think a single person up here understands it. I'm not so sure, and no pun intended, but that Joey totally understands it. I think it's, gentlemen, please think long and hard before you pass this. And by the way, who up here put that on the agenda? I think staff. Staff did. Which staff? He's standing right. Planning zoning staff. This is a staff initiated amendment with the planning commission. Came through the planning commission. That's what I asked. Yeah. Well, I don't agree with the planning commission either. Today. Well, on this issue. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Thank you. Mr. Kato. I agree with Mr. Jones on some of what he said. And I'd be honest, I just seen it, so I don't really understand all of it.

» There's a lot of questions I have, so I don't mean to sound stupid. But I'm going to give you a hypothetical. So let's say somebody, somebody came in and wanted to build an 18-hole golf course somewhere in Ralph Lockhart Road. Okay. A public golf course. And they had a venue, a country club area, where weddings could be held or whatever the case may be. Number one. How would that affect them if they built this country club? Would they be able to hold wedding venues there and receptions and whatnot? Or would that not be permitted because it's a public facility? As it's currently written, because it's going in a rural area and it would be open to the public, then no, it would not be allowed.

» If it's a membership-only club where they're, you know, you go play around the golf with other members and then other members have use of the venue or clubhouse for weddings for their families, things of that nature, that's what this is aimed towards. And that's also to try to protect the rural character and nature of the rural. Eighty-eight percent of this county is zoned rural resource districts. So it's an effort to try to protect those property owners, the adjoining property owners, from anything that could be seen as, you know, impacting their way of rural life. So in other words, the only way that they could have it is for someone of the membership of the golf course to be able to have, so some outsider just couldn't come in and rent it. Correct.

» That's the way this is structured right now. Danny, I'd like to say thank you for bringing up the golf course piece of it. I was focused on the, I think the second one, the golf course piece. If somebody brings a golf course to this community, I could just about assure you, if it's of quality and it's new and it's going to be a positive impact for this community, they would have my vote to rezone that piece of property to build a nice golf course and develop it how they see fit. I think it's a great sport and I'm terrible at it, but I think it's a great sport. So I think that would, that's something that this council could take up and I would assume support, but I can't speak for my colleagues, just myself.

» So if there's a golf course looking at Kershaw County, I would encourage them to come on. We're looking forward to having you. And just so you know, this ordinance was written in mind for that inquiry that we received. So if there is, there is in fact, I did not know that until just now. If there is in fact an inquiry, you reach back out to whoever it was and you tell them that we have proper zoning laws and that we would, we talk about economic development, man, we'd love to see something like that here in Kershaw County. We want to see positive change. We talk about moratoriums. We talk about rapid growth. Listen, until, until, well, there'll be a lot of change things that would have to change. There's no way that we're going to stop Kershaw County from growing.

» We want to grow well and we want to grow in a positive direction. And I can tell you this, we want to grow with quality over, over quantity. So I really appreciate what the work that you guys do. I mean, Joe, you're always helpful to me and I just want to say thank you. But I don't, tonight I don't have an appetite for this and happy to talk more later. Thank you so much. Thank you everybody I've spoken. I'll, I'll share a few comments. Um, so the first instance I became introduced to this issue is Mr. Brazel introduced me to a gentleman who had, uh, some interest in, in doing these types of things on this property. And from there I got intrigued because there are some pretty neat properties in various portions of Kershaw County where it might make sense.

» Um, there are some properties that are grandfathered or nonconforming that if they were not used in the same way, say a new owner or the current owner got old and couldn't run the property. Would it be a year or so? And then they could lose grandfathering or nonconforming status. What's the, yeah, as it stands now that it's a year. Yeah. And so in order to protect some of the properties, I do find this interesting. I've got to be completely honest between, uh, numerous depositions and a big mediation. That's been, uh, four years in the works for me. I haven't been able to dig in and come by your office and learn about it. But what I hear gentlemen is staff asking us to take a look at this on first reading to address numerous problems that they've encountered.

» I've got some calls in favor, most calls in favor, a few against. Um, usually that's reflective of what's going on in the community, but I'm willing to learn some more about it. I think I hear tonight, uh, maybe people want to defer and do some more work on it, uh, to a little bit later. As I understand it, this is already happening in the county on properties that perhaps it should not based on the zoning code. Is that fair enough? That is fair. And we, we only react on a complaint base only. We don't ride the roads. Right. And then, and then there are some properties where maybe this should happen and it would fit and it's a, could be five acres or more and wouldn't hurt anybody's feelings. And it put, uh, but heads and beds in Kershaw County and be great for the local economy.

» Um, so I, you know, I would support it on first reading, but I could also support a deferral. If someone wants to push it off and they want to have the meetings you're talking about, I'm going to be out of town next week on family vacation. As I know some others are traveling as well, but I'm happy to do the work. Uh, in the meantime, next meeting would be July 8th or either July 22nd. I think if I've got my dates right for the last meeting in July. And so, um, any other council members have any comments or questions? Nobody has any. Mr. Tucker, no. Mr. Tomlinson. Mr. Tomlinson. Um, Mr. Chair, I move that we are make a motion that we defer to July 22nd meeting coming up. And that way we can have more time that all of us can do our due diligence, sit down with staff.

» Um, and really look at the impacts that this is going to have and see if it's something that is good for Kershaw County or something that we need to move on. But so, you'd be deferring first reading to July 22nd. Deferring first reading to July 22nd. You got a second? You got a second. If I can make a comment. Mr. Tucker. Well, Mr. Yield, Mr. Tomlinson. Yes. So what? We really don't care. You my buddy though. Um, I want to say, I don't know how the votes is going to go just yet, but I appreciate not killing this tonight. Um, there's a lot of due diligence that needs to be done and killing it tonight is not the right answer. Let's do a little bit more study and dig into it. Then if your appetite, as Mr. Brazel said, if you don't have one for that, I respect that.

» But just, you know, there's a lot of questions to be answered here tonight. And Joey, for the record, I think you do know what you're talking about. And I appreciate all the knowledge that you do have. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you. Any other comments or questions? I'll, I'll just say. Mr. Kato. Just knowing what little bit I know about it, I'm not in love with it. Um, but just because of the hard work that y'all put into it, I do think that we owe y'all. A little bit more due diligence, so to speak, to kind of explain this to us before we take a vote. Um, so I'll, I'll be in favor of deferring it tonight. I have a. Any other comments or questions? Mr. Jones. I have a comment and then an amendment. You know, I, I just feel like I owe this to the citizens.

» And, uh, and let me tell you something. Joey works very hard. He does. And he, uh, he has a lot of complaints. He has a lot of compliments. He gets a lot of questions. And I know he meant he didn't know what he was doing, but I don't, I don't know that I really believe Joey's the one who put this together. But, uh, cause it, I know how much he's got on his plate already. Gentlemen, I'm gonna tell you something. I appreciate the hard work all the citizens do, but I want to make an amendment that we table this and we move on. I don't, as I said, I have not had one single complaint or citizen call me wanting more bureaucracy. You're creating a nightmare. Okay. So that's my amendment that we table this because table, I believe Mr. Bowes kills it. Correct. Yeah.

» If a matter is not moved off the table. Um, yeah, kind of dies on the. To defer it. We'll take it to the next. Um, but. So anyway, I, I made my motions with all due respect to the planning commission, commission, the. Staff here and to you guys, that's my amendment. There's a motion. Is there a second? There's Jimmy. I'll second it. And with, with a, with one point of clarity, I, I feel like the appetite here is to defer. Um, there, there, there may be a version of this that I could support, but it's not this. It's I'm, I'm pretty far apart. And it's, it's from a call standpoint of who would or who would not be able to have an event space. I mean, you're, you're taking something that's pretty simple and farm. Like, I mean, chairman, chairman Connell's got a great place. If I can just.

» Um, so we have a second. Mr. Jones would have the floor unless you yield. Uh, yeah, but I want it back. Okay. Okay. Of course. All right, sorry. Go ahead. So, I mean, I can, I'm picking on Ben a little bit, but he's, he's got a great farm in which if you wanted to get married there, you could, or if you wanted to have an event there, you could. And so all of a sudden we're, we're changing the rules and regulations. It feels like a bit much to me for people that are used to living in a rural area and kind of living their lives and doing what they want to do. If you look in an extreme case that, that caused trouble, you're going to have that, whether this is on the books or not, people are going to throw a party if that's what they want to do.

» And again, the sheriff can pay them a visit, but I just, I don't want to over-regulate it either. Um, but again, I, I feel like the appetite from what I've heard is, is a deferment, but I, I would support, uh, Councilman Jones' amendment. Mr. Jones. I want to go to whoever else has something to say, if I can. Go ahead. Yeah. Mr. Jones, I, I think this is why we do have three readings and I agree with Mr. Brazel. So I think if this gives, um, us as council an opportunity, you know, a month and a half to, to do our due diligence, to sit down with staff and really get dove in head first into this, um, to see what, what appetite, like Russell said, um, is there to support or if there's nothing. And at that point you go to first reading, you have second and third.

» Um, so I would like to give the opportunity, especially how hard staffs work to do that instead of just tabling it right now. And come back and talk about it July 22nd. Mr. Thompson, Mr. Jones. Anybody else? You know the last word? Yeah, I do. Anyway, I stay, I stand by my position and, uh, that's no punt towards anybody, the hard work or whatever. You know, that's why we sit on County Council. You know, we're the ones who set the policy, not staff. We're the one who approves it and gives in the direction to go. And they certainly bring us recommendations, but it, but it's our decisions when it comes to how the county works. And I just don't think there's, and I love the word appetite. That was really well used. I don't, I don't think there's an appetite.

» If you notice tonight, we had a couple people get up and talk. I just don't think there's an appetite to sit here and create more, um, regulations and rules. Our citizens have to follow when they walk in. As I said, I haven't gotten any complaints. No one's been calling my phone and I probably get a lot of complaints. I'm sure as much as the rest of you do together. And, uh, I just haven't had any, I just have a hard time waking a sleeping dog. You know, this just doesn't seem like there's a, there's a problem there. But anyway, that's where I stand. I'm not going to support it tonight and I'm not going to support it. If you, which you will, you got the votes. I'm not going to support it. When did we bring it back on the 22nd either? But, uh, thank you so much for your time.

» Say it one more time. Yes, sir. Thank you. We understand. Say it one more time. I'm not going to support it. Thank you. Okay. Uh, any further comments or discussion? This is on the Jones, uh, amendment. No further comments or discussions. We'll move it to a vote. All in favor of the Jones amendment to table. Raise your hand. Mr. Brazel and Mr. Jones. All opposed. To make Tucker, Connell, Cato and Tomlinson. The motion fails. That brings us back. Thank you, Jim. The original motion. Um, the Tomlinson, uh, amendment. Motion to defer to July 22 for purposes of due diligence and otherwise. Any further discussion on that one? Seeing no further discussion, we'll move it to a vote. All in favor of the Tomlinson amendment. Raise your hand. Shoemake, Tucker, Connell, Brazel, Cato, Tomlinson.

» In favor. All opposed. Mr. Jones, opposed for the record. Ms. Hanna, thank you very much. Thank you. All right, that brings us to as amended. Thank you, Joey. I just want to make sure I'm correct, Mr. DuBose. We now have to vote as amended. Is that correct? Or we're just automatically deferred? Yeah, I think that motion to defer, uh, supersedes and... Save me a step. Thank you, sir. All right. That takes us to item number 8B on the agenda. Uh, this is a first reading related to impact fees and those assessments in Kershaw County. Is there a motion? Where are we? 8C? We're on impact fees. 8B. 8B. Impact fee ordinance. Yeah, give everybody a second to get there in their packet. Yeah, I would make a motion that we adopt the impact fee ordinance. I'll second. I'll yield. Okay.

» You owe me a Coke now. We're all ready for that. We got a first and a second. Um, Mr. Shoemaker, you had the initial motion? Um, I'll yield to any other discussion or amendments. Any other discussion, comments, questions, amendments? I've got a, I've got a question. Um, maybe that somebody could clarify. Poor Joey. Where'd he go? I'm sorry, Joey. Um, you got amendment? Uh-huh. Okay. Um, so regarding the, the impact fees, would this be, would this be for major subdivisions only or, um, is it a group development impact fee or is it, is it just a per home fee? And, and I can't address that. I just want to, uh, ask, I, we do have our, uh, consultant here, Matt Newkester. Okay. Uh, who is prepared to give you a, a full rundown on the impact fee project.

» Um, and I thought that's kind of the direction we're going, but I'll yield to whatever you would like to proceed with. Well, if he, if he's here for, for questions and explanations, that'd be great. Yes, sir. He is. And then of course I'm available as well. Uh, afterwards. We'll, we'll give you a break. Okay. And he did have a presentation. Um, but. We don't have screens, unfortunately. Yeah. We'll, we'll work through that. So. Before we get general information, we see that anybody else have any questions, comments, amendments? I have an amendment, Mr. Chair, if I can. You have an amendment. Mm-hmm. All right. Let's get the amendment. Okay. As he says. As a form of a motion. This is going to be in the form of a motion. Okay.

» I'll make a motion to amend the, um, the ordinance title to include at the end of the current title, the following language. To amend the Kershaw County code of ordinance chapter six buildings and building regulations by establishing article 11, um, development impact fees. Uh, reason for this was legal counsel informed me that by oversight, an earlier version of the ordinance ordinance title was used for this agenda. So we want to be consistent and, um, make sure that we're not confusing ourselves or the public. So for those reasons, uh, that's my amendment. We have a motion. I'll second. There's a second. Any further discussion, Mr. Tucker? No, sir. Any further discussion, questions, comments? Not on this. Sounds like a housekeeping. Right.

» I'd ask that we guys go ahead and vote on this. We can get back to the discussion. Get back to the information from Mr. Newcastle. Okay. No issue. Move to a vote. All in favor of the amendment. Raise your hand. Miss Hannah for the record. And so we're, we're back on as amended and we've got Mr. Newcastle. Did I pronounce that right? That's correct. Thank you. Could you give us some summary on the impact fees? Of course. Okay. So first of all, Mr. Chairman, members of County Council, thank you so much for the opportunity to speak with you today. Uh, my name is Matt Newcastle. I'm the owner, president and founding principal of a firm called City Explained.

» Uh, we work nationally from Maine to Hawaii and North Dakota to Florida, but I'm really happy to say I'm an unincorporated Kershaw County resident. So this was my shortest commute for a project. So I really do appreciate that. Um, I'm going to tell you a story about impact fees since we have the slides. Um, but I will go ahead and click through the slides for some people in the audience who may want to, um, follow along or, or folks on TV or the like. I need to, uh, ask you just a quick question. Sure. So I almost regretted not having us all move for the, um, Fine Arts Center presentation. Oh yeah.

» Is this some substantive information that'll be relevant to, relevant to our vote? Um, as we, as we go through this, should we move over and make sure we see your slides? Cause we, our screens for whatever reason, we're still technologically dead right up here. Understood. Um, it, it may help you make a more informed decision. Thank you. Okay. Council, if you don't mind, I think there's some chairs up front. Um, it's relevant to the vote. We still have some questions that haven't been answered yet. Okay. Well, we, we can move after the presentation. Is that okay? Yes. Okay. I mean, we can move back after the presentation for questions. Is that all right? I'm with you. Yes, yes, yes, yes. You can do that. Thank you. Come on, please. Yeah. We'll keep, keep it around just a second.

» All right. Thanks for working with Mr. Oh, of course. Of course. Do this and this around. Flip that towards me. Perfect. Okay. So this is an interesting way. We just kind of flip the script. I like it. Very good. Very good. Okay. So again, uh, Matt Newkester. And today I'm going to tell you a story about impact fees. And I'm going to try to answer the who, what, where, when, and why. Um, what we're doing here under first reading is making presentation to make sure you have all the facts and figures. And frankly, we get enough out there so you can make better decisions. Then as part of that, if we go down the road, and again, at this point, as a consultant, I've done the work that's required under state law.

» I've coordinated with staff to bring recommendations and things forward, but now you're in control. This is all if, when, and how things move forward is now up to the dais. So at that point, I'm just providing you information. I'll answer questions, but you all will bring things forward from here. So to that end, um, we did have a, an agenda just quickly. Um, I'm going to explain sort of kind of what impact fees are. Um, whether you like it or not, we do have authorizing or enabling legislation within South Carolina. So we have very specific things that we need to do, um, in order to make sure that we, we can have impact fees that are defendable. Um, I will go over the documents that are required. So you'll know kind of what we created for you, what the next steps might be.

» And then I can answer as many questions as you have at that point. So we'll go from there. So by way of introduction, when we're talking about impact fees, these are financial payments made by a developer to the local government to offset some of the additional new people or new employees that they bring to the county. Um, it is again, a financial payment. Um, we'll go over kind of some other, um, aspects of that when we talk about the ordinance, but it's a financial payment. And just to be frank and honest with you, most times the developer pays it at time of building permit, it gets passed on to the person who purchases the new home though, just to be very clear. Uh, we do have to, uh, follow what's called the South Carolina development impact fee act.

» So again, very specific requirements in terms of what we produce, the order that we go in, those kinds of things as well. Um, now you are in good company here, at least even thinking about impact fees. Um, frankly and historically, they kind of started more in the low country in terms of impact fees and where they were being thought about. And then they kind of jumped over to sort of the North Carolina, South Carolina line, uh, more, not even upstate, but more like Charlotte Metro. And they've kind of worked their way back into the Midlands now. Um, and so again, people are doing it for different reasons, but a lot of times it's about just having growth pay a portion of its burden onto the existing infrastructure that you have.

» Now and giving you one funding mechanism to expand it, to keep up. So in terms of the impact fees themselves, again, they pass construction costs on to new development, not existing development. And I'll get into that more and more detail. There is legality for collecting the impact fees. So you must have authority to do so. You do specifically have authority to do that per the state law. Uh, we can get into discussions. It was brought up during the public comments about school districts and things. They require a partnership because they're not mentioned in the authorize and enabling legislations, just cities or counties.

» Um, and then a rational nexus test means that you need to make sure what you're charging is proportional to the burden and makes sense that, yes, they're creating an impact. Therefore they pay a proportionate fair share. That's what I, that's the book reports that I did. Yes. Yep. Uh, and they cannot be discriminatory. So you can't just pick certain uses that you want to charge and certain uses you don't want to charge. Everybody who is found to have an impact has to pay their proportionate share, uh, for the burdens. Um, and then again, the reason this is happening is just, um, different interests from cities and towns and counties, uh, throughout the area, because there's been a resistance to increase property taxes.

» A lot of times when it's just small incremental growth, you don't realize it as much. You just kind of tweaking the budget year to year, trying to keep up. Um, but when you have big waves of growth, you start to see things be burdened overnight. And because when they get burdened overnight, you want to see who is responsible for that. And it's been found that impact fees are one way to pinpoint that new development and the burden that they're causing. Um, it works best. We have rapid growth and development and a lot of land left to develop, meaning there's an opportunity to need more and more infrastructure.

» Um, we can get into what it means to have the moratorium because charging an impact fee, funding projects and slowing growth has an interesting dance that goes together when you do that. And I'll tell you how we sort of accounted for that in our work. So in terms of who does not pay an impact fee. So anybody who lives in a home right now with an unincorporated Kershaw County, if you were to buy another home, an existing home in place now, you would not pay an impact fee. You would only pay an impact fee if you purchase new construction, new development that pulls a building permit. That then would be subject to an impact fee. So those folks would be, for example, in this neighborhood. And it would be after the effective date of your ordinance.

» So again, I want to be as open as I can with you. A lot of times what happens is right before third reading, you will get a flood of building permits. Now you all having the moratorium will help. But in other communities I work in, there's a flood of permits right before it becomes effective because people want to get in before the impact fee can be charged. You have a little bit of a backstop on that if and when you do the moratorium. So we actually looked at four categories in the work that we did. It includes parks and recreation, municipal facilities and equipment. That includes things like large purchases for the sheriff's department, public works, the convenience centers that are around the county. Those kind of things are all in there.

» Excuse me, fire protection and emergency medical services. At this point in time, we're bringing forward parks and recreation and municipal facilities and services and the draft ordinance that's being shown to you. But we did all of the work and all the analysis for all four. So if and when you may want to add others in the future, you just do it through a text amendment of your ordinance. You don't have to do a whole new study. You don't have to hire me again. I've done all my work. You just do a text amendment and you're good to go. Okay. So in terms of the act itself, just so you know maybe why we have to do some of the things we do. First and foremost, impact fees can be used for very specific things. They are spelled out specifically in the state law.

» To design and engineering of a new improvement. The right-of-way construction or acquisition. So if you need more land to support the improvement. Constructing the improvement itself. If you have to do any utility relocation. And then project financing. So if you do a big project and you do decide to go through bonds and do debt service, you could use impact fees to help pay some of that debt service. The interesting part, again, if I can just truth be told, is they're very good at getting you more capacity. New and expanded things. Once you receive it and take ownership of it, it's on you as the county to operate it, to maintain it, and to replace or rehabilitate it in the future.

» So again, it's one of those things where you get a gift, but then that gift is yours and you're responsible for it from that point forward. It's not free. The money that is collected in each of the categories that you decide to adopt or if you decide to adopt, they would all go in a separate bank account. And those bank accounts would accrue interest and that's what you would pull money from in order to pay for the projects. Right now, under state law, they must be spent within three years of the scheduled date of construction in the CIP.

» That's an important point because with the forthcoming or pending moratorium you have, you'll notice in the CIP document that we created, the capital improvements plan, we lagged a couple of projects just to make sure you'll have enough money to pay for these things, knowing and understanding what your pace of growth might be in the near term. So that's there as well. There will be an annual monitoring report. It'll probably be done when you do it through your annual budget process. It's just another couple of funds that get reported on. So you do there. You have to do an update and a review every five years just like you would for your comprehensive plan. So it kind of gets on that cycle and how you do those things.

» And then if you do major new projects or want to charge a higher maximum allowable impact fee, which I'll go into what that means in a minute, you do have to update the study to do that. So if you want to charge higher numbers in your maximum, you do have to do a new study. So I was able to prepare four things for you today and actually worked with staff because they prepared one of the four. The first thing is the justification report. Again, I'll go into that in more detail. A capital projects list. So what projects can you spend the impact fees on? An analysis about what this means to the affordability of housing within the county. So what does housing cost now? How much more would it cost because of the impact fee? And then the ordinance itself.

» It's got to have a vehicle to deliver an impact fee program and it's done through ordinance. So we've been working on this for quite some time, but we're at sort of the home stretch where now it's up to just decision making. And the decision making is all through the adoption process. We did go to planning commission. They did give a favorable recommendation. We now have up to three readings with you all. If you decide to go all the way through with it, we have three readings. This being the first reading, it's more the presentation and the explanation. We're targeting public hearing and comments would be in the second reading and then the third reading obviously for action and discussion. Bless you. All right. So the documents themselves, just so you know what's in there.

» I completely appreciate when you, I think I probably gave you over 200 pages of documents. Again, we had to meet state law. But let me just give you the director's cut of kind of what you have here. So the first thing is called the justification report. Frankly, it's the adult version of a book report. And what happens in that is I have to summarize everything you have now in terms of infrastructure and assets, what it's worth, what future demands might be, and then try to enumerate or identify what might be needed in the future. Again, we have all four categories in there. So you would not have to update the study if you did decide later on to do a text amendment for the other two. And so everything is in that report.

» Because we're only bringing two of the categories for you right now, they both have what's called a service area. And the service area is all of unincorporated Kershaw County. Because of where your parks are and what they are, where they're located, those kind of things, it's thought that everybody who wants to use that service kind of comes to more centralized locations where your parks are now. Same thing with the municipal facilities and services. You have very specific locations for your convenience center. You only have one landfill. Everybody uses it within the county. So we just basically say anywhere in the blue area that you see on the slide, that's where the impact fee would apply.

» Camden, if you know, just from being in the area, adopted their local development impact fee ordinance a few months ago, maybe a little longer now. I actually did that study too. So if you have any questions about that, let me know. But you cannot collect in any of the incorporated areas is the takeaway from that. So the way that this thing gets done is I basically act as what it's like an actuary. And I come in and I say, what do you provide now? Let's get a list of it. Let's quantify what it costs to replace it. And then let's look at how many residents and employees you're serving now.

» And just like if you think about if we all were to stand in line, when the next person moves in, they get to the back of the line, they have the same proportionate burden that you all had when you were taxpayers to create this infrastructure. They have to pay that proportionate share to get in line with us. So that's kind of how this approach works. I'm calculating what's called a maximum allowable impact fee. That's using math the most money I can justify that you can charge based on what you provide now and the amount of people and employees that you have in the county right now. So the maximum allowable, that's the most I can get for you. If we went to court, we could say this is how we got it and it would be justifiable and defendable.

» Now, how we did it was I basically came in almost like an investigator and I met with staff and their partners and said, let me know everything you've got now. So for example, that pesky property schedule you do for your insurance was a gold mine because it has everything that you have as an asset, what its replacement value might be. Those are the kind of things we did. We also made sure things like, well, if you have a fire truck, you have to have all the stuff in the cabinets before it's a functioning fire truck. So let's make sure we add that stuff in as well. So we basically went through a process where I interviewed and collected data from the different departments. I added it all together, you know, if you love spreadsheets, the appendix is for you, but we're ready to go.

» And you can just, again, everything is traceable and justifiable. Now, one of the things to come up with or to discuss that will be an item for you as you move forward is this idea of a discount rate. So again, maximum allowable is the most I can justify for you that you can charge for an impact fee. Nearly all communities within South Carolina charge just a little bit less than that. And the reason they do it is twofold. One is it's either a market question to be competitive with your peers. So for example, you might say, what is Camden charging for a single family home? I'd like to match it or I want to be a little higher or a little lower. But you kind of just look at what's going on in the immediate area. The other thing is it gives us a little bit of grace.

» So if we do go to court and for some reason they say, yeah, on that property schedule, you know, we think that building's a little overinflated in terms of its value. We say, okay, we're not charging 100%. That 10% little bit of buffer accounts for some of those things in the data or something else. So the discount rate is purely a policy decision. You can change it anytime you want to. It's a text amendment at this point. So if you start with a certain rate, but you want to change it next month or then in the next year, you just do a text amendment. You don't update the study, but you just change the discount rate. It's part of your ordinance. So this is just some examples. This is actually out of the report that just shows the maximum and then just how you apply certain discount rates.

» And the best way I can explain it is it's just like you're at your favorite shopping location and you're in something's on sale. It's a percent off of the cost. That's what the discount rate is. It's a percent off of the maximum allowable. Again, I just did easy increments, 25, 50, 7,500, but you can pick any number you want between zero and 100 if you want to. Okay. The second thing we have here is the capital improvements plan. This is where the projects live that are eligible for impact fee funding. We have to be a little bit formal about this and actually report and identify what we want to spend our money on. For each project we have, there's a project description. There is a start and end date for when the project would occur and when we would hope it would end.

» And then we map out the revenues and the expenditures for how we're going to pay for this improvement, when and in what sequence and sort of order and magnitudes of cost. In terms of what's eligible for impact fee funding for a capital project, it's got to be something that introduces more capacity. So for example, if you say we would like to repave the convenience center at 97, which would be, that's mine. So I would, you know, keep it up. It'd be great. But if you're only repaving it and you're not enlarging it or adding more roller bins or doing something to make it work and accommodate more people, that is not eligible for impact fee funding.

» If you increase the size of the asphalt because maybe you need more turning radius or you need more, again, rollers that you want to put there or another compactor there, that is increasing capacity. That would be eligible for the impact fee. The other thing to think about is you can, I get this question all the time. So does it, is it eligible? Is it eligible? Think of things like right now, if you have a grass soccer field, I'm working with the community more in the metro area where we're making the justification by going to turf. They can serve more people during more inclement weather. Therefore it's more capacity.

» So we will keep asking those questions if you decide to move forward on this, but we have to be able to push more people through the facility either by having a larger footprint or making it more efficient. That's kind of how we justify the impact fees. We do have projects right now that are in parks and recreation and municipal facilities and services. Now we also had to do an affordable housing analysis. As part of that, again, we basically looked at what does it cost right now for a resident to purchase a home with an unincorporated Kershaw County and then taking into account all the costs that go with that. So utility bills, homeowners insurance. I mean, the list goes on and on, but we basically looked at what it would cost to own a home and then we added impact fees on top of that.

» And so as we went through that process, basically here comes the conclusion, which was that right now, actually, if you look at the, and again, I'm only looking at new construction. But when you look at some of the new construction, new subdivisions coming in, those homes, if you listen to Redfin are about 273,000 as a median as of September of last year. What happens is right now, what is going on is that cost is too expensive, even for some residents of unincorporated Kershaw County to purchase the new homes that are being built here, which is why you see all the out of town license plates or you see people moving from larger metros or wherever. And the builders are building it at a price that, that they, that brings them in.

» But the housing affordability analysis shows that the everyday unincorporated county resident who lives here already, these new homes are unattainable to a certain percentage of those people. But if you add the impact fee, it really doesn't change it all that much. And so again, it's a 0.25% absolute change. So you have one phenomenon that you might want to talk about with housing affordability, and that's a comprehensive plan issue or a zoning ordinance. issue or a policy resolution issue. But from the impact fee itself, it doesn't change the condition more than 0.25%. On the rental side, it does, even with the impact fee included, the rents are still affordable with the tests that we have to use for state law. So again, it's more of a simple fee purchase.

» So then we come to the impact fee ordinance. This is the last thing that is required. The ordinance basically sets out all the rules of the game. So who pays an impact fee? How much do they pay? All the processes, they can appeal it if they want to. There are certain exemptions by state law that are just kind of quirky. For example, a volunteer fire department is exempt from impact fees. But a paid fire department is not. Go thank the folks in Columbia for what they kind of got slid in there. But there are some exemptions in there that are very specific that you'll have to honor just because they are what they are. As part of it then, it does have an exhibit that has basically all the prices for all the different land uses.

» And again, here you just see in the colored cells, I did 10% as a discount rate. That number could change to whatever you pick. The table there automatically updates as you go through that process. All right. So in terms of next steps, again, this is being presented to you as a accomplishment or a milestone in the process. We've done all the required work that you would need to make a decision. We now are deferring to you after being with planning commission and getting a favorable recommendation. It is now in your hands. And so starting today. Right. So we on fire protection and EMS, we've done the studies. So I'll ask administration to come help me answer the question on which ones to move forward or not.

» On the water and sewer, a lot of times you end up doing their enterprise funds and EMS. That's one of the reasons. But with an enterprise fund, because of the way they're structured, I have to give so much credit back so that new growth doesn't double pay the fee as well as the impact fee, that they become very low. They also become restrictive. And so most places that I work in the state who do water and sewer, they would rather just play with their hookup fees or their charges and have ultimate freedom and flexibility for how to spend the money versus all the rules that come with the state law for impact fees. So that's really why they've kind of decided not to. But hey, I'm making impact fees fun, right? Come on. I just couldn't hold it in. All right.

» So eventually, if and when you decide to actually go up to third reading and enact, you would have to have an effective date. That effective date can be chosen. You might make it the very next day. You might give it a little bit of time because staff needs to get like the new funds in place and all that kind of stuff. So sometimes there's a couple of weeks. Other places I work in just from a market perspective, just to make sure nobody was surprised by this, that might be a month out or something like that. And again, you'll see a flood of building permits come in right before that date.

» Again, we think we're doing enough public notice and engagement from this point forward that you only need to have an effective date far enough out for your staff to be able to prop up the system with fund categories and stuff of that nature. So with that, I thank you for your patience because it's impact fees. I'm sure we'll have some questions. Yes. He must have checked. Council members, any questions, comments? Yes. Mr. Tucker. Mr. Chairman, if I may, I'm a little bit confused on the two municipalities that are left out. The town of Elgin, town of Bethune, because I'm not aware that they have an impact fee and by there being, don't have one. Is that just, we're not going to collect there or that's going to be their problem as a town? It's the latter. Okay.

» You could only enact impact fees where you have jurisdiction. And so the city of Camden's impact fee only applies to town limits. Right. Yours would apply to all unincorporated Kershaw County. They would have to move forward on impact fees. And the only reason I'm asking that, because I know about hospitality tax. So if they don't have one when the county moves in, we can collect that in their areas. I didn't know if impact fees worked the same. So that's why I'm asking that question. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Tucker. Any comments or questions? Thank you, Mr. Newcastle, for the presentation. Yeah. Great, great presentation. And thank you for all your hard work. Thank you. All right. So we're still on 8B, gentlemen, as amended. Still open for discussion, comments, or questions.

» Any other discussion? Mr. Chairman, if I may, can we ask staff, and I don't know how it's going to turn out, but as it moves forward to be prepared, if third reading comes up and passes, that we can implement as soon as possible, so we're not lingering, or can this council come up with a date that's agreeable and not let it be next year? I think staff is noted. Thank you, Mr. Tucker. Thank you. Mr. Chair, if I may. Mr. Templer, yes. You know, the question was asked about the, I think from you actually, the EMS failure portion, and I just had a little bit more to put into that. Sure. Yeah. I mean, I was interested in knowing why. What I understood was we're ineligible based on the report and state law, based on credits that have to be given back.

» And so it makes it such a small amount is what I heard, but I'd be interested in hearing more on it for sure. Sure. And so with that, so with what I would consider the two, the parks and rec and the solid waste would be more of an at-large application of the fee throughout the county. As you well know, solid waste is just one of our really pain points. But if we were to go EMS fire, it puts them almost in districts, and that money has to be accounted for in that particular district, has to be spent in that particular district, and then it creates a particular challenge in trying to fund projects and find, in some areas I think building would be very limited, so you would have a really tough time trying to identify a project.

» And also with these projects, when you commit to a particular project of X amount of dollars, if your permitting does not generate enough of the revenue to cover that in that three year period, then we are on the hook for the remainder. So this will be massaged into, should it pass, into our overall CIP, a capital improvement plan, with an eye on expansion. So it's a little bit different than what we would normally do in a regular capital improvement plan. But solid waste will be a pretty easy one there. But we would have to really be intentional moving forward in the budget process as it relates to our capital expenditures and making sure that we have sufficient funds. If we look like we are going to be short on impact fee funding for a three year project if we are coming up.

» Can I use one hypothetical? Sure. If I understand you, there could be a situation where we say, under this program, we're going to commit to build a new fire station called a million dollars in a certain area, but only, say, three hundred thousand dollars is generated from the impact fee. And so at that point, we would have an unfunded mandate that that wasn't planned for. We just thought the impact fee was going to cover it, but it didn't. It fell short. And we'll hear from legal counsel in a second. But so that's that's your concern is from a budgeting perspective. The based on how the report portion came back on fire, we'd be creating unfunded mandates for some of these capital projects. And indeed, the impact or the scale of those projects would be so minute.

» The funding would be so small. And those are very expensive services. I don't know what you could get in like a small line extension. Maybe if you had a line in a particular area. Yes, maybe. OK. Mr. DeBose. Yeah, there's there's an interplay, too, with the spending the funds collected within three years of their scheduled date in the CIP. And some jurisdictions have run into issues with that, where if you don't expend it, you have to refund those funds to the fee payors. Oh, man. Mr. Nooncaster is a particularly chilling example of a major highway project where the local jurisdiction did not collect enough impact fees to complete it. Had no other real funding mechanism and had to hand a lot of money back to fee payers.

» So, yeah, there are minimum thresholds for the expenditure requirements. You're on a three-year shot clock from when you plan them. And to Mr. Templer's point, if you have distinct districts, the fees collected have to be utilized within the district that they are collected. Parks and Rec and facilities are such large service areas that you can right-size projects in there. Smaller service areas become problematic. Thanks, Mr. Dubose. Council members, any other questions or comments? Thank you. Seeing none, we're voting on the as amended version after Mr. Tucker's housekeeping amendment. We'll move it to a vote. All in favor on first reading, raise your hand. Got Shoemake, Tucker, Connell, Cato, Tomlinson, and Jones. In favor, all opposed. Mr. Brousel opposed. For the record, Ms. Hanna.

» Thank you, gentlemen. That takes us to the next item on the agenda. This will be item 8C. This is second reading regarding the MOU, a memorandum of agreement with the library and the Department on Aging. I'm not sure if we need any other summary from staff. Is there a motion? Make a motion, Mr. Chair, that we approve the intergovernment agreement for the library. Second. Mr. Tucker has a motion. Mr. Tomlinson has a second. Mr. Tucker, you have the floor. Just wanted to see if Ms. Amy had any additional news. I see she's here tonight. Yeah. I'm here to answer any questions. Do you want me to explain it a little bit more? Well, some of us wasn't here, so that probably wouldn't be a bad thing. I didn't speak last time.

» I'm just not sure the process is the first time I've been involved in something like this. Speak. Keep it straight. Keep it straight, Amy. Okay, great. So, in your packet is some information about an agreement with the South Carolina Department of Aging, which needs your approval. We've never had the opportunity to house an employee from outside of the county, so this is the first time, as I mentioned, that you've been involved in this process with us. So, we were approached by the Department of Aging to house a new position that they're creating, new to us, dementia care specialist. So, there was a dementia care specialist position for the entire state that was created in '22.

» It was successful enough that the state department decided to fund nine positions, nine additional positions, which follow that COG model of supporting four counties. Right. So, the dementia care specialist would be housed in the Camden Library. We have a small space, but with some creative maneuvering, we found a private space for this position. They would provide support to people who are concerned about a diagnosis they've received for dementia, or have issues related to a family member or a friend that's been diagnosed with dementia. We have the community health worker, as you know, in the library, who supports people who need assistance with all kinds of things.

» I was very excited about this opportunity because we have seen very, very many instances of people who have extreme burdens because either they or family members are facing issues related to dementia. So, the person would meet with them directly and counsel them on how they could advocate for themselves in medical situations, find additional support in the community, handle legal issues. That sort of not obviously providing legal assistance, but navigating them to resources that can do that. And then also providing programming and other forms of support, networking in the community, and working closely with our community health care worker. So, there would not be a cost to us.

» The Department of Aging is fully supporting this position, except for the in-kind support of the office space that we would be providing. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Chairman. Ms. Amy, a couple quick questions. One being, so are we following the four-county pattern as the COG? Is that Lee, Kershaw, Sumter, and Clareton? Yes. And we happen to be the fortunate one that house them. Yes. Is that correct? Right. We would be sharing them, but I think that we would have a benefit of them being located in Kershaw. Oh, absolutely. They're home here. Yes. We'll keep them. My other question is, Mr. Bowes, this may be more on you. In this minimum of agreement, we still got another reading. This is just second, if I'm not mistaken. And it says it effectuates July 1. Correct. That was prior draft.

» We can, of course, adjust that. I think that was set for fiscal year. Right. And as much as this is state-funded, and it's hand in glove with that. DOA reviewed this draft, but if that first language needs to be inserted regarding proration of their, essentially, their lease amount, their funds they're providing for use of the space, it could be adjusted to, you know, July 9 through June 30. And just a proration, or the state pays $100, and we get a little extra rent amount that month. So I'll address that with DOA. Okay. And that's what I'm asking. Do we need to have a special meeting, or can we defer it to our next July, first meeting in July? I just want to make that clear. Yeah. Correct. We all have to approve it. So, again, I don't know if that presents any issue for DOA.

» They didn't voice any of us to the reading schedule. Yeah. Yeah. Because I think sometime before the end of the month, Chairman, a couple of us will be back off vacation, right? If we have to. I made myself available after the chair. Correct. This is too important to not start on time. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Tucker. Any questions? Seeing none, we'll move it to a vote on second reading. All in favor, raise your hand. Amy, great job. Absolutely. Thank you, Amy. Thank you. Ms. Hanna, it's unanimous in favor. Pass the second reading. Thank you, Ms. Amy. All right, gentlemen, that takes us to number 8E, third reading on the budget appropriations and setting the millage rate for Kershaw County fiscal year July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026. Is there a motion? Yes, sir, Mr.

» Chair, I'd like to make a motion that we approve third reading for the budget in Kershaw County for 2526 budget year. Mr. Tucker has the motion. Is there a second? Second. She makes seconds. Mr. Tucker, you have the floor. Yes, sir. I have a couple of amendments that we need to get in. One of them is the ATACs recommendations. If we could, you should have that before you. And I am going to ask them to come up. I think she's already at the podium. My head hasn't lifted yet. To go over her committee's report. And if we have any questions, feel free to ask. You know who that is, don't you, Sammy? No, I don't. You want to tell me? Ms. Beth, please. Go ahead. Hi, Chairman Connell. You've done it. Thank you so much for having me. I am Beth Rivas now, the chairperson of the ATACs committee.

» And thank you. It was Beth Ford. It was previously Beth Ford. That's right. That's correct. I love my new name. So I am bringing you, obviously, I've done this many of times. So I'm bringing you our recommendations. Hopefully, Tyler has provided you with the spreadsheet so that you can see the requests that we had this year. I'll give you some historical information. Last year, we funded 12 projects, organizations for about $115,000. This year, we had 22 requests and only $96,847. So we had to spread a lot of this pretty thin. We will recommend that you fund 19 of these requests based on our discussions. Normally, we also provide you with a reserve of 10%.

» But based on the number of projects that we were asked to fund and the quality of those applications, we are not recommending a reserve for you this year. I will say that. But I'm here to answer any questions that you might have. Thank you, Beth. Mr. Tucker, you still have the floor. Thank you. So I guess my question, Ms. Beth, would be without doing the 10%, are we in any violation of anything as far as the state is concerned? I know we don't have a policy that's written. So was that just a recommended 10% we always held? That was just a recommended 10%. We just did that on your behalf. I don't believe that that's any mandated at all. Mr. Bush, you have any knowledge of any of that? No. Okay. Thank you for what all you and the commission does.

» These ATACs are tough decisions, a lot of applications, a lot of needs. And of course, Mr. Tucker, we always try to fund the drivers of the tourism in this county, but then also consider a lot of new projects as well. So we do, you know, even though they might not be big projects, we really try to recommend you give them a little bit, maybe some seed money or some incentive money. But we do try to fund the major players in our county as well. So we've recommended that. And that's the love that I appreciate about you and all the others is that you try to show everybody a little bit of love. Did y'all find the distributions in your package too? Yep. Okay. Yep. And again, obviously, you know, these are just recommendations. Well, I tell you, if I may, Mr. Chair, I'm sorry. Ms. Tucker. Mr.

» Jones. You do a remarkable job and the commission does a remarkable job. And we're fortunate to have you with your leadership here. I absolutely appreciate everything you do. And I was a big fan of her dad's. Big fan. Thank you, Beth. Thank you so much. And I love both your last names. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Brad seconded it. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Hey, Beth. How are you? Good. Thank you. Good. Good to see you tonight. Was there a request from the South Carolina American Revolution Trust? Yes, there was. And unless I'm overlooking it, I don't see, I don't see an award. So there was not, there was not a recommendation made to award them. Okay. Yeah. Could I ask that you consider them next year? Absolutely. Mm-hmm. Okay.

» I believe, and I mean, I believe that there were some things missing from their application. I believe it's a little vague, especially for a new project. So we just needed a little bit more information from them. And I believe that we have communicated that with them. Perfect. Perfect. Well, I know that Wesley Herndon leads that charge. And I've heard some from him about what their intentions are for Kershaw County. They're going to bring a lot to Kershaw County, especially in the way of tourism, regarding the American Revolution. So I just like to see them in the mix, if you will. Absolutely. And I know Wesley well. So. Perfect. Thank you so much. Appreciate all y'all's hard work. You're welcome. Mr. So this is general discussion on the budget.

» We do need a motion regarding approval of A-Tax. Okay. Submitted. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'd like to make a motion that we amend the 25-26 budget to include the grants pages in the agenda to the proviso section. So that you have from the A-Tax Committee to be included into our proviso section of the budget. We have a motion. Is there a second? I'll second. Second for Mr. Shoemake. Anything further, Mr. Tucker? No, sir. I think we done discussed it already. Mr. Shoemake? Nope. Any other questions, comments? Seeing none, we'll move the Tucker First Amendment to the budget to a vote. All in favor? Raise your hand. It's unanimous in favor. First Amendment passes. We're back on the budget as amended. Any other amendments? Yes, sir, Mr. Chair, if I may. And thanks again, Ms. Buff.

» I'm a good driving student. I said hello. I would like to make an amendment to the third reading of the budget to make a motion to reduce county debt millage and associate by debt by one mill, increase general fund millage, associate budget by one mill to address operational needs at no cost to the taxpayer. That is my amendment. After I get a second, I will discuss further. I'll second. We have a motion. There's a second from Mr. Shoemake. Mr. Tucker. Thank you, sir. This is revenue neutral to the taxpayers, but what it does, it takes care of some of the housekeeping that was cut out when we reduced what the administrative budget was when he presented to us. And you should have in your package exactly what that is down to the tune of $333,200 to increase to P&L insurance of $95,834.

» This was in form of an increase after second reading budget, so it's not an oversight by staff. It's just what comes in from your insurance company. God bless them, right? This is for the position for the HR journalists to allow us to work towards our goal of having one HR person per 100 employees. That's at $105,831 total fringes and all. And then our contract services of $16,475, and that's for new software to allow digital budgeting and financial reporting. And then, of course, we took out that position that I thought was dear and near from the detention center. And this would be a lieutenant position. It's special operations lieutenant. And that position where fringes is all will be $115,60.

» So with that, that adds up to that total, and that takes care of that mill, but it's no increase to the citizens. That is my reason for requesting this, and I think the county needs this to further their success in this upcoming year. Thank you, Mr. Tucker. Mr. Shoemake, do you have a second? Yeah, I just agree with what Mr. Tucker said. I think also it's important to point out that this HR generalist, obviously, Mr. Templar, I know we've got a grant writer in the budget. Is that right or we're working on that? Yes, sir, we do. We do. And so obviously, like, for example, that HR generalist could be tasked with collateral duty of assisting the grant writer.

» Like, in other words, to the extent they had the ability to do extra workload, you'd have the ability to help supplement that workload if it fit in the HR bucket, correct? Correct. I just wanted to point that out. Thank you, Mr. Shoemake. Quick question. Mr. Brazel. Are these positions open or filled yet, or have they not hit the street yet in terms of trying to hire for them? They are not advertised. We're waiting until funding. The HR generalist, especially, that's a new one. And the detention center one as well. So we'll obviously wait to get those. Okay. Of course, you know, anticipating the curve, I've identified some worthy candidates, but we'll see what comes in through the normal channels.

» Do you think it'd be something like someone would move up within the rank and file here, already working at the county, or we would hire someone new? That is always -- I want people to move up, not out of this organization. So I always look at -- everything is open to internal candidates. We've had candidates come from other departments and just kind of completely change gears, pick up a new toolbox, and go to work. So, yes, that is something I absolutely insist that we do. Good deal. Thank you, Danny. Thank you, Mr. Brazel. Anything else from the rest of the Finance Committee? Mr. Tomlinson? I appreciate all my colleagues' hard work and all the staff's hard work. I think it's a solid budget this year. I look forward to supporting it on third reading. Thank you.

» Anything else on this particular amendment before we vote? Seeing none, we'll move this one to a vote. This is Tucker Amendment #2. All in favor, raise your hand. Ms. It's Shoemake, Tucker, Brazel, Connell, Ato, and Tomlinson in favor. All opposed? Mr. Jones opposed? Amendment passes. We're back on the budget as amended with two amendments sitting presently. Any other comments, discussion, any other amendments? Seeing none, we'll move it to a vote. All in favor on the budget as amended tonight for third reading for 2025-26. Raise your hand in favor. Shoemake, Tucker, Connell, Ato, Tomlinson in favor. All opposed? Mr. Brazel and Mr. Jones opposed. Budget passes third reading. We've taken care of items 9A and B previously on the agenda.

» This brings us to item number 10A, New Business Referral of Small Subdivision Ordinance to Planning Commission. Councilman Shoemake, is there a motion? There is. I would make a motion that we refer and recommend to the Planning Commission that they consider expanding the definition of major subdivision to be six or more homes. That is the motion. I can explain if I get a second. Is there a second? Second. Who is that, sir? I'll yield to Mr. Jones. Mr. Jones has a second. Okay. Mr. Shoemake, you have a floor. Yes. So this basically is just a recommendation to the Planning Commission or referral to the Planning Commission that they consider an ordinance. And what that would do, currently we define major subdivision as 10 or more homes or more than 10 homes. Is it more than 10? More than 10.

» More than 10. More than 10 homes. And this would define it as six or more or more than five, depending on how you look at it. But five or less would be a minor subdivision. More than five would be a major subdivision. And that's the basic, what we'd be referring to the Planning Commission, which would start the 30-day clock to have them come back to us so that we can have our first reading on this ordinance by the end of July. And I've seen some stuff on -- just to point out too, I've seen some stuff where people have reached out about whether or not -- what this has to do with the moratorium. And I thought I was very clear. So just so people don't think we're trying to hide the ball here, some members of our council don't love the idea of a moratorium with minor subdivision included.

» Some of us did. So what this is an effort to do is to redefine major subdivision with an eye. And at least my plan would be on third reading of the moratorium to amend it to only include major subdivisions, which by then we would have defined as more than five homes. So that's something I've been completely transparent about. I think it represents a fair middle ground to what we've discussed to allow those small developers, as Mr. Dabney talked about, to still do work in Kershaw County while doing a moratorium on the larger development. So that's sort of the background and genesis for it. And that's all I've got. Thank you, Mr. Shoemake. Mr. Jones, you have the second. I did. And Mr. Shoemake, I want to thank you for your hard work and the rest of the county council on this.

» I did not support the small subdivisions. I was only going to support the major. And the only reason I did on some amendments was to keep it alive and on the floor so it could end up where we have what we got tonight. It was massaged. It was talked about. It was shaped. It was shaped. You know, this is a prime example of this county council on this issue working together, being totally opposite in the beginning, you know, major, you know, everything to come together with a happy medium. And because I think it's very important to listen to the folks and you do and you did like Mr. Dabney. And I appreciate that. And I support this. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Jones. I'll just note with the referral, what's the timeline on getting it back from planning commission, whether that's Mr.

» Templer or Mr. DuBose or Joey. So I can, I mean, I've actually, yeah, so, so the, I'm just wondering dates. Yeah, so the planning commission, it has a regularly scheduled meeting before our July 22nd meeting. So if they have this on their agenda by that meeting, I forget the exact day, but it's, it's before our July 22nd meeting, we would have it on July 22nd. There's also a statute under South Carolina law that gives them 30 days from referral, which would be today. So if they, for some reason, didn't take it up at their next meeting, it would be deemed by statute as having already been ruled upon. So in any event, we will have it on our meeting as first agenda, or I'm sorry, we will have first reading on our agenda on July 22nd, regardless.

» But, but this does give them time to take it up at that regularly scheduled July meeting if they choose to do so. Is that fair, Mr. DuBose? That's accurate. Thank you, Mr. Shoemake. Mr. DuBose, any further comments, questions? Yeah, I'd like to thank Derek Shoemake and Brant Thomason and Councilman Jones. I wore out a pair of shoes talking to Derek one night about this. I was pacing, pacing all around the yard and on my front porch. And we talked for a long, long time. And we found a middle ground that, that I could live with. I can tell you something that this is an industry that we're, we're discussing. This isn't, the connotation that building homes is, is negative. I want to remove that from, from my speech. We all live in a home or some sort of, some sort of living space.

» And whether it be apartment, a mobile home, we can't be hypocrites here. It's an industry that, that I've worked in and enjoyed my entire life. My grandfather was supported by home building. My father and my family and still to this day. But we do recognize the change that Kershaw County has seen. And I think a lot of places, maybe in the south that, that are more conducive to less restrictions and lower taxes have seen an influx of people from less friendly areas. To be fair and to be honest, that's basically what we've seen in less friendly weather conditions, whatever it may be. Whether you're fighting a hurricane in Florida or, or a snowstorm in New York State, welcome to South Carolina. We're, we're kind of a happy, happy meeting.

» And so we do have a lot of people moving our great state and we're glad they're here. But let's get our growth strategy right. And I think, I think it's, it's time that, that we put down our, our swords and our shields. And we work together. We've got six months to do it. I don't feel like there's an appetite to extend it. I think we can, we can get to work and we can framework. What does development look like in Kershaw County in the next decade? And throughout the conversations that I had with, with Brandt and in Councilman Jones and Chairman Connell and Councilman Tuck. And I think I've yet to talk about this, but I think we just all have to work together. And Derek, I commend you for after a very contentious meeting that you and I had willing to talk about it and work together.

» I mean, Derek was a major factor in us finding middle ground and being able to move forward without hurting jobs and opportunity. And even to the major subdivisions, remember this is temporary. This is six months and people are going to continue to move to Kershaw County. We can't, we can't stop that. We can hopefully shape it into a likable format, into something that someone can be very proud of when they purchase a home. They build value. Typically it's someone's most important and expensive purchase of their life. And you saw me as a no vote on, on an impact fee. Unfortunately, it's not a reoccurring revenue. And without reoccurring revenues, the county's really at a disadvantage. And so I've had mixed feelings about impact fees. They're not going to discourage the developer.

» As a matter of fact, I've had several people reach out to me and say, hey, we're willing to pay the impact fee. Let us in. So I feel like it's a key that unlocks a door for development. And sometimes that unwanted development that we hear about so much, the, you know, the mega developments, if you will. Maybe there's a minor, a major and a mega at some point, you know? I mean, but, but we're at a point where we need to put political divides down and work together and find a solution in the next six months. And I feel like we can do that with this group. So I commend everybody on this council for, for the opportunities ahead of us. And I commend our administration and Danny. Thank you for everything you've done and the efforts that you've put into being a leader here in Kershaw County.

» It's, it's not an easy job. You get, you get it from different angles. You got all eyes on you. You're in a fishbowl as we all are, but these are the important things. And these are the reasons why we're here. That's right. Thank you all. All right, gentlemen, we're still on 10 a referral of small subdivision. We're in the planning commission. Any other questions, comments? Can I, can I say one quick thing, Mr. Chairman? Mr. Jones. And councilman Broussard, I want to apologize. You, you stayed on the phone with me. You kept me from throwing it out. After that first meeting, councilman, she make, I was ready to just throw the baby out with the bathwater.

» I was done with it because I did, but, but I really do appreciate you talking me into hanging in there, Russell, because we ended up where we did tonight. Thank you, Mr. Shoemake. Mr. Russell. Thank you, councilman Jones. Um, I actually wore out a part of Jimmy's front yard one night too, walking back and forth because it, it, it took building a bridge on this situation because it was very contentious. And, um, if there's anything I ever want to be able to do for this council is, is build a bridge between, uh, topics and conversations and people. I'm a good one at bringing bridges together. You said building or burning? All right. I'm going to stop y'all from patting yourselves on the back for one second. Can we move to a vote if everybody's done discussing? All right.

» Let's move 10 a to a vote, the referral, all in favor. You just talked very positively. All right. So Ms. Hanna is unanimous in favor, 10 a passes for the federal plan commission. And we just had a good explanation on the timeline to expect it to come back. We thank everybody enough. Mr. Chairman, we did. Thank you. Thank you. All right. That takes us to item number 11 a, um, council and Tomlinson asked that this be moved to this meeting and, um, 11 a, is there any motion? Yes, sir. Mr. Chairman, I have a motion. Um, I would like to appoint, um, James. He goes by Ray Griffin as the district five representative for the airport commission. And if I can get a second, I'll provide a little bit of background information. I'd like to second that if you don't mind. Thank you. We've got a second.

» Thank you. Go ahead, Mr. Tomlinson. Um, so Ray is, is a high school, went to school together, grew up together. Um, he's a U.S. Air Force veteran. Um, he has a local business here that he operates at, Wilbur field. He's a flight instructor, a single multi-engine aircraft, both of them. Um, his, he's got experience with, with jet, turboprop, medevac, financial services. Um, he ran budget operations during air force time. Uh, he's very involved in the community, um, especially at Wilbur field. And he's going to be a great asset to the airport commission in general. And I appreciate your willingness to serve. Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Any other comments, questions? Well, I had a few, but I'm, I'm kind of shy now. I think he's got the votes. Let me tell you something.

» I flew with this guy to, uh, Hilton head once and we had, we had a blast. He's, he's very knowledgeable. Um, we, we almost flew to Florida a couple of weeks ago, but we had to scratch it due to weather. Um, we first met, was it Las Vegas? I was at a conference and Ray is, is dear friends with, um, a dear friend of mine, Ruben Bravo, that, and they, they grew up and went to school. I think Brant and all you guys went to school together. And, um, it's been a pleasure getting to know him. And I can guarantee you one thing. He is an absolute asset for the, uh, the airport. And, um, he'll be an ambassador for the airport. And so I really, uh, really like seeing you here tonight. Thank you, Mr. Brazel.

» Um, just for clarification from staff or otherwise, is this going to be a regular term, full term, or is there anything wonky about it? It's not feeling a partial or anything? It's my understanding that it's a full term. And okay. Three years. Three years. Yeah. Three years. And then they can get reappointed for three more. Well, if there's no other, uh, comments or questions, let's just move it. Oh. Mr. If I... Go ahead. Yeah. If I could say one thing. I see our chairman of the airports here too, Mr. Borowski. Uh, welcome as always. He's a good attendee of coming to our meetings, but... Hard worker. Yeah. Uh, Ray, I want to say, um, you've got my support because I was really impressed with you when you came up and you were willing to volunteer, uh, and make yourself known.

» Cause I had no clue who you were if I had to pick you out of the post office. So, um, it was great to, to have yourself introduced last meeting and you made an impression on me and I've heard nothing but good things since that day. So I'm looking forward to, uh, giving you the assignment. Hey, are we planning on Irish Fest being at the airport again? Yeah. But it's great to hear from, uh, Ms. Patton tonight about, it's just nice whenever volunteer groups or professional groups in the county kind of work together, went to that event in particular and really featured the airport well. And I thank you all as a, as a body for accommodating and staff accommodating that have been out there too. All right. Let's move it to a vote. All in favor of the appointment. Raise your hand. Ms.

» Hanna, it's unanimous in favor. You are appointed. Thank you for being willing to serve. Congratulations. All right, gentlemen, that brings us to council member briefings. Mr. Cato. I know you's going to pick me. I just missed you since last meeting, man. It's every time, Danny. Every time. Every time. At least I'm first in something, right? I have just a couple of things because I know everybody's ready to get out of here. Um, a few announcements that I've been asked to announce. Um, Bethune's having a Let's Freedom Ring Fest and fireworks show on July the 5th at 7:00 PM. Uh, also a back to school bash on July the 15th at the community park from 4:30 to 6:30. Uh, there's a big event up in Mount Pisgah. Uh, it takes place at Faith Family Baptist Church.

» Uh, well, it's, I think it's the Baptist Church. Anyway, it's Faith Family Church. It's July the 4th. Uh, and, uh, they have live music, uh, food trucks, kids' rides, uh, and then they have a big fireworks show. It, it, it draws a really large crowd up there and it's a great event. So if you want to go to a good fireworks show, maybe go get you an elephant ear and listen to some good music, that'll be on July the 4th. I want to thank the, um, administration finance committee and everybody that put this budget together and, and the hard work that they've done this last year. Um, I want to thank all these, these different, different people like, um, like Ms. Patton. And she's leaving and, and again, we, we're going to really miss her, the library.

» And I mean, there's so much that goes into this county and, you know, I'll be the first to admit until I got on county council, I really didn't understand what I thought I understood about how county government works. And, and I encourage the citizens of this county before you criticize, learn a little bit about, about what's going on in the county and, and what it takes to run the county, because my eyes have been opened a lot the last two years. And, um, I, I, I, I think, thank you all for giving me the opportunity. And I thank you all for being so kind and generous and your hard work. Keep preaching. You can get my time. Keep preaching. Preaching. Mr. Tomlinson. Mr. Chairman, I have no report tonight. Thank you, Mr. Tomlinson. Mr. Jones, any report? Mr.

» Chairman, members of the county council. Yes. One, one issue very quickly. And, and it's a, it's a request. It's a favor. It means a lot to me. And it means a lot to some folks in this community. But we heard the lady get up tonight from the Peacan Orchard and speak. She was all but pleading. And I, and I know we have a, a, a great finance committee. I appreciate all the hard work y'all have done. But, uh, Mr. Tucker, I'd like to just on the record ask, would you and the finance committee just meet, see if you can't come up with some source of funding direction where the Peacan Orchard is concerned from maybe July the 22nd. I would greatly appreciate that. You said by the 22nd, not the first meeting, but the second meeting in July. Well, are we meeting, we are meeting both. We're meeting.

» We're meeting councilman Brazler I know won't be there. So we may have a short agenda, but if it's okay with you, we'll have it idea. We'll try the eighth, but definitely by the 22nd. Yeah. Give us the 22nd. Okay. Yeah. Cause I want to make sure you have enough time, but when we come back to just have some, something of some substance and I appreciate y'all considering that. Yeah. So, so this just put down the 22nd. Okay. The 22nd, you'll come back with it. Okay. Yes, sir. Thank you. No, no further report. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Just a couple of little things. Appreciate the public comments, you know, Mr. Dabney, I don't think he's here anymore, but you know, it's a really great example of somebody who may not be in complete agreement, but offer some really good points.

» And I actually owe Mr. Dabney a phone call as well. So I know we've been playing phone tag. The, I want to announce that since we won't have a meeting before then, Thursday, July 3rd at 6:30 PM. So Thursday, July 3rd, 6:30 PM is the ribbon cutting on the Elgin Community Center. This is a huge addition to the Elgin community. It's going to be a great venue space. It's kind of modeled after an old train station. And I know the town of Elgin has worked really hard for this. This council has been really good in helping provide them some funds for that. And of course, Chairman Connell, when he was at the State House, engineered some funds for that.

» So it's been a truly collective countywide effort and sort of state and local effort to get these funds for what's going to be a really, really great highlight in Elgin. So if you can come out July 3rd, 6:30 PM, Thursday, Elgin Community Center groundbreaking. I also want to thank the American Legion, the local post here throughout Kershaw County. Some of you may have had children that went to Girls or Boys State. We just picked both of ours up. Well, one drove back. My son was a senior counselor at Boys State this year, and my daughter attended Palmetto Girls State. So it was a really cool experience to see both the kids go through that in different ways. That's sponsored by the American Legion post and the auxiliary.

» For those who don't know, it's basically these kids spend a week learning about state and local government. It has a military feel to it because it's very regimented and orderly. But these kids come back not only understanding local government, but with a real knowledge of it. They have to run for various offices. So I just thank our local American Legion. And we are lucky enough that in our own county, Mr. Todd McDonald, who was on Kershaw County School Board, is a high-ranking member of the Boys State group. So we've got some folks here that are watching out for our Kershaw boys and girls. So it's a great group. And the last thing I want to say is, you know, an old saying that good riders create and great riders steal.

» So I want to totally steal Councilman Cato's points and make them own as well. You know, the points you make about this county being so intricate are really, I think, critical. Well, 70,000 people ballpark in this county. A little less, but we're going to have more by the end of the decade for sure. And if you look at the people that support this county, the ones that work for Mr. Templar, for our elected officials, you're talking about somewhere in the ballpark of 1% of that 70,000. And that 1% of those 70,000 people are responsible for making sure that the county roads are maintained. There's fire services, EMS, police. Taxes are collected. Planning and zoning regulations are enforced. Assetsments are properly levied. Veterans get their support. The roads get graded.

» That's a lot of work for 1%. And I just want to thank everyone who works for this county and those of you who lead this county, because it's a real honor. Right? It's a big responsibility. But it's a real honor to be able to stand up in a place you call home and say, I'm one of the 1% that keeps this place going. So for all our county staff, for all our county officials and all our county leaders, thank you for being part of that 1%. And you should feel really proud of that and be emboldened by that, because it's critical work. And that's all I have. Thank you, Mr. Shoemake. Mr. Tucker. Thank you. Won't keep you long. Thank you, Danny, for your kind words to the Finance Committee. And I can't say thank you enough for my two colleagues that serve their staff, Danny, you, Ms. Lauren, Mr.

» Gerald, and that guy that nobody understands back there, Tyler. I cannot thank y'all enough for all your due diligence and hard work. Y'all said it, and I didn't believe it. But as we began to make the sauces, it did get tougher than I thought. I'm very optimistic about a lot of things in life. But this was one of these years that you had to have a part from over here and a part from over here. We hope out of the two parts, one of them fit somewhat with workable, and we're able to do that. So I can't thank everybody enough. I thank this dais up here for supporting the budget and believing in giving staff the tools that they need to do their work. So now it's time for staff to go to work. Starting July 1, we want more amazing things and more beautiful things out of you.

» And I know you will deliver. So with that, I say thank you. Thank you. I also want to recognize Mayor Susan out there from Magby. I was, look at Magby, Bethune. I'm in Chesterfield County. I lost my thought. I'm in, but I'm about to steal your impact fees if y'all don't get them. You leaked our annexation plans. But good to see you and thank you for all you're doing in the upper part of the county as well. I have no news as of this time from the COG other than we're just trying to see where our grant lands that y'all approved last meeting. And I appreciate that very much because it's off and running and we hope to get awarded something. And when I get that report back, we will share with staff and definitely bring it up here to council. I can't say enough, Ms. Dolly, about you.

» And I, once again, going to truly miss you. Stay in touch. You have a family here. You have people that you will never, never be able to get out of your lives. So, you know, stay in touch and texting, emails, whatever it takes. But unless you change your number, I'll have it because you're in my phone. That concludes my reports, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Mr. Tucker. Mr. Brazel. Thank you, Chairman. I'd like to make mention that I saw a tremendous act of heroism. On Father's Day, I was watching golf and I got a phone call that a friend of ours' business was on fire. And it was a building that's not too far from our property, our manufacturing facility. And it belongs to Bill Barrett of Southern Custom Doors.

» And my family, my mom, my dad, myself, we were all compelled to visit and see if there's a way we could lend a hand. And obviously, at that point, we couldn't. The building had just been put out. It was on a Sunday morning. I guess the fire started sometime that morning. It was very hot, melted the skylights out of the metal building. And I would like to commend every fireman and woman that I saw on site. And it must have been 40 or 50. And I can remember seeing Chris Spitzer down on one knee because he had been out there working with his men. I may have missed others, but I saw your man, Matthew, Chief. And you may have been on site. But if you are, I apologize. But there were so many firemen. They acted.

» And they didn't, I didn't hear any of them ask, are you with the county? Or are you with Lugol Fire? Or are you with the city of Camden? Because I saw the city of Camden had dispatched and/or volunteers had arrived. I'm not sure exactly which. There were several trucks. But they were, that's what they did on their Father's Day. And I just really want to commend every fireman that all of you, whether you were there or not, that's what you do. And to see it in action and to see a friend that was literally in shock of the situation, to see how we responded was amazing. And I don't really have the words to properly put it in context tonight. But the men and women of this community responded and saved his business. There's work to do and there's a big repair to happen.

» But it was going to be completely engulfed. And I've seen a woodworking facility completely engulfed in like 1998 or 1999 in Elgin. And it burnt, it melted the metal building. So I just want to say thanks again. That concludes my report. Thank you, Mr. Brazel. Thank you, gentlemen, for working together to get a budget where we could fund those firemen and expansion in areas of the county and take care of the needs in Kershaw County. I appreciate you working together on that. Thanks for the work from staff and also the Finance Committee in making recommendations that we're able to use as a springboard. That's a lot of legwork that goes in to help us get to a point where we can reach some agreement. On Southern Custom Doors, like Mr. Brazel, Bill and Harriet Barrett are very good friends.

» And you have some of these businesses in Kershaw County which are so unique. You know, many of the doors at the Statehouse, that Lou Golf business has worked on and done. I've got three or four of their doors, I think, in various, you know, things that I've worked on or been involved with or at my business. And they'll last 100 years. You know, it'll be the same handles that my kids and grandkids will be grabbing and entering for family reunions and otherwise in the future. And so we have some great local folks, Lou Golf Fire, County Fire and Camden Fire all reported. And Chief Spitzer was telling me that we even had somebody who maybe has some health issues in relation to his willingness to sacrifice his life and health to help somebody else's personal property. That's a big commitment.

» And I know that the Barretts are very appreciative of it. And so a hat goes off to all those in the fire service. And I see a few of our leaders here tonight. So thank you very much. We're not going to get rid of Dolly Patton too quickly because she's serving on the Law Enforcement Memorial Committee, as I understand it. And so we'll be able to hold on to her for a little while. That's a project that's going to be a force. We've got to get some state funding next delegation cycle. And the county's already committed some funds and private businesses have as well. But we look forward to seeing her in that respect. Mayor Holley, thanks for coming out tonight. It's also great to have folks who care, like Sheriff Bone being here or our Clerk of Court, Ms. Farmer, coming out.

» It's great to see local elected officials who also care about the process and understanding what's going on in the county. And so I really appreciate that also. That concludes my report. Mr. Administrator, any briefing for us? Yes, sir. Just a few items to go over. Just a quick update on the parks and rec. Everything's moving along. It's just -- luckily, the rain is not hampering too much. Irrigation has been installed up at Westville for the baseball field rehab. Bethune, Copeland, silt fence is installed. So it's a lot of the minor stuff, but it's important in stabilizing the site. Camden-Woodward, the improvement of site grading and underground utilities, they continue to go in. It's going to be a large process there.

» We've been in conversation with the city and trying to partner with the city of Camden with some in-kind work over there to see how we can reduce costs and just be better partners. They're very willing to look at what they can do to help us. So I'm very hopeful with that. Without the boat ramp and parking, it continues to move forward. A lot of the site work has been completed. And I know the concrete was scheduled. I've kind of lost index of time. I was out of town last week, but I understood that they were working to get the ramps poured, weather permitting. So that's going to be the bigger part there, working in conjunction with Duke to lower the river. KC West park expansion, parking expansion, I'm sorry. They mobilized out there, and so they're starting to move dirt.

» Pecan Orchard, you know, that's something that when I stood out there, I've been working on Pecan Orchard for 10 years. I know Mr. Jones probably spent at least that much time trying to get some funding out there for some of the other areas. But I'm still committed to that. It hasn't gone away. We're not sitting idly. It's just we're trying to find other funds that are, you know, kind of geared towards these projects that will help remediate some of those issues out there. We have put in for a FEMA hazard mitigation grant. That's already been put in. That application or the pre-application goes into the South Carolina EMD, and that's in conjunction with what went on with Hurricane Helene. So we did see some impact over there on that. So we're fingers crossed on that.

» It's a 75% federally funded, 25% local match. We have retained the funds that we had previously identified for Pecan Orchard. It was some of $200,000 for grant match for the Rural Infrastructure Authority. It's my intent to keep that money there parked as future grant match. There's other grants out there. If we swing and miss again, we'll continue to run down the list. There's some USDA grants out there, the Department of Resiliency. There's some opportunity there. So we -- and, you know, look, if we get pieces and parts from other places, other grants, then that's just fine too, as long as we make up the total amount. I plan to meet with Michael Baker International, the engineering firm out there. They still are the engineering firm on record for that project.

» We'll look at everything from can we do phases, what makes most sense. You know, I know there's a willingness to -- or a desire for us to go out there and cut ditches and do all these things. But -- and it's hard not to do that from my standpoint. But it is also -- it requires a little discipline because we've spent a lot of money on engineering. And those folks are way smarter than I am. And so that's not hard to be. But, you know, they're -- and I'll lean on them for guidance. What is, with X amount of dollars, what is going to, you know, see the most impact? And then I will say this to the folks out at Peking Orchard. You know, I'm going to continue to work on this. We'll continue to communicate.

» It's just, you know, we just haven't had anything to put out on the email blog, if you will, that I send out periodically. Just not been much activity. So we are still here. We are still connected to this project. And, you know, I just intend to run down through the progressions to see what we can get done out there. And get it across the finish line. And just one more item. You know, I just -- sitting here tonight, and we -- you know, looking at these -- the burn rate of paper that we go through. And I would just ask you all humbly to just consider what kind of electronic form -- format we could go to where your agenda packet is displayed. And this is something we can talk offline about. But it's just -- I feel like we've gone back in time to when Ms. Mary used to bind the agenda.

» You don't like this? Yeah. So -- Well, I tell you, we've got to get the monitors up here working first. Yeah. I can't see anything. Good point. And I say that because it could be one -- it could be the, you know, the summer home improvements here that we go through. So we will have some opportunity with the gaps in the meetings. So -- but that's something I really want to work on. And I just feel like we could do better here, but be a little more professional. And we do reduce our footprint as it relates to paper and plastic. So -- Forestry is an industry, right? I support them. You know they're going to give you a hard time with monitors being off. Well, I know. You know, I got to throw it out there. So it's tough business. That's what you did.

» And I will just close with just thanking each and every one of you for your willingness to listen to us throughout the budget process. That was a -- that was a bumpy ride. It's good. And that was a dusty trail. So I think the power steering went out a couple times on it. But, you know, we got through it. And we -- you know, with everything that we've experienced, we got together, we moved the needle, and we're going to move the county forward from a staffing standpoint, you know, that internal service with HR. And then we're just going to move -- move the needle forward with improving the services to the citizens. It's my absolute goal to be the best form of local government there is. And if you just walk around this organization, you see that the culture is changing.

» It's changing for the better. We are attracting more qualified and talented employees, and that's not on accident. So it's the hard work of staff, not myself, but just a common goal and a common objective, and it's paying off. So -- but I can't thank you all enough for your work on the budget and your willingness to do what you do and support what we need to get done. So thank you. Thank you, Mr. Templer. Mr. Chairman, I had a question on one of his comments. Oh, go ahead. Mr. Templer, so I'm sitting here trying to think, and, Ms. Lauren, you can write this down. I'll confirm it. We're thinking July 9th for the Finance Committee. I'll confirm with you, though.

» In that meeting, can we sit down and see, can we get a timeline for maybe the next six to eight weeks where we can do a report on any progress? Because I know you haven't -- staff hasn't -- we haven't, as the Finance Committee, just been sitting on our hands, just ignoring the problem. It just seems like everywhere we go, we're striking out on trying to get any help. And so it may come down to just having to piecemeal, as you were talking about. But I would like to, as the Finance Chair, try to get a timeline on as much as we can so when we report out July 22nd, we can follow that guideline, if that's okay with you. Thank you. And just one more thing. You reminded me that this pre-authorization, if you will, for this grant, we've submitted.

» It's a 30-day turnaround, I think, somewhere around there. So we should know something soon. It's sooner than most. It's local. It's through the state, so fingers crossed. Okay. Well, pretty soon you'll have a grant writer to -- Yes. -- be voracious and go after all these. You know, again, having those preemptive conversations, I feel good about where we're going to go with that position. All right. Thank you. Mr. DuBose, any legal briefing other than an executive session? No. Just happy to be back. Good to have you back. Let me say welcome. Gentleman under 15A, we've got one executive session item I do not anticipate. It'll take long. It would require a vote afterwards, but let's get a motion and a second if y'all are interested.

» Is there a motion to enter an executive session regarding receipt of legal advice regarding a pending, threatened, or potential claim under SC Code 30-4-70? Make a motion. We're going to executive session. We got a motion. Second. All in favor? Raise your hand. How late are you going to be? We're going to be just right here. It's unanimous, Ms. Hanna. Sorry. I seek a motion to exit executive session. So moved. We've got a motion. Is there a second to exit? Second. We've got a second from Mr. Cato. All in favor? It passes, Ms. Hanna, with Mr. Jones and Mr. Brousel being absent at the moment for the vote. We're out of executive session. We're out of executive session. After executive session, do we have any motions? I have a motion, Mr. Chair.

» I would move that we authorize the county administrator to enter into a contingency fee representation agreement with UPF litigators LLC to retain those attorneys to pursue claims against companies engaged in the manufacturing, marketing, and/or distribution of ultra-processed foods. That's in the form of a motion. Is there a second? Second. We've got a second from Mr. Tucker. Any discussion? Explanation. Do you want to explain it, Mr. Chair? No. You made a motion. I can talk about it if you like. Yeah. So basically, this is just -- there are counties across South Carolina, numerous, have explored potential litigation against manufacturers of certain types of food products that have certain addictive chemicals. This is very similar to the opioid litigation.

» So effectively, what we would be doing is joining those counties and if there ends up -- and we do this to protect ourselves -- if there ends up being some type of settlement and we don't join in, then we will not get any of the proceeds. Proceeds. So this is a chance for us to join in. It costs nothing to the county at all to do this. It's the same as Reynolds Tobacco. Yep. That lawsuit too. Thank you, Mr. Shoemake. Thank you, Mr. Tucker. Any further discussion or questions? Seeing none, we'll move it to a vote. All in favor of the motion, raise your hand. Shoemake, Tucker, Connell, Cato, Tomlinson, all in favor with Mr. Jones and Mr. Brassel being absent. All right. It passes. Ms. Hanna for the record. Seek a motion to adjourn. Motion to adjourn. Second. Mr. Tucker and Mr. Cato.

» All in favor of adjournment, raise your hand. Ms. Hanna is unanimous by those who are present and voting. We're adjourned.