Full meeting transcript - March 24, 2026

» Mr. Jones, I'm going to have to get this started. Sorry. Sorry. We are called to order. Don't blame it on Stephen Smoke. Thank you, Jimmy. We're called to order. I appreciate everybody coming out tonight for this Tuesday, March 24, 2026, Kershaw County Council meeting. So glad to have all of you here. We've been called to order, and we're going to have an invocation pledge of allegiance led by Councilman Danny Cato. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we just come to you tonight, and we thank you again for all the many blessings you've given us, Lord, For all your grace, your mercy, your love, dear Heavenly Father, we just thank you for it all.

» We ask you tonight that you'd be with us as we conduct the business of this county, that you'd have us to come here with humble hearts and open minds, and Lord, that you'd just give us the wisdom and knowledge that we need to lead this county in the right direction. Lord, we ask and lift up for the ones that are sick, the ones that are bereaved. Lord, we just ask your healing and hedge of protection over them, Lord, that you'd just be with them and their caregivers and their families. Lead, guide, and direct us, dear Heavenly Father. Lord, be with this nation. Be with this nation as we're in a time of war. Be with us, dear Heavenly Father, as we try and strive to go in a better direction, Lord. I just pray for our nation and our leaders.

» I pray for our first responders and our men and women in law enforcement and our military services. Lord, just lead, guide, and direct us now through this night and into the rest of this week. For Christ's name we pray, amen. Amen. Amen, Dean. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Mr. Chair, I would like to ask one of the best prayers I've heard. You're loud. Great Lord. He yells it out, but it must be living in our country. I'll second that. That was an outstanding prayer. Thank you, Mr. Cato. All right, we've got the invocation and pledge done. Next up on the agenda is the agenda.

» Do we have a motion make a motion will approve the agenda submitted by Miss Hannah We have motions or second We have a second discussion on the agenda and is mr. Brazel joining us remotely. Is he on mr. Brown? Chairman, how are you sir? We can barely hear you, but I can tell you there. We're doing good. Thank you See no further discussion. We'll move it to a vote all in favor of the agenda in person. Raise your hand any posting I just unanimous in person miss Hannah. Mr. Brazel. How do you vote? Yes, that's a yes remotely from mr. Brazel. Thank you next up and very important for tonight. We have a proclamation on the agenda Mr.

» Jones put this on and I'm glad to join him on this one This is recognizing the Lugoff Elgin high school wrestling team and also in particular Logan Hinton Fellow so I can talk about this. I make a motion that we approve this proclamation as submitted in the packet We have a second certainly second. You got the second. I got something to say - absolutely. All right, it's up for discussion And would you like to say anything, Mr. Jones? - If I could, because I'll let you get into the weeds with, 'cause you know wrestling better than I do. But I'm gonna tell you, Ted, we're making a habit out of this. You're doing such a great job. We appreciate you. Appreciate you so much, a beautiful wife of yours. Appreciate all you've done, 'cause you actually put Lugolf Elgin on the map.

» If you had another one of him on your wrestling team, you'd even be greater. But thank you for all you do, buddy. - Thank you, Mr. Jones. I'm sure we'll have a lot more to say, each and every one of us. But going through the proclamation, and before we bring some of these young men up and, Of course, have Coach Monroe speak and recognize his coaches and parents who contributed throughout the year. I just wanted to mention that the team finished second in the state, which is no small feat in the class and division that they're competing in. There are some buzzsaw teams out there that they are up against and competing against, and so congratulations on that. Wrestling is an extremely tough sport.

» No offense to anybody else, but we would always say that wrestlers use every other sport to warm up, and then we go compete. it's just it's a grueling and very hard sport especially for those that have to care more about weight as a heavyweight it wasn't as much of a big deal for me but it's an extremely tough sport which only support from parents and coaches and individual hard work and team support can get you to these type of achievements but talking about logan 5a state champion logan would you raise your hand yeah out there you stand up for us stand up sir i'm not talking about i'm not gonna wrestle with him chairman you don't mess with him 190 pounds of romp and stomp and twisted steel he was one of only two 5a wrestlers record a pin in the state finals has an outstanding record many

» outstanding wrestler achievements at various tournaments and this is reflective of many of his his teammates as well just a really great team coach moreau that you put together and these parents and others have supported and the coaches have supported but i get ahead of myself let's go ahead and move it to a vote all in favor who are in person raise your hand the proclamation's approved unanimously in person miss hannah mr brazel how do you vote on the proclamation i vote absolutely yes that's a yes mr brazel's ready to wrestle from uh overseas you're gonna make him stand you're gonna make him stand the whole meeting no no you can go ahead and sit down yes sir thank you he's a very good listener I thought he was about ready to wrestle you, Jimmy.

» If we could at this point, Coach Monroe, before we have Logan and the team come up for a picture and presentation of the proclamation, if you wouldn't mind stepping to the mic, is there anything you'd like to share about this team, about the coaches or Logan? First of all, let me just say that coaches keeping me in line and making my job a lot easier. As far as Logan goes, you know, We've got some younger coaches that get out there and wrestle around with him because the older coaches, we're not going there. Parents, thank y'all for all the support. Thank y'all for being here. My wife for putting up with me during the season. She should be standing up there with you. Three years. As far as the team goes, we had a phenomenal season.

» we lost a couple of starters before the season really even got off the ground and we were kind of scrambling. We had a couple of guys step up and fill those 138, 144-pound weight classes. One of them is back here right now, Cody Wonder, one of our seniors. And we've got some really, really good senior leadership. You know, Gabe Rush was a north-south wrestler, three-time state qualifier. He's been one of our leaders just short of 200 career wins. and wound up being our all-time pins leader. And a lot of these guys were all-region wrestlers. We had about eight or nine of those.

» And then as far as Logan goes, one of the most dominant seasons that I've seen, both of his losses came at the Southern Slam, and one of those was to a nationally-ranked wrestler that he lost by a couple of points on a controversial call. And then after that tournament, he was absolutely lights out. And it was unbelievable to watch him compete. He gave us a heart attack in the state finals. He fell down in the match early, 6-0, is that what it was? But he never hit the panic button. And true to form, Logan showed up and turned in Logan. And that's what he does. He doesn't say a whole lot. He does his talking on the mat. I love that. But more than anything else, I'm blessed to coach him. We're lucky to have him. And even more than that, we're glad we got him back for another year.

» Thank you so much, Coach. For your seniors, how many do you have going to wrestle at the next level? Gabe's going to Newberry to wrestle. And as far as I know, that's all of our seniors that are going on to wrestle at the next level. We've got some pretty good juniors that are coming up that may have that opportunity. And I also want to say this as far as these seniors, Cody and Gabe here, that have been with us, Jonathan Ibanez also, which I'm sure Johnny's not here, but those guys that have been in the program four years, it's a pretty awesome accomplishment to be in the state finals for four consecutive years. We've come up short four years, but we keep knocking on the door. Eventually, you know, we'll knock it down.

» So I want to thank them because the program wouldn't be where it is today without their leadership and without the foundation that they've laid for the program. Coach, before I hand it off to other council members for any comments or discussion or questions, I just want to mention some of my lifelong dedication to wrestling anyway. I've experienced through Coach Cooper, Coach Karen. You wrestle? I can't see everybody else who's in the back, Mr. Shoemake. But some of these guys have been coaching since I've been in high school, and they're still dedicated to the sport and helping the next generation work hard and learn the lessons that come from such a tremendous sport. Councilman, any – yes, Mr. Jones. I know they hadn't spoke yet, but thank you for giving me one more opportunity.

» I want to say this to you and to your young folks out there, your men that are wrestling. He wants you to win, and he's going to support you when you're winning. But I personally witnessed from the sixth grade through to the tenth grade, my son lost so many matches, we're going to write a book on how to get pinned in two seconds. But he never quit. And what he learned from Coach Monroe in your wrestling team, my son worked out as hard as anybody there. He accomplished his setting goals. And when he went to college, two bachelor degrees. When he went to Carnegie Mellon on a 95-cent ride, and he's a wonderful musician. But he'll tell you in a minute, he runs ultra marathons right now. And he'll tell you that he trains based on what he learned from Coach Monroe.

» That was the biggest factor of his life was Ted Monroe. So even though he may not have wanted that, he never gave up, and that's the point. He never gave up on my son either just because he wasn't a starring champion. Thank you, Ted, personally, and you too, Mr. Lara. Thank you so much, Ben. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Mr. Cato, please. Just a huge congratulations goes out to you young men and coaches for the dedication and effort that you put forth. People really don't understand how hard it is to win a state championship. I never got to experience that in any of the sports I ever played, but that is a tough feat is to win a state championship.

» And I hope we never slip up and miss an opportunity to recognize any state championship team in this county from any school, no matter what the sport, because that is an outstanding feat. And I just thank you all for your dedication and congratulations on all your accomplishments. Thank you, Mr. Cato. Any other council members? Yes, sir. Mr. Shoemake. Again, I join everyone else's congratulations. I see some moms and dads for you seniors out there. My son played high school sports, and he did not play at the next level. But I'll tell you, just in this year that he's been, since he's graduated, what I've noticed is the lifelong friendships that I can tell he's already developed.

» So for you young men, you know, even if this is your last year of wrestling, you're developing a network that's going to last forever. I see it with my friend Ben over here. The people he wrestled with, he's still close to, and that will be the foundation of your professional success and your personal network for the rest of your life. And Coach Monroe, you've done a great job, and I would just like to say to Coach Monroe specifically, you've obviously put together an amazing wrestling program. That's beyond anyone's dispute. But my daughter has had you as a teacher, and I will tell you that you're also an exceptional educator.

» And, you know, it's one thing to be a great coach, but to be a great coach and a great educator, you are a massive asset to LaGuardia High School and our community. So thank you, sir. Thank you, Mr. Shoemake. Mr. Tucker? you do know he's coming over to camden next year right no i'm just kidding sammy stop it i just had to say that um congratulations uh to the lugav elgin high school wrestling team um i was sitting here mr chairman and i i kind of want to read this whole proclamation because it's such it's full of such good stuff but i do want to piggyback on what coach said earlier about uh you seniors being there four straight years that's that is an amazing achievement within itself it's hard to do that on any level wherever it's high school college or professionals so pat yourselves on t

» he back and take the congratulations and i want to say to all of you keep your grit keep your commitment and your determination as you go through life this sport and all sports that you participate in on the high school levels even in the rec department when you're coming up it teaches you how to get along with others it teaches you how to work out problems and issues it teaches teaches you how to dig in deep when no one else may have the faith that you can do it that you can dig in and actually i call it a gut check check your gut and make things happen that people have probably counted you out for so with your support team and all the folks that love you over the years uh stay steady on your feet and stay focused congratulations thank you mr tucker mr brazel anything to share comments for

» discussion remotely yeah sorry i obviously can't see anyone but i wanted to offer congratulations uh to the coaches to the students um mr brazel we can barely hear you is there any way you can get closer to the the mic or maybe we can turn the volume up a little more yes sir try again can you hear me so i just wanted to offer congratulations to the coaching staff all of the coaches all of the teammates what a what a great what a great achievement you guys y'all remember this uh when you're when you're much older you'll look back much like we do now um i wanted to add that rick j is with me and he wanted to offer his congratulations as well as we are both away together on work so he was he was a wrestler much like chairman connell and um i know that's special to him too so i'm so proud of yo

» u guys thank you mr brazel hudson jay's dad is there as well sharing congratulations um before we bring you up i'll just share lastly and this is maybe a little bit of tough piece of advice but i think it'll help you win next year everybody out there's got a mama and daddy generally that loves them this is directly to the wrestlers they got coaches that care about them but that's static everybody has that if you want to get that victory next year you have to figure out right now what the other guys that you're going to compete against aren't willing to do in the off season because this is when you win right now i see i see coach and and the real coach uh to larry nodding yes you've got to put the work in right now and build up a bank of work that when you step on the mat next year you have

» no doubt that you're worthy of a win because the other guy hasn't worked as hard as you. Like, you earn it right now. And so put in the work in the offseason, and we'll be encouraging you every bit of the way. If we could, let's give them a hand and have all the wrestlers and coach come up. Anyone else you want to have come up? Mr. Chairman, they are going to 4A, so they can whip up on some more folks in 4A. Going down a bit? Yes, sir. Come on, we'll stay up. This is so many of them. Now, you hang out on I Love You Wall, that logo.

» Where do you hide that 190 pounds? leaning hey leaning me that's what he did what'd you weigh in high school man we cannot see you you can't that's being big head thank you martin stand in the chair sam i've done that before don't bear me they had to say from the dmv when you were there one two and a half jimmy at least somebody was honest they were They're going to take the picture without me. Yes. Yes. Thanks, Chairman. Thanks, Councilman Jones. Appreciate y'all doing that. Thank you, guys. We'll give them a moment to clear out. Thank you very much, Mr. Jones. Steve the Smoke is still here, too. Yes, sir, he is. Thank you very much, Mr. Jones, for that. That moves us back on to the agenda. We're on to public comments. Mr.

» DuBose, do we have anyone signed up? Yes, there are three speakers signed for public comments. Yes, sir. Mr. DuBose, who do we have first? First speaker is Chris Crimminger, EMS Response Times. Thank you, Ms. Crimminger. I'd be glad to hear from you. You've got five minutes. Good evening, gentlemen. Thank you for your time. My name is Chris Crimminger, and I live and own a business on Lake Watery. I'd like to touch on a subject that has been discussed here before at the council meetings, emergency services. I've done a little research into the emergency response times in South Carolina, specifically Lancaster, Chester, and Fairfield counties. Both my research and my social media page reflect the same situation. Rural response times are long, sometimes as long as 45 minutes.

» The population of these counties is beginning to notice this problem, just as we have, and are demanding answers, just as we in the Liberty Hill, Beaver Creek area have. Chester County has about half the residents of Kershaw County. Their solution is to configure or reconfigure an existing fire station in the West Chester Fire District to an ambulance station to serve the western half of the county. Lancaster County has twice the residents of Kershaw County, and one of the solutions proposed by the fire service itself is to train their firefighters to be EMTs. This proposal is actually before the Lancaster County Council right now. I have not been able to find any information on Fairfield County, whose difficulties with EMS fire response is a whole lot different than ours.

» Kershaw, Lancaster, and Chester counties at least have a hospital. Fairfield does not. I imagine their challenges are pretty hard to overcome and couldn't begin to think of how they would mitigate these challenges. So for the residents in our area to ask that either Beaver Creek Fire Station or Barron DeKalb Fire Station be reconfigured as a fire ambulance station or to train KCFS firefighters as EMTs is a reasonable request. This lack of services at our end of the county has been ongoing for years. Before it was somewhat understandable, probably 95 percent of the homes in the area were vacation homes. Now those vacation homes are permanent residences for more people.

» Just as population growth has affected Camden, Lugoff, and Elgin, so it has affected our area and it's not just the lake problem there are hundreds of homes in the area not on the lake but they are in the same emergency services desert we are and may not realize it if you look at the map of your own districts mr brazel and mr cato have the most rural districts and the worst coverage this is the way it has been for years and we would like to see it changed in closing just let me state these comments that i and the others are making are in no way indictment or criticism of the kcfs we are proud of and indebted to the men and women who put their own lives on the line to save others we are also happy to see that the kcfs is reaching out to the community with the open houses at the fire departme

» nt they've had three so far and i hope they have more just to raise the awareness that they are there and possibly recruit the manpower that they need thank you gentlemen for listening i hope that we in district one and district six can count on you doing the right thing and working with fire service to bring down response times and therefore making kershaw county safer for all of its residents and i would like to request that my written comments be put into the meeting minutes thank you miss grimminger so um we'll take a copy of that mr bows who's the second speaker next speaker is tommy swan friends of good all is the subject yes sir mr swan good evening councilman uh thomas swan president of We're friends of Goodall State Park, and our nonprofit organization is partnering with the state

» parks and friends of Goodall State Park and the betterment of the park for improvements and things like that. And on Saturday, April the 11th, from 11 o'clock to 2 p.m., we're going to have Family Fun Day. We do this once a year, and we just invite the community to come out to the park and have some fun and join in the activities that we have. We've got a lot of activities lined up this year, and it's going to be great. We've got about 23 different exhibits lined up, and the state rangers will be out there. So it's just our opportunity for those who have never been at the park before to come out there and just see the park and see the improvements that we're making at the park with our partnership and also see what's going on at the park.

» If you've been out there lately, you've seen they've cut a lot of trees down as part of the deforestation project. And from that, we're going to be able to double the length of the walking trails out there. For East Camden, that's a great improvement. It gives them a place to go to. So we're looking forward to hosting this event. And the prior Friday, if you feel so led, if you're open on your calendar, we're having a cleanup day at the park in preparation for this event. And we invite the public just come out there and do a little bit of light, clean up and join us with the parks and the rangers and help us clean up and get ready for it. We're proud of this park. I've been going to this since the 60s, and it's always been near and dear.

» And hopefully, you know, this park will someday return back to the glory that it once had. And we're seeing improvements bearing fruit. the attendance is really going up and thank you for your support of the park and we hope to see you out there come out there and join us what was that date again april 3rd saturday april the 11th is the family fun day friday april the third is the park cleanup day and that's from nine o'clock to twelve but i know it's getting beautiful out there thank you so much you're very welcome thanks for coming out tonight next speaker is melody harden the subject is pecan orchard yes ma'am good evening as many of you already know i am melody harden and i live on blackberry in the pecan orchard i'm speaking tonight regarding the lack of response we are receiving from

» the county administrator staff and county council regarding phase one and work to be completed in the pecan orchard on march the 10th after attending county council meeting and not hearing an update regarding phase one i emailed the county admin staff and county council regarding conflicting information and lack of updates we in the pecan orchard are receiving for those that have not read the email i will provide a few examples of some conflicting information we're receiving on january the 14th mr kepler or staff emailed that plans were to begin at the end of january and included a groundbreaking of the project for the first of june at no point indicating funds were an issue on february the 20th at a meeting with county staff we discussed many items including several hurdles that need to be

» addressed before phase one can begin one of the issues being the vacant lot on blackberry and a small mention regarding exp the expense on february 24th at the finance committee meeting it was clear a big issue is funds for the work to begin from the discussions it appeared that the estimates were close to or more than double the original amount that County Council approved for the work to be completed the same day February 24th at the County Council meeting there was a quick discussion regarding the finance meeting and the fact that additional funds would be needed at that meeting it was stated that an update showing what funds would need to be completed for phase one will be provided at the next County Council meeting which would have been March the 10th on March the 6th we were provided

» an update stating work is continuing with utilities and engineers planning to recook relocate utility lines and water lines this March 6th update stated when the work is complete mr. Templer anticipates progress with quote shovels in the ground for the drainage issues these are just some of the conflicting updates we're receiving that are concerning and bring up questions also the lack of responses we are receiving is frustrating and unacceptable every email since March the 10th has included mr. Templer mr. Blanchard County staff as well as all County Council members after receiving the update from Mr. Templer on March the 6th, myself and two others emailed with questions and concerns. According to my email records, none of us have received a response with answers.

» I proceeded to email again on March 16th since I had not received a response to follow up on my questions and to request a weekly update. We did receive an update on March 18th from mr. Kepler but unfortunately it didn't provide any real updates he stated that the allocated funds were there and basically maintenance on blackberry is being done again several emails with questions and as of today we have not received the response the issues and questions I had that mr.

» Kepler staff and/or County Council have not addressed our first one I'm aware that County council allocated 350 000 to complete construction but my understanding is that almost half of those funds have already been spent on engineering and surveying that leaves approximately 200 000 approved for the project county staff has not addressed this in any of our updates yet at the finance committee meeting on february 24th it was clear that there were not enough funds allocated to complete the entirety of phase one why did the finance committee not provide any update during the march 10th county council meeting if not at the meeting why hasn't this been discussed with mr templer and if it has why hasn't he updated us with this important information if there are insufficient funds to complete phas

» e one why are the utility and water lines currently in the process of being moved again let me remind you during this process many of us will be losing part of our front yards flower beds and pecan trees that cannot be replaced why has the Finance Committee chairman or its members not responded to the questions directed specifically to them regarding funds needed and or an update that was supposed to be provided two weeks ago I I would like an update from everyone involved that is transparent, honest, truthful, and concise. Thank you. Thank you for coming out tonight, Ms. Hardin. Mr. Bowes, anyone else signed up? That concludes public comments. That concludes public comments, gentlemen. That moves us on to a presentation, item number 7A, Hill Gold Mine.

» Do we have the representative here? I don't see the representative here. So we'll move that on for another agenda item next meeting, Ms. Hanna. We follow up with them. We'll have to see if somebody got caught up. approval of the minutes is next on the agenda 8a do we have a motion on the minutes like a motion we approve the minutes okay do we have a second second any discussion on the minutes seeing none I'll move it to a vote for those who are in person raise your hand if you're in favor it's unanimous in favor for those who are present and voting mr. Brazel you still with us how do you vote yes sir still with you but yes that's a yes remotely for mr.

» Brazel on the minutes miss Hannah it's unanimous in favor next up gentlemen we have a series of ordinances first one's item number 9a first reading mr administrator any background or any update we need before we get into motions or considering this um nothing pressing i can speak a little bit more about during discussion okay do we have a motion on number 9a this is a ordinance to amend the official zoning map 32 plus or minus acres i'll make that motion mr shoemake has the motion is there a second second we have a second mr shoemake you have the floor yeah this is uh the motor park right danny yes sir yeah so basically this ordinance is uh we they've come before us a couple of times as they've purchased property adjacent to their land to rezone that property um basically it allows them to

» create buffers uh they need to rezone it in order to purchase it obviously to the extent they grow it's land for them to grow into so what this fundamentally is is a chance for a very very good business that's been doing great things for kershaw county to have a buffer in into which it can expand in the future so i think that's the short version of it and why i support it thank you mr tucker uh yes i see mr corley is out there who's representing that old motor park up there y'all had a house full sunday uh saturday when i rode up through there sunday um but i um i think this is a great uh partner and economic development opportunity for uh the citizens of kershaw county and they've been good good neighbors to uh the folks by them they've either purchased their property or have been very res

» pectful to running in hours and operation that makes sense that does not make a bad neighbor so thanks and i'm in support of this tonight thank you mr tucker council members who are present any other discussion comments questions i think we need to note that the land surrounding this is also already in gd if i'm correct is that correct everything in the motor park plus it would basically just be expanding that footprint so the contiguous usage are certainly gd yep so it isn't spot zoning or any of those other issues thank you mr kato mr jones just a couple of questions i absolutely support this but i have some questions um mr vogue's was there a planning commission meeting did they get to review this or they don't have to yes uh this went before the planning commission um they held the publ

» ic hearing uh no speakers came to public hearing and um planning commission i believe recommended a map change unanimously to council very good thank you thank you mr jones mr brazel uh any comments or discussion remotely no um not the amount of anything i i support it and uh understand all the reasons why thank you okay seeing no further discussion from those who are present we'll go ahead and have uh your vote mr brazel how do you vote remotely on 9a you got vote in favor of that's a yes remotely from mr brazel miss hannah and for those who are present voting raise your hand if you're in favor it's unanimous in favor and we would excuse mr thompson tonight he had a family obligation uh in honor of mary elizabeth who of course passed away last year that takes us on to item number 9b anothe

» r first reading anything before we get going mr administrator um no mr chair members of council is just a text amendment uh redefining a guest lodged from four bedrooms to not exceeding 24 okay do we have a motion on 9b first reading we'll make a motion with proof mr cato has emotions or second i'll second mr schumacher has a motion mr cato you've got the floor um i just think that it's just talking about guest facilities this is not um any kind of housing developments or anything of that nature this is more of a guest facility where somebody would come and stay and visit our county so i i think this is uh i think this would be useful and beneficial to kershaw county okay thank you mr cato mr she make you the second yeah i agreed this is uh this is exactly what we want to see done in our ru

» ral lands i mean this is uh rezoning that would allow you know lodges and higher end type of economic development engines that don't put strain on infrastructure so i think this paves the way for some really great economic development and tourism opportunities for course for kershaw county thank you gentlemen and i'll just note that the applicant has made the representative mr smoke available tonight if the council has any questions or any comments that he might need to respond to he's here if y'all need him i have some questions for him of course mr smoke please come on up mr jones can i start i served eight years with that man folks standing right there and he and i went at it head to toe it's good to see i don't think you've been back in this room till now that might be true but anyway w

» elcome back and i i really would just like an up just kind of an overall very quick absolutely thank you councilman that's it no questions good to see everybody stephen smoke for the record here here on behalf of candy root lodge holdings who is the applicant in this case for the text amendment and my client is in the process of making a significant investment in multiple golf courses in kershaw county and this is a request this in furtherance of that project you'll also see an amended version in front of you that i yeah that i put in front of you all and and passed out all the staff as well the changes i think thank you mr tucker the changes are in blue and um the the changes were just in response to some of the comments and concerns from your wonderful wonderfully thorough planning commis

» sion who really vetted this and and had those comments and i think we've addressed them all with uh our those changes but if not there there are two more readings and we're here and and ready to work with with staff this council to make sure this is something that works best for everybody in the community because we do see it as as a project that is gonna benefit the county and just something that'll be good for everyone. - Mr. Jones, any other questions? - Thank you. - Mr. Shoemake, yes, sir.

» - I just wanna confirm, so the proposed amendments, which I think we could probably take a look at for second reading since we just looked at them, but as I understand it, and I know from talking to the Planning Commission, what this does, just so folks are aware, what these amendments do, as I understand it, is make it make the zoning change even more restrictive in other words the only thing that this would allow to come into these these venues is something that has you know a lot of land a lot of buffer zones so it basically further protects the land your use the use that your client proposes is one that is not a concern but the idea is we're creating an ordinance change and so all that follows or you have the same ordinance and what this does is create buffers and substantial green spac

» e because of those buffers. Is that the general idea? That is it, Councilman. Thank you for pointing that out. And I'll give you even more background, because this section came into being back in the fall, I think in October, roughly around that time frame. And the prior planning commissioner did a really good job, commendable job, and he did the primary drafting on this.

» And in doing so, he was drafting it more broad, and then that seemed to be a concern with the planning commission was that it was maybe too broad and so we've narrowed it down even more really so as to apply just to golf courses so you know the the changes you see in front of you say that you have to have an a golf course operated for this to apply mr chairman yes sir um if it's appropriate which i think it is i would like to make the amendment to uh this ordinance as we have it now so we can get this read into the first reading and then that way when it comes second we won't have to worry about i'll second that all right we've got a motion to amend on the cato so now we've got a first and a second on the tucker amendment any discussion from those who are present and we'll need to hear from

» mr brazel as well any discussion just we'll make sure for the public we have it written and that'll be in the minutes and so we'll obviously see that in our minute in our package and you're proposing it'd be amended as reflected in this hand absolutely okay i just want to clarify the legal staff has already reviewed and vetted this with mr smoke correct um mr smoke provided those blue line edits that are were responsive to planning commission comments earlier today again they're very discreet edits mr smoke's correct that the planet previous planning director drafted this as rural country clubs to also contemplate uses that might be a pool that has a membership that is rural to allow that type of structure no one's come in to apply for that and that's a pretty rare occurrence anyway a compo

» nent of this was this guest lodging but as originally drafted you could conceivably have a private pool membership club with guest lodging and that looks an awful like a hotel maybe so um what mr smoke did from the original draft is really kind of remove those other components instead of having it be broadly rural country clubs it is now rural golf clubs rural golf resorts if those other uses were to occur or start occurring at planning staff level they could be addressed with a different box so yeah that's that's the legal input on it again no real heartburn about the proposed edits a small matter that mr smoke and i will discuss as far as just sharpening the pencil on one little aspect i picked up on but nothing substantive that would affect real development thank you mr devozino the disc

» ussion from those who are present good stuff steven mr brazel anything remotely mr brazel anything remotely may have lost him for a moment chairman sorry it's just a long ways apart here can you hear me okay go go ahead yeah guys speak up yeah i'd like to commend stephen smoke for the work that he's done i think it's fantastic for our community steven i do thank you um regarding golf courses or driving ranges or anything like that maybe some exceptions and explicit rules that we're making for these courses. I'm thrilled, frankly, to see this sort of development in Kershaw County and in surrounding counties as well. I think it's healthy. I think it's good for our community to have these sorts of activities. It'll be an economic engine as well as job opportunities for locals.

» So it's all fantastic. When it comes to zoning, this would be a question for John DuBose. Are there any zoning regulations that prohibit golf courses in um in our current current zoning yeah um so our allowed use chart and and the interim director mr hoover may be able to speak this uh off the top of his head more explicitly but one of the issues um that kind of led to this is that this wasn't a use that was allowed in these rural districts um as conceived so um if there's any desire by council to more holistically look at regulations around golf courses countywide as far as where they're allowed uses or not certainly something that staff administration and legal can explore but yeah the the the setup that applicant wanted to pursue and other similarly situated applicants under the regulati

» ons last September August could not have occurred the October amendments made these uses more of a possibility and again this is fine-tuning the regulations to more precisely fit golf courses and again remove some of the theoretical possibilities maybe not practical possibilities but theoretical possibilities for undesirable uses that Planning Commission identified and that is that's more to the buildings the the housing and that sort of thing is that right correct um planning commission's concerns were not about a golf course it was this idea that the guest lodging component could perhaps exist and continue on its own um in the once upon a time wrong and of course fails um the amendments mr smoke prepared are responsive to that concern okay perfect now in our current zoning industrial resi

» dential rural residential are there any zoning issues in any of those for just a golf course without without a um a lodge of sorts or our housing the the man with the answers just uh step to the podium mr zach hoover interim planning director so i will uh defer to him he has i believe his zldr pulled up that is correct this is zack hoover director of planning and zoning the golf courses fall under the golf tennis and swimming clubs land use in our ordinance they are permitted in all zoning districts except for the office district o1 as well as the b3 district they're permitted outright in the rural districts what was the other one you said oh one and then b3 okay that's a business district that is correct okay so like a development area such as where publics would be or some sort of a retai

» l establishment yes okay well good no i think that's fantastic and i really do commend you and what you've done with steven smoke um i'm in full support thank you mr brazel how do you vote on the tucker amendment uh if if that's what's needed to complete the task i'm i'm in full support of the amendment okay on tucker amendment we have a yes vote remotely for those All those in favor on the Tucker Amendment voting in person, raise your hand. It's unanimous on the Tucker Amendment. That puts us on the original motion, Mr. Cato, as amended. Any further discussion, council members? Seeing none, we'll vote by those who are present and voting on the motion as amended. All in favor, raise your hand. And again, this is on 9B.

» That's unanimous in favor for those who are present and voting as amended. Mr. Brazel, how do you vote on 9B? - 100% full support. That's a yes remotely from Mr. Brazel. Ms. Hanna, it passes as amended on 9B. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Administrator and staff as well. That takes us to 9C. Mr. Administrator, any background we need before we dive into this one? - Mr. Chair, members of council, you have before you just an ordinance that is gonna compliment the city's ordinance on what we would consider aggressive panhandling, where it would use any intimidation or coercion to or making any citizen feel compelled to hand over something that they wouldn't normally want to in the setting of panhandling. - I think it's also a safety issue as well. We'll take it up. - You're correct.

» - Do we have a motion on 9C in first reading? - I'll make that motion. - Mr. Shoemake has a motion, is there a second? - Second. - There's a second by Mr. Tucker. Mr. Shoemake. - Yeah, so just a little bit more background. This is nearly identical to what the city of Camden already adopted and what we're starting to see in the city of camden and certain parts of lugo is bluntly panhandling people walking up to cars or people walking up to people and begging for money and other things and so what this prohibits to be clear and it's in the packet here so this is all in the packet it prohibits these discrete things you cannot aggressively beg meaning with begging with the intent to intimidate another so you can't do that um you cannot um you cannot aggressive you cannot obstruct traffic you ca

» n't touch the person you're talking to without their consent you can't basically follow them around you can't block their passage you can't beg within 50 feet of a financial institution or an outdoor dining area or any shelter or taxi stand and you can't beg that you can't beg while the person solicited is in a vehicle or beg after dark or big at a traffic intersection and basically that prohibits people being bothered and impeding the flow of traffic we're starting to see more and more of it so there's a chance to sort of get ahead of that and like i say camden's already done this they did this back in february and they've already seen some positive results from their ordinance so that's a little bit of background on why i support it did i say something mr um does the second you know thank

» you mr jones uh mr she may you are aware that we have an ordinance on the books we do but it is a very permitting what's that it's for permitting like a panhand it's almost come and set up a hot dog shop or they would set up you know a roadside as long as it's not fruit or something like that that's exempted or accepted by state but they have to come and get a permit they can only get one or two a year they have to give us some so much of a notice so i think this is good stuff i support it But I would like that to be brought up so we can all understand that we do have, and actually we really stopped a lot of it over in Lugolf. I call it the Powers-Dykes bill because every time they would show up at McDonald's, Robbie Powers would call me fussing, God, he'd be fussing.

» And then Heather Dykes would be doing the same thing. So that's what initiated me or sort of motivated me to go get something done on it. So we did. Sam, you remember. Yes. And I don't remember exactly how the permit structure is, but it's pretty tough, and it pretty well kept things under control. Mr. Jones, just to clarify, are you talking about permits for sales of goods or fruit? Well, no, no, no, no, no. I know fruit and things like that are exempted. This was just them setting up, whether it's panhandling, roadside vendors, whatever, you know, you had them doing couches, you had them collecting money for the churches.

» mean it it well or at least saying it was for churches i don't think it was i think they're trying to rob us that honestly but the thing is that uh that they would use that as a front and i know one of them said they were new life ministry henry called me up and said that is not new like that's not our new new life ministry out there it's gonna be somebody from out of town and it was something out of town but anyway i i i think this is good but i wish we had a copy of that to show what it is so we could bring it up to date as well let's get that um before second reading yeah sounds good yeah i'm familiar with the prohibition in the county code and you're correct mr jones there is a structure that allows for organized permitted like fundraising solicitations by 501c3s exactly as you've descr

» ibed with some advance notice and permitting this explicitly addresses matters outside of that and under the conflict of all provisions those permits would still be available to people wanting to pursue them for those kind of legitimate solicitations um so uh yeah but i like this uh derek i like this a lot i mean who did it i just want to make sure okay i mean camden bluntly and i got to give it to our folks in legal i mean they did the heavy lifting on this this is good stuff and and uh i'm glad to see it i'll make a point um on that um kind of parallel passage mr jones to uh print copies for for council at next meeting, just informationally, and have those at y'all's seats. - Thank you.

» - And maybe even, John, look at, in this section 2434, maybe we could even add just a couple of lines just to be expressed that this doesn't, 'cause it's a conflict of laws provision anyway, that does not conflict with the ability to get a permit sanctioned by the county. - We'll explicitly call out those sections dealing with that permitting system. - Yeah, we can do that. That's a perfect spot for it. - Mr. Tucker, you have the second. - Yes, thank you, Mr. Chair. Mr. DuBose, I had a question underneath 2432. So item I, a beg while the person is being solicited in a vehicle, and then item L, beg at a traffic intersection which causes drivers to be distracted. I'm concerned about that because when we do boots and badges, as Councilman Jones just brought up, you're at 34 and number one.

» You're at the middle of an intersection. You're at DeKalb Street, which is US 1 and 521 and Broad Street. Those are great fundraisers. How do we address those issues when you're doing? I believe those fall within that existing code provision. And, again, to Mr. Shoemake's point and request that some verbiage to that end be added to 2434, just to make it crystal, crystal clear that this in no way intends to overrule or modify that, that that'll exist as a separate bucket of allowable activity again if permitted in advance so that safety can be provided for you and they'd have to be permanent i mean that's the thing like even those things need to be permitted because that way the county knows they're happening and yeah if the police do get a call i mean if they're not the ones doing it so tha

» t's a permitted activity because i think it's nothing more frustrating i don't know if y'all experienced this before but um when i was doing a lot of driving with students i can jump off at the 98 trying to get home, and the line's already long and frustrated. And then you got my guy, my guy, he's at the bottom ramp by the stop sign, and the city says, well, he's not in the city, he's on the I-20. Well, technically they're right, because if an accident happens on I-20, Highway Patrol will be called the rocket. And then Highway Patrol won't do anything with him because he's not on the interstate. You know, pedestrians are prohibited to be on the interstate. So he's right there in that donut hole where he's safe.

» so i'm happy to see an ordinance like this that address that and i don't have a problem with people um panhandling i just don't want it in our neck of the woods any further discussion or comments from council who are present john is him yes i am hold that mr no um before we go remote mr brasil i was just gonna i've heard that it's become a safety issue particularly in yield lanes and you know those fast merging areas where people are leaning over and either just about getting clipped or actually getting clipped and causing other issues um mr brazel any comments or discussion remotely uh chairman no i'm i'm in agreement with most of everything i'm i'm hearing tonight so no comments okay i'll go ahead and get your vote remotely how do you vote on 9c yeah yes miss hannah that's yes remotely fo

» r mr brazel for those who are present and voting raise your hand if you're in favor miss hannah's unanimous in favor and passes first reading on 9c chairman yes sir there's never been a time that we have a call that the sheriff did not respond or send somebody out there you know i realize there may be some twilight zone areas but uh they they've come out and worked with us on it and appreciate it thank you mr jones and thank you law enforcement chair for being here tonight uh this moves us on to item number 10 10a we have a slate of various appointments and we'll take them one by one 10a is on the a tax committee uh do we have a motion um mr tucker yes i make a motion that we appoint um the a tax committee i think we have uh about five appointments um two four four four appointments because

» we did one last meeting sir your nomination my nomination is going to be mr deep patel on my motion to an um to a point yes sir is there a second on the motion okay mr jones has a second mr tucker anything further on mr patel's appointment no no thank Thank you. Just a fine individual, very busy in the city and in the county. He's a Thomas Sumter graduate along with USC, and he does a lot of good things here. Thank you, Mr. Tucker. Mr. Jones, you have the second. Anything on Mr. Patel's appointment? No, no, thank you. Mr. Brazel, anything remotely? I thought we were going to do a model one. Chairman, no, nothing there. Thank you. And we can do it as a slate, unless you have individuals you want to discuss in particular. I'm fine to do it as a slate.

» We can go and pass this one and then do the rest as a slate. Okay, well, then, Mr. Tucker, if you'll restate your motion, do you have the names of the other individuals? That's what I was looking for. It's in my other packet. Yeah, they weren't in this packet. Mr. Brazel, since you're on, we don't have them in our packet. Can you give us the name of the person that you were nominating? We got them. Never mind. We got them. Mr. Tucker, if you'd restate your motion to include the four individuals as a slate for ATACS. Yes, I would like to make the following motion as a slate of appointments For District 2, Mr. Deep Patel. For District 4, Jane Duncan. No, you're talking about for the ATEX committee? Yes. I was going to, no, that's, well. That's what's, we've got a couple. Yeah, yeah.

» Okay, let me hear who you are. Let me keep going, and I may have mixed up. But I'm going to have to readdress that, yeah. Okay. District 1, Casey Brazel. We're good. I know you are. And for District 5, Thomas Mulligan. Junior. Junior. those are the four individuals all right so that's the motion as a slate on appointment to the a tax committee do we have a second on the motion I want to add to my motion if you didn't mind go ahead so district 1 2 & 3 the terms will expire 3 11 of 29 and districts 4 5 & 6 the terms will expire 3 11 of 27 that staggers these terms so everybody's not depleted one and miss Anna you'll have keep up with that so i want to make sure you got those dates okay great do you want a second who's got a second we we do have a second okay so on the slate mr tucker you have

» the floor yes so um i just want to thank all these individuals that have uh volunteered to do this good work this is a committee that makes um recommendations back to council during budget season um they don't meet uh that often but their work is so important to our budget and to our um organizations here in kershaw county so i want to say thanks to all of the um candidates who put their names up to uh be appointed thank you mr tucker mr jones you have the second any comments good good for those who are present any other comments or discussion on the slate appointment mr brazel any uh comments or discussion remotely i think uh because it's a slate i think i'll need to abstain uh mr debose yeah i'd agree i was going to have you do it individually so you could talk about some of them but now

» we're on a slate and uh your sweetheart's included all right mr ross i'm standing we'll just move it to a vote for those who are present uh all in favor raise your hand it's unanimous and passes for those who are present voting miss hannah on 10a as a slate thank you that moves us to item number 10b recreation advisory commission appointment i believe mr tomlinson had spoken with mr tucker yes sir is there a motion i'd like to make a motion that we appoint mr. Matthew Downey to replace mr. Shane Kirkley all right there second I'll second have a second mr. Kato mr.

» Tucker just wanted to say I had an opportunity to meet Matt I actually coached his brother he kind of had to go back in the archives in my head remind me of who his family was but I think a great individual who's already doing a lot of amazing things in the coaching arena in our rec department want to see that um we continue to grow in the right direction and that the wreck as a whole is successful so i think this is a great appointment and he's dedicated and committed thank you mr tucker mr cato i think mr tucker said it all all right uh council members any other discussion for those who are present seeing none mr uh brazel any discussion remotely no sir i'm sorry okay we'll go ahead and get your vote how do you vote on 10b appointment of matt downey to the recreation advisory commission a

» bsolutely what a fantastic choice thank you that is a yes remotely from mr brazel miss hannah and for those who are present and voting raise your hand if you're in favor miss hannah it's unanimous for the record he is appointed on 10b again thanks to all those who might be listening or see this in the future for volunteering your time to serve most of us have full-time jobs up here or significant family obligations otherwise and we literally cannot do it all without these committees volunteering and stepping up to serve or work with staff on various projects um and facets of the county we just literally couldn't do it and so we were very grateful for your dedication and service all right councilmember briefings mr uh mr brazel i'm gonna go ahead to you just just in case we lose you you neve

» r know uh with someone especially if they're overseas uh any briefing for us tonight chairman thank you very much i uh certainly appreciate it um i made a few notes as i've listened to comments um from from our community to the pecan orchard i just want to say that that i hear you we have had some continued discussions uh that i think are going to be fruitful and um i actually thought we would hear about that tonight but um probably waiting on me to come back we'll we'll find a way to move the ball forward soon um i would like to mention i've received a complaint about vincent road for a second time this year. I know that we have put some money into it.

» I do recognize that and I've had positive conversations with Dan Canney, but we do want to make sure that we continue to finish that project. Councilman Cato and I had worked together on that and I just want to make sure that that's safe and passable. Regarding EMS, I will be working very hard on rural health care and EMS this year and collectively with others on council and I've had some people reach out to me on a broader scale that I would like to introduce to council and find yet other ways to work on rural health care that's that's going to be a that's going to be a very important topic probably for the next two to four years um i'd like to set some goals and i'd like to achieve some goals i'd like to find a way to have better access complicitly through different agencies so um also to

» uh make mention of woodward park and i think councilman cato in your area there's just a few things that I would like to mention in a general sense that need to be addressed in order to complete some of the nuances of almost a punch list, if you will. I think at Boyd Young Park, there was a wiring issue that needs to be addressed. And at Wilbur Park, there's a drainage issue that needs to be addressed. If administration could work with the engineering team that we've employed to solve these problems. I would surely be grateful as would others. It was fun. Councilman Tucker, myself and Councilman Thomason were able to meet with junior leadership. I think that was just last Friday morning. They posted something on Facebook, a great looking bunch of kids.

» They were in there talking about real topics and it was really neat to see our next generation of future leaders in council and just learning learning some about um local government and how it plays a role in everybody's life so with that i will conclude my remarks and i look forward to seeing you all soon thank you thank you mr browns mr shumick we'll start with you for those who are present sure so uh a couple of things i just want to piggyback uh with for councilman brazel since he was joined us by phone i wasn't here and i noticed councilman jones we are we we are going to an executive session related to a contractual matter that affects a discussion of pecan orchard so i fully expect to have some comments about pecan orchard after that executive session but we have to have a discussion

» about a potential contractual issue um so and probably a vote but i don't want to get into that till we got to the motion but yeah so they'll so there will be something on pecan orchard after executive session right well that's why i wanted to say that so i wanted to make that make that clear um but in terms of the other stuff uh i don't really have much else uh again sheriff bone thank you for joining us tonight appreciate you as always um and our planning commission chairman jonathan proctor's here he and i were doing some media stuff about some of the growth ordinances we'll have a smart growth committee meeting later this week and um we've got a lot on that agenda so i want to thank councilman tomlinson mr proctor mr horton miss uh miss jackie and billy smith and stephen smoke who've be

» en wonderful on that committee and we'll have some big stuff to talk about soon and that's all i have right now thank you mr schumacher mr tucker uh thank you mr chairman um yeah great stuff so the folks from pk orchards when we go in executive session please don't leave they um till the end um i want to thank uh councilman brazel and also councilman thomason for junior leadership um we miss councilman shoemake um he normally is a a pillow on that particular day to always come in college charleston my daughter but yes right you were you were doing things that you need to do as a father we we respect that but um it was it's a great class and it's a great opportunity to interact and be with our young people and um just to give you a little brief um synopsis on what took place so we didn't cal

» l them by their names we actually gave them the council members names so they were mr councilwoman or like it was actually a gentleman sitting in your chair so he was mr conner or mr chairman so miss hannah we had miss hannah's uh clerk to uh council there sitting there and she did a good job and the administrator and then the county attorney so um just want to say that went over well miss hannah i didn't get a chance to say it during the um approve of the minutes but thank you for the great job that you always do and i appreciate the way you laid this out you and mr devos on the terms as well um trying to make sure i have covered everything mr chairman i know the cup is this weekend uh i will not be attending but for those who are attending you have fun be safe most of all i think it's sup

» posed to be one of those days where it's not extremely hot so hopefully you'll have a great time and be able to stay on your feet and actually count horses that concludes my report thank you mr tucker mr jones thank you so much i'm glad we cleared up about the pecan orchard because that's what you had i mean i didn't i haven't been involved in the weeds with you guys i've been letting you do your job because you told me you gave me your word we're going to do something and we're going to do the right thing and i appreciate that that's why i want to make sure they stay here so we can see what we come out and vote on address i'm um oh i know what i want to say i had the distinct honor today of my wife and i have gone over to the columbia airport and uh i'll tell you one thing right now i know

» what we see on the news but that's not happening here in south carolina it's not happening at columbia airport uh the folks there couldn't couldn't be any more helpful the reason i bring this up our former uh chairwoman was being deployed today along with a friend of hers a lawyer from she is a lawyer from uh something i can't can't remember her name but anyway they were both being deployed today along with a bunch of about 100 200 other folks and there was a picture that that my wife took it was of the uh where all the soldiers meet the little area they had there for them and they had all their bags sitting in front of that picture and i thought look at that it just it just melts your heart seeing listen these guys are 18 and 19 years old and they're being deployed you know she's on her se

» cond deployment babies yeah i mean she got some age on her i mean she's about 40 years old but i mean but these kids but these young kids i mean it's just heartbreaking really especially at that age but anyway i'm very proud of our military service and very proud of the people who serve i'm very proud of me for serving and those are clerk typists don martin you've heard that before i'm sure anyway and i say that jokingly i'm very proud to have been a clerk typist anyway um even though we have a former or a former not a former marine sitting down there but uh let me just say this to my colleagues okay i don't know what's going to happen in the second session but i want to thank you for i mean pretty much taking this and pulled by the horns and okay we're going to get it done we're going to d

» o it the right way i i'm very appreciative that i'm looking forward to our discussion there and our votes coming out because that is just something that's very important to me and it's certainly about any votes because i don't need anybody's vote anymore but it's about doing the right thing and i thank you all for that thank you thank you mr chairman thank you mr jones mr cato i'm not used to going last right kind of shocked me today got me off my rhythm um i want to follow up on the wreck thing uh i've had some phone calls about the wreck and and the ball fields whether they were being completed and uh it's kind of threw things off schedule we've had and i think danny may touch on this a little bit and here so i don't take nothing away from him but uh i i did check into this with the field

» s up at copeland and the ones over at boyd young and and one of the major issues was the the one or two weeks of winter weather that we had with the snow and the freezing rain it set us back on getting the side ready for opening practices and of course we don't want to put people on this side and destroy thousands of dollars worth of sod so we're waiting on the side to take root which i i understand may be fairly close um with this warm weather that we had so that's that's one of the reasons the other i think they had a pump that for whatever reason burned up i don't know if it was a power surge or whatever the case it was up at boyd young but one of the new pumps burned up and that had to they had to come in and replace that so i just asked to you know bear with us um we've got some really

» nice facilities up there and and i'm i'm i'm speaking for up there because we've not we've not had any facilities like that in a very long time and they're they're new and they look awesome and i can't wait for us to get on them and start seeing our kids play on them um spring break is next week i asked the students and teachers and staff that they have a great spring break a good safe spring break easter be rolling around before we come back and i ask that y'all have a great uh easter sunday and enjoy it with with um with your church family and you enjoy it with your family and friends and lastly i'm not i'm not going to say this did not elaborate on it too much because i'm not going to take away from the great accomplishment that we celebrated tonight with le wrestling team but i want to

» congratulate the north central weightlifting team on their third straight state championship and we will We'll be doing something for them here in the near future, but what a great accomplishment for them and congratulations to them. That ends my report. - Thank you very much, Mr. Cato. Congrats again to the Lugolf Elgin High School wrestling team and all those engaged in athletic activities. It's not necessarily about the wins and losses, but the process of working hard to achieve what you can accomplish in sports. And actually, Mr. Jones, I'll just say, I remember working with your son early on in his wrestling career, and he was a hard worker, and that clearly has stuck with him, so that's the lesson that was learned, and that's what's important. Two other things I wanted to share.

» My son, if I can just take a moment of personal privilege, my son Bennett made the choice to be baptized, and I was able to participate in that, and it is one of the happiest experiences I can share as a father, especially to actually be able to baptize him. The spirit was strong that day, and I just thank God for such a beautiful family and a wonderful little boy and uh if you watch this one day bennett i love you um thank you very much uh for the public's notice and benefit and staff and legal i plan on doing a special call meeting 3 31 that would be next tuesday 6 p.m uh this would be a singular issue meeting uh for the notice that would go out related to growth issues and we would have a first reading related to the smart growth committee recommendations i anticipate and um and those gr

» owth issues and controlling growth and addressing that that's all I have to report mr. administrator anything for us yes sir mr. chair members of council just a few items first I'd like to thank staff across the county as an organization for all the hard work they put in every day be it EMS or the fire of law enforcement or anyone in this building the library the jail it's a lot good people doing a lot of hard work and a lot of it is um critical so moving on to some park and rec updates um i know mr brazel is talking about a punch list we always have punch lists for these projects and i think um you know i don't remember a time in kershaw county that we've ever had this many large scale projects going on very complex projects and uh but they're exciting and i understand why folks would want

» to be playing on these fields sooner rather than later because they're very nice. But we want to take our time with them and make sure that the sod has set in to Mr. Cato's point and that they are playable so they're durable. We want these to last for as long as they can. We do have some issues here and there, again, with some of the irrigation and things like that. But that's kind of a nice problem because we've never really done projects in the past with irrigation, so this stands to the longevity of these parks and the beautification of them. Right now, for the most part, with Copeland and up in Bethune, we are waiting on the sod to take place. Again, Mr. Cato mentioned that with the warm weather, I expect a lot of that to start hurrying up and things like that.

» to play on them as soon as we can and as soon as they're ready that's for sure the casey west expansion the parking expansion is is basically done we've got 70 grass growth over there so we're removing the sealed fences as part of our re-roll some of the asphalt one in in april when that warms up just to get a smoother application out there that was part of our punch list out there so some spring baseball participation numbers total participation for baseball 828 softball 189 for a total of a thousand seventeen that's 143 more participants compared to last year so we are growing and i attribute a lot of that to these new facilities we have technical soccer total participation there was 385 so that's a thousand four hundred and two total participation numbers for our youth in kershaw county

» which is pretty exciting uh a opening ceremonies were this past weekend so 84 teams took individual and team pictures a lot going on very busy day for rec and and staff out there uh 2026 egg fest happened um and we had an easter egg trail food truck vendors with lemonade and italian ice and games and story time with the from the kershaw county library and we had a total participation out there of 965 which was an additional 350 compared to last year so a lot of what we're doing in terms of recreation and public engagement with the county is is growing um and i you can attribute that to just natural growth in the county and again going back to some of the amenities that we have it's just it's going to be top notch and i look forward to you know cutting ribbons on the rest of these and gettin

» g them going and having them part of the regular rotation for games and events uh throughout the county so and that's all i have thank you mr administrator um before we move to legal briefing i would just mention let's recall on budgeting for finance committee or otherwise as we plan that we've got a donor willing to pay for conversion or at least half the cost on conversion for pickleball at westwater e and also uh boyd young in westwell um i'm not sure if we'll have to take that one at a time and year over year in the budget but those two the donors aware of both of those projects with westwater e being the first priority and then i'd like to address the other one too yes and um that moves us to legal briefing anything uh non-privileged mr bows nothing non-privileged okay that moves us to

» item number 14 executive session i seek a motion to enter executive session under sc code 30-4-70a2 regarding regarding legal briefing of a matter covered by attorney-client privilege do we have a motion make a motion we enter executive session we got a motion is there a second we have a second any discussion from those who are present seeing none um any discussion from mr brazel remotely no all right we'll take your vote mr brazel at this time on executive session yeah that's a yes remotely from mr brazel all those who are present voting raise your hand if you're in favor it is unanimous miss hannah and we are an executive session for the public's benefit we do anticipate a vote after the executive session mr brad russell can you hear us yes all right we can hear you All right.

» Seek a motion to exit executive session. Make a motion that we exit executive session. We have a motion. Is there a second on exiting? We have a second. Mr. Cato, any discussion on executive session? Seeing none, for those present, Mr. Brausel, any discussion on exiting executive session? None, sir. All right. With none, hearing none, how do you vote, Mr. Brausel, on exiting executive session? I vote yes to exit. That is a yes. And for those who are present and voting, raise your hand if you're in favor of exiting executive session. We are out of executive session, Ms. Hanna. That puts us back on to the agenda on the executive session item. Do we have any motions on item number 14A? Yes, Mr. Chairman, if I may. What's your motion? I'd like to make a motion.

» I'd like to make a motion that we authorize county administrators to direct public works to perform heavy maintenance activities. The heavy maintenance activities will include road grading, ditching, driveway repair and piping replacement and pipe upsizing. We're practical, 18-inch pipe, improvement in creation of an upper outfall, replacement of cross-piping at 404 Blackberry Place, installation of rip-raft in selected areas, contracting for hydro-seeding of maintenance work areas, external contracting for 419 Berry Place cross-pipe, an outfall project, which will include the cross-pipe under Blackberry, junction box and then a 36 inch closed system leading to an open ditch basin with riprap that is my motion and that's specific to pecan orchard great that is addressed to pecan orchard yes

» sir okay is there a second I second that mr. Jones has a second any discussion mr. Tucker you have before yes I want to say that um there's been a lot of time a lot of energy and somewhat of money spent on this project and i know that the citizens has been very frustrated um i make no excuses but the wheels of government are extremely slow uh usually but this has been um a little bit slower than a lot of us would like um i would like to also state that um the three hundred and fifty thousand dollars is still there still there we took the hundred and twenty six thousand dollars in engineering studies which was separate from because we had two votes on this project one for the engineering and then one for the cost for the repairs this is going to help get the work done sooner than later out t

» here and i think that um the county started a little bit already with some maybe brush work and maybe some other activities i have not been back out there to look yet but that is on my schedule to do but i do want to thank the citizens out there for being patient but this also eliminates utility movements pecan trees and other things and a big ditch in people's yard where um you know some would not be happy the thing about this project is what the engineers may recommend you to do may not be pleasing to all the residents and that and you got to find a happy balance and i think staff has done that on how to to accommodate and fix some of these issues and problems so with that i'm just want to say this in my statement as well in discussion to be clear that the work will not solve all the all

» the overall flooding issues in the neighborhood the county cannot fix the inherited hydrological conditions of the neighborhood which the county has no control or responsibility for so that can complete my discussion thank you mr tucker mr jones you have the second you know i uh we went into the second session we had our conversation and each one of you made your comments and uh and i respect that but one thing that i'm i'm i i believe in my heart you got 350 000 is still sitting there we need to go ahead and staff has indicated along with you guys that we can do this for with that amount of money we can get this project done and of course i think we're into put another part of it and just for you miss with another motion or something else to help feed into this to make it right but uh i ju

» st want to say that uh you folks in the pecan orchard are not my constituents you're my neighbors and my friends and i've never ever wavered when it comes to doing what i think is right for y'all and i think y'all i hope y'all know that um but i appreciate y'all very much i may not be on council in 10 more months after 20 years but i'm gonna still be your neighbor i'm gonna spill it still be there and uh you know i just i just appreciate the county spending this 350 000 on the pecan orchard i appreciate the directions that they give let me say this i'm very proud of russell browser he has stood firm and fought for this and a lot of what you're going to do is what he said a year ago i give him credit for that because that is a fact but um i do believe this this is going to be the county's go

» ing to do the best they can do and uh if not then we'll readdress it from there but i think this is going to help a lot and i will thank you all again for it and uh i'm done thank you mr jones any other discussion or comments from council members who are present seeing none mr bradley any discussion or comments remotely yes so um i'm going to express some of the same concerns that i had in executive session i feel like it's a bit vague um i hope that we're looking at the entire subdivision this is a lot of money for general maintenance um i'm going to support it and and i really i'm really hopeful that the staff is going to follow through and do this right i know it can be done i just i need it to be done and done correctly and done in a timely fashion because we've talked about this too lo

» ng we've wasted too we frankly wasted too much time and time is money so i'm ready to get the project started i'd like for everyone to be met with and discuss with on a on a personal level if somebody wants to pipe in their driveway i want to make sure that we are able to do that um we need to take a very methodical and thorough approach as to how we do this and i think that was the concern early on is as to how we would approach this and here we are back at the original thought process and i'm just hopeful and thankful that we're gonna get this done right and i'm gonna make sure that everybody's happy once we get done and i appreciate everybody's time and consideration and diligence thank you mr brazel any further discussion from those who are present mr tucker i'd like to make an amendmen

» t or um restate my motion if mr jones was seconded absolutely well let me hear first yeah the the cost shall not exceed 350 000 um which includes the property acquisition for a property that is a part of the stormwater project okay is there a second i'll second that all right we've mr legal counsel we've got two re-ups on the motion in the second everybody seems to be agreement and i do not hear any objections okay i thought that was clear yeah he just he just clarified it yeah not to exceed 350 000 okay seeing no further discussion uh we'll take a vote from those who are present and voting first all in favor raise your hand ms hannah it's unanimous for those voting in person and mr brazel how do you vote remotely i vote in support that's a yes remotely from thank you mr brazel miss hannah

» are there any other motions on 14a okay we have another motion what's the motion yes sir i'd like to make a motion that we authorize the county administrator and county staff and the county attorney to pursue the purchase of a vacant lot in pecan orchard subdivision for some not to exceed its appraised fair market value i'll second that okay we have another second and just for clarification this interrelates with your prior motion on the 350 000 cap absolutely mr chairman okay thank you any discussion from mr tucker you have the motion i just wanted to say um this is part of the hold up too because without this it makes the project impossible to do so um we had to do our due diligence in giving staff these directions to pursue this and so um once again not making excuses just trying to do t

» he best with what we have to work with thank you mr tucker mr jones you have the second again yes you know if i could and i don't know how we do this but mr tucker we had talked earlier about making sure there's some clear directions as to what needs to be done and communication needs to be done where the residents of the pecan altitude i know mr puzzle brought up just a little bit ago about having a meeting it you know letting them know informing everybody what's going to happen and what we're going to do but they have some kind of timeline you know so that there's and also good communication where everybody understands what's going on and what progress is being made and why there are delays and why there's some change orders you know the people who we work for well i think that's um more

» of a question directed to mr uh templar and i'm pretty sure he's been real good about giving us uh timelines and updates um on these various projects so okay i'm gonna hold true that that will continue okay and if there's something that mr jones and i'll say this if there's something that um that you're not clear on or you have questions on uh don't hesitate to you know the follow up with staff or but i know i want danny knows that dana had many conversations over 20 years but but back to you and i sir and one thing i will say is when we've gotten together we've made things happen things happen we don't agree on a lot of things but when we do come together we make things that we made happen right what i'm saying is that you know you and i had a conversation and there was going to be this is

» going to be saying this clear instructions this where we start when we start where we are you know they have that all written out and uh documented uh staff does the county administrator and um can we make sure we get a copy of that yes sir give to the people at pecan orchards so they can also know what to expect we can we can get you a copy of that well i mean i'm fine other than that but i bet i was just going to what you're just quoting what you were saying to me yes sir all right mr jones any further discussion no mr tucker yeah i just I just want to make one more point. The parcel has been identified in the engineering plans as a proposed location, God bless you, for stormwater infrastructure that will serve stormwater that is attributable to county roads in the subdivision.

» According to the engineers, the county roads in the subdivision are not the primary cause of stormwater issues in the subdivision. That said, there are drainage issues with the county roads and the county has committed to addressing those issues. also will provide stormwater infrastructure that will service the stormwater for the county roads and the county's heavy drainage maintenance activities in pecan orchards thank you mr tucker any further discussion from those present this is on the uh the second tucker motion mr brazel any discussion remotely hearing none mr brazel we still have you he's gone we lost mr brazel let us know if he tries to chime back in on the second vote um just couple comments before we move this this to a vote so just be patient with the timeline folks who are invol

» ved in this it will involve procurement these are state or county related laws that were required to follow for example if hypothetically a property is acquired council has to vote on that we can't just make it happen willy-nilly it has to be in a in a meeting in which we convene the majority of council votes on an acquisition and it satisfies everybody each one of us is just one of seven up here so we have to come to agreement on the terms for acquisition but also there might be materials or contracted services services that have to follow the procurement code as well and so that that varies the timeline some all right seeing no further discussion and I still think we don't have mr.

» Brazel with us we'll move it to a vote this is on the second motion on 14 a post executive session all in favor raise your hand miss Hannah it's unanimous with all present voting in favor that would yes sir motion I was gonna say that concludes our business tonight we have a motion to adjourn is there a second we have a second any discussion on adjourning seeing none all in favor raise your hand it's unanimous we are adjourned