Full meeting transcript - June 9, 2026

» welcome out everyone thank you for being here for this tuesday june 9th 2026 kershaw county council meeting i'll just confirm do we have um mr shoemake on the line you do i'm here and do we have anyone else on the line staff okay there might be one or two others calling in mr tucker i know had an emergency mr brazil's unavailable tonight and mr jones may be calling in at some point sometimes we work on a bit of a shoestring council and summertime with everybody traveling i understand that yes ma'am all right um we've been called to order invocation i'll go ahead and offer that tonight our dear heavenly father we're thankful for our many blessings we're grateful to gather here tonight we pray for mr jones we pray for all those who might struggle or mourn we pray for those who've been lost re

» cently and those families who have to deal with the consequences of that we're thankful for kershaw county and the good people that live here please bless us with wisdom and guidance and peace as we work through the issues of the county we pray for all the employees and those who support kershaw county we pray for our families we pray that all the children may have productive summers as well and we ask for thy guidance in the name of jesus christ amen we'll now have the pledge pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america to the republic for which it stands one nation under god and indivisible with liberty and justice for all next item up on the agenda gentlemen is the adoption of the agenda do we have a motion we make a motion we adopt the agenda we have a motion there's a

» second second we have a second any discussion on the agenda for those who are present seeing none mr shoemake any discussion remotely no discussion and i vote yes that's a yes vote remotely for mr shoemake all those who are present in favor of the agenda raise your hand it's unanimous and passes miss hannah the agenda is adopted we have a series of proclamations first up is 5a south carolina center for fathers and families mr tucker's unavailable tonight mr cato do we have a motion yes sir i'd like to make a motion that we adopt this proclamation for the south carolina center for fathers and families okay do we have a second second we have a second any discussion before we go to a vote or you want to vote and then discuss it discuss it okay let's for those who are present let's go ahead and

» uh vote raise your hand if you're in favor it's unanimous for those who are present in voting mr shoemake how do you vote on item number 5a yes that is four yeses for you miss hannah yes sir mr cato i think we have a mr gerald wesley this here tonight on behalf of this organization and to tell you a little bit about this organization before i read the proclamation the south carolina center for fathers or sccff um it's dedicated to uplifting fathers that overcome hardships and and social hurdles and personal struggles in their lives and and it they to tell you the impact that they have on on the family and on the children they served over four over 3 400 fathers last year and on top of that it impacted over 3 800 children so you can see the impact that this organization um has made and and k

» ershaw county would like to recognize them tonight with this proclamation and i'll read it as it's written and it says the state of south carolina county proclamation 2026 whereas fathers serve as the foundational architects and forging strong and resilient families providing unwavering love steadfast guidance and consistent consistent support that shape the character of their children and the future of our communities and whereas the profound influence of engaged fathers on their children's development is transformative as they impact core values build emotional resilience and equip young people to thrive socially academically and personally and whereas the south carolina center for fathers and families established in 2002 demonstrated a remarkable remarkable increase impact annually by se

» rving thousands of fathers and children statewide and whereas through this long-standing and productive collaboration with the south carolina department of social services along with the numerous state local and private partners the center has expanded its footprint by strategically opening new offices now operating 15 hub locations that deliver services across all 46 counties of south carolina and whereas the center has strengthened its father's 365 statewide network of regional affiliates enabling thousands of fathers to access high quality programming and parenting healthy relationships economic mobility job training legal navigation and mental health support and whereas when fathers actively engage in forging deep and purposeful relationships with their children these families experienc

» e powerful outcomes including more income earned by the program the program participants more child support paid and more saved and incarceration costs while the center continues to serve as a national model for innovation and effective fatherhood initiatives now therefore we the county county council of kershaw county south carolina do hereby proclaim june to 2026 as forging strong fathers and families month throughout the county and encouraging all citizens in our county to honor the fathers and father figures in their lives support programs that strengthen men and families and actively participate in forging resilient families that will sustain our communities for generations to come thank you mr.

» kato would you like to have the gentlemen come up and take a picture or are there any comments any other discussion from councilmembers on behalf of south carolina center fathers and family our president kareen edwards um jerelle wesley senior program manager at south carolina center of father and family we would like to just say thank you kershaw county for supporting the center and the movement that served the fathers and families in kershaw county but i do like to introduce the people who asked the boots on the ground who served those fathers in kershaw county mr trayvon armstrong he's the case manager that actually is serving the fathers and families in kershaw county so i'll let him say something yes sir good evening uh again my name is trayvon armstrong i am an individual specialist h

» ere in kershaw county it is an honor to be present and to do the miles do the work and absolutely i love every moment of it there is notable success when a father steps into midlands fatherhood coalition it is showing the employment is showing as he is paying his child support and understands the importance of its being more important not just to provide financially but also to provide presence uh to provide much more than um the finance the finances of it if you will and uh that is something that i take pride great pride in thank you sir anyone else keith ivy director operation at midlands fatherhood just want to say thank you for your support of this organization it is my job to go into in different counties and establish relationships with our local and and state agencies and so we reall

» y appreciate you taking the best interest in seeing what we're doing and supporting us in that so we thank you for your time yes sir thank you as well and i would like to say one more remark on also have our board member mr jay here today to support us um i have the opportunity to serve and go across the state and i just want to acknowledge kershaw county for being one of the most supportive counties across the state as i go travel the different sites to see the different barriers that our fathers face and i just want to say thank you to our community um and also our local partners for millions fatherhood to continue the work that we do serving the fathers and family in kershaw county thank you we appreciate everyone who came out tonight for this gentleman uh if you or anyone with your orga

» nization would like to step up they'll take a picture and have this proclamation presented to you you can just step right around over there thank you again for coming out gentlemen and thank you for handling that tonight the next proclamation is item number 5b honoring the 40th anniversary of elgin pharmacy that's quite a long time to be in business y'all don't look old enough to have been there for all 40 years right do we have a motion mr chairman i'd like to make a motion on behalf of mr shoemake we have a motion is there a second second i'll go remotely oh mr shoemake has a second mr tomlinson would you like to go ahead and have a vote and then discuss or uh yes i'd like to have a vote and then i'll read the resolution and all in favor of um accepting and putting forth this proclamation

» who are present raise your hand it's unanimous for those who are present and voting remotely mr shoemake how do you vote absolutely yes that is an absolutely yes remotely and it is accepted and approved go ahead mr tomlinson thank you mr chairman a proclamation honoring the 40th anniversary of elgin pharmacy whereas elgin pharmacy was founded in 1986 by tony casey and freddie mubarak at 1107 ross street in elgin south carolina a locally rooted institution that has served the residents of kershaw county and greater central south carolina region for 40 years providing accessible high quality pharmaceutical care to families seniors and individuals across our county and whereas elgin pharmacy's service area spans the breadth of central south carolina reaching the communities of elgin camden lui

» golf blythewood colombia and beyond demonstrating a profound and lasting commitment to the health of kershaw county and its neighbors and whereas current owners dustin and traisha campfield have built elgin pharmacy into a model of independent and community-centered pharmacy care offering the full range of services found at any major pharmacy chain delivered with the personal attention and local accountability that only a local locally owned business can provide and whereas elgin pharmacy's home care pharmacy service program including its pack my meds pre-packaged medication system has allowed countless seniors throughout kershaw county to remain safely in their homes reducing the burden on caregivers and health care systems and honoring the dignity and independence of our aging community m

» embers and whereas independent pharmacies like elgin pharmacy are vital to the economic and social fabric of kershaw county creating local jobs supporting local community local families and ensuring quality health care services remain accessible in our community rather than concentrated in distant urban centers and whereas in june june 2026 elgin pharmacy celebrates its 40th anniversary four decades of service sacrifice and steadfast commitment to the people of kershaw county in central south carolina now therefore be it proclaimed that kershaw county council does hereby recognize and honor elgin pharmacy on the on the momentous occasion of its 40th anniversary and be it further proclaimed that kershaw county extends its sincere congratulations and heartfelt appreciation to dustin and trais

» ha campfield to and to every member of elgin pharmacy team past and present for their four decades of dedicated service to the health and well-being of kershaw county's residents and be it further proclaimed that kershaw county designates june 20th 2026 as elgin pharmacy day in kershaw county south carolina and encourage all residents to join us in celebrating 40 years of trusted community care and be it further proclaimed that kershaw county commends elgin pharmacy as an exemplary model of community business and one that has remained rooted in the county invested in its people and committed to them to its mission for 40 years and encourages all residents of kershaw county to recognize and support this treasured local institution presented the ninth day of june 2026 by kershaw county counci

» l thank you very much mr thompson any other discussion from those who are present i would just like to say you know thank you i mean i can't imagine how many people y'all y'all helped through the years how many people you've got to know how many people you've treated and and provided services to so you know it's it's amazing that you've been able to stay in business this long and and serve the community the way you have so thank you thank you for all your work thank you mr kato mr shoemake any comments remotely yeah just again sorry i can't be there guys i have a work obligation otherwise i would not have missed this i'm waiting on waiting in the jury to come back in court but i just wanted to thank you guys for your work elgin's been my home my whole life my parents home before my kids wer

» e raised and you know we've been you know gotten uh breathing treatments for the kids when they had rsv down to you know pain medication for my old knees so you guys have been with this family for about 40 years so i thank you guys for everything small business of the lifeblood of community and you guys are an absolute lifeblood in elgin so thank you thank you mr shoemake and i'll just say you've taken care of my family as well we live in that area and thank you so much for everything you've done for kershaw county and the folks in elgin many more years may you have any further discussion for those okay we've already taken care of the vote if you would like to come on up uh anyone who's with you feel free to bring them up and we'll present you with this proclamation just checking with staff

» have we had any other council members join the meeting trying to get mr jones connected okay congratulations again thank you all so much uh is that mr tucker out here yes sir it is camera okay glad to have mr tucker as well all right that takes us through proclamations next up we have a resolution this is item number 6a on the agenda it's a resolution honoring the life of miss beverly jean jenny rose potter i'll make the motion we have a second second we have a second uh from mr tomlinson okay well can't have a double yield mr tomlinson you got the second yeah um we'll go ahead and have the vote and then discuss if that's okay gentlemen for those who are present and voting raise your hand if you're in favor it's unanimous for those who are present and voting mr tucker how do you vote on the

» resolution from miss jeannie potter yes that's a yes mr shoemake how do you vote for the resolution from miss jeannie potter yes that's a yes from all five miss hannah it's unanimous i'll share just a few things um on this resolution before we either hear from the family if they want to say anything or from other council members beverly jean jenny rose potter she has been an outstanding uh example of a woman in kershaw county and leader we had her up here not too long ago with her retirement from the south carolina state house after an illustrious career which i'll talk about in a little little bit but just to give you an idea of her background and how she's impacted our area and what she means the list is long but i'm gonna go through a few of them she served 14 years in the kershaw county

» sheriff's department as secretary to sheriff hector de brule and we're grateful to have the sheriff's office represented tonight and sheriff bone here as well she was a faithful volunteer for the elgin catfish stomp parade for many many years she served 20 years as a volunteer girls basketball coach for kershaw county recreation she had a 35-year career with the south carolina house of representatives part of that was the executive serving as executive secretary in the ways and means committee she served under three committee chairmen billy bone henry brown and robert harold jr she began working as the executive assistant to the speaker of the house and she served under speaker robert shaheen speaker david wilkins speaker robert harold jr speaker jay lucas and speaker merle smith and i can'

» t emphasize enough in order to have staying power through multiple generations of the speaker of the house for different parties and uh be so influential in leading how legislation and laws are made in south carolina is just impressive you know you would say that would be impossible but somehow she did it and she did it very very well and also impacted me as i served over the house of representatives uh previously most importantly she was a loving devoted wife to deputy sheriff earnest christian potter the third who was killed in line of duty in 1974 and she was a beloved mother of a beloved son chris potter the fourth who is with us tonight and some of his family as well and so it's an outstanding woman it's the least we can do to recognize her with this resolution we have the frame we hav

» e the resolution for you that doesn't mean as much hopefully as the the thoughts sentiments prayers and outreach you've received from the community if you attended the funeral the church didn't have enough seats to hold everybody we didn't want to let the fire marshal know about that one he might have to shut the whole thing down and then the burial as well she just she had an impact on so many people uh any other discussion or comments from council members who were present yeah mr chairman i had the opportunity to work with miss genie at the state house for a couple years um and in the community and just one of the sweetest individuals i've ever had the pleasure to be with and loyal and also stern when she was working she she worked hard worked really hard um we're honored to have you here

» today she she will be missed but she's left a legacy here in kershaw county that will live forever we're better because of her thank you very much mr tomlinson mr kato you know i got to know her many years ago but i will never forget and i think i said this last time when i first was elected to council the first trip i ever made to the state house we myself and brant went to her office and i'll never forget just how cordial she was and she sat there and you went and do something we just sat there and we just talked and how nice she was and explained everything and the last thing she told me she said anything you ever need anything i can do to help you out you let me know you know it means a lot to somebody who's getting started in something that's i hate to call it politics something as far

» as county council stuff goes that you've got somebody with that kind of experience that's willing to sit down and talk to you and tell you listen if you need anything you call me i'll try and help you find an answer and i appreciated that and i always did and always will she was a great lady thank you so much mr kato um mr tucker any comments no sir i just wanted to say that i fully support this and it's well deserved thank you mr tucker mr shoemake any comments remotely yeah same i just miss jeannie was a force of nature and all roads for political stuff in elgin went through her and she was one of the first people i talked to and i checked in with her regularly and she will be greatly missed in our community and certainly by her family thank you for doing this thank you mr shoemake and i

» would be remiss if i didn't mention miss jeannie would actually get mad at me if i didn't say all the glory to god we're talking about how great her life was but it's because she turned herself directly towards her heavenly father in all things and she would often remind me whenever i said what do we do about this problem or this issue or how do we solve this thing she said well god's in control anyway and so don't worry too much about it just try to do what's right and so she was also an amazing and great example in that respect mr potter or any of the family if you want to share any remarks you're welcome to if not we'll have you come up and we'll present this uh this resolution to you yeah yes sir you're more than welcome if y'all would please come up and we'll if you have any other rema

» rks you want to share you can step up to the mic so folks can hear you if not uh come on around council already getting their remarks yes sir they could hear you chairman i'm on i'm online now thank you mr jones you haven't you have our chain comment tomorrow thank you sir mr jones as you've just joined us we just had the resolution uh honoring the life of jeannie potter do you have any comments you'd like to share yes sir if i may and i apologize for not being able to get through um mr chairman members county council and to the community to the family especially i uh obviously so way back with jeannie she was one of the first people that uh welcomed me into the world of law enforcement because she was effective rule and and uh she's in the office and she always was sort of like a mom she w

» ould she would mother you and make sure you're okay and have what you wanted but i'm gonna tell you something uh and i'll say this to her son chris your mother was remarkable your mother was spectacular for more than anything in this community your mother was loved and she cared about people and she was my friend and uh chris we love you guys we love the family and chairman thank you for putting this on the agenda and i appreciate y'all give me a few moments to talk about my dear friend thank you yes sir mr jones i appreciate those comments this is one of the things that i i think is great about kershaw county a relatively smaller community in times of need folks try to draw together and support each other through good times and difficult times thank you again council members that brings us

» to public comments on the agenda item number seven mr vose do we have anyone signed up we have one speaker tonight mr isaac mccaskill the subject is property yes sir mr mccaskill you've got five minutes it's not time for a question and answer it's time for the public to uh the we have a question from the back hold on one second here we go again this is the third time i've been up here mr mccaskill if we could pause one second uh there seems to be a question in the back that the sheriff's trying to address yes sir mr mccaskill this is the third time i've been up here the county had posted my property is being seized when i come up to the county uh treasurer to find out about it i was asked to leave he said that he farmed that out to somebody else so i came to the county council and you told

» me that the uh attorney for the county would be in touch with me that's been about four months ago i was here last month and you reasserted that that would happen and it still hadn't happened so i'm just trying to figure out is because i don't give you anything do i not get what i'm supposed to get is apology from the county who posted my land having all my neighbors think that i don't post or i don't pay my taxes and in 32 years i've been here after retiring from marine corps i have yet to be even slack on the tax payment and i don't want to know why it's such hate and discontent to get something done is there any do you all say anything or is it just sir during this portion of the meeting it's just a it's a moment for the council to hear from the public it's not a question and answer thos

» e are rules set by the council which i'm just trying to follow all right so in other words i'll just have to wait again or maybe my next steps should be farther up the line what you're telling me thank you mr jones those instructions have been given okay thank you so much yes sir thank you thank you mr castle for coming out tonight anyone else signed up mr dubose no sir okay that concludes public comments as item number seven on the agenda oh did we have someone sign up afterwards apologies yeah uh sheriff bone was speaking to this gentleman that's that's the question from earlier it's a uh william holland the subject is data centers okay well generally signups occur prior to the meeting occurring but i have no problem with you coming up if council has no objection i don't have none what wa

» s the name again william holland mr holland please forgive me this is my first time at a council meeting to speak i read the back of the sheet y'all hand out in the rules say just before public speaking then it would be announced i was here before any of you before these two guys he was the only one here nobody announced anything about public speaking so i didn't know that i had to sign up or anything like that or when to sign up yes sir go ahead that being said about a year ago there was a rumor floating around kershaw county that we were going to get ai data center unless you've been living with your head in the sand for last year you know no public no community in the united states wants an ai data center so i did some research and and found out they were going to get some electricity fr

» om santee cooper okay everybody said it was going to be black river well i talked to the president of black river who lives in kershaw county and he informed me that well they'll get their block of power from santee cooper and it won't affect our rates okay i don't know if he understands how power is generated okay because they don't generate power black river santee cooper can generate this much power okay everybody buys for that much power and if you add a new customer that takes up this much power the public gets this much by the laws of supply and demand your power bill is going out roof now and it's going to be worse than city of camden power trust me you can look online find anybody in the country that's protesting especially ones that have already been built noise pollution water pol

» lution they will drain our resources dry now you you're probably looking at this and saying well why is he talking about it okay because that's been squashed that's what the guy at black river told me it's not going to happen well recently there was a conversation overheard in kershaw county in camden just a rumor hearsay that it's a done deal it's a done deal and this body right here is going to allow it it's going to happen okay now that's just a rumor i'm here to tell y'all if you want to squash that rumor and i know you got authority to because you you're trying to tell these local businesses you wrote a law saying that they can't sell kratom kratom whatever that is the kids younger than 21.

» okay a lot of county councils in this nation are coming out well we can't do nothing about it that's not true y'all could start a resolution this week a law and ordinance write it up i know you got lawyers on staff and prevent any ai data center from moving into this county okay and re and i'm not coming up here to talk because i'm worried about data centers for me okay i'm 60 years old almost i ain't got much time left but i've got children that live in this county and i've got grandchildren okay and i know you do too and they're in if you don't want it you better get started ahead of time in order to make sure that they don't come here when they come here they're going to want money tax money thinking they're going to create jobs that's a lie it's a straight-up lie they'll create maybe th

» ree jobs okay we don't need data centers here it's poison there's nothing good that will come from it and i don't know how many of you are actually religious or ever read the bible but it's in there okay you don't want it we don't want it the public doesn't want it so you can get ahead of the game right now and do something about it for the sake of the people you represent remember i'm sure you probably know this we're not a democracy if we were data centers wouldn't be a thing everybody in the country would get a vote on whether or not data centers are allowed and it would be shot down we are a republic we elected you to represent us in our best interest not to do what y'all want to do and i'm sure y'all know that get ahead of the game and that would squash these rumors that are out there

» before they happen thank you thank you sir for coming out tonight mr dubose there were no other signups that occurred no sir okay that concludes uh public comment next up we have the minutes under item number 8a is there a motion on the minutes mr chairman i'd like to make a motion we have a motion to approve the minutes is there a second we have a second any discussion for those who are present on the minutes seeing none we'll move to those who are remote um mr shoemake any discussion on the minutes no discussion i vote yes that's a yes vote from mr shoemake mr tucker any discussion on the minutes no discussion i vote yes that's a yes vote from mr tucker mr jones any uh discussion on the minutes excuse me i have no discussion on the minutes i vote yes and i'm against data centers too okay

» go ahead okay thank you mr jones um miss hannah we'll move it to a vote for those who are present all in favor raise your hand on the minutes it's unanimous all in favor who are voting thank you miss hannah next up we have a series of ordinances we'll start with item number 9a this is a first reading in title only regarding a ssrc or special source revenue credit agreement between kershaw county and a company known currently as project gemstone regarding economic development incentives is there a motion mr chairman i'd like to make a motion we have a motion is there a second we have a second we don't have any content in the packet but is there any discussion for those who are present um just can we get a legal briefing on um kind of what what this entails um for project gemstone so this is

» again a first reading title only of the ssrc agreement um i believe the details in particulars of that ssrc proposal um are the subject of the executive session project gemstone is listed on that um don't know that i'm a liberty to say much more than that unfortunately mr thomas okay thank you mr chairman your discussion for those who are present any discussion from those who are remote we'll start um in the same order um mr tucker uh no discussion i vote yes yes vote for mr tucker no discussion mr jones how do you vote mr chairman here's where i have a little bit of an issue i don't know what it is you know i've heard rumors about a data center i've heard rumors about solar panels i i just cannot vote is this first reading this is first reading in title only yeah yeah yeah i just i i need

» to know if i could just be told it's not either one of those i'll vote yes but otherwise i'm voting no okay um fair enough thank you uh i don't think your concerns are warranted on this particular vote but i understand if you want to ask questions which if you tell me you don't think my concerns are warranted i'll say that as is uh i i can i can go with that but you're an honest man okay and then i think um mr shoemake may have had to drop off for for the trial or jury verdict or something so we may have lost him um but so mr jones let me go ahead and record your vote which way are you voting on 9a first reading if you just told me that my concerns you didn't want it up so i can vote yes okay that's a yes vote we already got a yes vote from mr tucker i understand mr shoemake had to drop off

» for a verdict coming back for those who are present and voting raise your hand if you're in favor on 9a it's unanimous uh five in favor for those who are voting miss hannah that's on 9a 9b is another first reading this is an ordinance to amend the agreement for the development of a joint industrial park between kershaw county and fairfield county increases the boundaries and it also relates to project gemstone which we just discussed again first reading and title only any discussion from those who are present no seeing none any discussion from mr tucker do we have to have a motion oh excuse me i totally i totally skip that one i'll make i'll make a motion we approve first reading we have a motion is there a second there we go we got a second all right so i'll take you at your word no discus

» sion at all mr tucker any discussion remotely no discussion i vote yes thank you uh brett yes you're usually the one keeping them straight right right i had some court my uh this this week myself um mr jones any discussion from you you know yes sir thank you sammy tucker i vote yes okay that's two yes votes remotely from mr tucker and mr jones for those who are present and voting raise your hand if you're in favor on 9b in title only it's unanimous uh five votes in favor for those who are voting ms hannah that takes us to item number 9c another first reading a title only this is regarding and regarding an ordinance to approve a lease of real property located at 632 west of cab street in camden it relates to leasing property to the south county department of natural resources do we have a mo

» tion i'll make that motion we have a motion is there a second second we have a second any discussion from those who are present seeing yes sir go ahead mr kato this is just routine house cleanup type stuff correct correct correct um this memorializes existing agreements between the county and dnr for uh lease of the office space um so yes clean up all right thank you mr kato uh any discussion from those who are remote mr tucker uh no discussion i vote yes so yes vote from mr tucker mr jones any discussion on 9c no discussion i vote yes that's a yes vote we'll move it to a vote for those who are present raise your hand if you're in favor on 9c it's unanimous five votes in favor for those who are voting miss hannah thank you item number 90 another first reading of town alone this is a similar

» ordinance to approve lease of real property at 632 west of cab street um for the south carolina forestry commission do we have a motion i'll make that motion also we have a motion is there a second second we have a second any discussion from those who are present this is the the same thing as we just read and see it's just a different agency correct correct thank you sir mr tucker any discussion remotely and how do you vote uh no discussion i vote yes mr chairman couldn't hear you on that one though was that a yes yes that is a yes vote from mr tucker remotely mr jones any discussion and how do you vote no discussion vote yes and for those who are present and voting raise your hand if you're in favor on 9d it passes unanimously five voting in favor miss hannah that takes us to a second read

» ing this is 9e second reading regarding an ordinance by kershaw county council to authorize the issuance of go or general obligation bonds in one or more series this amount is not to exceed two million dollars for the purpose of acquiring constructing equipping and rehabilitating and improving kershaw county's wastewater infrastructure and other related capital projects do we have a motion mr chairman i make a motion we approve second reading we've got a motion on second reading is there a second i'll second we have a second any discussion mr tomlinson um mr templar can we get kind of a brief on what it is i know that um this is for upkeep um of our wastewater treatment facility county-wide but can you kind of get a brief for um our citizens sure this is a an opportunity for us to take adva

» ntage of some capacity that we had in our in our debt revenue to take out a short-term bond and the amount of two million dollars to invest into the infrastructure namely our lines for the our sewer system over in the blue golf and elgin area got older complaints and things over there had a engineer come in and do an assessment and we certainly have our work cut out for us so this will go to give us a really good start and um in what we expect to be about a 12 million dollar rehab project over the span of potentially six years so this is um again no increase to any debt mill it's just using the excess capacity we have that we need to use perfect thank you mr templar thank you uh mr administrator mr tomlinson any other discussion from those who are remote mr tucker any discussion and how do

» you vote uh mr i just want to say one thing for just layman's terms meaning no increase in property taxes right mr danny simpler correct thank you mr tucker how do you vote make sure we get that yes that's a yes remotely from mr tucker mr jones any discussion on 9e regarding geo bonds and how do you vote just just a quick question any increase in a fee or any other source of revenue uh mr simpler no sir there's no additional no sir there's no increases in tax or fees or creation of any revenue that might come out of the taxpayer's pocket which is an increase from now it'll all be the same correct i'll vote yes okay thank you mr jones that's a yes vote remotely remotely from mr jones move to a vote for those who are present all in favor on 9e raise your hand miss hannah it's unanimous uh fiv

» e voting in favor that's on 9e it passes next up is number 9f this is a second reading regarding uh an ordinance to amend the code of ordinances in kershaw county related to building codes uh the board of adjustments and appeals so that it confirms with the administrative appeal procedures set forth in the ibc or international building code do we have a motion mr chairman i'll make a motion we approve second reading we have a motion is there a second i'll second we have a second any discussion from those who are present and this is basically just housekeeping as well um i don't know if you want to provide some legal background i know we have first reading um last meeting but correct um the existing provisions for this board require some very very exacting qualifications for the board member

» s that are not required by the international building code the some of the amendments are to revert to the qualifications in the international building code so that it will be easier for kershaw county to impanel and maintain this board as stated in the ordinance title there's also some cleanup and terminology amendments and um clarification of appeals processes from that board thank you mr thompson thank you council uh any discussion remotely mr tucker on 9f no discussion i vote no discussion about yes that is a yes vote remotely for mr tucker on 9f mr jones any discussion and how do you vote yes since i'm not an attorney i'd like the attorney if you would give us another explanation of exactly what this will in detail and and uh how will it affect the citizens yes sir mr mr dubose mr dubo

» se just did we're going to have him do it one more time if you'd speak directly into the mic so everyone can hear apologies for that um this board hears appeals of the building inspectors um application of the building code um the existing structure of the board makes it very difficult to get people to serve on it because the requirements to serve in the existing code are very very particular the international building code which requires the formation of this board by the county does not have those same very exacting requirements so this simplifies the requirements for the board will allow the county to maintain this board uh easier than it has in the past the amendments clarify the appeals procedures so that they more closely match the international building code but this is an existing b

» oard within the county code of ordinances it's a required board um through the building codes council of south carolina they require that we adopt international building code the ibc requires that this board be formed so this is just housekeeping we're not we're not creating a burden an extra burden on the on the citizens we're just taking it easier for us to hopefully get somebody to sit on the board correct correct yes this is a cleanup um operation and will make the board easier to administer by the county so clean up meaning less bureaucracy um yeah that's that's fair given the exacting requirements for the board members uh relaxing those yes would be less bureaucratic as far as board composition mr jones that's a yes from you mr remotely mr jones did i hear that correct thank you and j

» ust in short if a board requires uh for example the the county had higher standards if the board requires an architect a professional engineer and you know other um various professional degrees that are above what's actually required you know how many architects do we actually have that live in kershaw county if it's just a couple of them and they're not able to serve then the board doesn't function and so we're bringing it uh to a point where we're able to have people actually serve and be able to pick from a larger population and still comply with the international building code correct thank you okay thank you mr jones we heard from mr tucker we heard from mr jones for those who are present and voting on 9f raise your hand if you're in favor miss hennett's unanimous and passes passes for

» those who are voting on 9f this brings us to a third reading 9g this is an ordinance to approve a lease of real property located at 632 west of cab street in camden and it's related to the clemson university cooperative extension is there a motion i make a motion we accept disagreement we have a motion for approval is there a second second we have a second any discussion from those who are present this is the same thing we've been doing on all the others so it's just a house cleaner yes sir any uh discussion from those who are remote mr tucker and how do you vote no discussion i vote yes that's a yes vote from mr tucker remotely mr jones any discussion and how do you vote yes if i could just get some some clarification and restate exactly what it is if somebody has missed it in the past yes

» sir i'll give a brief summary we've got property the county has property at 632 west of cab street in camden various state or local agencies use space within the building and this is renewal or establishment of leases related to the space that those people use and this one is the third reading third and final reading so we've gone through the other two previously for the clemson university cooperative extension also known as clemson extension that uses some space in that building thank you mr chairman vote yes all right got a yes vote remotely from mr jones and mr tucker move to a vote for those who in person if you're in favor on uh 9g raise your hand and it's unanimous miss hannah five voting in favor 9g passes next up we have item number 10a which is a resolution placed on by the county

» administrator regarding hazard mitigation plan any background mr administrator before we move to a vote yes sir mr chairman members of council this is a mitigation plan that is required by santee lynch's cog and i have jeff parkey here from the cog to answer any questions and give a short explanation okay well let's go ahead and move it uh get a motion in a second so we can have some discussion on it is there a motion on this resolution so moved we have a motion is there a second second we have a second uh mr parkey yes sir please thank you mr chair um appreciate the council's attention to this i'm i'm jeff parkey uh with santee lynch's cog uh the hazard mitigation plan is a project that uh the cog does every five years uh in partnership with fema and south carolina emergency management div

» ision um the the hazard mitigation plan uh is basically some guidelines for uh preparedness for um natural hazards and natural disasters that occur in our region um we've been working on this uh plan for a couple of years uh under a grant from fema last time around in 2020 um the counties funded the work this time we were fortunate to get the grant from fema to fund the work but basically what what this plan does is it keeps all of the jurisdictions in our four county region eligible for uh fema grant funding uh if if needed um when situations arise um such as uh flood mitigation um um disaster preparedness disaster mitigation uh warning uh warning systems code building and code uh ordinance type updates things of this nature so uh the cog um is happy to take this on uh and and as i say um

» it helps to keep all of our jurisdictions eligible for for future um fema funding um it's been approved by fema uh we're just in the local adoption uh stages now so i'm visiting um all the counties and uh cities and towns in the region um uh bringing this forward with a resolution um in in terms of kershaw uh similar to to the other counties we worked with will uh will glover um emergency management director worked for the other emergency management directors at the at the other counties uh this this plan assists um those departments with their work we really appreciate will will will's time and uh the other county emergency management directors too um but in in terms of uh kershaw in in in the portion of the plan that deals with um mitigation actions uh just real quickly um things like you

» r backup power um your uh emergency shelters evacuation plans um vegetation management uh ditch cleanup these types of things are all indicated uh that they um receive county attention or or uh county awareness uh pending resources and priorities this kind of documentation um of these types of activities is um one of the main things that that fema really looks for so um again appreciate y'all's time and consideration of this um and i can answer any further questions thank you for that presentation mr parkey for council members who are present any question or discussion seeing none uh any questions or discussions for mr parkey from the cog mr tucker or mr jones may i go first mr jones please thank you yes thank you so much appreciate you being here tonight and uh and uh certainly support jus

» t absolutely okay thank you mr jones i'll take that as a yes vote from you mr tucker any any discussion uh just comment just wanted to tell dr parkey and his department thank you for the great work they do in our region and especially in crescent county and i vote yes you don't know mr tucker well at all do you mr tucker thanks for your many years of service on the cog and looking out for the county as well i do have one question one of the things the county's been proactive at trying to do is secure disaster relief locations for example there's an elgin community center that the county helped fund not on a recurring basis but a one-time capital basis does anything like that play into the criteria if the county has a contractual right to secure disaster relief space if a natural disaster oc

» curs where either health or safety or those types of issues could be administered in such a government facility does that play into this at all for hazard mitigation it certainly is indicated as considered critical facilities and documented yes sir okay okay that's great to know i just want to make sure thank you any other discussion all right let's move it to a vote we already got a vote from mr tucker and mr jones both yeses for those who are present voting raise your hand if you're in favor and uh it passes and i just want to get any other summary from mr templar before we move on anything else on hazard mitigation anything we need to look to for the future or anything we're dealing with currently uh no sir other than the fact that we're just going to continue to as you stated would look

» at other options for disaster shelters we use the schools as disaster shelters in some cases but school is not always out when certain things happen regionally so it does limit us so we're always looking for options outside of the school setting okay thank you very much mr administrator thank you much very much mr parki give our regards everybody back at the cog next up we have appointments mostly as reminders from miss hannah that we need to do our job and make sure we're securing confirmations and appointments uh from folks um a few of these we're going to go ahead and move to the next agenda for council that would be district number three so that mr shoemate can handle that um mr tucker we do have one item number uh item on here for kershaw county clean commission clean community commiss

» ion are you in a position to make a motion on that tonight or do you need have any further discussion i believe this is a reappointment if it's a reappointment um i can go ahead and do it tonight if i need an applicant i will need to make meetings no it's a reappointment i have the name is virginia long is that correct miss hannah okay um do we have a motion on item 11a this would be number two for district two do you have a motion mr tucker yes i'd like to make a motion that we reappoint um miss regina for uh a second term please all right that's virginia long for uh another turn a second second we have a second any discussion uh mr tucker you had the motion any discussion no sir okay mr jones any discussion remotely no no no vote yes okay that's a yes vote from mr tucker remotely yes vote

» from mr jones seeing no discussion from those who are present we'll move to vote all in favor ms hannah it's unanimous that's five votes in favor uh item number three i think we will push to the next meeting is that correct mr cato if we could move item number three under 11a that's for district six move that to the next meeting miss hannah next up is 11b i'll make the first motion this is regarding the library board make a motion that we reappoint at the at-large position ed garrison is there a second we have a second from mr cato ed's served in many capacities uh in kershaw county over the years in many different ways he's done well here and so i fully support him any discussion from those who are present council members we've got one of you breathing on the mic or something if i could as

» k you to back up from the mic just a little bit um mr tucker any discussion on ed garrison and how do you vote i vote yes and i'm not breathing on the mic all right that's a yes from mr tucker mr jones any discussion on ed garrison for the library board and how to go he's a good man i vote yes that's a yes vote and we'll move it to a vote for those who are present all in favor on the reappointment of ed garrison that is five in favor unanimous miss hannah that was item number one um mr mr jones it might be you i'm not sure but i someone's breathing on a mic um and it's pretty loud if we could just back up just a little bit uh mr tucker we have item number 11b it's a reappointment um for district number two uh this i have the name is christine chryssel are you in a position to make that moti

» on tonight or you want to move it to the next meeting i'll make that motion to reappoint please mr all right we have a motion on um 11b two is there a second we do have a second mr tucker any discussion no discussion i vote yes that's a yes vote mr jones any discussion on the reappointment of christine crystal to the library board and how do you vote oh yes that's yes two um two yeses and for those who are present voting raise your hand if you're in favor on the reappointment it's unanimous miss hannah that's five in favor and she is reappointed item number 11b3 this is district number six uh mr cato do you have a motion yes i'll make a motion we reappoint bob jengiorgi to the library board his term expires on june the 30th so that's a reappoint okay is there a second second we have a secon

» d any discussion i'll just say mr g and georgie has served also throughout the county in various capacities through the trails committee and i mean just he's all over the friends of good all state park yeah good all state park he's done a lot of it um any discussion remotely mr tucker and how do you vote no discussion just want to thank him for his many roles of service to kershaw county and i vote yes that is a yes vote remotely for mr tucker on the reappointment for bob g and georgie mr jones any discussion on the reappointment and how do you vote good man i vote yes that is a yes vote remotely from mr jones we'll bring it back to those present and voting all in favor on the reappointment raise your hand mr g and georgie is reappointed and thanks to all those who serve on committees and v

» olunteer their time sometimes it's thankless work but it produces big results for kershaw county and thank you miss hannah for getting all the names together making sure we have application packets and communicating with those who are uh who are serving or applying all right this will move us to council member briefings um i'll go ahead and go remote with mr tucker and then mr jones mr tucker any uh briefing for us tonight no briefing tonight thank you very much thank you mr tucker mr jones any uh briefing for us tonight just a couple of quick things because everybody wants to get out uh if you would mr chairman please follow as i know you will that gentleman that came to speak with us tonight that that's just really disturbing that that that he feels that way you know if that's what happen

» ed i mean it's even more disturbing but if you would please i would like to see you know somebody follow up with that man and uh i can't remember his name but um mr mccaskill was yeah mr mccaskill yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah and i realized we were under a ruse and everything so i think it would be really good and um and i think staff would definitely also i i have to say this because i'm i am i know i can be hard on staff sometimes with expectations anything that we had a meeting today and the meeting was with some of my engineers at the uh pecan orchard and uh we had um miss reeder and mr templar and mr blancher there and and three neighbors were there and you know i just want to say there was some of the best communication best information i want to thank the leadership of our county da

» nny of course for that happening and uh you know i just really appreciate it because we got to be able to communicate and talk and understand i think i think that was three not three staff leaders i think that was really accomplished so uh i'll tear my hat to you guys tonight not tomorrow maybe different but bottom line is i appreciate it thank you thank you mr johns thank you mr chairman does that conclude your report yes sir go ahead no i say one more thing i just want to say uh congratulations to whoever wins my seat uh because i know the pose is closed i think they close now maybe and uh you know we got two good men running the county's a winner either way and uh i congratulate both of them for putting their names out there of course wouldn't know who wins all the way around later but t

» hank you so much thank you thank you mr jones uh mr cato any report just one thing to follow up on what you said i just want to thank miss hannah miss hannah does an outstanding job for us and anytime i call her she is right on it and you keep us straight if it wasn't for you i don't know what we'd do we'd be a mess but i just want to thank you i haven't done that lately and i want to thank you for what you do for us that ends my report thank you mr kato mr tomlinson yeah thank you mr chairman um i too will be quick i'd like to congratulate the um 8u kershaw county east all-star team the team from blue golf they made it to the state tournament this year um they just finished up districts and won both of their games so they will be representing kershaw county in the state tournament to see i

» f they can go to go into the world series um representing blue golf and kershaw county east um i too would like to um congratulate all the candidates who participated in the elections this year um it is it is a tough thing to throw your hat into an election one um and no matter if you if you come out victorious or you don't um that is what the process is all about is getting out there and getting your message out to the people and wanting to represent the people so i really thank every single person who did that lastly um thank you to staff that you all do such a phenomenal job and i really appreciate it and that's um it's wonderful working with you all and representing kershaw county so thank you thank you very much mr tomlinson i'll conclude uh the briefings portion by just sharing a few

» things first i just wanted to wish a happy birthday to my daughter alexis she just turned 13 she is larger than life yes she is she is a a beautiful child and i just love her and so someday if you look back on this alexis i hope you'll smile and know that dad loves you very much now i do need your prayers because my other daughter annabelle uh recently turned 16 so i now have two teenage girls in the household and so y'all pray for us to the extent we need it um but very very thankful for both of them and i'm so proud to be their father um absolutely love genie potter we said a lot about her beginning at the beginning but this is a woman who had a big impact on my life and and she was generally humble and self-sacrificing and you know you can see that in the family that she's raised and how

» everybody recognizes and acknowledges readily that she had an impact on them and you know she she really didn't compromise much uh the things that she believed in she was so stout and i respect that appreciate it and i'll always remember that about miss genie potter love her uh lastly i want to share um along the lines of mr tomlinson my great appreciation for the right to vote it is so important um and i have to be frank you know we don't have many people in the room and i don't know how many people are watching remotely right now but i hope this message gets proliferated and shared um we have very low participation generally in elections sometimes it'll be in the teens of registered voters who will come out and actually vote and allow their voice to be heard and i don't know if that's in

» some ways a sign of good government you know people's lives aren't bad enough or maybe they're so good that they're maybe apathetic and don't get involved in the process but it's my hope and prayer that people will make voting and participating in this constitutional republic and representative republic a priority in their lives there's been days where i've worked uh in polls the entire day and i've spoken with you know 20 different people who say they're going to show up and they know it's important and they want to go and vote but life just gets in the way and something happens or you forget or your favorite show comes on or one of the kids stubbed their toe or voting is really important uh just i hope is the takeaway from this and i do respect all those who put themselves out there to ru

» n for public office the biggest sacrifice i've noticed over serving for a number of years now is the time away from family and anytime you're taking time away from family you must really care about what you're doing i think and so i hope we would pray for our leaders and pray that we'll get good leaders and that they will make good decisions and be wise and not be influenced in improper ways and i'm just grateful for this country that concludes uh my briefing mr administrator any briefing for us tonight yes sir and uh just three items i want to touch on parks and rec is always uh we're currently working to get the uh ribbon cutting days for casey west boyd and copeland for later this month we'll let y'all know when those dates come about um woodward park we're in the punch list phase just k

» ind of getting all the little nickel and dime items tidied up uh gerald and i walked out there the other day it's shaping up really well it's going to be something we'll really be proud of so i'm excited about that our permit allocation system i'm pleased to announce the launch of the new dedicated sub page on the official kershaw county website to the public with direct action to information regarding the county's pub county's building permit allocation system which went into effect 13 may the new page is updated every monday and shows the current status of permits applied for issued and remaining so you could find this sub page at our website under planning and zoning and if you haven't been over there it's really neat it's it's kind of some some uh telemetry of what is actually going on

» with these permits and how many are being issued and and how many are remaining probably going to surprise you at how many are remaining reassessment notices countywide property reassessment notices are scheduled to be mailed this friday this is not a tax bill repeat that again this is not a tax bill the notice will give an individual a 90-day appeal window ending september 10th and that date is hard we typically get people after that but we are not able to do anything with appeals after that 90-day window any citizens have questions or concerns about their reassessment notice our assessor's office is always glad to answer any questions and provide any help they do an amazing job down there so sir that's all i have thank you mr templar mr rebose any non-privileged legal briefing no sir gent

» lemen we have one item on for executive session and so for those um two who are remotely uh i'm not sure if you have to roll off or not but i will need one of you at least to maintain a quorum in through executive session we have an exact executive session uh on the agenda this is discussing matters related to the proposed location expansion and the provision of services encouraging location or expansion of industries or other businesses in the area by a public body identified as project gemstone this is all under sc code 30-4-70 a5 do we have a motion so moved we have a motion in our executive session is there a second we have a second any discussion on entering executive session seeing none from those who are present any discussion remotely mr tucker on entering executive session no discu

» ssion i vote yes and mr jones is dropped off you said mr mr jones are you still with us or he had to drop off he had to drop off he's dropped off is okay all right well we have a yes vote from mr tucker we still have a quorum so we can conduct business all present and voting if you're in favor of executive session raise your hand it's unanimous with four votes ms hannah we are in executive session and for no votes anticipated mr tucker we have you yes sir uh seek a motion to exit executive session is there a second we have a second uh mr tucker how do you vote on executive session leaving executive session i vote yes that's a yes to conclude executive session all present and voting raise your hand in favor exiting executive session it's unanimous we are out of executive session seek a motio

» n to adjourn submit we have a motion is there a second second mr tucker any discussion and how do you vote on adjournment y'all have a good night thank you very much that is a yes vote on adjournment for mr tucker present and voting on adjournment it's unanimous we have four votes miss hannah we are adjourned