Full meeting transcript - January 27, 2026

» - All right, let's call the meeting to order. Welcome out tonight, everyone. Second meeting of the year. Appreciate you being here for this Tuesday, January 27th, 2026 Kershaw County Council meeting. Mr. Tucker had a sudden emergency he's taking care of tonight, so he won't be able to attend. I'll go ahead and offer the invocation and then the Pledge of Allegiance and we'll get into the meeting. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we're thankful for our many blessings. We're grateful for our families. We're thankful for the hope of a new year in front of us. Please help us be productive and let all of our activities be pleasing unto thee.

» Please help us do right by others and by ourselves and we pray for that guidance and direction and spirit here as we try to make good decisions for the benefit of Kershaw County and its citizens and families. We thank thee in all things and we pray for those who mourn and need thy comfort. Please give it to them. We say this with gratitude in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. - Amen. - Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, to the Republic of which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. - Thank you, gentlemen. Do we have Mr. Brazel in remotely? Not yet, okay. Mr. Brazel's out of town on business, but I think he is trying to call in remotely. Please just give me some notification if he's able to participate.

» That moves us to adoption of the agenda. Item number four, do we have a motion on the agenda? - Mr. Chair, I make a motion we adopt the agenda. Is there a second on the motion? - I'll second. - We've got a second. Any discussion on the agenda? Seeing none and without anyone participating remotely, for those who are present, all in favor, raise your hand on the agenda. Ms. Hanna, it passes unanimously. That takes care of item number four. Next up, we have a very important resolution placed on by the entire Kershaw County Council in relation to honoring Patty Lou Templer. Do we have a motion? - I'll also make a motion. - We have a motion by Mr. Jones. - I'll second. - We've got a second by Mr. Shoemake. - Thank you, Mr. Shoemake.

» - I'll go ahead and share the resolution before we vote on it. Our administrator, Mr. Templer, sadly just lost his mother. Again, you've heard from us personally and from staff overall, but our hearts go out to you. And this is the very least we can do. An entire county council places this on. This is a proclamation honoring the life of Patty Lou Templer. Our lives are full of special moments and wonderful memories when a loved one is lost. Sharing those moments and memories through a tribute that beautifully memorializes a life lived, provides family and friends with opportunity to reflect and remember. Whereas, Kershaw County Council pauses to honor the life of Patty Lou Templer, mother of our distinguished county administrator, Danny Templer.

» Whereas, our hearts and prayers remain with the family as they move forward with the legacy of love and sweet memories embracing the years of laughter and joy. Whereas, Patty Lou Templer embraced motherhood and loved reading stories to her children each night and baking for them. Her love for animals, especially horses, and a gift and passion for sharing with family and friends will always be cherished. Whereas, Patty Lou Templer has created and left unforgettable memories shared over the 87 years with each one of her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, extended family and friends, and all of those who knew her. Whereas, her loved ones will surely miss her and are saddened because she is not present.

» Rest in knowing that she is free and you have a precious angel continuously watching over each of you. Now, therefore, on this 27th day of January, 2026, Kershaw County Council honors and remembers the life of Patty Lou Templer forever in our hearts. Any discussion from council members? That is the proclamation. Mr. Chairman, if I may, since I've been up here longer than the rest of you, he and I have been together a little longer than the rest of you. But Danny and I go way back. How many years, Danny? Time. I'm just keeping you straight. Well over 20. Yeah. But, you know, Danny, I know personally the trips every week you'd make to go by and visit your mom to lunches and checking on her the way you did.

» And I just want you to know that I'm honored to be a part of this and I'm honored to be a part of working with you and your administration here. I just want to say our thoughts and prayers have been with you and thank you for all you've done. I mean that. Nikki, it's good to see you, too. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Mr. Shemake, you have the second. Yeah, I mean, I think Mr. Jones said it well. And, Danny, you know, I think we're all just sort of an amalgamation of the people that we meet and that, you know, influence us along the way. And while I didn't get to know your mom very well, I heard you talk about her enough that I felt like I knew her. And the stock that she produced says a lot about the kind of person she was.

» So I have no doubt that, you know, even when people pass, you know, they live on by the people who they leave behind and the people they influence. And I have no doubt that while you carry your mother in your heart, you're going to carry your memory around, but also carry forward those lessons in the way you live your life. So, again, I'm sorry for your loss, my friend. Thank you, Mr. Shemake. Council members? Mr. Chairman. Yes, sir. I only have three words. I love you. Yeah. The Templar family is in my hearts and prayers. Losing a loved one is never easy. But you got an army around you to be here if you need anything. Thank you very much, Mr. Thomas. Mr. Cato. Danny, my heart goes out to you. I've talked to you about this before. But I want to say this.

» Through this whole time, you know, I just got to say it shows y'all's commitment to your mother. All of you, I heard you talk about the care that y'all give her and the love you give her during this time. And it says a lot about the family. So, my prayers continue for you and your whole family. And we thank you for your service here and for the time that you take away from your family to do what you do. All love to you, brother. Mr. Chairman, I made an observation. May I comment on it? You want to comment on your observation? Sure. Well, the observation that I made was I went out to visit with Danny. And there are as many Templars there as Connells. That's a big family. Danny, how many of you are in your family siblings? I was one of nine. One of nine. Okay.

» Yeah, he's got you beat there, Chairman. We weigh more, but I mean, it's either here or there. And I know y'all have a lot like this. I watch TV. So, in closing this, I'll just share I love you as well, Danny, and very sorry that this has happened. But we have great hope in the resurrection and in our faith. And I share, on behalf of the council, deep condolences to the family members and friends and those who are also impacted by this who are here tonight or who might be watching remotely. We love y'all, too, and so sorry for your loss. But just be comforted in only the way that he can. Any other comments or discussion? I know Mr. Braswell, I think, is on the call, but he says he can't hear anything, so we'll have to get comments from him at some later time. All right.

» With that, we'll move it to a vote. All in favor on the proclamation, raise your hand. Okay. It passes unanimously. Ms. Hanna. Danny, it's completely your preference. If you want to have any family members take a picture to memorialize the event, or we can just... Yes, that would be great. And if I could just say one thing quickly. Yes, sir, please. I had my brothers and their significant others out there, Eric and Tom. Y'all talk about the work I do, but those two guys, they really put me to shame when it comes to having a servant's heart. My brother, Eric, he has been with the fire service forever. He took my mom to all of her appointments and really struggled through the waiting rooms and all that. So I took her to one appointment, and I immediately called him.

» I was like, how do you do this? You know, it's just so tough. But I always wanted to be more like those two guys and, you know, just doing right by others. And just, it's amazing what they'll do for their fellow human beings. And they set a high bar, and I'm hoping to get there one day. But one more thing, I truly appreciate the support y'all gave me and my family while I was out. It's hard to be out from this job, but you just get pulled in that direction sometimes, and y'all were just stellar. I can't thank y'all enough. It's an amazing group up there, and I'll never forget that. So thank y'all so much for your support. Yes, sir. Invite whoever you'd like, please. I would like to thank council, staff, and the public for indulging us in that moment. It's a funny thing.

» You start to work with people. When you work with them up close, you start to care about them a little bit, and that's obvious here. Thank you so much. Okay, we have Mr. Brazel on the line now, I believe. All right, thank you so much. That moves us on. Mr. Brazel, we're just about to close on resolutions in honor of Patty Lou Templer and move on to public comments. Would you like to share anything? Just like Jeff Andy, we've been thinking about him, and we know his mother's a special woman, and hope that the entire family's doing well. Lots of love for all of you guys. Thank you, Mr. Brazel. All right, that moves us on to public comments. Mr. DeBoas. No one signed up to speak. I think this is a record. There's two meetings in a row, no public comments.

» Y'all are either doing something very right or very wrong. I'm not sure. No public comments. All right, let's move on to public hearings. Item number 7A. This is on an amendment we'll see later in the packet regarding the ZLDR, zoning and land use development regulations, related to hemp drive products and cannabinoid products, and regulations related there, too. Do we have anybody signed up? No, Mr. Chair. No speakers have signed up for public hearing. I'll go ahead and open up the public hearing to see if anyone present wants to speak. The public hearing on 7A is open. Anyone present wishing to speak can speak on the topic on the agenda. Anyone wishing to speak, come forward. Seeing none, we'll go ahead and close public hearing on 7A.

» All right, gentlemen, that takes us to item number 8A. I placed it on this as a public presentation. Make a motion that we hear from the Sharers Foundation for their annual report and any other information they want to share. Do we have a second? Second. We've got a second. We have, come on up. Yes, sir. My dear friend, Mr. Jackson. And how many board members or other supporters do you have here tonight? We have Kathy Zobel. Yes, ma'am. Glad to hear you're here. Okay. We will. Let's go ahead and have a vote. All in favor on this public presentation, raise your hand. It's unanimous for those who are present. Mr. Brazel, how do you vote remotely? Hey, Chairman, I vote in favor of it. Thank you. It's unanimous, Ms. Hanna, for the record. Yes, sir, Mr. Benji Jackson.

» We'd love to hear from you. Well, I'm glad to be here. One of the things that we've talked about in the past was, let me introduce who I am first. I'm Benji Jackson, and I chair the Kershaw County Sheriff's Foundation. And Kathy is a board member of the Wilmington Association. And we're here to kind of do two things. Number one is to tell you about the Kershaw County Sheriff's Foundation, what we do. And number two, make a special presentation. So, number one, I have some more information in my packet for anybody that's here that wants it, about the Sheriff's Foundation and what we do. We are here. We're a 5013C.

» So, we're a charitable organization established in 2011 and support the Kershaw County Sheriff's Office on their unfunded mandates or things that they need at the Sheriff's Department that are not funded. This started back when Jim Matthews was sheriff, and I think it's evolved to what it is now. We are a 5013C, so if you want to make some donations, you can deduct them most of the time. Number two, we give out different awards during the year. We give out deputy of the quarter, deputy of the year, Leonard Price Law Enforcement Award to a citizen in Kershaw County that supports the Sheriff's Office. And let me give you an idea of some of the things that we've funded in the past.

» In the past, we've bulletproof vests, patrol car video cameras, service dogs, ammunition for training, deputy of the quarter funding. We do that every quarter. Personal officer video cameras to put on the personal officer, the deputy of the quarter. As I mentioned, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Association, we pay the fees for all of our deputies that join that during the year. And I need to slow down a little bit because I'm getting ahead of myself. Sorry about that. We've provided picture puncture-resistant gloves for these deputies that are out searching people, and they were getting hurt. They're sticking their hands in pockets, and signaling devices automatically activated as they do their job. Training materials for the D.A.R.E. program.

» So we do a lot of unfunded items that the sheriff does not have money to do. So the people in Kershaw County donate to us to help us help the sheriff's department. That's the bottom line. And I have some more information on that if anybody wants any. And the second reason we're here, we put out a bulletin in the paper in November or December each year. It's a funded Leonard Price Friend of Law Enforcement Award. And we put that in the paper, I think, in December, and we are to get ideas from the public who they would like to nominate for that. And so it was a big deal because Leonard Price was a huge supporter of the sheriff's law enforcement period in Kershaw County for years. I don't know if some of you may even know him and know his family.

» So we put that in the paper in December, and we pretty much got two nominees for that award. And let's see. We got the final judgment came back to. That's my name. Ben Connell is our Law Enforcement Supporter of the Year. Leonard Price Friend of Law Enforcement of the Year. Surprise, surprise. You are very tricky, Mr. Jackson. Actually, I think the fact that we're cousins means you might be conflicted out of any votes. Do you have any other presentations, or that's it? That's it. Okay. Well, my goodness. I have some more information about the Sheriff's Foundation. Let me tell you a little bit about we have a memorial going on right now for law enforcement in Kershaw County that ended their duty. They lost their lives during duty. Go ahead. Take your time, Benji. Sorry.

» So we're raising money to do that. I pray this wouldn't happen. But we have a committee, and we'll probably get some more information probably in another two weeks or three weeks. So be looking for that information. It's probably going to be in the Chronicle, something like that. So I have information on any of that that you would like to have after this, board members or members of the audience, either one. Mr. Chairman. Mr. Jones. Benji, I just want to tell you, thank you. It is so good to see you here. And Kathy, oh, my goodness, what a wonderful surprise to see you walk in the door as well. You know we love you. Same with you, Benji. I tell you, Jim Matthews started this organization back when he first got elected sheriff. It flourished.

» It went well, and Lee Bones has done a great job, and I see that the foundation has done well. And I just want to say thank you to both of y'all and the foundation because, you know, I'm retired law enforcement. My son is second generation retired law enforcement. So we understand what they go through, and what y'all have done is I know it's put a smile on some faces throughout the years. And thank you so much. Thank you very much for that. It goes kind words. Any other council members want to? I mean, congratulations. You really got me. I would not have put this on the agenda. I was like, is that Vince's name? That you got it. That's why nobody told you. Well, all right. Let's go ahead and take a quick picture. Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Congratulations. Thank you.

» Thank you. Well, before y'all scoot out, let me just say a very hearty thank you. Anybody that knows me knows I would not have put my own name on the agenda as bringing this up if I thought I was getting any type of award. But it gives me one moment to comment on the importance of law enforcement and the rule of law, which I believe in very heartily in our country and the Constitution. We had Ms. Cathy here tonight. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention her husband, Steve Zobel, who was a great friend of Mr. Jones, I know, but became a friend of mine as well prior to his passing and was one of the most ardent supporters of law enforcement. So thank you to the sheriff, other law enforcement who are here tonight and those that put their lives at risk to try to protect us in the community.

» I appreciate that very much. So where you can, try to support them, try to donate, try to encourage them, and try to encourage others to keep the law. Without the rule of law in our country, we are in big trouble. Amen. Amen. That brings us to item number 9A, this is the minutes. Do we have a motion on the minutes? I'll make a motion to approve the minutes. Mr. Schumacher has a motion, is there a second? I'll second. Got a second. Any discussion on the minutes for those who are present? Any discussion remotely, Mr. Brazel? Hearing none, we'll move it to a vote for those who are present. All in favor on the minutes, raise your hand. It's unanimous for those who are present and voting. Mr. Brazel, how do you vote on the minutes? Vote. As a yes, it's unanimous on the minutes. Ms.

» Hanna, for the record. Gentlemen, this brings us to ordinances. We're now at 10A. This is a second reading regarding a rezoning for the zoning map. First reading was January 13, 2026. Do we have a motion on 10A? Mr. Chair, I'll make a motion. We approve second reading of the ordinance. We've got a motion. Is there a second? I'll yield. Mr. Kato has a second. Mr. Thomason, anything you want to share on this one? I guess I'll give some brief background information on it. We had first reading last meeting, January 13th. And this is rezoning going from RD1 to MRD1. RD1 currently doesn't allow manufactured homes, and they want to replace the manufactured home and then put another manufactured home for their children on the property. So I'm happy to support it. Thank you, Mr. Thomason. Mr.

» Kato, you had the second. No comment. Any other comments from those who are present? Comments or questions on 10A? Seeing none. Mr. Brazel, any comments or questions on 10A before we vote? I have a comment. If I may, Mr. Bra... Mr. Bra... Okay, go ahead. Mr. Jones. I'd like to thank this council for doing the right thing. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Jones. You're welcome. Mr. Brazel, since I had your attention, how do you vote on 10A? That is a yes remotely from Mr. Brazel. For those who are present, raise your hand if you're in favor on 10A. It is unanimous. For those who are present and voting, Ms. Hanna. 10A passes. Second reading. Item number 10B. This is second reading on restrictions and regulations related to the use of public boat landings. Do we have a motion? I'll make the motion. Mr.

» Shumake has the motion. Is there a second? Second. Mr. Kato has a second. Mr. Shumake, anything to share? Just for background, this ordinance, we passed unanimous on first reading. This basically takes our fairly scant ordinance and cleans it up so that we can be clear about what is and isn't allowed at the boat ramp. Does not impact its opening hours, as Councilman Brazel noted. But this basically talks about what can and can be done at the boat ramp, as we've got our new boat ramp on county property. We want to make sure people aren't out there turning it into a party zone. Thank you, Mr. Shumake. Mr. Kato? I believe Mr. Shumake summed it up. Any other comments or questions for those who are present? Seeing none, Mr. Brazel, any comments or questions on 10B? No, sir.

» While I've got you, how do you vote on 10B? Vote yes. That is a yes remotely from Mr. Brazel on 10B. For those who are present, raise your hand if you're in favor on 10B. Ms. Hanna, it's unanimous. For those who are present in voting, it passes second reading on 10B. This takes us to item number 10C. This is a second reading regarding regulations and the prohibition of certain distribution and sales of nitrous oxide and kratom to miners in Kershaw County. First reading was on January 13, 2026. Do we have a motion on second reading? I'll make a motion. Mr. Shumake has a motion. Is there a second? I'll second. Mr. Kato has a second. Mr. Shumake. I'll yield to... I also have a... Yeah. I'll yield to Councilman Kato for his amendments. Okay. We have another motion. Okay.

» Chair, I want to make the motion to amend and move that the Kershaw County Council amend the ordinance and the form included in the agenda packet as labeled proposed second reading of the amendments. And I can explain further. I'll get a second. Okay. We've got a second on the Kato amendment. Got a second? Go ahead. Okay. For a brief description, this is just simply put, this just amends this through legal counsel. It just amends this saying that we're going to go by the age restriction for Kratom products that is listed as state law, which is the age of 21. So it's very simple, cut and dried. It moves the legal age to be able to purchase this stuff to the age of 21. All right. Mr. Shumake, you have a second? No comment.

» Any other comments or questions from those who are present on the Kato amendment? Just a question. I certainly support this. I think it's a great thing. But county government, we can't supersede state government anyway, can we? Correct. If the state or feds preempted a field of regulation, yeah, you can't. So this is good cleaning up. That's good cleaning up. Correct. Correct. Originally, this had nitrous age limit at 18 and the Kratom at 18. State's established at 21, so the Kratom's moving to 21. Thank you for cleaning this up. May I ask just for clarification? Yes, sir. This proposed second reading amendments, that is what we're voting? This is everything that was just moved on? Correct. Correct. So, gentlemen, in your packet, we've got this.

» Basically, there's a lot of red lines, but what those red lines do is just uniformly confirm it to the age required. Thank you, Mr. Shumake. All right, we're still on the Kato amendment. I think that takes care of the questions or comments from those who are in person. Mr. Shumake, I mean, Mr. Brazel, anything remotely? Only to thank Councilman Kato and Councilman Shumake for making sure this is handled in this way. Thank you, Mr. Brazel. We can barely hear you, just so you know, but thank you, Mr. Brazel. I could hear the thank yous coming through on that. While I have you, and we do have signal, how's your vote on the Kato amendment? I vote yes. That's a yes remotely for Mr. Brazel on the Kato amendment. We'll vote on the Kato amendment now.

» All in favor on the Kato amendment, raise your hand. Gentlemen, we're at the vote. Okay, it's unanimous for those who are voting present in person as well. So the Kato amendment passes. Now we'd have to vote as amended unless there are any other motions. Councilman Kato, do you have any other amendments? No other amendments. All right, no other amendments. All right, let's get a motion to approve as amended. If that's the desire of the council, do we have a motion? I'll make a motion we approve as amended. Okay, second? Second. All right, we've got a second. Any other discussion? All right. Let's move to a vote for those who are in person. Raise your hand if you're in favor. It passes unanimously for the, well, Mr. Schumach, how do you vote? Oh, sorry.

» It passes unanimously for those who are present and voting. Mr. Brazel, how do you vote remotely on the, um, go ahead. Second reading as amended. I vote, I vote yes. Can you hear me better now? Much better, much better. All right. Passes on second reading. Thank you. All right. That was 10C. This brings us to 10D. This is a second reading. Regarding addition of, uh, table 33.29 and table 3-3, excuse me, section 3329 and table 3-3, uh, regarding regulations for hemp-derived or synthetic cannabinoid products. First reading was December 9, 2025. Do we have a motion or a second reading? Make a motion with proof. All right. We have a motion. Mr. Kato, is there a second? Second. Mr. Thompson. Mr. Kato, anything to share? I also have a motion to amend on this also. Okay.

» I move that the Kershaw County Council amend the ordinance by accepting all planning commission recommendations labeled in the agenda packet as planning commission recommendations other than the suggested amendment 3329C allowing hemp retail establishments in a general business district, B2, and that we also amend the ordinance at section H, existing uses, subsection 2, to remove all change of ownership. So the text will now read, expansion or relocation of a non-conforming hemp retail establishment shall require compliance with all provisions and of this ordinance. That's the motion to amend. Do we have a second on the motion to amend? I'll second the motion to amend. Mr. Shoemake has a second. You've got a second.

» Anything else you'd like to share? No, I can turn this over to legal counsel. He might can explain this in a little bit better terms than I can. So I would ask that he'd just give a brief description. Yes. Members of council, the planning commission heard this draft ordinance on January 9 for its recommendations to y'all. Those were, of course, included in the agenda package. The proposed amendments from the planning commission were, I think, sent to y'all to minimize some of the potential difficulties in enforcement of the ordinances originally drafted. Many of these establishments are not standalone smoke shops, but located in gas stations. And as drafted, again, the administrative enforcement of this might have been difficult as it was originally envisioned.

» Those hours of operation provisions were changed to hours of sale for these products. That way, a gas station that is engaged in the sale of these products is not faced with an ordinance that says you can only operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. That is more or less the long and short of it. The change of ownership provision was debated and discussed by planning commission as well. Didn't make it into the final motion, but does also address a concern to narrowly tailor this ordinance for those nonconforming uses that are already established. And, again, for what it's worth and by way of general background for council and the public, there is a provision in the last government funding bill, a rider, essentially, that addressed these types of hemp products and the loophole in the Farm Act.

» And unless modified by the feds, these products will be effectively outlawed and banned come this summer anyway. But this is certainly a step to handle these and keep them away from underage people, unsuspecting consumers in that interim several months that we will have before the federal legislation will go into effect. Thank you, Mr. Kato. Yeah, just to follow up on what John said, I firmly believe that this is to protect our young people. I mean, we have several months before that hopefully takes effect, and those seven months, six, seven months, can save several lives. I believe this is a very important step for this county to take. Thank you, Mr. Kato. Mr. Shoemake. I just want to recognize Ms.

» Mara-Jones is here with the Alpha Center, and, you know, I know Councilman Kato, Councilman Brazlin, Ms. Jones have all been instrumental in working on this. So I just want to recognize, particularly Ms. Jones and the Alpha Center and her staff for all the hard work they've done on this issue to get in front of it. And just, again, thank every one of you guys for your work on this. Thank you, Mr. Shoemake. Councilmembers are present. Any other comments or questions? Mr. Chairman, I have one quick question. If the overall goal of this is to prevent access to our youth, right, why are we only pushing back 500 feet from a church, from a school, from a playground and park? So those distances are certainly matters of policy and matters for Kershaw County Council to consider.

» If the 500 has been utilized and is often utilized in zoning ordinances as a separation distance, but I've also seen 1,000 feet. I think in any zoning ordinance, there's a balance in narrowly tailoring it to achieve the stated goals. But, again, that's a policy call for y'all that I think there's certainly discretion there for Council. And certainly make myself available to discuss it if it needs further discussion outside of tonight or an executive session. Or, again, if it were the will of Council, I could certainly move to amend that as well or move it on third reading. Yeah, I'd like for Council to look into seeing and possibly pushing that even further back because that would be from, say, this is a school from here to the law firm, you know, or the corner.

» That's not that far, and we're not eliminating access at that point. You can make an amendment, third reading. That'd be good. Yeah. I support you. We'll look at that in third reading. Thank you, Mr. Thomason. Mr. Jones, before we go remote. Yes, if I may. I'd also like to just thank Leon Prosser, the chairman of the Alpha Center Board, and Steve Lee is here, his pastor. I hope him and my wife still like each other because they're sitting far apart tonight. But anyway, I'd like to just make sure, pastor, we appreciate your hard work into this, and we also appreciate Chairman Prosser, his hard work in it as well, too, along with my colleagues up here on County Council, Danny, Derrick, and what's his name? He's in Disneyland tonight. Brazzler. Brazzler. My brother. Boy, he's loud.

» I'm in my truck. Okay. Anyway, it's good to hear your voice. But anyway, thank you so much. I appreciate y'all being here and appreciate the hard work in this, and I look forward to the amendment, too. That was very good, catching that, Councilman. Thank you, Mr. Jones. So, Mr. Chairman, thank you so much. Thank you, Mr. Jones. We're still on the Cato Amendment. Mr. Brazzler, anything on the Cato Amendment before we vote? No, I support it. It's a yes from me. We will take that as a yes vote remotely on the Cato Amendment. For those who are present, how do you vote on the Cato Amendment? All in favor, raise your hand. It's unanimous. It passes for those who are present in voting. That brings us back to the pending motion and second we have on passing as is on second reading.

» Any other discussion needed for those who are present? Any other discussion needed, Mr. Brazzler, remotely on voting as amended? Seeing none. No, sir. I can support it. All right, Mr. Brazzler, we're going to take that as a yes vote remotely. Is that okay? Yes. Supported as amended. All right. And then let's move to a vote for those who are present on voting as amended. All in favor, raise your hand. It's unanimous. Ms. Hannon passes second reading as amended. That's on 10D. That moves us on, gentlemen, to item number 10E, third reading. This is a rezoning related to property, approximately 4.18 acres at 209 Boulware Road. We had first and second reading. The most recent reading being January 13, 2026. Do we have a motion on third reading? I'll move that we adopt it. Mr.

» Shoemake has the motion. Is there a second? I'll second. Mr. Cato has a second. Mr. Shoemake, any discussion? Just by way of background, I see Mr. Wells is here, but hopefully we don't have any questions. This is the property we've had in front of us a couple times and had questions with Mr. Wells. This is basically a downzoning, and they're just zoning a piece of multiple parcels so that they can do something with it so that it's not sort of patchwork. But it's actually a downzoning, so they're actually putting more restrictions on themselves. And thank Mr. Wells for coming. He's been at every reading and obviously used to sit up here on this dais. And, again, always thank Mr. Wells for his service. By the way, when I was in high school, I had a little political club, and Mr.

» Wells delivered a letter from the governor and read it to the school at our political club. So I thought that was big stuff. So I always appreciated that. He's smiling a lot more back there than we are up here. Well, let me tell you, the 12 years I was with him, he just smiled a whole lot. I'll tell you what, he was one of the finest council members we've had. On the 10-E third reading, any other comments or questions for those who are present? Any other discussion? Seeing none, Mr. Brazel, do you have any comments or questions or discussion? And if none, how do you vote on 10-E? I vote yet. That's a yes remotely for Mr. Brazel on 10-E. Let's move it to a vote for those who are present. All in favor, raise your hand on 10-E third reading. And it passes unanimously.

» For those who are present and voting, Ms. Hannah, passed on third reading. Thank you very much, John. And the last ordinance we have tonight. 10-F, this is a third reading regarding regulations for operation of golf carts within Kershaw County. We've had a couple council members very interested in golf cart regulation. We've had first and second reading, most recent being on January 13. Do we have a motion on third reading? Mr. Chair, I make a motion. Mr. Tomlinson has a motion. Is there a second? Second. Mr. Jones has a second. Mr. Tomlinson. I think we've had enough discussion on this. Just to kind of highlight, all this does is just change the state law that was passed last year to allow golf cart operations after dark in Kershaw County, as long as it abides by the state law.

» Thank you, Mr. Tomlinson. Mr. Jones, you have a second? Yeah, I think he said it all. It just makes good common sense to do this. Thank you to the Williams family. They've helped and been very supportive on this. Appreciate it so much. I actually wouldn't have got on it if it had been for you. So thank you. You would have, right? Thanks so much for being here tonight. Okay, Mr. Brasel, any comments or questions or discussion remotely? No, all set. How do you vote on 10F, third reading? If you could say it again. We lost you there for a moment. Do you vote yes or no on 10F? That's a yes. I'll take that as a yes remotely from Mr. Brasel and Ms. Hannah. And for those who are present, raise your hand if you're in favor on 10F.

» Third reading is unanimous, in favor, and passes third reading, Ms. Hannah, for the record. Yeah. All right, that takes us to appointments. I make a motion that we reappoint to fill a holdover position at large appointment of Shannon West to seat number nine. This is for the Kershaw Health District. Is there a second? I'll second. Thank you for the second. We've got the floor for a moment. I just want to say Shannon, as I understand it, his experience in health care and his background has been essential and vital for some of the achievements that the health district has made recently and on what they plan on doing in the future.

» They have developed quite the product over there for those who are aging, or can we say pre-aging? Is that a thing? But need particular type of care in Kershaw County that wasn't necessarily there before. They've done a really good job and they have plans to expand their offerings throughout Kershaw County. And I know Shannon has done a good job. So that's why I've got the motion to reappoint Shannon. Reappoint Shannon. Excuse me. Is there any other comments for discussion on the reappointment? Mr. Brasel, anything remotely? Hearing none, we'll move it to a vote for those who are present in case we lost Mr. Brasel for a second. On the reappointment of Shannon West, if you vote in favor, raise your hand. It's unanimous for those who are present and voting. Mr.

» Brasel, do we have you? I think we may have lost him. Ms. Anna, if you would just note for the record, we didn't have him participate on this particular vote, but it did pass unanimously for those who are present and voting. Oh, he's gone. Okay. All right. Next up, council member briefings. Mr. Cato. Just one quick thing. I want to thank Danny and his entire staff for the job they did during this heist. I think we made the right move for Monday morning and a lot of the businesses and churches and stuff on Sunday for doing the right thing, keeping the traffic down. But thanks for the updates and for the hard work that y'all put forth in this storm. It's like you're going to get another shot at it this weekend, too. But thank you for the hard work. I do appreciate it. Thank you, Mr. Cato.

» Mr. Tomlinson. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. We were blessed in Kershaw County. A lot of the upstate had a lot bigger issues with the ice than we did. Thank God for sparing us. We did have a few power outages, but our county staff did a wonderful job. Thank you, Danny. And one quick announcement. So my appointee that I put in place for the planning commission back in December, he reached out and he got a job offer back at his home in North Carolina. And he made a decision for the best for him and his family to move back. So my planning commission appointment will be opening back up. I know that there's a few people who want applications open. So I plan to have that on the February agenda. That's all I have, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Mr. Tomlinson. Ms.

» Hanna, if you please note that for the February agenda. Mr. Jones. Thank you, Mr. Chair, members of the county council. I just very quickly, briefly say, Danny, it's good to have you back. I know you've been through a lot and you've got a great staff as well, too. And thank you all. But good to see you back, buddy. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Mr. Shoemake. Yep. Two brief things. I just want to thank the Sheriff's Office, the foundation for presenting. I just saw that it was just posted for those of you who live in or near Elgin. You may have read about this nail issue we've been having over there where someone we think has been putting nails all over the road. And the Sheriff's Office has just posted that there will be a press conference and community meeting tomorrow at 6 p.m.

» at the Elgin Community Center to identify a suspect wanting a connection with those screws. So I want to appreciate Sheriff Boland for jumping on that. And Jimmy and I were at that meeting last week. And, you know, obviously they've been moving fast and now have a suspect to identify. So that was just announced by the Sheriff's Department on their social media channel. So I wanted to put that out there. And on a little point of personal privilege, this coming Tuesday at the next school board meeting, my wife is going to be recognized for having the highest scores for her grade level in the county. I'm really proud of her, the work she does. So, yeah, it's good stuff. Sir, if she's one of the tens of thousands of people listening to this meeting, I love you, Lane, and I'm proud of you.

» Thank you, Mr. Shoemake. Mr. Brazel. Oh, he's off, correct? He didn't hop back on? Okay. Well, I don't have any reports tonight, so that'll move us right on to the administrator's briefing. Do you have anything for us, Danny? No, sir. Just thank you all for everything, and it's good to be back. Yes, sir. Good to have you back. Mr. DeBose, any non-privileged legal briefing needed? No. We do have one item, gentlemen, for executive session. For the public's benefit, no vote is anticipated. This would be under attorney-client privilege-related regulations, SC Code 30-4-70A2, related to a pending or potential legal matter in attorney-client advice. Do we have a motion for executive session? Make a motion. Go to executive session. Mr. Cato, do we have a second? Second. Mr.

» Thomason, we have a second. All in favor of going into executive session, raise your hand. It's unanimous. We are in executive session. Is there a motion? Yes. I guess the sheriff's department doesn't see you as a threat, Martin. They just went out. Is there a motion to exit executive session? I'll make a motion. We have a motion. Is there a second? Second. Second. Any discussion on exiting executive session? Seeing none, all in favor, raise your hand in favor. It passes. We are out of executive session. Seeing no other business before the county. Motion to adjourn. Can we get one? So moved. We have a motion. Is there a second? Second. We've got a second. Any discussion? Nope. Seeing none, all in favor of adjournment, raise your hand. It's unanimous by those who are present and voting, Ms. Hannah. Thank you so much. We are adjourned.