Machine transcript of the county's live stream. Each » marks a change of speaker; the captions don't say who is talking, and names are often misspelled. For the readable version see the recap; the official record is the county's minutes.
» good evening everyone like to welcome you out haven't seen y'all since last year how about that to our January 13th 2026 Kershaw County Council meeting we've been called to order welcome again everyone I hope you had a restful holiday and Christmas season and a great new year to get us started out tonight we've got the invocation by Vice Chairman Russell Brazel who will also lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance mr. Brazel father thank you for us being able here to gather tonight and represent Kershaw County collectively. Thank you for keeping us safe. Thank you for our children, Lord. Thank you for our families. We just pray that you bless us in this new year and you keep us safe, you keep our family safe, strong, and healthy. And we say all this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.
» I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and And to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Brazel. Mr. Jones, point of order. You may have a couple of minutes for just some comments I want to make. In lieu of council briefing or? Yeah, I would like to do it now. Instead of your council briefing later? Yeah, I don't want to do a council briefing because this meeting may be three or four hours. and some of these folks may not be here, and I just want to make sure that... That they hear what you have to say? Yes, absolutely. Okay. All right, if there's no objection, go ahead. Too kind, too kind. You guys are too good to me. I really had to discuss this with Mrs.
» Mara Horton-Jones. She and I have seen a lot of battles in this room together when she served on the school board as chairman of the finance committee, and I was chairman of the finance committee for the county council. She was chairman of the finance committee for the school board, and she came in here one night, and she was asking for quite a large sum of money and millage and i told her i wasn't going to support it she said she didn't think i would support it and i go home and i say hey baby how you doing she said don't baby me and i said what she said if you ever talk to me like that again you can be sleeping with uncle chuck i enjoyed my couch and i stood my ground it was it was good but after that we were okay no i just want to start with something light lighthearted because this has
» been my life 47 years here at kershaw county 20 years on county council that ended this this this year but i want to say that i have enjoyed serving the citizens of kershaw county i was elected to the county council in 2006 and i am now beginning my 20th year on council serving all the citizens of kershaw county i really have enjoyed serving the people and there is no reason i cannot continue to serve there is no reason i cannot serve another term on county council i am the only council member from my district to serve more than one term I am in my fifth term this year however after 20 years on county council beginning in 26 folks it is time for me to give up my seat or y'all's seat that I represent in district four to someone else give them the opportunity to continue to serve the service
» that I've had tried to serve you in the last 20 years therefore I will not be seeking reelection at the end of my term which means that filing is I think for this seat will and everybody else's seat who is up is in March so this gives I wanted to give the citizens of Christian County plenty of time to decide who wanted to stand up and run I didn't want to sneak anything on them let me finish this what I wrote down so I don't get off on a sidetrack here I make this announcement now so that other citizens in my district will know that I do not intend to run again and seek reelection. I will be here another year and I will continue to represent the citizens of Kershaw County and continue to protect the taxpayers as I feel that I have done in the past 20 years.
» I have been blessed and by the trust and confidence of the citizens of my district and the citizens of Kershaw County who have trusted me with what I call a precious gift and that is the the gift of their trust in their vote and when people give us that and I can tell you this I I know there isn't a person up here that takes that for granted. I think this county's got a good county council. I know I can't be right all the time, but bottom line is we've got a great county council. I know they're working hard to try to get things done with sometimes very little resources. But, gentlemen, I want to say thank you. I look forward to that. It's not over. I've got another year. And we may have a somber night tonight, but y'all will get mad at me 40 more times before this year is up.
» But I have enjoyed serving with y'all, and I look forward to this last year. And to my wife, I'm surprisingly glad that you were here so you could hear that. But thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Mr. Jones. All right, gentlemen, that brings us on to adoption of the agenda. Are there any motions on the agenda? I make a motion we approve the agenda as submitted. We have a motion. Is there a second? Second. We have a second. Any discussion on the agenda? Seeing none, we'll move it to a vote. Everybody's in person tonight, so if you're in favor, raise your hand. Ms. Hanna, it's unanimous in favor. The agenda is approved. I'm going to move up item number 11A.
» related to SEDNR and various recognitions on a resolution to write after the proclamation for the Kershaw Environmental Collaborative placed on the agenda by Mr. Brazel. And so we'll have the agenda and proceed in that way. Okay? All right. That brings us to the next item in the agenda, which is item number 5A, Kershaw Environmental Collaborative placed on the agenda by Vice Chairman Russell Brazel. Do we have a motion? I'd like to make the motion For a proclamation to protect the environmental integrity of Kershaw County's natural resources. We have a second second We have a second. Mr. Browse the other floor Thank You chairman Connell.
» I will read this proclamation again a proclamation to protect the environmental integrity of Kershaw County's natural resources as Many of you know, I have a passion for Lake watery and the watery River as well as all the watersheds Which which led to this partnership with the ES? Whereas the Kershaw County Council affirms its commitment to responsible environmental stewardship and recognizes the importance of collaboration with state of South Carolina through Department of Environmental Services and whereas the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services seeks to foster positive cooperative Relationships with counties across the state cut to collaboratively address environmental challenges including watershed protection and stormwater management and whereas Kershaw County and the s
» tate of South Carolina share a mutual interest in protecting natural resources while supporting responsible economic activity and community growth and whereas this partnership is intended to Provide County staff with additional resources technical support and opportunities for collaboration in order to strengthen environmental protections and whereas the protection of Kershaw County's natural resources including Lake watery the watery River and all associated streams and bodies of water is vital to the health economy and quality of life of its residents and whereas cooperative environmental stewardship can enhance relationships with industry small business and the community while promoting compliance innovation and sustainable practices now therefore be it proclaimed that Kershaw County and
» the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services Hereby establish a pilot partnership known as the Kershaw environmental collaborative Reflecting a shared commitment to cooperation problem-solving and the long-term Protection of the county's natural resources. Thank you. Thank you. Mr Brazel any other comments discussion by council members? I just like say thank you to mr. Brazel for putting this together I think this could potentially save us some money Down the road and I appreciate his hard work as I know he he'd like Most of you up here. He puts a lot of hours into the county government gets very little money for it. Thank you Russ Thank you, Mr. Jones. Any other comments or discussion? I would just like to, again, thank the director, Myra Reese, for this opportunity.
» This is a pilot program, the first county in the state, and we're still defining what this is as a partnership, but we know it's going to be positive. We know that it's going to bring better communication, And we're going to seek problem-solving, not hard fines and enforcements. We're going to work together, and I think that's something that anybody who's seen the way government and politicians act sometimes on television, they're probably glad to see a change in that regard. So happy to present this tonight. Thank you, Mr. Brazel. Do we have anybody here from DES that we need to recognize at all before we vote? Do we have anybody here tonight? No. Okay. Then in that case, we'll move it to a vote. All those in favor, raise your hand. It's unanimous. Proclamation passes. Ms.
» Hannon, for the record, thank you very much. Good deal. That moves us to item new number 5B. It's the previous resolution we discussed briefly, former 11A resolution committing the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. Do we have a motion? I would make a motion that we adopt the resolution. Mr. Shoemake, is there a second? I'll second. I think Mr. Tucker got you on the second. Sorry about that. You can want me anyway. I'm not going to let y'all fight over it right here. All right. Mr. Shoemake? All right. I'll read the resolution. This is a resolution commending the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Lance Corporal Tommy Buchanan, Global Echo Adventures, the South Carolina Office of Resilience, and J.A.
» Still and Robert Collins Construction Company for their dedicated and successful efforts to remove a four-year-old log jam on the Lynch's River here in Kershaw County. Whereas the Lynch's River is one of Kershaw County's important natural resources, Whereas, the Lynch's River flows through the county, and the main river has tracks located within its watershed. Whereas, a large and long-standing log jam in place for more than four years created significant navigational, environmental, and safety hazards along the vital stretch of the Lynch's River within Kershaw County. And, whereas, South Carolina DNR, led by Lance Corporal Tommy Buchanan, along with Global Echo Adventures, the South Carolina Office of Resilience, and J.A.
» Still and Robert Collins Construction Company, recognize the urgency of restoring the river's natural flow, ecological health, and safe accessibility for paddlers, anglers, wildlife, and future conservation initiatives. And, whereas, the coordinated efforts of DNR's Lance Corporal Buchanan, DNR Director Dr. Mulliken and DNR Director of Training Eric Martin, together with the technical expertise, leadership, equipment, and field support provided by Global Echo Adventures under the direction of its president, Thomas Mulliken, Jr., and retired Army First Sergeant Clark Gray, as well as the support of the South Carolina Office of Resilience and the operational capabilities of J.E.
» Still and Robert Collins Construction Company, resulted in the safe, efficient, and environmentally responsible removal of the four-year-old obstruction. And whereas this successful operation demonstrates the effectiveness of collaboration among state agencies, county officials, private partners, and conservation organizations working together to safeguard and enhance South Carolina's natural resources for present and future generations. And whereas the citizens of Kershaw County will directly benefit from the reopening of this section of the Lynch's River.
» Now therefore, be it resolved that Kershaw County Council hereby commends and expresses its sincere appreciation to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Global Echo Adventures, the South Carolina Office of Resilience, and J.A. Still and Robert Collins Construction Company for their exceptional service, dedication, and achievement in removing the long-standing logjam in the Lynch's River. Be it further resolved, the Kershaw County Council recognizes their work as a model of environmental stewardship, public service, and partnership, and extends its gratitude for their continued commitment to preserving and protecting the natural resources of Kershaw county adopted and approved this 13th day of january 2026.
» and we do have uh before we go to a vote we do have several members of dnr i believe lance corporal buchanan and eric martin are also here as long as uh mr mulligan is here as well outstanding mr tucker you had the second yes i i just want to say thank you for their services and what all they do here in kershaw county we always think out of the 46 counties that we're very special and number one so we appreciate all your efforts and uh you're willing to always partner and do great things here for the citizens of herschel county thank you mr tucker mr cato you had the second second and we have um mr kenneth clark gray in the audience as well okay outstanding i just want to thank everybody that was involved in this i don't live too far from this this site and i tell you the lynch's river if yo
» u've ever been down lynch's river is a beautiful place full of wildlife and beautiful scenes all right there's some beautiful hardwoods and wetlands down through that that uh that area and it's awesome so i just thank you for helping us keep it up thank you thank you mr any other comments questions yeah mr chairman yes sir just like to say thank you to to the a team back there they they did a wonderful job i had the opportunity to go out one day i didn't get to go the multiple days that were there and got to put on a pair of waders but there were thousands of tons of trash debris log logs pulled out of that it wasn't a log jam it was probably about a football field size stoppage in the lynch's river was absolutely ginormous um they got in the water on a freezing cold day i know a couple of
» them get their waders i think um first sergeant gray dipped his waders quite a few times climbing up and up and down the log jam so it was it was a valiant effort and really appreciate it but it um it ended up being navigable waterway after um after the cleanup so It's a great effort. Thank y'all for your all your hard work. Thank you gentlemen. Thank you. Mr. Thomas and Mr Brazel, yeah, we're just real quick and in the spirit of environmental greatness. I'd like to say thank you to everybody And Eric, you know, I can't I can't let it go.
» I hadn't seen Eric since probably 1998 in which we were bass fishing when I was in school at Clemson 98 99 He's always been an excellent fisherman I have not seen him until he walked in the back door and it hit me like a ton of bricks It's so good to see him for the first time in 27 years, or maybe 28 years. I was so excited to see an old friend, and I think it's cool to get reunited with something positive for our community. So it's good to have all of you here tonight, and I couldn't go without sharing that. So thank you. Thank you, Mr. Brownsville. Any other comments or discussion? I'll just say I've seen you gentlemen make a difference all over the state, including Kershaw County and neighboring counties, so thanks again. We'll move it to a vote.
» all in favor raise your hand miss hannah the resolution passes unanimously do we have anybody that we should recognize mr shoemake you had the motion anyone who would want to come up to the mic before a picture well does the you know if any of these folks know you guys mr thompson i know you know the crew very well yeah yeah the four y'all y'all come up for a picture we have a bunch of silent heroes that's outstanding come on up to the front please i know eric doesn't like to pictures thanks again gentlemen uh true public servants it's rare that you find somebody who gets opportunity to grab the mic and they turn it down keep a low profile thank you gentlemen all right that takes us to public presentations and before we do that I just was remiss in mentioning Danny Templer his mom passed aw
» ay we excuse him tonight our fearless administrator we have a capable mr. Blanchard here tonight to to fill in for Danny they had funeral services today of course there are a lot of tears shed and a lot of Pink Floyd was listened to she She is a great woman, from all accounts. All right, that moves us to public presentations. Councilman Cato placed on the agenda an Alpha Center update. Is there a motion, Mr. Cato? - Yes, sir. I'd like to make a motion that we allow Alpha Center, the Opioid Abatement Coalition, to come forward and give us a presentation on these store-bought drugs and smoke shop drugs. - Okay, we have a motion. Is there a second? - I'll make the second. I'd like to say thank you, Danny. - All right, we got a second.
» discussion before we vote seeing none we'll move to a vote mr chair would it be proper for me to stand on this i think you can vote because we're not expending any public dollars on this and it's related litigation that's already been spent there's no direction there's no objection it'd be the first time in 20 years i ever voted for anything well it's not related to budget items so all in favor raise your hand yes ma'am public presentation please thank you miss mario welcome all right thank you all um appreciate being here been here been coming to seattle for a long time but um just wanted to give y'all as we promised a quarterly update and mr cato also wanted to talk about um a little bit about the um vapes uh shops and i'm not targeting anyone specifically but the substances that are out
» there and we say vape shops they're out there in all kinds of stores so when we come to you tonight um just to provide a little bit of education but also to just give you kind of a quick update on the alpha center we are getting ready to break ground on an expansion and those dollars are provided by the legislators over the past two years the fortunate part about is we have the dollars to expand the unfortunate part about it is we have to expand because our we're beyond capacity our wait time for getting appointments is extended beyond what people really need and so um we will start that so all of y'all will see that coming the other thing too is i also want to talk to you a little bit about um the um work that's been done here in kershaw county has been replicated in chesterfield with the
» skorf dollars as well as lee county picked up and was told hey um we heard what kershaw county and chesterfield's doing can you bring it to lee county and we now represent lee county as well also i have to also commend my staff and you'll meet leanna who is my school director here in kershaw county and bethy hardaway who is the prevention specialist in kershaw county but they are also being recognized as the model grant written for the state that will be utilized for everyone else to model their grant writing for the score awards throughout the state and that'll be coming down so i do have to um give them kudos on that but that also brings great recognition statewide to kershaw county as we present that at the next what they call coffee chat throughout the state for the opioid response team
» s so in saying that i'm not going to take up much time i do want to introduce leanna adams came as a prevention specialist and quickly showed her drive and love and passion for working in the prevention for ensuring that our citizens received the best in kershaw county as well as lee county she was working there and was promoted up to my skorf director but she has learned to utilize those dollars to integrate into helping look at what is it we can do to make kershaw county healthier citizens and to grow and keep kershaw county on a fast track for ensuring our citizens are thriving and then she also is joined by bethany and i was fortunate to pick bethany up and she is a crackerjack at quickly going in and these these ladies don't just learn it they go into the stores and ask questions and t
» ake pictures so when they're giving you information tonight it's because they have been and done an environmental scan and been out in the community and learned about it and so i'm appreciative that y'all are willing to listen to this because even though you may not be directly affected it is information that is pertinent to saving people's lives and building healthier communities so i'd welcome leanne and bethany up yes ma'am good evening um today i want to thank kershaw county council and a special thanks to danny cato for having me tonight as mara mentioned my name is leanna adams i actually graduated from a kershaw county school north central high school in 2008 and i do have my four-year degree from coker college or university if you're asking whoever and i do have a degree here in psy
» chology i do serve as mentioned for kershaw county and lee county for that opioid abatement coalition director and i'm employed by alpha behavioral health center i started my alpha career mara mentioned she took all my all my introduction about being a prevention specialist that means that i'm working to stop substance use and misuse and other related harms through youth and community education and since moving into this role as coalition director i have now moved a little bit outside of that but want to talk a little bit about or focus less on the business part of this but the products that are within these gas stations and these vape stores and why this matters to zoning regulation and community protection so my goal again tonight is to educate you on these products you may not know about
» them or have walked past them while you're buying your snacks or gas without even realizing vape shops and gas stations are not only selling high concentration nicotine vapes with marketing tactics like flavors brightly colored packaging to attract our youth but they're also selling these products and substances and they vary widely and affect legality, safety, and carry many products or many significant health risk. These substances commonly termed as gas station drugs apply to all non-FDA approved substances and they're being sold casually in our gas stations online and elsewhere. Oftentimes they're labeled as dietary supplements, herbal remedies, and legal highs.
» Many products will use verbiage such as mood, focus, dietary, enhance, and that's to downplay the psychoactive effects of these products. These terms can also minimize and obscure those actual effects. These products and their potency are also changing rapidly and local zoning and regulation has not been able to keep up. This market is always and ever evolving.
» Also with many of these products being synthetic, once there is a a regulation a simple chemical alteration can make it a completely new product and now it falls back into a legal gray area these substances fall into a few key categories some are plant-based like kratom and proprietary mushroom blends and i do use the term plant-based very loosely companies use these terms such as natural and plant-based as marketing tactics because they can be misleading others are synthetic hemp derived thc products they come in many forms gummies vapes oils and are being sold as legal highs we also see unregulated pharmaceuticals like tia neptune fedabunt which are especially risky because of their addictive potential inhalants like nitrous oxide are also being sold in small and large cartridges and note
» that some of these actually kind of fall into multiple category and we're still trying to figure out how to classify some of these so i encourage each of you to review the flyer that i've put before you for some visual examples and the different substances that are out there and I challenge each of you to walk in a vape shop or even your local gas station and take the time to really look at the products that are there especially those that are close to the register behind the counter and you would be surprised what you did not see or notice before if these products again mention anything like mood enhancement focus dietarily dietary we want you to beware and be aware and when we talk about these products we're really talking about emerging drugs which means emerging risk and the impact is a
» lready showing up in our schools and our homes and our emergency rooms new substances including product like 7-hydroxymetragynine and pseudoindoxyl introduce unpredictable effects many are harder to track and that creates a gap in our prevention and response efforts these substances are also affecting overdose prevention efforts. When they're mixed with opioids and used unknowingly, they increase overdose risk and make it harder to interpret trends and data. That matters because that shapes our prevention messaging and our outreach. And from a policy and a strategy standpoint, understanding what's emerging can help guide decisions about funding, partnership, and enforcement.
» And identifying trends early allows coalitions and local government to be proactive instead of reactive and ultimately i just want awareness to help you better understand so that we can protect our residents by strengthening education improve improving coordination among schools and providers and other stakeholders and allowing us to respond quickly to these emerging threats then when we talk about zoning this issue issue isn't it also about if these products exist it's also about where they're being sold. Location matters because proximity matters. When products with psychoactive effects are being sold near schools, parks, churches, and other youth-centered spaces, exposure increases and the use becomes normalized. Visibility also matters.
» When these products are being placed right behind the counter near the register, it becomes a part of everyday purchasing and that can increase impulsive buying, especially for young people and for people that are in recovery. We also want to look at the cumulative impact. One store may not be a concern but when on their own but when several are located close together this can have an effect on the neighborhood and it will change. That's why zoning exists. That's why location affects impact and local government has the responsibility to consider that. In December council took a important first step by addressing where hemp derived and synthetic cannabinoid products are sold and recognize that location and clustering does matter.
» At the same time, many of these products fall into legal gray areas. Unlike alcohol and tobacco, THC, Kratom, and other similar products do not have a clear statewide age restriction. Some companies actually volunteer and voluntarily label their products as 18-plus or 21-plus. Others do not. Many are packaged to look like energy drinks and alcoholic beverages and are easily placed near those items, sometimes without staff realizing that the age restriction should even apply. Because federal regulation has not kept pace, local action becomes necessary. Community cannot wait for federal guidance and must use local tools to protect our youth and our residents. Conditional use is a familiar and effective zoning tool.
» We already use it for alcohol sales and other high impact uses because it recognizes that location and context does matter. Conditional use allows for that case by case review, which makes decisions thoughtful not automatic and it creates a space for public input so that raise residents can raise concern and be part of that process this also allows the county to apply location-specific conditions without creating a blanket ban and condition conditional use doesn't really shut doors it sets guardrails this approach provides predictability for businesses while protecting community standards and public health so kershaw county has made meaningful investments in prevention treatment and recovery and we work hard to protect our youth our families and reduce substance related harm and both zoning
» and point-of-sale protections are part of a larger system but we can invest in recovery recovery and prevention in one hand and ignore environmental exposure and access on the other these ordinance align with community standards support responsible growth planning and provide those safe guardrails that protect residents today while remaining adapted as new substances emerge this isn't about being anti-business it's about being intentional informed and proactive taken together these they reflect today's realities and represent a practical step forward for Kershaw County again this retail market is constantly changing and these ordinance recognize that reality they provide reasonable lawful guardrails that protect sensitive stasis while allowing the county to respond responsibly to emerging p
» roducts the adoption and ordinance like it will ensure oversight protect community health and safety and give kershaw county a clear and practical framework to move forward i do thank you guys for your time hello everyone i'm bethany hardaway i'm a prevention specialist here with alpha and i'm learning a lot just alongside you all about these substances and the harm that they're causing to our society not only our community so like leanna mentioned there's a lot of youth access as you guys can see on the flyer there's a lot of colorful imagery there's a lot of youth marketing targeting youth similar to how the tobacco industry targets youth in their vape products and as Leanna mentioned the legal consequences or the legal catching up of the law obviously the legal field is having a hard tim
» e keeping up with some of these new products that are coming out because the second one is legal it just changes the chemical compound and the age restrictions are also very hard to enforce so just to give a little bit of background from the youth tobacco survey that is conducted every year in South Carolina of the youth that reported using tobacco almost 50% of those tobacco products were purchased from traditionally legal outfits so including 10% from gas stations 26 from vape shops and then 13% from another store type with these considerations especially the a large percentage being from a vape shop, and these obviously being illegal for youth to buy, it's very important to put guardrails on these substances, especially because we're having a hard time preventing their actual sales, so t
» he least we could do is put guardrails on their access to youth and strengthen those restrictions. Thank you so much for having us. - Thank you, Mara, Leanna, and Bethany. Mr. Cato, you had the motion. - I felt that this presentation tonight was very important after the opioid. i have the pleasure of serving on the opioid abatement coalition council commission and we had a meeting back on december 16th and this really opened my eyes for one solid hour this was very a a very short presentation because of time restraints but we we had one solid hour of presentations during this meeting and if you could have heard that you would have really seen why i wanted what a little bit was shared here tonight to be said we had testimony from people that were trying to help people overcome addiction that
» considered this to be a legal way to stay high we had people that were accidentally overdosing on this type of stuff that was seeking medical attention that could have very easily cost them their life so you know I was very I have to say even coming from a law enforcement background 27 years, that this actually shocked me a little bit. This was so readily available in our stores. We had a legislative breakfast at Alpha Center and Councilman Braswell actually went by the store and purchased some of this stuff just to show how easy it was and how easy you could mistaken this for just some type of energy drink or strawberry lemonade drink and you'd never know what was in it. So I thank the Alpha Center so much for coming out tonight and for giving us this presentation.
» I thought that it was very important based off the vote that we're gonna take tonight. And one last thing that wasn't mentioned tonight, one of these substances is actually being produced and packaged in Fort Mill, South Carolina, less than an hour and what, 15 minutes from us. And when we know that we had a big roundup, Our sheriff's office and SLED was involved, and the sheriff's office has representation at these meetings in the city of Camden. I think Dave Miller and a couple others were there, Chief Jack Rushing, and they told us that SLED and these sheriff's offices from around the state collected 26 tractor trailer loads of this stuff, 26 tractors on one seizure.
» That amazes me, and it frightens me to know that our young people have access to this without sometimes even knowing what they what they're getting their hands on I'm sorry for the for the long speech but I thank you again for coming out and and doing this presentation Thank You mr. Kato mr. browse we have the second I believe yes thank you chairman Danny thank you and thank you ladies thank you for the whirlwind of support and education that you have given us on these topics I know that this council and the Alpha Center together won't nothing more than the health wellness and safety of children middle-aged folks and all generations because frankly a lot of the people consuming some of these drinks and gummies are mistaking them for CBDs and that's not what this is this is not granddad's ma
» rijuana this is not weed that was purchased in 1973 this is a different animal completely these drugs have been mutated manipulated and appropriately marketed towards our youth and frankly it ticks me off it takes me off to know that I've had friends suffer from these issues and that somebody's making a lot of money off of the downfall of of our society by letting this crap be sold in an unregulated fashion um if it were up to me it wouldn't exist we're going to take every step towards keeping this off the streets keeping it out of stores and making sure that everybody understands exactly what it is and how it can harm them so i just really want to say thank you for everybody's support danny cato i couldn't thank you more more thank you so much ladies this means so much to so many thank you
» very much any other comments or discussion any questions i have a question mr schumacher mr schumacher yeah just briefly thanks you thanks again mar and all you folks at the office center um one thing i think is kind of interesting excuse me a lot of folks ask well why can't we just make these things illegal and something i think that a lot of people don't realize is like for example methamphetamine we all know meth is illegal but what methamphetamine is is c10 h15n that's the chemical compound right 15 atoms of carbon i think c is carbon i'm not great at chemistry that's my sister-in-law are you making this you but you get ahead of yourself but uh before i get out of my skis on that if you change one atomic element to that it becomes a different chemical formula so the law says this chemic
» al formula is illegal what happens is people who are savvy enough with the chemistry can change the atomic compound. And so that chemical formula, 'cause you have to make these things illegal unless it's a natural grown thing like hemp that we can point to and we know it exists in nature, it's created in a lab. And so that's why the law enforcement's always playing catch up with this. Because you can have synthetic marijuana, for example, which is a chemical formula that is different than the natural grown marijuana. You can have anything in there. And that's, you know, the common question is why can't we just make this legal? Generally law enforcement agencies go after the stuff once it's made illegal, but making it illegal is like a catch-up game.
» And that's part of the big issue in these is that they're all chemical stuff made in the lab. And it's hard to say anything with carbon in it is illegal, right? Anything with these formulas, these atoms are legal. You can't do that. It has to be the specific formula. That's why when we talk about schedule one drugs, schedule two drugs, these schedules are written out with these specific chemical formulas. So just kind of a little point of clarification, 'cause I got that question a lot. Thank you, Mr. Chumet. Mr. Tucker. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Great presentation. Thank you, ladies. Ms. Morrow. I only have one complaint. You were up here blowing Jimmy kisses, and you never blew any on this side, so we're definitely jealous and feel less than, but I'm happy to see you ladies out tonight.
» I have a question, and then I have a comment. On your emerging drugs presentation, how does the public get this information and how often is this given? Because this is too good of information not to get it out to our citizens as best we can. So as Danny mentioned, at my coalition meeting, me and my constituent Jessica Berry, she's the prevention director, we have a presentation that is really probably about an hour and a half long and I probably shoved it into an hour. So trying to shove this into 10 or 15 minutes was a huge thing. That's why I made sure I got a flyer to kind of give you guys some visuals and some more information.
» But you can definitely reach out to me at the Alpha Center or Jessica Berry, and we are happy to come and talk about all the things and go in-depth into each one of these substances. And as was mentioned, I actually, just since I am up here, so every picture that is on that flyer, I either took myself or I have seen in Kershaw, Lee, or Chesterfield County. since that is the counties that we serve, so it's here. Thank you. So what I would like to do, Ms. Jones, if possible, is to get with you and see, you know, a lot of this information can be carried out throughout our faith-based communities.
» We can set up in churches and teach folks and educate the community, and I would like to partner with you on that and making that happen because this stuff with all these energy drinks, it's like the Internet. The Internet's great, but it's got a lot of evil things that happens. And that guy or that gal that created the vape, I can choke him any day that I can put my hands on him for the simple fact I was at a Pittsburgh Steelers game two weeks ago when we won, and we looked like garbage last night, and we're out of the playoffs. That's a whole other story. And they were smoking marijuana. I don't think there's nothing you can't smoke in a vape.
» and um i didn't get high but i got very nauseous because as councilman browser say i don't know where they grow it or where they buy it but it ain't what i'm used to not that i took it before yes ma'am speaking mike please miss mara jimmy says you're not loud enough and you need to speak into the mic that's acceptable for the people out there i'll show you the respect yes um what i would say is it only one call to the alpha center we it fits everybody's budget for this presentation to be given because it is absolutely free that is what we're here for and um we're very fortunate because it like elgin town council put it up on their website the more places we can get it to because what i will tell you and um some of you heard it um right now we're detoxing people and the and JD Chaplin are on
» e of our senators was talking about its middle-aged white women that are being detoxed off of these drugs middle-aged white women it was the how do you say the keratin or yeah it's the kratom great kratom and right now they've released state funds and individuals are taking these feeling like well I've got this anxiety kratom will reduce my anxiety and it's being sold as that it's in a store so it must be safe and he's exactly right I've had two individuals who are I know middle to upper income go through detox coming off and if you've ever seen them kratom detox is pretty it's not a pretty sight it is very very painful to come off of and no one again y'all heard me say this no one sits around in a kindergarten classroom and says I hope to grow up to be addicted to drugs disappoint my famil
» y and you know be homeless and have a destructive life no one does that but life happens whether right or wrong and this is just a doorway for those individuals who had no idea they were becoming addicted to become addicted and so that presentation is free to anyone who would call we love being in the faith-based community because the faith-based community sometimes does not want to look at what's really going on thank you thank you miss Jones and my last comment is miss Jones I know what's in your heart I mean that's why you're back here doing what you're doing but you two young ladies um keep the passion and the love and the desire i know it's your job and you get paid but when you have the others it makes it that much more easy to get up in the morning and do it and you're serving a grea
» t cause so thank you and continue the rock stars that you are thank you thank you mr tucker thank you if is there any further discussion if so i'll need to seek a motion to suspend our time requirement on public presentations. Any other comments or discussion? Everybody good? Okay. Thank you so much. No votes required. Appreciate y'all coming out tonight. Thank you, Mr. Cato. Mr. DuBose, next up on the agenda is public comments item number seven. Mr. Chair, no one has signed up tonight. Very rare. Interesting way to start off 2026. Everyone must have partied a little too hard over Christmas and New Year's. Everyone is happy with everything. For now. They heard I was stepping down.
» You spoke too soon we haven't done anything wrong in 2026 yet okay moving on from public comments this takes us to approval of minutes item number 8a is there a motion on the minutes i'll make a motion to approve the minutes mr schumacher mr thompson has a second any discussion seeing none we'll move it to a vote all in favor raise your hand on the minutes santa for the record it passes unanimously on the minutes this takes us to uh discussion any particular update mr blanchard before we move to a vote on discussion for 9a pecan orchard yeah no other than the fact that we have applied for all of the different permits and we have gotten comments back from des we're working through those comments we will resubmit by the end of the month and then we can start the progression of getting with ut
» ilities and things like that for the actual boots on the ground okay thanks for that overview um vice chairman brussell put it on the agenda we'll see what else the council wants to hear is there a motion yeah make a motion just uh for a brief discussion on that update i'd just like to pencil in some dates is there a second mr tucker has a second mr bradley got the floor thank you chairman um thank you for being here tonight and um godspeed to danny and his family and their loss um appreciate you filling filling in and um handling these situations so i'd just like especially for the residents of the pecan orchard they would like to find out what the timeline looks like i know we can reference an email from august of 2025 in which all of the residents received an update from administration s
» tating that everything had been approved for the first portion of the work can you just help me briefly define what that portion looks like and and when the start date should be? - Again, we've applied for all of the permits for this, for this project. We have broken the project down into multiple phases. Phase one is what we're focusing on right now. Permitting covers primarily the phase one aspect of things. We did get, like I said, we did get some comments back. We're addressing those comments. The plan resubmittal to DES should be by the end of January. We are also planning on having a utility meeting to discuss the water and the fiber and things of that nature the first week of February.
» Anticipated DES approval after we finish these questions and get back with them is sometime mid-March. So once we get to that point, we are in the background doing the bid documents things like that to get them as soon as we get the permitting we will get the bid documents out and then we should be able to move forward so we we thinking that we can get this bid by what late march first april um bid documents and plans for county um advertisement end of march hopefully uh bid opening would be end of april because you have to have the you know you have to have the package out for a while um council approval for whatever they come back with would be the month of may mid-may and then you're talking about a pre-con and then a groundbreaking sometime in june okay very rough estimates because weat
» her comes into play there's so many different aspects they could set this off and that phase one includes which roads and primarily blackberry blackberry place um going blackberry going back into the crabapple area but we've got two outfalls put a mic up pull your mic up to you i can't yeah i'm sorry we've got uh two outfalls um that are going to be on blackberry that we have to uh to work through okay so um to keep it brief i just wanted to kind of highlight what we're doing when we're doing it to give the the residents an idea if we could um at our next meeting could we get a um a diagram that we could share with the residents and the public of what what this is going to look like for them absolutely yes sir just maybe one of the engineering drawings or whatever we have available absolute
» ly all right thank you so much sure mr tucker you have the second thank you mr chair mr uh gerald can you also uh update us um i know there's some correspondence that went back out to those residents in december and then after our finance meeting this month uh y'all were supposed to do an update of updating those citizens out there again i believe it was it was pretty much what was just contained and and very high level right because again we are trying to really nail down these dates uh we want that's gone out though right correct okay thank you thank you mr tucker any other comments for discussion on this item i think uh mr tucker you mr browse the rest of it done a good job keep staying on it gerald thank you and uh so i have no comments thank you mr jones seeing none others uh no votes
» required so that will conclude this item this moves us on to item number 9b any other high level update we need mr blanchard before we move to a vote for discussion related to 9b 9b yeah vincent road there was some question exactly what um the discussion was going to be on with vincent road um so just went ahead and and uh just for everyone's background vincent road is approximately three mile road with six homes on it those six homes are located on the paved portion which is a scdot maintained section of the road the remainder of the road is primarily timber and some hunt properties we did have eight work orders in 2025 on that road everything from undersized pipe was replaced some safety issues with ditching was taken care of approximate cost of the maintenance of that road was around 30
» 000 last year thanks for that overview we'll move to a motion in a second if there's any further discussion or questions is there a motion mr brazel you placed on the agenda yeah just again just a brief synopsis um just a couple of quick questions are we got emotions or a second absolutely second mr tucker has a second mr brazel so i know this was a a priority in in you are right it is in a um an area where six homes and maybe some family farms exist i think the sticking point for a few of the residents is that the road crosses into lancaster county so i'm not sure approximately how many miles are in kershaw versus lancaster but um is it paved in lancaster is it just maintained differently i'm not 100 sure i believe it's i believe it's dirt all the way the the the The situation and the conc
» ern that's been brought to my attention is that it's gotten narrow and it needs some brush cutting, it needs to be opened up. And of course, it sounds like some ditching work has been done. I have not seen it since it's been worked on, but I have talked to some local residents and they just maybe feel like they haven't had as much work done to it as they would like to.
» I know at the time there was an extraordinarily undersized pipe and it was a beaver dam either side of the road that was causing an issue but whether we like it or not it's our responsibility to make it passable and safe so I just like to mention the fact that we need to ensure the safety on that road and I would expect that we could do a better job than Lancaster when it comes to a level of quality we shouldn't we shouldn't be looked at as you know we're not doing as good a job as is our neighboring county and I think that was the point that the individual was trying to impress upon me so you know I don't know if there's any kind of co-op that we could talk with some folks in Lancaster if they're up there working and if we're doing some work we can help one another further collaborate like
» we've done with des but you know anything works within legal limits so absolutely appreciate y'all's time thank you any other comments or discussion i just want to clarify kind of what gerald said uh i know last year i had some complaints also from some of the people that lived up in that area and mine and russell's districts and district doesn't matter we serve kershaw county as jimmy says many times but but we we did put in a new pipe because the water was overflowing and we started the brush cutting and the cutter tore up that was my understanding they were going to go back up there after the cutter was fixed and finished the cutting. I assume that did not happen at this point now. I know we've done some work up there, but I too would like to see us finish the job. Yes, sir.
» Absolutely. Any other comments or discussion? Any questions? If not, no votes required. This moves us on from item number 9B for discussion only and on to some ordinances that we have on the agenda. Any high-level summary that we need on 10a before we consider a motion. Mr. Blanchard? Absolutely. Members of council, what you have before you for first reading is a rezoning of 16.68 acres off Black River Road from RD1 to MRD1. Thank you, Mr. Blanchard. Do we have a motion on first reading on 10a? I'd like to make a motion to approve first reading on 10a, Mr. Chairman. We have a motion. Is there a second? mr. Thompson has a second mr.
» Tucker yes um so where this property happens to be done off of Black River Road there has been some rezoning in that area in the past year old if I'm not mistaken and this family is trying to set up where they can get their kids to be able to put some marginal homes in the area and the land adjacent to and across from his own in that fashion but the piece that they want to which is their land want to to build on is not and so this would just bring it into compliance as the rest of them and it came out of planning and zoning with with the approval of us rezoning it and I'm gonna ask for your support and I'm very familiar with the land because across the street is my church thank you mr. Tucker mr.
» no comment okay any other comments questions i would just note you know one of my things on these rezonings is always whether or not we're going to impact density make things more dense and i've noticed this particular zoning does not appear to do that if you look at the uses as well allowed it doesn't really have a massive expansion of the uses allowed beyond the the mobile home addition so you know for example zoos and botanical gardens were in the existing one they would still be allowed in the new one so i think for that reason i'm going to support it but i just wanted to point that out that we're not making this as we all know when we rezone we rezone forever so even if this family moves someone who moves there later to do whatever they want with the property that's why i'm leery to re
» zone anything more dense but this doesn't do that thank you mr shoemake any other questions comments mr jones please well i look at this i will say thank you to you guys bringing this before us because i look at this deregulation so many rules and order things we have on the books and you know where I stand when it comes to being somewhat lenient with the folks using their land for what they want it to. So thank you all for bringing that before us. And I would like to point out, Mr. Chairman, too, the families out there, I couldn't see because I'm short statute, but they're sitting out there waving their hands, the Wade family. Well, Councilman John Wells is sitting out there, too. Yes, sir, he is. I can see him. He's about nine foot. Thank you all for being here tonight.
» Any other comments or questions? Seeing none, we'll move to a vote. This is on first reading for 10A. All in favor, raise your hand. Ms. Hanna, it is unanimous in favor and passes on first reading. That's 10A. Chairman, I know I stepped out, but I was familiar with the request to vote, so I voted in favor of it as well. You didn't miss much. Mr. Chairman, can I make one comment just for the family, because they're not very familiar with going through this? Sure, before we get to 10B. Yeah, so you have two more of these before you could be granted the permission, so you can come back in two more weeks and then two more weeks after that. So just watch the agenda, and I'll keep you informed as well.
» thank you thank you mr tucker and y'all are welcome to stay the rest of the meeting if you like to but if you need to take off we totally understand people often wait for their agenda items and then have to leave and attend to other business or family matters all right gentlemen that takes us to item number 10b mr blanchard any high level summary before we consider a motion yes sir what you have before you first reading is an ordinance to restate and amend regulations and restrictions for the use of boat ramps in kershaw county to establish and also to establish penalties and poor violations back last summer duke approached the county regarding some inappropriate uses of their boat ramps in surrounding counties and in our county and they just wanted to see what we could do to help this has
» been drafted to reflect penalties if convicted of a it would be a misdemeanor not to exceed 500 or imprisonment not to be greater than 30 days thank you mr blanchard do we have a motion second do we have a motion make a motion mr tucker has a motion sorry i thought you said we had a motion no sorry mr shimek has a second i was reading um i do recall duke coming and asking you about this and speaking about it in detail mr tucker you had the motion yes sir give me some clarification mr tucker mr tucker you have the floor oh go ahead um i have no no further to discuss um i think gerald's already said it i'm sorry okay mr shoemake you get the second mr jones you asked what exactly is going on um actually it's it's some of the concerns are like sleeping in vehicles camping uh public intoxication
» disorderly conduct things like that that normal people wouldn't do some of the things i'll just grab the floor real quick some of the things that you would see at the tail race that disappoint us in trying to clean up that area whenever we're thinking about you know yak the river or other things that feature the watery river in a beautiful way sure people behave in ways actually maybe after they start drinking a little bit too much i tell my wife we can't be doing that yeah where they just trash it up so this is good stuff yeah we don't want to and we're trying to increase the enforcement mechanisms to make sure people don't do that gotcha to these public assets any other comments or questions all right we're on 10b first reading seeing no comments one minor question um nothing in here make
» s it necessary for us to lock the park does it we're back open at veterans park as far as the boat ramp is concerned 24 7. correct yes sir okay i just i i'd read over it i just wanted to ask that question to be 100 sure good job gerald any other comments or questions seeing none we'll move it to a vote on first reading this is 10b all in favor raise your hand miss hannah it's unanimous and passes on first reading that's 10b item number 10c mr blanchard you have a high level summary for us before we consider a motion this will be a first reading of an ordinance to prohibit the sale and distribution of nitrous oxide and kratom to miners in kershaw county this also establishes retail display and labeling requirements with provisions for enforcement and penalties for violations thank you for th
» e the summary do we have a motion i like a motion we accept this okay um mr cato has a motion we have a second i'd like to make the second mr brazel has a second mr cato you have the floor i think there's been plenty said tonight is why we need to accept this ordinance i don't think that i need to go in any further detail but i asked my colleagues to also um support this first reading thank you mr cater mr brazel you have the second i'd like to thank councilman cato for his his work on the uh opioid council and addressing all of these products this is a it's a big deal this is a major problem and 110 has my support and any assistance that i may uh give i'm here to help amen thank you mr brazel any other comments or questions seeing none i have one um for the county attorney don't necessaril
» y have to give us legal advice and i'm not seeking a legal executive session on this but just projecting forward we don't often have on our agenda regulations related to retail display and labeling requirements and so i just want to make sure that as a as a progeny or baby of the state here's a county recreation of the state i want to make sure as written from what you understand from other counties and any litigation you've seen or that might be bubbling up right now that we wouldn't be overstepping any of our bounds and requiring some of these restrictions and that they wouldn't conflict with what the state has jurisdiction over above us yeah i won't opine on the fly but um feel confident in the ordinance but we'll certainly triple and quadruple check it okay thank you any other comments
» or questions okay we'll move it to a vote all in favor of uh first reading on 10c raise your hand miss hannah it passes unanimously in favor on 10c that moves us to item number 10d it's a second reading mr blanchard do you have a high level summary for us yes sir second reading rezoning of 4.18 acres on bull wear road from gd to b2 to align with adjacent properties no changes since first reading i remember this was a down zoning um we have mr wells stepping up we'll see whether or not we need you but glad for your service in the past and how you serve elgin now do we have a motion i'll make a motion mr shoemake has motions or a second we have a second mr shoemake yeah i think we discussed this last time it's a down zone and i think mr wells answered all our questions pretty adequately last
» time and i also concur with the chairman thank you for your past service on this council and your current service to the county mr tucker i think you had the second yes sir okay no other comment any other questions comments i'm good seeing none on second reading then we'll move it to a vote all in favor on 10d raise your hand just stand up raise the public's thank you gentlemen thank you thank you mr wells passes on second reading - That's it, 12 years together. - 12 years together? - I think you hit 12 years. - And you both survived that somehow. - He loved every year of it. - All right, that moves us to the last ordinance that we have on the agenda. This is a second reading on 10E. Mr. Blanchard? - Correct, second reading before you tonight.
» Proposed ordinance to establish regulations for operating golf carts within Kershaw County pursuant to section 52-2-90 of the South Carolina Code of Laws. 56-2-90 allows local jurisdictions to set hours and locations of golf cart operations on roadways where speed limits are 35 or less. If operated after dark, operating lights must be in place. Thank you. No changes since first vote. Sorry. Thank you, Mr. Blanchard. No other recent developments or anything. Do we have a motion? Mr. Chairman, I make a motion. Mr. Thompson has a motion. Is there a second? I'll second. Mr. Cato has a second. Mr. Thompson, you've got the floor. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I'll be brief. There's nothing changed since last time we had a decent discussion over this ordinance last time.
» But what it does is last year, the South Carolina legislature passed a law of golf cart operations at the state level. This is just expanding upon that. As all the safety measures are in place, this allows golf carts to be operated after dark with all safety measures in place as long as the state law is met. So that's all it does just expand operations after dark. Okay. Thank you very much. Mr. Thompson. Mr. Cato Okay, any other questions or comments Do that offline all right sounds good any other questions or comments before we move to a vote on second reading Seeing none will move it to a vote all in favor on 10 e miss henna. It is unanimous in favor and passes on second reading That's 10-E. All right. The resolution was previously taken care of in the meeting.
» This moves us to item number 12-A, new business, adoption of general pole barn engineering permit discussion, and I think possible vote. Placed on the agenda by Vice Chairman Russell Brazel. Is there a motion? I'll make a motion for the discussion. I don't know what the vote is, so my motion will be for the discussion. Okay. We have a motion for discussion. Is there a second? Well, I guess I'll make a second then. Okay. There's a second. Mr. Shoemake, you defer to Mr. Brazel.
» sure i just know councilman brazil wanted to discuss it so i wanted to make that motion for his benefit and turn the floor over to him mr brazel thank you thank you very much um so chairman connell and myself and others have had people contact us regarding trying to simply build a pole barn in kershaw county and how that's become so difficult we were frankly unsure but i think sam gals has a solution for us tonight sam can you present that solution sir so at your guys instruction met with a engineer last part of november of last year and we discussed what was needed to get a one-size-fits-most approach to residential pole bars in order to do that we're gonna he's gonna put together a drawing we will make something that is presentable to the public in like say a packet that's easy to underst
» and send it back to him for his final and with your guys approval and payment it'll be an annual renewal so as i understood it i remember 20 years ago you could walk in and for 50 bucks you could you could build a barn now barn dominiums have become popular and you didn't have the the tools in your bag essentially to to be able to issue it without an engineering oversight is that correct the the permanent you couldn't issue a a pole barn permit without an engineer's stamp drawing or a letter today today today because pole barn is not covered in the books that we have it has to be designed by an engineer so for example when you build a house and the stick built all of that's within our books and we can judge it i really don't need anything but maybe a floor plan for a simple house and our gu
» ys can go in and go from the ground up and tell you everything needs to be done to it but a pole barn is completely different there's different types some have walls which are called lateral bracing some are just on posts with no walls it's up to an engineer to tell me how deep the hole needs to be how far apart you can space your post what size posts you need there's a good bit that goes into it so because that information is in our books we have no way of judging it other than an engineer's design so this would this would simplify the the building process and like you said be a most size fits most approach to a simple pole barn it would not include barn dominiums which would be a home correct it would not include agricultural buildings which do not require the drawings to start they're ex
» empt and it'll be around i think he said the building size would be like 30 by 40 would be the maximum size so would you be able to extend the length could he if you if it needed to be 30 by 60 or perhaps it'll it'll just depend on what his drawings say i've also asked that uh if we do do this he gives me the ability without fee to give him calls occasionally in regards to things like let's say that your hole needs to be 48 inches deep well at 38 or 30 inches there's a big rock that we just can't get rid of how do we work around that and he'd come up with some type of plan that says well it's okay to put it at 30 for just that one pole or fill it in with concrete whatever he recommends so we know somebody's going to end up needing one that's 40 or 50 or 60 foot could we do it and could he o
» ffer it in an expandable fashion i'll have to ask and find out so that's what i'd like to do i'd like to try to cover all bases if we're going to do this i think it's a good idea i think it'll simplify things would you offer a pole barn permit with a fee structure that was say if you had a set of engineer drawings the fee is one thing and if you use the county's drawings it's a little more because you're getting a prepaid engineered fee how would you how would you structure your fees fees are generally up to you guys but i understand where you're getting like for example there's one company that has a engineer on staff so you're saying we would not charge them the additional an additional fee where if you use our plans we charge more well it seems to to make sense and it wouldn't have to be
» a lot more but it would it would it would keep them from having to hire an engineer and spend anywhere from three three hundred to three thousand dollars because an engineer charges what you know whatever they like to I know I had to do an extension on the dock and it cost me twenty five hundred dollars for a very simple extension and it took me about three and a half four months to get the permit pulled and that was not here for the record um but i thought boy this is a lot for a little and i think that's probably the same thought process with these pole barns is how do we simplify it for builders homeowners and if you have to spend a little more money to get the pre-engineered fee i think that's reasonable we can work through that in the budget but as far as you having a solution um do we
» have a annual cost associated with that eighty five hundred dollars so for eighty five hundred dollars um would it be relevant to say seventy five to eighty percent of pole barns would likely be covered for those that need uh engineering drawings yes okay well i think it's i think it's smart to get ahead of things and i think we can recoup to a break-even point and be fair to everyone involved and just streamline the process because I do know that there's a church that's waiting and has wanted to have this done, but they're just trying to get everybody on the same page to get the engineering done. They could have built... This would not help a church. Well, no, there was a church that wanted a pole barn. This would not help a church. This would be residential structures only.
» It would only be residential structures. So because it was on a piece of property that was owned by a church, would that matter? That would be commercial property. Is there a way to generalize it for either or? We can. I would not be willing to. I wouldn't want to take on any liability with it. Well, the liability would be on the engineer, right? That's the reason for the engineer drawing. If the engineer would agree to allow it for commercial use, sure. But if it's up to me, I'm not going to accept anything that's not drawn up commercial-wise, that was not drawn up by an engineer. Okay. Well, let's see if we can get a religious exemption, and that would be up to us, I would think, as long as it's not beyond the scope. Same type of structure, it's a pole barn.
» somebody was a pole barn for a picnic shed in a church it's not going to be built any different it depends on the use so right if it's an assembly it's going to be have to have to be drawn by a design professional on a construction level per state law i get that so there's no way around around it i'm sorry if they're using it as an assembly like you go outside for sunrise service on easter sunday and they're using that building as an assembly you're not going to get around it it's state law that a design professional will have to design that building well at least we would have someone to reach out to to say hey we can connect you to this person to to modify this yes we would have that the design professional would have to draw yeah yeah yeah yeah but at this point you could refer them to o
» ur design professional sure okay that that works i'm just looking for solutions and taking away roadblocks that's it all right perfect i'm good with it thank you any other comments or questions i do mr k a couple questions one would this what would this would this include the metal sheds that you buy and have put up in your yard such as uh carports what we call square two construction the company that you purchase it from will provide you with an engineered set of plans when you purchase your building so it's not like you have to go find an engineer um they already have those plans drawn up for you when you purchase the building and you said earlier something about 8 500 so what would it so let's hypothetically say that we had this in place and i wanted to build a 24 by 30 pole building oka
» y what would my initial cost be to get started on my pole building through the county it would just be your standard permit fees just the standard permit fees that would include the engineering well mr brazile i believe stated that he would like to add a certain fee if you use our plans was that correct well it'd be up this council was just a thought yes i'm you know people pay enough in taxes as it is but if if you're it's just a whole nother discussion i think i think that's something we can discuss once we get the budget moving forward from this particular item i think it'd be useful for us to know for next time gerald um if you can get from staff and otherwise how many pole barn applications came in last year so we can look at the economics of it versus 8500 how many how many were last
» year that that information was included in an email i sent you uh towards the end of the year just what is the number again because i didn't know about 8 500 then let's see we had 26 total accessory pole buildings all right so hypothetically i'm sorry go ahead of the 26 12 of those were agriculturally exempt so they didn't so anything 12 to 14 or so 14.
» okay so we're looking at spreading 8 500 over 10 of those were done by a specific whole building company that has an engineer on staff and that left us with what uh i think it was 14 total okay so so really i think what we're looking at gentlemen is if it if it is that number that occurs regularly for applications that are non-exempt non-agricultural but but non-business also non-commercial so it's a primary use four to five to six hundred dollars that the county would assess as an additional fee to cover the 8500 roughly we'd have to look at the arithmetic based on applications does that make sense to make it easier for people to not have to pay twenty five hundred dollars or thirty five hundred dollars the the gentleman who draws there is a gentleman in town who primary thing he builds is
» pole buildings and he uses this engineer that i've spoken with and the general cost is around 350 dollars for the plans but we can't steer everybody to him that'd be interesting yeah so that i mean like that's the whole reason why we've had one somebody that has asked repeatedly to do something and i didn't i didn't know that there was somebody that would do it for that amount of money we need to make an amendment to this i know there's no uh there's no vote required jimmy i know um i've also talked to somebody that said they were three thousand dollars in in design fees so i'm i'm thankful for that person whoever that person is and i want to keep that person's name out of it right this minute um if i don't i don't know that a government agency can refer people to to other people for a smal
» l i think that's how illegal so i think the best thing for us to do is is maybe say it's 350 additional plus the you know the existing fee what's the existing fee for the permit yep it's going to depend on the price of the permit i'm sorry how much it costs to build the structure okay so so if there's a 350 adder i think that's good i'm happy with the situation i'd like to move forward we can we can noodle through it and figure everything out in the in the coming uh months and i appreciate the the work so this is my suggestion um maybe let's get a draft form of an ordinance that we consider and see if we want to put it on the agenda if we can shape it up if you could update the email to us with the 8 500 and any other caveats that the uh the engineer yes sir i forwarded the email to everyon
» e this morning oh well i'm sorry i haven't seen it yet for some reason miss hannah was stacking me up with other emails would you rather send things to your law firm email or the one through the no no the county ml is fine okay well then i'll double check that um and then let's review and kind of reconvene we can talk behind the scenes and see if this makes sense we can go forward we can get an ordinance put together with a fee that's reasonable that saves people time and money because I don't think everybody knows where a $350 engineer is I certainly didn't when I just needed to build a small walkway so I think this that would have been heaven sent for me in my situation which is similar but different so thank you Sam appreciate it like to ask John to Bose to let's move in that direction t
» owards making life simpler here in kershaw county any other comments or questions yes i have a question mr jones sam are you keen to julian gals no sir okay i know who you're speaking of he was a long time friend of mine years ago with the county thank you all right thank you all no votes required that takes us to item number 12b finance committee update mr tucker you have a motion sir um i'd like to make a motion that um i give you an update from the finance committee meeting uh for december 19 2025 and january 9th of 2015.
» got emotions they're second second got a second mr tucker right some of this has been discussed already so we won't go back over it like the pecan orchards you've got that update um my colleagues i want to thank um councilman thomason and councilman she may uh for making themselves available and of course staff couldn't do this without you so thank you very much um wanted to put on your radar nothing we need to take a vote on or do but um there's going to be some sewer projects that's going to come up from staff as we continue to dive into some of the issues that we're having and i'm not talking about with our second loot that we just put in for the ones who's been here um since bethusel like jimmy and myself um we've got an aging sewer system and um we were briefed on that uh this month la
» st week uh through staff so there's going to be some opportunities for us to take care of some things that we need to take care of to make sure we don't have any liability risk at um in our sewer system and i'm not talking about the plant i'm talking about the line so just want to make you aware of that and we will be bringing that back up before council we had a great presentation on the storm water jonathan did an excellent job and so did staff and they have been working very hard we would like to uh do a presentation for the full council during one of our workshops and staff is going to recommend which one and see where that fits in because we have a little bit of lead way or um space in between those dates that the chairman is going to bring up to your attention later on and then um als
» o is this money budgeted already or yes sir and that's what i'm going to say also all the monies that they're needing for the stormwater commission ad hoc and projects they're fine it's already in the budget but um the finance committee thought it would be great uh sometime before we get too far into this process is to make sure council's brief on what they're doing so with that being said we'll try to put that together and bring it before you the other thing that we're looking at um and i don't want to get too deep in the woods but um was brought to our attention and we've got to do some amendments and our ordinance is with our um solid waste fees for rv parks and that's all i can really give you at this point because we're waiting for staff to bring us back some recommendations on the cha
» nges that needs to be so we won't be um in a predicament where our citizens are being double um increasing decreasing regulation this will be a decrease okay good this this will be to the good of the citizen colleagues from Finance Committee anything you have or anything that I leave off no all good on my end thank you okay thank you again like I said the chairman will go over some dates for you further down the agenda and I want to just say thanks to my my team and to my colleagues and staff thank you thank you mr. Tucker any other comments or questions on Finance Committee update Seeing none, no votes required, we'll move on. This will require a vote. This is 12C I placed on the agenda. The County Council budget work session and budget retreat dates.
» I make a motion that we accept and approve these dates as proposed for meetings coming up and we'll allow the attorney to say whether or not additional public notice is required. There's a motion. Is there a second? Second. We have a second. These dates have been included in the packet for finance committee workshops and budget retreat. Of course, the workshops any of us are welcome to attend. We also have the budget retreat coming up and we'll have some other budget work sessions I anticipate. But the dates are self-explanatory. I know we all have life. We all have work in some way. And some of us won't be able to make some of these meetings coming up, but we'll do our best. Any comments or questions regarding these dates, Mr. Tucker? Yes. If I can add, Mr.
» chairman um and you're absolutely right on the budget workshops but it is very very uh important that you do make the retreat the retreat is going to be done a little different and in-house this year i want to put out and it's very important to have your input because staff needs a a plan a map a uh our vision on where to go and if you're not there you're not able to give your input so please please please mark this date on your calendar and try to attend and um and i hope to see all of you thank you mr chairman thank you mr tucker any other comments or questions on the motion seeing none we'll move to a vote all in favor on 12c raise your hand miss hannah that's unanimous in favor on 12 c the dates pass that takes us to 13 a appointments planning commission councilman Tucker mr.
» chairman I would like to make a motion that we reappoint mr. Robert Horton from district 2 that's my motion we've got emotions or second second we have a second mr. Shoemake mr. Tucker yes sir I had the opportunity to spoke to speak with mr. Horton today and unfortunately he had other obligations that he could not reschedule or cancel but he is very helpful and thankful to be reappointed and he has already served a term here um mr horton does a good job on the planning commission of being open-minded very reasonable and compromising and um i think he's a great representation for not only district two but for kershaw county thank you mr tucker mr shemek i think you had a second no robert's wonderful he's also been helping out on the smart birth committee so happy to have him aboard thank you
» any other comments or questions on 13a just i think we're very fortunate to have him and i appreciate him willing to serve again yes sir thank you any other comments or questions seeing them we'll move it to a vote on 13a all in favor raise your hand miss hannah's unanimous and passes in favor mr horton is reappointed thank you robert item number 13b is by way of update um i placed on the agenda i'll make a motion that we get an update on the board of zoning appeals is there a second we've got a second for mr cato um miss hannah is most familiar with the timeline and vacancies but i'll look to mr blanchard first do we have any update or you want to defer to miss hannah defer to miss hannah this is really just to let council know since since we've got it on the table um for for from future a
» ppointments i think we had two or three vacancies on bza is that right okay and if you don't have it at your fingertips if you just please email the council members so they can be looking and know but is it two or three that we have right now is two okay so if you email the council members i just want to make sure that they get a full body i know a lot of stuff happens over the holidays but we need to get that one filled back up they do some important work any other comments or questions on the bza update seeing none no votes required it's just for update only um i was informed by mr brazel that we no longer need 14a so there would be no motion is that correct mr brazel yes no motion we we took care of that with the proclamation thank you okay that moves us to item number 15 council member
» briefings mr cato i'm gonna be short and sweet um first um my condolences go out to danny our our county administrator danny templer and his entire family on the loss of his mother our thoughts and prayers are with you danny and your entire family and uh we look forward to getting you back but take time and and uh grieve and we will we will get back to work when you get back to work with you on a lighter note happy birthday miss hannah oh my god happy birthday i would sing of course some of you might want me to because it'd end this meeting real quick but i'll pass on that due to time restraints but um lastly jimmy uh thank you for your service you ain't left yet but you know to say that you've been here 20 years serving or will be 20 years the end of this year says a lot i mean because peo
» ple don't realize i'd i'll tell you i've been in community service since i was about 17 years old started with a fire department rescue squad people do not realize what it takes to be part of community service and serving the public because you can't make everybody happy you can't do it so i thank you for what you've done we don't always see eye to eye we butt heads sometimes but that's part of it we ain't supposed to we ain't supposed to always think alike but um thank you thank you thank you thank you mr cato mr tomlinson mr chairman and on that miss hannah birthday info as we look good and make us all look bad yeah happy happy birthday miss anna um i'm repping college of charleston my daughter's new school starting in august so uh go cougars um quick update on the smart growth committee
» we've had a number of meetings uh we've got another one coming up i think on the 20th but it'll be a thursday coming up we're working hard uh vice chairman braz was in our last meeting at this point we're just kind of figuring out how to triage everything um i think i saw zach in earlier but uh we have zach hoover helping us out and doing great stuff we got the consultants coming in next month and we're making good progress i'll have a more thorough update in a month or so but i just wanted to give a heads up that that work is being done on a regular basis and i want to thank every member of the smart growth committee for showing up and having some really spirited debates that are very helpful for the county obviously my prayers also go out to danny lost his mother i know he's been dealing
» with a lot of her health has been poor the last several weeks and he's been dealing with a lot so well uh you know i hope he can come back when he feels ready and again i just you know my prayers go out to the whole family um at that funeral many of the members of council came many other elected officials came and i you know i think what makes this county unique and we've talked about this before is you know we all sort of sat together and you know we joked around we didn't discuss business but you know we joked around and stuff and i think it's it says something that we get up here and we argue sometimes i don't think there's any two of us that haven't had a spirited debate in public and certainly in private but we respect one another and when we go to an event like that we talk to each ot
» her you go to some county governments and if they're not on the dais those guys won't even spend you know within 10 feet of each other and the fact that we go to each other's homes we know each other's cell phone numbers and we use them and we speak regularly not just about county business but just about checking up on people um i think that says a lot and so so jimmy i'm going to miss having you up here next year i'm looking forward to the next year of uh very spirited debates but i appreciate your service man like like danny said 20 years is absolutely nothing to sneeze at i mean that's an entire second career that you've done and um you know earn the right to hold your head high and you know again appreciate all that you've done for the county and the service and again look forward to ou
» r next year of jousting and debating thank you thank you mr shemake mr tucker uh thank you mr chairman um my um prayers and thoughts and condolences goes out as well to the templar family and um what an awesome homecoming home going it was today to be able to uh share with the temper family and we wish them speedy healing as they grieve in the way that they want to and need to because all of you who have experience and i see some heads nodding out there in that i'll have lost some loved ones and there's no book there's no pattern there's no time frame for you to grieve the way that you need to grieve so um we we wish him nothing but um speedy recovery from there i also want to let you know that um we had an opportunity last week myself and the county attorney to set out to talk about and we
» will be having a meeting on the 208 water quality with staff on the 15th which will be this thursday i believe around 3 p.m so we'll be we'll be talking about that um so we can get back with the delegation from the cog here that represents kershaw county and also to uh get with our partners um i want to say to uh russell and anyone else sitting on his diets and staff thanks for um partnering with des i think this can be a great opportunity for us to be a beacon to the state for other counties to do the same but let's also make sure we get it right we don't want to i always tell people you don't want to be the first and the worst okay so let's not let's not do that but um i'm looking forward to that um cheryl and lauren thank you it's been a ride and i say that with nothing but respect and l
» ove and dignity for you and sorry but i'm getting choked up because i know i have leaned on you guys i know this council has leaned on you and um needed your help your your your guidance and your support and keeping this county moving in the right direction as we all were going through uh the pain of watching loved ones uh move on and get their wings and giving people the quality time that they need and and i just want to say um from me thank you because i know it's been a lot of late nights early mornings because i've been a part of those conversations and i know it's been times you like what in the devil am i doing um you know this is a lot but you mustered and uh you pulled through and you've shined just as bright as you can shine and we say i say thank you and keep up the good work uh m
» iss hannah that was probably the best kept secret and that joker next to me on the left over here gets no credit about giving it from the rest of us because i've seen you do it three times a day at least gonna hug you and tell you happy birthday so i kind of feel kind of sad that i didn't get a chance to hug you but happy birthday we're wishing you many more may god continue to bless you and your family and um mr jones mr 47 years man of public service um i'm not going to to give you all your kudos and goodbyes tonight but i appreciate your your statement you made early today in announcing and giving people the adequate time to for the ones that wish to serve to think about it talk with their families their supporters and um to decide whether they want to do this or not um councilman kato s
» aid it best um it's kind of like you know everybody mike tyson and I'm going to have to quote him, everybody can fight until you get punched in the face. You sit up here, and your life changes. And I'm not going to tell you it's all bad, but it changes. And you have to be equipped and ready to battle when it's time to battle. You have to be patient, kind, and compassionate and sympathetic when it's time to be. There's a lot of hats you have to wear up here. So this doesn't fit everybody in the world, and it shouldn't. But I hope that in the process, Mr.
» Jones, that someone in your district who's willing to come up here and be as passionate as you, maybe they don't have to be as wrong as you are always, but they can be as passionate as you and serve at least half of what you have given to this county. So thank you for your service. Thank you, Vice Chair. That concludes my report. Thank you, Mr. Tucker. Mr. Brazel. Sammy, you missed one. I'm going to speak for myself. I'm hard-headed. That's another thing that you have to be to sit up here. Yeah, you definitely missed one. I think it was really neat that we had DNR in here earlier. It was cool to see an old friend after so long unexpectedly. It's a fun thing about having a variety in life.
» And the one thing that I do love about serving this county and our state is that if you're born and raised here, odds are you're going to run into somebody that you've known in years gone by, especially as you get a little bit of age and time moves on um so that was really neat to get to see eric martin here with dnr uh brant thank you so much for for having them here and that was cool what what y'all were able to do with the lynch's river um i'd like to say thank you to the alpha center and uh danny cato i think there are many of us that are pretty passionate about the health and welfare and and safety of of kids and again people of all ages so that was really important to me and i just appreciate the whirlwind of support um councilman jones thank you for um training me how to how to sit a
» t this dais the toughest man i've ever faced in my life sitting on that far end and And I'm gonna tell you, we've become really good friends. And I wanna say that for the record and for eternity. Jimmy Jones and I butted heads as hard as anybody I have ever fought with in my life. And that was pretty prevalent in the first two years that I sat on this council. But I can tell you right now, I can pick the phone up and call him and at any time he's gonna answer and we're gonna talk and we're gonna have meaningful conversation that's way beyond politics.
» And Jimmy, I'm better for having known you i'm better for uh being tuned up just a little bit by you over the years and i mean that in the most sincere regard um jimmy doesn't play at least you throw that water bottle at me that night well you still got a year remember but 20 years of of of giving up free time to to work through county issues and serve constituents and answer phone calls that's as meaningful and councilman tucker i know you you've done it as well um so it's hard to believe i'm going into year six and ben you as well you you've been in public service for what eight years now ten that's that's hard to believe but um very uh very glad to be a part of of making kershaw county a better place to live so jimmy glad to share this last year with you as we go into 2026 in your last y
» ear on council a lot of respect so um attending danny's mother's funeral was obviously touching and danny i could tell really appreciated everybody's prayer support text phone calls um he told me that we have all been amazing i think were his words and i said well i don't know that i've been amazing but hopefully um he has felt the love from from this council which i think so long as we're human i think that's a wonderful thing to support somebody in their time of need um we'll always have ups and downs in life so um i know jimmy there's also other people i think probably due to the fact that you're giving it up this year you'll probably see other people retire this year saying well if councilman jones isn't there i don't really need to do my job anymore and and i think there's some people
» that hung in just for this last year and we'll see how that how that pans out but um i say that a little a little jokingly just because um i know some people in in the industry also may retire and um we'll celebrate celebrate that together but jimmy could i do a roast for you whenever you retire what a roast that's what y'all do every night i come to county oh no it's such the opposite so it's the opposite anyhow um smart growth committee i was fortunate to be able to sit in thank you um that's a lot of meaningful work um for this county and i appreciate uh being a part of that the other night the other afternoon and our finance committee i appreciate what y'all do and our chairman Ben he keeps us all straight thank you for letting us yak on and talk too long been appreciate that with that
» I'll conclude my remarks Thank You mr. Brazel mr. Jones I'm not bypassing you but I'm just honoring your word you traded your time for earlier in the meeting correct you have anything else you want to share in the briefing I didn't say I traded my time wait run the tape back. You wanted to whisper sweet nothings to Ms. Mara Jones. Do you have anything else to share before I do? Go ahead. If I could. Well, I want to thank you guys for the kind words today because I know tonight I feel the love. I may not feel it the next meeting, but I do tonight. But let me just say this. I've enjoyed working with you guys. Don't agree with a lot of what you do, but I have enjoyed working with you. I have to look at it.
» I see Bill Rozier and I see martin khan you know they've been here as long longer than me so i'm i'm sorry i know you guys are gonna miss me but uh but you know what guys it's time to go 20 years is long enough and i just want for my district hope that there'll be some young folks out there and i've already heard a couple names and i had four people call me said if you don't run we're gonna run well that was the biggest compliment i could ever get i said well you can go ahead and bank on this you'll stand a chance to win the lottery seeing my name on the ballot i am not running but but thank you guys too for putting up with uh me as well and i look forward to this next year now there's two things i really am well actually it's three but i won't talk about one that i want to see happen this
» year and i will thank you all for it you're on top of this pecan orchard you guys i haven't had to say anything i mean y'all men are your word and i appreciate that but uh the second one is i hope that some way somehow we can come out with a balanced budget this year i know that y'all are interested in it because i've heard the conversation on it and if i can do anything to help on that let me know i'd love to be able to vote for the budget this year and uh so that's pretty much about it no but let me just say this too danny templer you know my heart's thoughts and prayers have been going out with them and happy birthday miss hannah and i was going to say it but somebody beat me to it tonight but anyway mr chair you're a good man you do a great job i don't agree with with you all the time,
» but you've been a good champion. - If I can ever get a straight-handed comment. I appreciate that, Jimmy. - You're welcome. - Okay, that concludes your remarks. Thank you, Mr. Jones. - Thank you. - Thank you, Mr. Jones. I have just a few things to share before we move on and work towards concluding the meeting. Update for council over the holidays. I replaced Weston Adams on the Smart Growth Committee with Steven Smoke, Weston's work schedule. He picked up a few new items, as I understand it, and his travel schedule just made it prohibited for him to participate fully in the Smart Growth Committee. We were thankful for his participation thus far.
» Steven Smoak, I thought was unique as having city, county, and legal experience, and so he is now serving on the Smart Growth Committee under the leadership of Mr. Shoemake. Ms. Hannah, so she's threatened me with physical violence if I mentioned anything about her age, because she never ages, Ms. Hannah. I'm just joking, I'm just joking. Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you. - And I'll be proud to be 30. - That's right. And then lastly, I wanted to say for Mr. Temple and his family, a saying that has stuck with me in my work from time to time, I interact with folks who have lost loved ones in unexpected ways. And one of the grandmothers one time said, grief is all the love that you never got to share. And that saying has just stuck with me.
» You've got to ride that wave of grief because the memories come back, but it reflects how much love you had for that person and never got to share. And then I would be remiss if I did not say that I have great hope in the resurrection for the Templer family and for all of us who've lost loved ones or even ourselves through the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I have faith in the fact that he was resurrected and broke the bands of death, and therefore we all can experience that same benefit. - Amen. - And I just wanted to share that. - Amen as well. - All right, so that moves us on. That concludes my remarks. Mr. Blanchard, any briefing for us? - Yes, sir. Thank you, council, for your continued thoughts and prayers for the Templer family.
» you for the support that you've shown to lauren and i over the past uh couple of weeks um i just want to thank the staff um our executive directors have really stepped in and helped lauren and i through a lot of the trials and tribulations over the past few weeks as well looking forward to the new year this is the first meeting of council this year looking forward to the challenges that 26 is going to bring our way i am confident that if we work together we focus on the things that we have in common not that the things that we see differently or our differences and if we're willing to put in the work we will be successful together together is the key so uh thanks again uh happy birthday hannah without you i don't believe lauren and i could find our offices thank you mr blanchard anything ou
» tside of executive session we need is an update on legal briefing no nothing for mr dubose with that gentleman that takes us to item 18a we have four items for executive session i'll seek a motion in just a moment um the first two items are related to contractual arrangements the first one is related to real property and then last two c and d are regarding personnel matters all under sc code 30-4-70 and relevant subparts Do we have a motion to enter executive session? Make a motion we enter executive session. Mr. Kasto has a motion. Second. Second. Mr. Tucker, any discussion? Seeing none, we'll move it to a vote on executive session. All in favor, raise your hand. Ms. Hanna, for the record, it's unanimous. We're in executive session.
» For the public's benefit, there are no votes anticipated after executive session. I don't know. Yeah. I bet it was about an hour. You hanging in there? I don't get to spend the night here. All right. We got four. Did you stream a movie while we were gone? Seek a motion to exit executive session. We have a motion. We have a second. Any discussion? Seeing none, move to a vote on exiting executive session. Ms. Hanna, for all those who are present and voting, raise your hand if you're in favor of exiting executive session. It is unanimous. We have all seven in the room. All right. Seek a motion to adjourn. No votes required after executive session. So moved. We have a motion. We've got a second. Any discussion on adjournment? I'd like to stay a little while longer.
» Seeing none, we're going to leave Russell here to his druthers. All in favor of adjourning, raise your hand. It's unanimous, Ms. Hanna. We are adjourned. Thank you, gentlemen. Thank you, staff.
