Full meeting transcript - August 11, 2026

» good evening everyone let's be called to order here on this Kershaw County Council meeting Tuesday August 11th 2026 school is back in session and everybody's been getting back in the swing of things glad to have you here tonight to start off we have an invocation which will be led by a councilman Danny Cato let us pray every father I just thank you so much for this night for this time that we have to fellowship together here do to work your county dear Heavenly Father we just thank you for your love your grace your mercies that you bestow upon us each and every day dearly father for the love that you give us for love that you have bestowed upon us in this county for giving us such a great place to live and to raise families dearly father I ask that you'd be with us tonight as we conduct the

» business of this county Lord that you'd help our hearts and minds to be clear in doing what we need to do that we think would be the best way to go for this county dearly father we just ask that you'd be with the men and women in our armed forces that you'd be with our emergency personnel and our law enforcement throughout this state lead guide direct them and bring them home safe Lord forgive us of our sins and our shortcomings first in your precious name we pray amen amen I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Councilman Cato thank you very much. Mr. Shoemake do we have you on the line? You do. Thank you sir we'll excuse your physical presence everyone Mr.

» Shoemake is moving in his only daughter into college today and tomorrow I believe and so tender moments but very important thank you for joining us with the invocation and pledge being completed we're now on to the adoption of the agenda item number four do we have a motion on the agenda? Make a motion we adopt the agenda as submitted. Mr. Tucker has a motion is there a second on the agenda? Second. We have a second any discussion on the agenda? Any discussion remotely Mr. Shoemake? None. We'll move it to a vote how do you vote Mr. Shoemake on the agenda? Yes. That's a yes remotely from Mr. Shoemake. All those in person raise your hand if you're in favor on the agenda. Ms. Hannett's unanimous the agenda is approved.

» That moves us on to proclamations item number 5A placed on the agenda by Councilman Danny Cato honoring former Sheriff Steve McCaskill who we see here today along with family and friends and supporters do we have a motion? I'll make a motion do we have a second on approving this proclamation? We have a second any discussion all before we move it to a vote and can hear more from Mr. Cato? Since I've got the floor now we'll move it to a vote for those who are present all in favor raise your hand it's unanimous in favor of those who are present in voting Mr. Shoemake how do you vote on the proclamation 5A? Absolutely yes. That is a yes from Mr. Shoemake remotely. Ms. Hannett's unanimous for the record. Mr. Cato you have the floor.

» This is an honor for me to present this tonight and I want to read the proclamation and I'll have a lot more to say after that but tonight's proclamation is honoring Steve McCaskill and it says whereas former Sheriff Steve McCaskill has dedicated 36 years of extraordinary and exemplary public service to the citizens of Kershaw County and whereas during his tenure as sheriff from January 95 to January of 2011 he demonstrated exceptional leadership integrity and an unwavering commitment to public safety and whereas former Sheriff Steve McCaskill successfully implemented vital community initiatives and significantly improved the quality of life for our residents and whereas his career was defined by a profound sense of duty earning the deep respect of fellow law enforcement officers, community

» leaders and public alike and whereas former Sheriff Steve McCaskill started his career in law enforcement in 1975 under the late sheriff Hector DeBrol and worked his way through the ranks as deputy, sheriff supervisor, narcotics supervisor and chief deputy and whereas during the 16 years as sheriff he had many accomplishments to include the FBI Academy in and received bachelor's degree in 2006 he also overseen the handling of many big cases and growing changing culture in Kershaw County.

» He also oversaw the construction and design of the present-day Kershaw County Sheriff's Office in Lugaw and whereas the retirement of former Sheriff Steve McCaskill took place in 2011 with 36 years total service and dedication to the citizens of Kershaw County which marked the conclusion of a distinguished chapter in law enforcement history within Kershaw County and now therefore be it resolved that Kershaw County Council do hereby officially proclaim in Kershaw County and call upon all citizens to join in expressing heartfelt gratitude for the dedicated service leadership and lasting legacy of protection and community care in honor of Steve McCaskill. Thank you so much Mr. Cato, you still have the floor. You know I don't I really don't know how to start I've got so much to say.

» I worked for this man for 15 and a half years and we've remained close ever since the last day. He was part of a changing time in Kershaw County and in law enforcement probably like none other. We seen the computers come into play in the 90s. We saw cell phones come into play. We saw emails come into play and the internet come into play. Social media come into play. He was the first sheriff to ever have the bloodhound unit, a narcotics canine, a bomb canine, a boat patrol. He established the resident deputy program which at one time I was a part of. He brought in the very first polygraph examiner to the Kershaw County Sheriff's Office which was David Tomlin. He was also his captain over investigations. He established the first CERT team which was the sheriff's emergency response team.

» That included a building entry team, well-trained building entry team, a police sniper team which I also was a part of. We were well-trained and also hostage negotiating. He had several hostage negotiators that were well-trained and sent off to learn how to negotiate. He brought in an equine search and rescue team and mind you this was done by volunteers. It really was very little cost to the Kershaw County Sheriff's Office. He had two fine men that he brought into this county as his chief deputies. Roger Latham who passed away unexpectedly and Jim Tomlin who was his second chief deputy after Chief Latham left us.

» I can't say enough Sheriff about what you've done for me and for this county and I appreciate it and I wouldn't be, I wouldn't have made the career out of it I did if it hadn't been for you and that's the truth. I couldn't say anymore without saying lastly thank you to Miss Becky. You know my wife's here tonight and she'll tell you that it's not easy being the wife of somebody in law enforcement. When that phone rings at night it don't just wake us up it wakes them up.

» When we come home in a new mood it don't affect just us it affects them and there's a lot of sacrifice in your family and I think his children so maybe his grandchildren and Miss Becky are all here tonight and I know others has got some things to say and I got the everything I want to present to y'all tonight but again my heartfelt thank you. He was the second longest serving sheriff in Kershaw County history so far and what you did for us and the changing of those times will never be forgotten so I thank you. Thank you Mr. Cato. Well said. Any other comments or discussion from council members who are present? I do. Mr. Jones? You know Sheriff McCassey and I go way back. I can remember when he first walked into Hector Bruhl's sheriff's spot which it was right over here at the courthouse.

» He was standing there I said what are you doing here? He said well I just got a job as a deputy sheriff. I said well I was hired last week so and then I tell you something about him too. We were in Boy Scouts together. He may not realize this. He made Eagle Scout. I made Tenderfoot. I think they kicked me out. I was running my mouth so much but no Steve McCaskill I have much respect for. He has he's got deputies now they still tremble when he walks by. You knew who was the sheriff. You knew who was in charge. He gave my son a start and and Jamie today if Steve McCassey walks by he trembles because he he was a sheriff. If you didn't want to be locked up don't break the law and that's the way he stood. He was a man of the law.

» He stood by the law and Sheriff Steve McCaskill I have much respect for you and your family and Miss Becky you have stood by him. You see one you see both and it's a beautiful family here tonight and Danny thank you for bringing this and doing this. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Jones. Mr. Cato. One more thing for anybody else goes forward. I know that we've got several deputies here tonight. It was brought to my attention earlier tonight and and Sheriff Bohn wanted me to tell y'all that he couldn't be here tonight. He is in North Carolina in a class and he really hated that he couldn't be here tonight but I think there's only six deputies in the sheriff's office right now that worked under Sheriff McCaskill. I mean it's been a while. We're getting old Danny.

» I'm getting old too but if there's only six left and I just wanted to share that before anybody else. Thank you Mr. Cato and Mr. Jones. Mr. Tucker. Excuse me. Thank you Mr. Chair. Sheriff Steve McCaskill. Mr. Walken Tall. That's the way he carried himself. That's the way he ran his department and I want to tell you thank you for the many years of just excellent service and being willing to always put yourself on the line and expect the same out of your deputies to deliver first-class service. Not everybody can do it and not everybody should do it but you you had your way of handling that sheriff's department and your law enforcement team that no other will probably ever be able to repeat and with all respect I often tease the new sheriff and the sheriff before him that came after you.

» How can Sheriff McCaskill run this department on a shoestring budget and now y'all asking for ten million dollars. I might need to send them around there to get some budget lessons from you but I want to tell you thank you and what an awesome job. I want to thank Miss Becky and the rest of the family Matt and all them as well because it does take a team and Miss Becky was serving in the public side too because she was working in our medical system which is demanding as well so you guys have really given all you had to this county and to these citizens and I can't say thank you enough and this is well well deserved and should have happened some time ago in my opinion but thanks again and I still continue to wish you well and let you keep making birthdays. Thank you sir.

» Thank you very much Mr. Tucker. Other council members who are present? Yes sir thank you Mr. Chairman if I might add something to it. Sheriff McCaskill it's good to see you tonight and your wife. It's good to have you with us. You were the sheriff of my generation and I think for me as I sit here and listen to everything that Danny had to say all the good things. I'll say this Danny talks about you a lot. There's a tremendous amount of respect. With Danny's referencing you in a lot of conversations where you're not around and I'll say that in a very positive way. He's looked up to you because you led and being the sheriff of my generation I say that as I was looking at your tenure you became sheriff when I was a junior in high school.

» I didn't want to find out who the sheriff was when I was a junior in high school. You don't want to find out who Steve McCaskill was. But I knew who Steve McCaskill was. I'm glad we never met any further back in those years. But a family, a fine reputation in our community, friends of ours and always pleasant anytime we've ever ran into you. We're so happy tonight to be a part of this and to be able to help present this. Danny thank you for putting this together. This is top notch fantastic. You deserve every kind word and more. So we're so proud that you were such an integral part of Kershaw County. Thank you. Amen. Thank you Mr. Brazel. And the statute of limitations I believe is run on anything else you may have been involved in back in those days.

» Any other council members who are present? Have any other comments or discussion? Mr. Shoemake remotely any comments or discussion? He's definitely a legend. Thank you Mr. Shoemake. I'll just conclude before we have you come up and I believe we've got the resolution here and a picture with any family you want to bring up as well. That I was a young man. If I ever was, I was a young man whenever you were serving a sheriff and always remember you being an example in the community. Everybody looked up to you and more importantly everybody respected you and feared you a little bit. Which you might need if you have that occupation. Everybody looked up to you and you're a good example and I appreciate that very much. Any other comments or discussion? Mr. Kato, do you have the resolution? Mr.

» McCaskill, would you like to come up and bring any family members you'd like to come up here with you? Let's give them a round of applause. Mr. McCaskill, I was just going to mention that you can feel free to share any remarks if you like. We can do it after this or before at your leisure. Come on up, let's take a picture. Yeah. Don't y'all look at the sun. I'll just recognize you. Don't be so bossy, Martin. Thank you, congratulations. Yes, ma'am. Yes, sir. You're recognized. Thank you, Jim. This is a token of our appreciation from Sheriff's Office. This is the actual badge of the lecture that's currently at the Sheriff's Office that you can share. So we put it on for a plot for you. Thank you. Thank you. Sheriff McCaskill. Thank you very much, Mr. Cato.

» Sheriff McCaskill, we'll give you a moment to clear out. You don't have to stay, you can if you want to. Any family members or friends that want to depart are able to do that as well. And then we'll get back on the agenda. That's part of what makes Kershaw County special. Thank you again, Mr. Cato. Mr. Cato, gentlemen, back on the agenda right on time with item number six, public comments. Mr. DeBose, do we have anyone signed up for public comment tonight? Yes, there are nine speakers signed up for comment. First speaker is Julie Strickland. Revolutionary is the subject. Ms. Strickland, I'll just say as you're coming up, this is a time for counsel to hear from the public. It's not a question and answer. The time that's been allotted by the council will show up on the screen.

» And yes, ma'am, look forward to hearing from you. Well, some of you know me. Most of you probably don't. But I just want to tell you a little bit about what happened on June 18th in Baltimore, Maryland. As you all know, in the Battle of Camden. Take your time, Julie. Excuse me. The Battle of Camden, there were many people who died. Fourteen of them were found. One of them was my fifth great uncle. His name is Thomas Puprey. He was 13 years old when he joined. He was probably about 18 when he died. But he was 13 to 15. We are coming up on the well-known celebration anniversary of the Battle of Camden. And the ceremony will be held Saturday at 10 o'clock at the battlefield. And it will move from there at 1130 to the cemetery. Where there will be wreaths laid on the graves of the soldiers.

» My uncle was the first to be made known. But there are 11 more that don't have a name. I'm asking that during this time you still remember all of them. This touches my heart too much. And I'm a softie. Yes ma'am, you're doing fine. But I'm asking that anything that you can do, you know, keep in your prayers. We still have 10 more that need to be funded. We have one more that's almost funded. His name should be announced very soon. I don't know how soon. But I know that they're close. Just keep the others in your prayers so they are also fully funded. They deserve their name back too. Amen. And let's just all pull together as much as we can to make this happen. It's very costly. Very costly. And I'm here to remind everybody tonight that nothing good comes free.

» And I just think about that young boy on the battlefield. I have grandsons his age. And he fought for our freedom and our independence that we have and enjoy today. He didn't get to see that happen. His family did. And on behalf of the whole Humphrey family, I want to say thank you very much. I want to say thank you for letting me stand up here and speak and cry in front of you. I want to thank the people who spoke that day in Baltimore. And also the ones who took such precious care of those bones as they were taken to the coroner's office and carefully preserved for burial later. I want to thank everybody involved in identifying the DNA and making matches. They're making good matches right now on 11A. My uncle was number 9B and now he has a name.

» But Allison Peacock, Cindy DeSpo, and Valerie Kemp did all the DNA work. And it's very tedious. And it's very lengthy. And it's very in-depth. And you don't get it done quickly. The forensics that I heard speak, the man with the forensics was Rick Wise here from South Carolina. And Stacey Ferguson is with the Battlefield Preservation Trust right here in South Carolina. And I want to thank all of them. Let's just keep the faith that they're all named. I got mine. I want other families to have theirs. Thank you, Ms. Richland. But except for this, if you'll accept this. Ms. Templer. You can hand the documents to Mr. Templer. And you can keep one. Y'all can keep one. I made enough. At the bottom of the page is the full history on John Pumphrey.

» It's a website so that you can look him up and the battles he was in. He actually was in Valley Forge with George Washington. And he fought many battles before he re-upped for his second time. And he died a year and a half after that. Thank you very much, Ms. Strickland. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for coming out tonight. Thanks for coming out tonight. Mr. DeVos, who do we have next on public comment? Next speaker is Andrew Whitaker, Project Transparency. Andrew Whitaker. Mr. Whitaker. I would just say, Mrs. Strickland, we certainly remember. Good evening, Kershaw County Council. It's been a while. I'll be brief. Just questions for your consideration. Not answer. But for your consideration. Some of which you've no doubt asked yourselves. But I'm sort of worth publicly mentioning these.

» We all know that growth is coming, is here, for Kershaw County. It's all in the how. How is it best for Kershaw County to grow? Do we all want Kershaw County to end up looking like Richland County? A county today that is one of cleared land and concrete. We have all, thanks to you all, a Kershaw County comprehensive plan. Are we still being guided by following that plan? And if not, why not? Up to now, Kershaw County Council has been working, sharing very transparently. Which is great to see. With Kershaw County citizenry on all upcoming business. Why has this transparency changed where the power in next door Bishopville, Lee County, right down the road is concerned? Have you also noticed this change? Yes, it's not in our county, but it is so close it might as well be.

» Especially over 900 acres. What is the actual full scope, intended use, of the proposed and approved 900 acre gas power plant? So close to Kershaw County. Is it only to underpin both Kershaw County and Lee County power needs for our growing populations? Or is it a plant to prepare power as a yet to be shared, but planned AI data center in Kershaw County, Lee County borders? Have any of you been asked to sign NDAs where this project, or any other county adjacent project is concerned? Is Kershaw County, Lancaster's proposed industrial park project, acreage purely speculative? Or do we already have tenant company contracts fully executed? And lastly, how do we want Kershaw County slash Lee County skyline to end up looking like? Do we all want tall timbers or tall stacks for Kershaw County and

» Lee County skyline and our air quality? Thank you. Thanks for coming out Mr. Whitaker. Mr. DeBose, who do we have next on the public comment section? Our next speaker is Brian McCarty. Problems in my neighborhood is the subject. Brian McCarty. Mr. McCarty, yes sir. Yes, I've made inquiries online and stuff and it's just been a big problem in my neighborhood and I'm sure y'all are aware of because of all the orderly stuff. Let me just ask Mr. DeBose, do we already have his address? I don't have an address, but there's certainly a contact number here. Yes sir. This past year I got up one morning and I left out and I went down to Georgia and I had no idea what the moderator came through.

» They do that periodically, not near as much as what we needed, which is another subject that I ought to address. But when I got back home, I didn't have any water. But I noticed to me, the moderator literally went off the road, crushed my water main, broke it, didn't do anything about it. This might sound ironic. A lot of them laughed at me about it, but they billed me for $5,000. You can imagine a $5,000 water bill. I don't even have a swimming pool. But the moderator actually went across my water meter, crushed it down a foot and a half, said I still had water. I had no way to turn it off. So it's been a thing back and forth between the county and the Cassett Water Company. They're bickering over.

» Their lines aren't deep enough in it, but what's that got to do with me? I didn't put it in. I just ran to my house. Since then, it's been, what, since last year of November until now. I've actually got pictures on my phone. I took them this evening. It's still out of the mound of dirt. The problem, that was another problem. There's no drainage out there. All the pipes are closed, clogged off with all the gravel and dirt. His thing of correcting the problem took his plow and carved the whole side of the ditch. You know, where, for the road, he carved out a big swatch and just piled it up there. Now you know what happens. All the water up in the neighborhood comes down the road and floods my yard over my ankles deep.

» Now, partially my yard looks like a river has run down through there with all the gravel. I've made the comments, complaints. They have not yet fixed this, not as of yet. I've talked to the county. They blamed them. Like I said, it's a bicker back and forth. I actually had to threaten to get an attorney to get my money back. I don't know if they did anything to the motivator operator. I mean, I don't know what kind of coffee he drank that morning, but it wasn't good coffee, obviously. But there's another issue out there which I sent up to one of the administrators. I recently, back in February, had an unfortunate accident. I broke my back in two places and the disc was blown between. I had my dog out in the yard. He's always on a leash, always. I've got a cable out there.

» Here's the reason I don't put him on the tether. There's dogs everywhere in my neighborhood. That particular morning, here come a dog a third bigger than him. Now, he's over 100 pounds, mine. He's not a joke, especially if you go after Daddy. He is time to K-I-L-L. He's not going to play with nobody, but he never gets away from me. I'm there with a broke back. I had to pull my firearm out to make that dog back off. After that, another guy's walking his little pup, Pit Bull. The dog attacks his Pit Bull. He has to literally bend down and throw sand in that dog's face to get his dog and leave. Now, if that had been a toddler or kid, wouldn't have been a good news, wouldn't have been a good outcome. Don't you think so? That would not have been good. Mr.

» McCarty, I meant to do it on the first speaker, but I always try to give people just a little bit of extra time beyond what the council has allotted. I'd either ask that you conclude your remarks or we could seek a motion from the council if they want to extend the time in any way. Are your remarks about done or do you need... I'm fixing to wrap it up. The thing is, what is it going to take? I went straight to the top with emails, and the county's not doing anything about the road or anything, and the drains are still stocked up. Apparently, they arrived, because we got another water main this past weekend. I appreciate y'all's time, and I hate to complain, but I'm not being comfortable sitting here waiting in line, and I appreciate everybody else that's done.

» If you would please help me get something done. Thank you for coming out, Mr. McCarty. I appreciate you coming out tonight. It's close, 233 Persimmon Drive. Okay, thank you. Somebody's terrorizing the neighborhood out there and if you look on Persimmon Drive on the corner, you'll find the truck is a gold dodge. Yes, sir, thank you. Thanks for coming out tonight. Mr. DeBose, who do we have next on public comment? Next speaker is William Holland, data center issues. Mr. Holland. Good evening. Yes, sir. Just a few hundreds of issues with data centers that are going up everywhere in this country, and actually everywhere in the world. You can Google them yourself, but these are just a few that could happen here.

» Various news outlets reported that in February 2026, the Cheyenne-Wyoming Board of Public Utilities found cupriavitis galardii in the water the city cleans and recycles. This bacteria is metal resistant. That happens to be one of the primary ways of killing bacteria. According to the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, this bacteria can be and has been fatal. The bacteria was traced back to the 800,000 square foot meta data center, which had not opened yet. It is a closed loop facility, and it had to go through what they call a flush and fill procedure before opening, where the pipes were drained and refilled with clean water. The drained water was then sent to the local wastewater treatment facility via its sewer system to be cleaned and recycled.

» It's either that or they dump it on the ground if there's no regulations. So they sent it to be cleaned. Okay, a couple months later, routine testing found the bacteria after the water was already in the plant. So the Cheyenne-Wyoming had to close down that part of the plant for two months to disinfect. It's a metal resistant bacteria. I had other comments or more information on that, but we don't have time. So June 15th, KPBS out of San Diego reported on a lawsuit filed against the Imperial Valley Irrigation District. This was filed by Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing, which applied to build a mega data center that would use 750,000 gallons of water per day. They pledged that they would not use drinking water, but they would use wastewater from nearby towns.

» The negotiation with these towns fell through. This is a private corporation going to these towns to use their wastewater. Now that it fell through, where these towns wouldn't acquiesce to the private corporation's demands, they are suing an Imperial Valley Superior Court to draw 260 million gallons of water per year from the Colorado River. The Colorado River is in drought right now. It is some of the lowest levels for a longer period than has been seen in decades. According to Salt Lake Tribune, experts say that the river is heading towards a system crash. I assume they mean out of water. According to the Bureau of Reclamation, 40 million people across seven U.S. states and northern Mexico get all or some of their water from the Colorado River.

» So you can imagine what will happen when they put these online. The third thing is this guy named Doug Seavey. He is the CEO of Inceva LLC, a data center company. He lives in Palo, Iowa. I'm going to read what he said to city council. He said, I've called the mayor and suggested I get put on some kind of a committee because I am Palo's resident expert. I build data centers. I own data centers. I built the first private data center in the state of Iowa, and everything that Google is telling you is BS. I have a data center right now that's running in Hiawatha for 14 years and has never used one gallon of water. Mr. Holland? Yes. I'll just mention that your time has expired by council. If you're able to conclude, please. Yes. OK. Google is telling you what they want you to know.

» The developers don't want you to know that they have technology they can use that doesn't require water, but it costs too much for them. They want to make a profit. OK. In conclusion, there are too many variables and too much at stake to allow data centers to be hastily approved and built in this county without any regulation. Research must be done to assess the best design for the least impact on the community without regard to the cost of the developers. They'll go home to different states. We have to live with it. I suggest an independent committee of stakeholders be assembled consisting of environmental experts, engineers, and members of the community who will be impacted by data centers that are necessary to do damages for any data center, given the county's blessing. Thank you. OK.

» Thank you for coming out tonight. Mr. DeBose, who's up next? Linda Franklin Moore. Topic is moratorium. Ms. Linda. Yes, ma'am. I want to recognize my House member Robert Reese for coming out tonight and listening to our concerns. I know he didn't sign up for public comment, but maybe if there's a council member that during their council report will give Representative Reese a few moments. I want to thank Councilman Jones for initially putting this moratorium question on the agenda. I would also like to thank Councilman Cato Brazel and Tomlinson for signing on as well. We should follow the example of Sumter County and establish separate moratoriums for data centers, solar farms, and battery storage facilities.

» South Carolina does not have a single comprehensive statewide regulatory law for data centers, though lawmakers are considering multiple bills to establish legislation. That should be scary to us, that there is no regulation whatsoever. We're right for the picking. That being said, there should be no industry that should locate in South Carolina that has zero regulations. I don't care if you're talking about data centers, toy makers, whatever it is, every industry should have some type of regulations. Councilman, the chairman, stated in a previous meeting that the power plant that Project Ballast, the property, it was a permitted use, and the only thing that council had to vote on was the fee and lieu agreement. I paid attention.

» And so therein, we should make sure that we have regulations because although a lot of these data centers are coming into industrial parks, multi-county industrial parks, we need to make sure that there are regulations and not just some zoning law saying that you could be there and come what may. I understand council is on a deadline of October 31st of this year to place real property into the multi-county industrial park and maintain it for the life of the fee and lieu agreement, which I read in its entirety. Thus, item 10B on our agenda tonight. Again, I would like to urge council to have a moratorium to allow the state to be able to enact a statewide moratorium as well as to come up with some state regulations. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Franklin-Moore.

» Appreciate you coming out tonight. Mr. DeBose, who do we have next? Next speaker is Lynn Canto, moratorium. Ms. Canto. Yes, ma'am. Good evening. My theme is gonna be let's get it right, not get her done, meaning let's take our time and get this right. I'm gonna recommend a two-year moratorium on data centers in Kershaw County for multiple reasons. Kershaw County serves all residents and property owners living within the county boundaries. It's apparent that residents of Kershaw County have very serious concerns about the potential of a data center coming here for very good reason. Once the fee in lieu of tax was approved for the gas power plant, Kershaw County became a national target, I mean national target for potential data centers.

» It is like we are waving the white flag saying, we surrender, we have plenty of space for a data center, and not only that, we have no guidelines or regulations for a data center. You don't think they're looking really hard at us? A two-year moratorium would allow for the county to plan appropriately for potential risks for a data center. I'm gonna give you a risk. My father passed away several years ago, but I got a letter for him. It says, Dear James Cheely, this is a notice of data breach. Unlimited technology systems had a security incident at their data center. This occurred back in October of 2025. The letter was sent out on July 20th, 2026. It affected 3,800,000 people. That meant that a lot of information was given about the people. Let me tell you what information.

» Their names, date of birth, social security, home address, emails, phone numbers, medical records, diagnosis, dates of service, health insurance policy, claim details, government ID information, and driver's license information. So data centers carry a lot of information that could be hacked. And I'm letting you know, because I'm very concerned if we place data centers in Kershaw County. I'm requesting a two-year moratorium for data centers in Kershaw County so you have a clear definition of what is considered a data center, determine the appropriate regulations for data centers with strict security guidelines, a strict application process for data centers, experts on data centers to give you feedback on what data centers involve, and know exactly how data centers affect the environment.

» Most importantly, the state needs time to create expert guidance for counties and communities in regards to data centers. What does this mean? The House and the Senate both have bills they're looking at to come up with guidelines for data centers. Now, how can we have a data center without the state coming up with guidelines for data centers? Nine other counties in the state have either enacted or in the process of enacting moratoriums on data centers. Kershaw County I considered progressive, especially when it comes to development. Let's continue to shape smart growth by getting it right, not just getting it done. Please respect the wishes of the Kershaw County residents by putting a moratorium in place for at least two years to get it right.

» Your motto should be get it right, not get it done. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Conto, for coming out tonight. Mr. DeBose, who do we have next on the public comment section? Next speaker, Jim Corley, data center moratorium. Mr. Corley, yes, sir. Good evening. Last time I was here, I said that I didn't object to power plants in general, just where they're placed, especially my backyard. I don't have the same kind of feeling about data centers necessarily, though. You know, generally data centers historically have been this is where our photos are stored, this is where data is stored. But there's been a recent frenzy of need more and more data centers because of AI, okay? And I am concerned about that.

» If you limit data centers or delay them, we can get more of a handle on what AI is, what it does, if it's good or if it's bad. We all know, well, I don't know, maybe we don't all know, but we have a history as a people, I don't know, just in this country or worldwide of if we can do something, let's do it. If we develop new technology, let's use it. Let's worry about the consequences later. You know, just in the past couple weeks, there's been a lot of news about vaccines that were approved quickly, right? And some of the disastrous results. In the 70s, CVCs, chlorofluorocarbons, miracle refrigerant, right? And now we're paying cost because it turns out they eat ozone. So another example that's sort of close to my heart, calculators, simple calculator, very good tool. Use it all the time.

» But if it's implemented incorrectly, we have a problem. I teach science in college, and I have students that if you say, what's three times 15, I mean three times five, they pull out a calculator. They don't have basic math skills anymore. In math, calculators have made the students dumb not because of what they are, but because how they've been used. And this is my concern about AI also. Will it make us dumb? You know, will it make us dumb because depending on how it's used and things like that.

» So a moratorium on a data center also gives us time to look, and maybe this isn't just a county issue, there must be maybe a global issue, but we're part of the globe, right? That we should take a look at, a moratorium gives us time not only about data centers which have their own problems if you have too many of them. I read recently in Ohio, personal electricity rates are going up because they can't produce, maybe this is against my argument, against my power plant, but they can't produce enough power to power all the data centers, so it's raising residential rates, okay? So there's environmental issues, vibration issues, all kinds of things. And that's something to consider too.

» What are the consequences? What are the consequences of AI? A moratorium on data centers can at least pause the frenzy so we can figure out how we want to implement the technology so it helps us and doesn't make us dumb. My dad and probably your dad or mom said, when you go to cross the street, stop, look both ways before you cross. Or as Davy Crockett's famous motto was, make sure you're right, then go ahead. And I think that's sort of just a moratorium will help us think about these things before we go ahead and do this. All right, thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Corley, for coming out tonight. Appreciate you coming out. Mr. Dubose, I think the eighth speaker, who's next for public comment. Amy McCaskill, Project Ballast. Ms. McCaskill, yes ma'am. Yes.

» My subject specifically about it is with the smokestacks. In the planning and zoning commission meeting on July 13th, Ms. Dykes requested information on Project Ballast and her attorney, Sidney Douglas, recommended moving that discussion to executive session. Ms. Dykes made a motion to enter executive session, seconded by Ms. Montgomery. By show of hands, all were in favor. The commission entered executive session at 617. Mr. Proctor made a motion to exit the executive session, seconded by Mr. Wolf. By show of hands, all members were in favor. The commission exited the executive session at 625. Mr. Proctor stated that no decisions were made and no votes were taken.

» So, the question the next day in the Camden Chronicle was a notice of public hearing that the Kershaw County Board of Zoning Appeals would hold a public hearing on Tuesday, August 4th. For the purpose of hearing and deciding the following request, applicant Dylan Casey on behalf of property owner Russell Horton PR for the State of Linwood H. Horton is requesting a variance to the maximum building height limitation as outlined in Table 3-4 and or Table 3-6 of the Kershaw County Unified Code of Zoning and Land Development Regulations.

» Specifically, the applicant is petitioning the Board of Zoning Appeals for maximum height limitation of 220 feet above finished grade for the exhaust stacks, serving the large-scale dual-fuel power-generating facility in any required pertinent structures, the property located at 3197B Youngsbridge Road. That came out in the Chronicle before the third reading of the ordinance. I know that you have to turn these in months ahead, so I don't know how much leeway there is with that, but I see that tonight there's the first reading about amending the code Section 3, 2.6, exceptions to height limitations to list additional structures. So in the meeting that Beaufort Rosemary had in Bethune at that restaurant the Friday night after the one that Mr.

» Tucker came to on Thursday, the people were told that the stacks would be 100 or at the most 125 feet and an article in the Lancaster paper that was just Wednesday August 5th says the plant would use air for cooling and the stack for the plant would not exceed 100 to 150 feet. And so this variance was dropped, but now it's appearing tonight for first reading. So the variance, a maximum height limitation of 220 feet above finished grade for the exhaust stacks, and the code, the code gives unlimited the height limitations of this ordinance shall not apply to these things. The code name is exceptions to height limitations. So that sounds like it's not 100, it's not 125, it's not 150, and it's not even... Ms. McCaskill, I just have to note that the council's allotted.

» Are you able to conclude your remarks? It seems like we don't know, you know, the specifics are just being kept very quiet about everything to do with that company and it's just still really disappointing, you know. Thank you for coming out tonight, ma'am. I appreciate you. Mr. DeVos. Final speakers, Tom Webb, Gas Plant. Mr. Webb. Alright, I'm going to shame County Council, shame on you. Shame on you. Shame on some of the members who did what they did to poor little Bethune. Bethune just wanted to be left alone to tend to their own business, their own rural conservative sort of way. There needs to be a place for people like that. And Bethune was it. But some of y'all have taken that away from them. You might call it modernization, but that's a polite word for what you've done to Bethune.

» You're dealing with Rosemary, a company that is secretive and bribes people. They seem to have an awful lot of money to throw around to get what they want, whatever that is, whatever that is. The people of Bethune see a data center coming or a solar farm or a big housing development, something changed that they don't need. It's only the beginning. Once they get the foot in the door with a big power plant, no telling what's next, what's next, and what's next. So American government is unusual and it's supposed to protect the people from government. Government protecting the people from government. This is our government. But y'all have failed that. County Council has failed. Some of y'all have failed. Some of y'all are really on the ball and doing good, but some of y'all have failed.

» And by the way, data centers should never be near people. Data centers are spy centers. Thank you for coming out, Mr. Webb. Mr. DeBose, does that conclude the public comment section? Yes, sir. Okay, gentlemen, that concludes public comments. Thank you, everyone, for coming out tonight. That moves us on to item number 7A, public hearings. No, Mr. Chair. Okay, we'll open and close. The hearing is no one has signed up. This is a public hearing on ordinance to amend the Kershaw County ZLDR, zoning and land development regulations section to create a zoning overlay district entitled Master Plan Development District. First reading was on May 26. Planning Commission meeting was July 13. Seeing as no one has signed up to speak on this public hearing, we'll go ahead and close the hearing.

» And that concludes the public hearing. I'll just note there may be some motion or commentary on this matter, which would be 10D later in the agenda to push it to the next meeting. But we'll get to that when we get to it. That gets us to approval of the minutes. Do we have a motion on the minutes? We approve the minutes as submitted by Ms. Hanna. Mr. Tucker has the motion on the minutes. Is there a second on the minutes? Any discussion on the minutes? Seeing no discussion, we'll move it to a vote on the minutes. All in favor? Or present in voting, raise your hand. Mr. Jones, how do you vote on the minutes? It's unanimous in favor for those who are present in voting. Mr. Shoemake, remotely, how do you vote? That's a yes remotely. It's unanimous for the record, Ms. Hanna.

» This moves us to item number 9A, placed on the agenda by Mr. Brazel, and we'll move it to the next meeting. We'll move it to the next meeting. We'll move it to the next meeting. I'll call on the board of trustees, road crews for discussion only. Do we have a motion? I'd like to make a motion to continue the discussion. We started it and I was not here in person. Is there a second? Second. We have a second. Mr. Brazel. Thank you, Chairman. I think the board of trustees and the board of trustees very, very helped keep Kershaw County beautiful and clean by getting back to that pre-COVID work crew and litter pickup. And I had hoped that maybe someone, the director of the jail, could come and speak to us.

» Is that something that we could hear from him in the future, in the next meeting or two? I can arrange that. That I can handle, I would certainly be happy to. Our jail is primarily filled with pre-sentenced detainees. They have yet to be tried and the case is adjudicated, so it makes it a little difficult for us to force them into any kind of labor outside. As a matter of fact, the last efforts for us to clean up trash from the jail came from employees themselves just because we had detainees that were not fit to be outside. Their bonds were denied. They were violent offenders. And that makes up a vast majority of our jail population. Every now and again, we get some sentenced individuals from the state. And they number maybe one or two, maybe three.

» I'm not sure of the number we have over there now, but any information you would like for me to curate, I'd be happy to do so. So I'd just like to hear from the jail administrator and give him time to prepare. Maybe in two meetings he could give us options. If we did it in the past, we can do it in the future. I know it's just a matter of whether or not we have the appetite for it. So I'd like to hear from him on that. And I don't have any more questions or inquiries today. Thank you, Mr. Brazel. Any other comments or discussion? Mr. Jones, you have the second. I'd like to hear from him first. Mr. Jones defers. Mr. Tucker. I'll correct him after he's done. I just have a question to my colleagues on that.

» Have you had an opportunity to review the executive white paper report that was sent by the director of our detention center, which he outlined it in a sixty-something page document on the reasons why his recommendation is not to allow that to happen from constitutional law, state law, federal law, and staffing and many other things. There was a list of reasons that he had research not to enter into this arena. And I know we've done it in the past, Mr. Brazel, but laws change every year with that general assembly and to the Congress that represents us. So things that we probably used to do are probably not legal today to do. So I just want to put that out, but happy to hear from him. Mr. Templer, if you bring him up here. Thank you, Mr. Tucker. Any other comments or discussion? Mr.

» Jones? If I can. Having basically been the project manager building the jail they're in now and running the other jail prior to that, I know things change in 20 years, but I think a lot of your local jails still do let it pick up. Our administrator is right. You cannot put a free sentence person out there, but we used to have a lot of family court detainees, and they are sentenced. And that's mainly who we use to go out on litter, pick up details. I haven't seen a jail roster. I don't know how many would be sentenced or not, but you cannot put a free sentence out there. But I tell you this, we had a program picking up trash even if it was one inmate or two inmates, you know, to help at certain times. But I would be interested in seeing the jail roster.

» I know the jail count and how many they got sentenced and how many they got pre-sentenced. But do you know, Ms. Templer, if you have and it comes in spurts with the family court, but do you know how many they have family court detainees at this point in time? I get the jail listing every morning and I look over and scrutinize it just to see what's going on. I knew you did that, yeah. Yes, sir. It's in and out. I hadn't seen family court in a while, but that's not to say we don't have anyone in there for child support. Of course, to your point, you're right. Those are low risk, low flight risk. You know, they don't want to run. They don't want to get five years in three months. I can certainly get those. If you'd look in there, that'd be great.

» When I was jail administrated, it was difficult to do the pickup. But we did it and we did utilize what sentence people we had in there. I would rather see them out working than to just be sitting in three huts in a cot all day long. But if you could just look at that number and get back with us as well, I'd appreciate that. I'll just note, before we recognize anyone else, I didn't see any hands pop up, that I think it was around COVID that there were a series of cases or statutes and regulations that were passed in relation to having inmate crews clean up on the road that made it much more problematic and expensive based on the ratios that are required to monitor those folks.

» And it almost would be more cost effective to hire somebody to go out and clean up the particular area based on how many paid or overtime related staff members you'd have to have out there fully armed, providing specific transportation for the inmates. In addition to all the insurance and everything else that's required to having inmates outside of the facility. So that's something I remember from COVID times that has carried forward to today that hasn't reset. COVID was a bunch of stupid laws too. Well, you know, everybody has their opinion on that for sure. But I thought it was good prior to that time when the regulations were different. I think they've changed and maybe we can get some more information and if it can be done, we can look at it.

» Any other comments or questions, discussions? I just have to say, I do think it's just reasonable and I think it's very reasonable. It's very reasonable and of course, Mr. Jepes said he'll supply that to us and just look over the list. You can tell me, I trust you on that, just how many sentence you do have at this time. I appreciate that. Okay, so that's everyone who is in person. Mr. Schumacher, any commentary, questions or concerns remotely on this particular item? Discussion number 9A. I think it's a good idea to hire individual folks from the community to clean up a particular area on a contract basis if we wanted to do that and there's an area that needed it as opposed to having inmates go out and do it based on the additional costs that are related.

» Okay, no votes required on item number 9A. So that concludes item number 9A. We've got a series of first readings and then again, I think we might move to second reading. Item number 10A is a first reading, a title only, relating to an ordinance approving a private hangar contract at the Kershaw County Airport, establishing the contract rate and terms and authorizing execution of the same with related items to the private hangar contract. Do we have a motion on first reading? Mr. Chair, I'd like to make a motion that we approve. Mr. Tucker has a motion. Is there a second on 10A? Second. We have a second from Mr. Thomason. It's in title only, but do we have any discussion? No, sir. No discussion on second reading. Any discussion present? Any discussion remotely from Mr. Schumacher? No.

» Well, I've got your attention. How do you vote on 10A remotely? That is a yes from Mr. Schumacher remotely, Ms. Hannah. And for those who are present and voting, raise your hand if you're in favor. That is Mr. Tucker, Razzle, Connell, Cato, and Thomason in favor. And any opposed, raise your hand. Mr. Jones votes against. So it passes 6-1, Ms. Hannah. First reading passes on 10A. Item number 10B is another first reading, in title only. It's related to a multi-county park, or MCIP, between Kershaw County and Leinster County, South Carolina, to create and develop a joint county industrial park. The geographical boundaries would initially be within Kershaw County and provide for other matters related there too. Do we have a motion on 10B? I make a motion, Mr. Chair, to approve. Mr.

» Tucker has a motion on 10B. Do we have a second on 10B? Mr. Thomason has a second on 10B. We're still in first reading, title only. Is there any discussion? I have a question. Is this specifically involving Project Ballast? Is the question from Mr. DeBose? Mr. DeBose, be fine. Right now, the ordinance is not populated. Any property would be eligible to go in there. I believe that the filo for Ballast required that they be put in a park by the 31st. I think the idea is that this would contain Ballast. Any other questions? Mr. Thomason? He has a second. Just to confirm, any future filos are able to go into this MCIP, correct? Correct. Mr. Basile, yes, sir.

» Just out of curiosity, I've been sitting here almost six years, and it's typically been Lee County in which the fee in lieu of tax agreements, the partnership has happened with Lee County. Not that I'm opposed to it, but any particular reason why now it's Lancaster instead of Lee? Some of those matters are probably subject to attorney-client privilege. Well, that stinks. I mean, factually, I believe some of that basis is, but the other MCIPs, one exists with Fairfield County. There are a few iterations with it, a few iterations with Lee County. Projects are typically placed with a non-sponsored county here and there. It's almost on a rotating basis.

» But another MCIP would allow the county to theoretically look at distributions and, again, y'all would have the ability to look at distributions and adjust those for specific projects that have specific... Well, the fee in lieu of agreements typically are 99% Kershaw County, 1%, whichever other county we partner with. But I guess would it be a fair statement to say that their laws would have to be parallel with our laws for said agreement to be valid and maybe some counties wouldn't have a parallel law? Or is it just happenstance that we're in a rotation? Mr. Bose, I can respond to this. Yeah, I'm not sure I understand. The 99-1 is statutory. What each county does with its distributions is up to the county. Yeah, that's per county.

» So there's 46 counties that would determine how MCIP funds are distributed as they come in. But, in short, I thought that it would be a good idea to connect with other counties that we didn't have MCIPs with. We got them with some of the smaller counties. Nothing against them at all. But I think there's a market out there for 1% money to come in Kershaw County. We put a lot of projects, as we're able to, into other MCIPs and we're sending these funds to other counties. And Lancaster, with all of its growth, we're having potential arrangements with large-growth counties that can send funds to Kershaw County. And so that's one of the reasons. Makes sense. I was just curious as to why the change. We hadn't really had conversation about it, but that's a perfectly legitimate explanation.

» I still don't support it. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Any other Mr. Tucker? Yes, sir. Mr. DeBose, I just want to make this clear. So, on second reading, the majority of not 100% of these answers that folks are looking to hear tonight when we go to second reading. Am I correct in stating that? Correct. Thank you. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Tucker. Any other comments, questions, concerns? Okay. Mr. Shoemake, anything remotely? If I could. Please pause, Mr. Shoemake. Mr. Jones. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Tucker, I look forward to that. Getting some of those questions answered as well, too. Thank you. But at this time, I cannot support it. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Mr. Shoemake, any questions, comments on 10B remotely? That was a yes vote for Mr. Shoemake remotely.

» And seeing no further discussion, we'll move it to a vote for all those who are present on 10B. All in favor, raise your hand. That is Tucker, Connell, Tomlinson, and Shoemake in favor. And all opposed? Raise your hand. That is Connell, Cato, and Jones. Opposed? 10B passes on first reading, Ms. Hannah. All right. This moves us on to item number 10C, another first reading title only. It's related to an ordinance to amend the Kershaw County Unified Code of Zoning and Land Development, the ZLDR, related to section 3, 2.6, regarding exceptions to height limitations and related additional structures. Do we have a motion on first reading? Make a motion on first reading title only, Mr. Chair. Mr. Tucker has a motion. Is there a second? Second. We have a second. Okay. Mr. Shoemake yields. Mr.

» Tomlinson has a second. Mr. Tucker, any discussion? No, sir. Still in first reading. Any other discussion? Mr. Tomlinson, you have the second. Just would like to get some clarification from staff, if they could. There's an exception from height limit section in the ZLDR. It contains numerous kind of industrial telecom type uses, as well as other unoccupied by human improvements and structures like church spires, et cetera, et cetera. This text amendment will ultimately include clarifying language for energy project-related uses, but other industrial uses as well that are very close and similar to the existing exemptions.

» For example, an existing exemption is already chimneys, which is inclusive of some industrial infrastructure, but again, perhaps not all aspects of all potential, I guess, tall structures that might come into the county. And again, it'll go to the Planning Commission and come back to you all with recommendations and vigorous debate. Thank you, Mr. DeVos. Thank you, Mr. Tomlinson. No more questions. Any other discussion from those who are present? Yes. Mr. Jones? Well, Mr. DeVos, let me just ask you, or maybe somebody on county council, why now? I can respond to that. Well, I'll ask Tim. Well, I don't think he knows, but you can try. Well, he's the county attorney. Go ahead and try. And if I'm not mistaken, he also attends the Planning Zoning Commission meetings, right? Correct.

» Yeah, and of course, we've got the chairman of the commission out here. Can we hear from him on what he thinks about these smoke stacks? And my question is, why now? Because you know who this is about. We all know who it's about. We all know what it's about, but we're just not talking about the exact elephant in the room. And perhaps I'm being a little exact and precise on first readings and title only. Typically don't have debate because there's nothing for debate. But yeah, I mean, it's for, like I said, energy infrastructure projects. Ballast is an energy project. There are other energy projects that could come into the county. Again, I'm not aware of any pending ones at all. But again, this would apply to structures typically associated with energy infrastructure and other matters.

» Oh, Lord. Thank you. Thank you so much for those kind words. You know, guys, we need to be more transparent on this. I really believe we need to be. And let me say this, too. You all know I've only got four and a half more months. I'm not doing this to get re-elected. I'm doing this because it just absolutely is not the right way. We're rushing it. I felt like we rushed through Project Ballast and we're rushing now all of a sudden going to give this exemption to this height. Let's just say, which I don't think we are right. I think we're wrong. But let's just say we are right. The public's perception is reality. But I happen to agree with the public on this wholeheartedly. And if I can say, I'm 75 years old. No, I don't look it.

» But if I can say anything to you guys up here is put people before money. Put people first. That's your community. And I've said enough. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Mr. Kato. You know, I agree with Mr. Jones. I don't always agree with Mr. Jones, but I agree with him tonight. But I have an issue with both of these first readings because it's all directed to one particular item on the agenda. And it's all to that one thing. And you know, this company was going to do a variance. And then they pull the variance. And now we've got this. So I don't understand how this comes up after the company pulls the variance. So far, that's the way it's been. If it goes beyond the standard that we have set forth now, you file for a variance.

» So why is this changing all of a sudden? I can't support this tonight. I couldn't support that the other one with the agreement. Not that I don't believe in those agreements and not that I don't think in a way it would be really beneficial to Kershaw County, but it all goes back to this one project and I can't support it. Thank you, Mr. Kato. I'm happy to respond to some of these questions. Not that I'm the poster child for this particular project, but again, project ballast I think has been one of the most open economic development processes ever. Never has the council ever taken a site visit, which I arranged so that everyone could see what a potential project like this might look like.

» Everyone who attended and was able to see the project and take it in or ask questions since December of last year was able to ask for any information they were interested in. And at the time of the tour, almost every portion of the facility was over 35 feet, which is the height restriction that would be in place. And so it would be totally inconsistent for the council to, the majority of the council to vote in favor of Ophila, which that's the will of the council that was recently voted on, and then not acknowledge the building that would go along with that, which is an excess of 35 feet. Now, a variance as opposed to a conditional use. That's a very good question. That's an interesting question. Variance is a one-off.

» Conditional use, in my view, allows for greater teeth and regulation from the county on a particular use in a particular area. And so you can add all types of teeth on penalties and different terms like that, which we'll see come up, I hope, in second reading and for amendment on second reading, as opposed to a one-off variance. And so I hope that answers some of those questions, but I think the process has been as open as possible, and the folks who toured this facility since December of last year had every opportunity to get any questions they wanted answered and poke and prod in any way they wanted to. And I tried to make sure that that could happen. I certainly did a bunch of my own research and asked many, many questions of experts and otherwise in making my decisions.

» Any other discussion for those who are present before we go remote? I think, just to kind of defend that for myself, I'll be the first to tell you I toured the facility. The facility was nice, it was clean. I didn't see anything wrong with it. But to be honest, I didn't know what questions to ask, because I knew nothing about it. Exactly. So, you know, I'm kind of in a learning process and I ain't ashamed to admit when I don't know what I'm talking about. And I'll be the first to tell you that I toured it and I thought at first it was nice and it was clean and you've done an outstanding job where we went. But there are some questions you didn't even think about. I never thought about a stack hike or any of that kind of stuff. Or a possibility of that.

» And I understand, and I won't say this in front of everybody, there are so many rumors that are just absolutely not true. I'm telling you. People's talking about data centers. I ain't never been brought up up here and I can assure you of that. You don't have to believe me. But there's just so many rumors. And that's the part that's really destroying people is the rumors and the misinformation that's being put out there. So I just wanted to say that, you know, I still have a bunch of questions because I don't know what I need to know about this. And I'll just share as well. Economic development, traditionally in Kershaw County, and I guess it's like this in every other county, this is the only one I've served in, is usually a much shorter runway. And I personally didn't like that as much.

» Because I thought that council members did not have as much time to ask questions and investigate things as much as they wanted to. So I just wanted to say that, you know, if you were to have a first reading, that would be maybe a first reading in title only, and then you'd have two readings. And so over one month period, you could land on a third reading on a filo. And so you're looking at roughly 30 days to get your questions answered as opposed to the extended number of months I've tried to arrange here on this particular one. So any other comments or discussion for those who are present for discussion on item number 10C? Mr. Schumacher, do we still have you? He's asleep. He just texted me a minute ago. I called for a question. Bet you do. Well, we have to move on.

» We can't sit here forever. I'm getting a message that the system booted him off. Okay, well, we need to move on and vote. I hit my mute button. Mr. Schumacher? No comment. Okay, I want to make sure. Have you had the opportunity to hear the discussion? You just got booted off? Yeah, right when you called for me, I went to hit unmute. You booted yourself off. Well, no comments, Mr. Schumacher. That's a yes vote remotely. Seeing no further discussion, we'll move it. All in favor who are present, raise your hand. It is Mr. Tucker, Mr. Connell, Mr. Tomlinson in favor. All opposed. Mr. Brazel, Mr. Cato, Mr. Jones, opposed. It passes on first reading, title only, that is 10C. Item number 10D. Do we have a motion to defer or otherwise? I'll make a motion to defer.

» To which meeting would you like to defer so we can get a second? To a later date. Two meetings, one meeting? I would need, let's say two. All right, to the second meeting after this one, Ms. Hanna. And do we have a second? Second. Mr. Tomlinson has a second. Any discussion or you just want to vote? None needed. Okay, no discussion from the movement. I don't think Mr. Tomlinson would prefer it to come back. He said at a later date. I mean, it could be next year if he prefers, but do you want to bring it up in two meetings? I'll bring it up to Mr. DeBose to make sure that it's handled correctly. I'll put it back on the agenda. Just some for a future date? Yeah, likely two meetings, but sure. All right, so no vote on the matter so it doesn't fail, it can be brought up again.

» Let's move it to a vote for those who are present. All those in favor of deferring per Mr. Brazel's motion. It's unanimous for those who are present and voting. Mr. Shoemake, how do you vote? And forgive me, I didn't recognize you for any discussion on it. As a yes, it's unanimous on deferral, Ms. Hanna. All right, we've got item number 11A, which is resolution. This is put on by the administrator related to a memorandum approving allowing the Kershaw County probate judge to serve as a special probate judge for emergency and voluntary commitment cases arising in other counties. Do we have a motion? Any background needed, Mr. Templer? Just other than that, this will be a mechanism to allow Judge Brannum to serve as a regional judge for these emergency voluntary commitment cases.

» Okay, thank you very much. Mr. Jones, you have the motion? Do we have a second? Okay, we've got three seconds. Mr. Cato, I heard first, I think. Okay, Mr. Cato has a second. Mr. Jones, any discussion before we move it to a vote? I think our probate's here. Our probate judge is here. Yes, ma'am. Judge Brannum's in the back. Thank you for being here. Listen, thank you for being willing to take all this on, judge. I know it's extra work and everything. Mr. Tucker, have a question? Okay. So Mr. DeBose, if you and Mr. Templer could go to page two. I just want to make sure we're on the same understanding on the language. And the first paragraph to the top talks about cases from these fees by outside agencies as long as she holds these hearings.

» The payment of salary shall commence upon receipt of adequate revenue. So that's reimbursable is what you're saying? Or adequate revenue in the general fund. That's kind of vague to me as for the chair of finance, so I need to get it clear. Yeah, I think the intention there is that the salary will commence when the collected funds for the hearings meet or exceed that salary amount from mental health, et cetera. And again, the expectation is that those receipts will certainly cover that addition. Right, yeah. I want to know whether we're paying as the work is done or is it being reimbursed as the funds come in? I believe it is a set salary, so it's going to be, again, added to each pay period. But yes, it will be essentially reimbursed from receipts. I think I'm answering the question.

» Kind of, sort of, but I got it. That was the original agreement was that it would be almost in arrears, if you will. Work would be completed and then it would be reimbursed. So it would be running like the federal government. You do the work, pay out, and then they reimburse you. Correct. That's how the cogs ran. Thank you, Mr. Tucker. I got one more, Mr. Tucker. Oh, go ahead. Yes, sir. So if you go down where it says this agreement shall automatically renew for the success of one-year periods beginning July 1 of each year, ending in June 30th of the following year, is that going to be read into the budget each year or automatically just renewed without approval? Y'all, just like county council put a spot for this in this year's budget, the same mechanism would have to exist.

» Okay, that answers my questions. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Tucker. We're still on 11A related to the resolution. Any other discussion from those who are present? Mr. Shoemake, any discussion remotely? I heard a yes vote from you, Mr. Shoemake, on 11A, and thank you, Judge Branham. For those who are present and voting, raise your hand if you're in favor on the resolution, 11A. It is unanimous. For those who are present and voting, Ms. Hannett, passes. That brings us to new business, item number 12A, convenience center hours placed on the agenda by Mr. Jones. Is there a motion? I so move. We have a motion. Is there a second? Second. We have a second. Mr. Jones? Well, I'm going to go back to what I said in the last meeting, and I'm concerned about the lake.

» I'm concerned about the convenience center hours when it comes to Sundays, Sunday afternoons, especially when you got the Lugoff side of the lake, you got the Camden side of your lake. I don't know. Y'all probably haven't gotten any calls. I don't know, but I have. And I've got, there's not a person up there that I've talked to at the lake that isn't concerned about this. And I just wish we could get a reconsideration. And I know that Mr. Timbers was gracious enough to say that once they tried it, he'd come back and follow up with us on how it is. I just want it done now. I would just like to give the citizens back there. The people get, to me, we don't give the citizens a whole lot. We take a lot because of property taxes and things like that. But we give them very little back sometimes.

» And when they're speaking out and saying, look, this is something we need, I understand it. I don't have any property to the lake, but I definitely understand it. So I don't know if there's an appetite to override administration on this, or is there an appetite for administration just to stop it? But I just don't like it. I don't think it's right. And that's about all I can say. I would like to have some feedback from some of you guys. So y'all just looking at me like I'm so pretty. Go ahead. Well, I was just going to ask, is this a new business item for discussion only, or is there a motion? No, no, no. I'm not going to make a motion. Any other discussion? Mr. Tucker? Yes, Mr. Chair. I'll share some data with you that I received from staff.

» And it's the savings of $166,000 on what they have in place right now by, excuse me, just having to transport and store the solid waste containers is $15,000 savings. Closing on the reset date Sunday and Monday is $50,000. And along with that storage, they're double handling those containers. The legal staff and enforcement that they have to put out there to check is $18,000 a year. Another $16,000 savings. And then you have contractors and people with the large trailers and stuff dumping in the recycle centers. And then you have current 10 sites with six different hours of operation. That's a $67,000 savings over the year, which the grand total of the $166,000. But this is what's more important to me that I received over the last week.

» We went live with this is that Elgin had 55 vehicles from Richland County. Springdale had 125 vehicles from a mixture of counties. Chesterfield, Lancaster, Lee, and Richland. Parkland Road, which is where I used mine, Black River Road, had 155 total vehicles. 93 from Sumter, 62 from Lee County. And then Lugoff had 155 vehicles from Richland County. So it's not just that Elgin site over there that people are dumping at. They're hitting us from all ends of the county where the county lines cross. You have a lot of people come through or come to Kershaw County for work. And it's convenient to bring that trash and dump it in a recycle center because it's convenience. And we have not been doing a good job of policing that.

» And I've got some phone calls, as you have, I've got a lot of phone calls and members are mutual friends between you and I. I don't think it's ran its course. And I would like to ask the administrator to continue to proceed and give us feedback. And let's see what we need to make the adjustments. I have total faith in Mr. Templer and his staff and his director over Solid Waste that they'll make the proper adjustments and fine-tune this. I need to follow up on that. First of all, I'm not talking about the Elgin site. I'm talking about two sites on Lake Watery. And that those numbers, you can make numbers. We make the numbers we want to see. And it's all legal. But bottom line is I just can't buy that. That opened up for three to four hours on Sunday afternoon.

» Like we, you know, years ago, whenever we first brought these recyclings here, I was actually on the committee that went off since she was here and some others. And I went with a hammy moat to look at recycling centers before they existed here. And the intention, because I've heard a lot about let the folks have time. That's not what this is about. When we started these recycling centers 30 years ago, whatever it was, we hired retired people to work part time so they could work on the holidays so they could work on those days that a working person couldn't. So that we would be able to give the service to the citizens. Time to change, Mr. Jones. They still retirees. They still retire if they come to work.

» Will you fill out an application when you leave in December? I have no desire to do that. I'm not going to work for nobody when I leave here in four and a half months. But everything you said meant nothing to me because it's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the Lake Road and the Lake Shore area of the lake have access to take their trash off on the weekends when they leave. Mr. Chairman. I've lost Mr. Braswell. He had the second. Can the gentleman who represents the lake speak? Go ahead. Thank you. I wanted Councilman Jones and Councilman Tucker to get all that out. Now that they're done. I'm finished. If I may, I've had several many phone calls.

» One of which is we were basically policing the station and a gentleman who owns a home and several thousand acres was told that he would not be allowed to use the recycle center. The gentleman resides I think maybe in Charlotte, North Carolina. He owns a large timber farm and a home either on the lake or on the farm. I'm not sure. Maybe both. Pays a large tax bill especially because of the home being a six percent rate and the gentleman was not happy. Let's just say he was not happy. So knowing that a large part of our tax revenue is six percent rate and or i.e. second homes. Whether you live in or outside of the county, we can't continue to paint a scenario all with the same brush. I agree with parts of what Councilman Tucker said. Certainly Elgin's an issue.

» Certainly I think maybe we see Black River Road's an issue. But I dare to compare the statistics of a rural lake recycle center in which people use their homes for the weekend in which now when they go home, if you leave work on a Thursday afternoon, come to enjoy your lake home no matter which side of the lake it's on. And you go to clean up on Sunday and go home, you don't have anywhere to take your trash. And there's not necessarily service to some of these rural areas at the lake. Kershaw County no longer helps with tipping fees for private businesses and I understand the reasons why. I'm not challenging but I am pointing out the changes that we've made. We saved $400,000 in this year's budget by not paying tipping fees to a company that existed in this county for 30 years.

» Now that was a tremendous savings with absolutely zero loss to any residents and or visitors who own homes in Kershaw County. We may be saving another $160,000 by not serving all areas of the community because what it's doing is it's essentially forcing people to find somewhere else to dump or dump their trash during the work week in which lots of people are employed and maybe some of the traffic through, I'm sure they're using it. Sure they are. No argument there. But to take away something from a rural area in which we are charging a fee for on the most inconvenient day for the citizen I think needs to be reconsidered. And I'd certainly love to see a plan from our administration. They can see that. Danny, you can see that. Gerald can see it. And I think people at this dais can see it.

» I don't think it needs to go to a vote. But what I would like a response from our administrator because I'm doing my job in representing the citizens and the people that live on Lake Ordery and or have houses in the area. Now if you say we think we should open these two or four for a Sunday afternoon for a period of four hours, say from two to six, I think that would be phenomenal. I'm not asking for everything to be my way because it's certainly not a need that I have. I do have roll-offs at my home in which I use. But for many, many, many people that I represent, this is a problem. And also for visitors that I don't represent, it's still a problem.

» And it's only fair to say that our service, our community is geographically large as Kershaw County is, is divided as it is by water features such as the lake and the river. It's unique. It's unique in all regards. And I'm not here to challenge anyone over the subject. I'm here to look for a solution that better fits our communities and their unique differences. I ask you politely. I'd like to see something that would service our community. And I am not a guy that will ever put a plan in place and never deviate from it. I'm just not that guy. I, just like y'all, I get calls. I live in East Camden. I go to IGA and I get hit up. I've been in administration for ten years. I've been the administrator for three, so I'm well known as the guy that makes some of these operational decisions.

» And trust me, this one I am known for. And I'm fine with that because I understand that this has not been a solvent function of our budget. Solid waste. If this was a company, it would have shuttered 15 years ago. It just, it is propped up by the general fund. It's a enterprise fund. It should make its own money. It should generate money to buy its own trucks. I could ask for, I could double the rate of solid waste. I would never do that because it doesn't do anything. These are problems that I can't buy my way out of. My responsibility is to make this department solvent. And by making tough changes and, but re-evaluating these changes. I said that I would look at the data every quarter. I'm not going to do that. I'm going to look at it every month to see.

» And if there is any site that doesn't add to the cost savings, the operational efficiencies, we will make adjustments to make it more convenient. After all, they are convenient. The amount of out-of-town dumping, I mean that's kind of been beat to death. We all know that. I do have concerns for like both sides. I am concerned that this, you know, it causes a inconvenience up there. I know that some people just live up there all year around. And I know Sunday is the day to go, but I also know that Sunday is the day to go for a lot of other counties to come to us and deposit their trash here. And I also know that Sunday is the day when a lot of contractors empty their trailers out to start the work week fresh with an empty trailer.

» Just in the first week, we've had 28 less open top loads going to the Kershaw County landfill, which is huge. Compacters to Republic, we've cut down five of those loads just with wet trash, household trash. We've hauled almost 120 less tons in the first week of this initiative. You know, we talked about the $166,000 of potential savings. When I saw that number, I knew that was very, very conservative, way too low. We've saved just this first week's $6,300 and we're on track to save $331,000 if that number comes forward. That's a lot of money. That's a lot of savings forward. On top of the $400,000. But that doesn't mean that we won't make adjustments in operational efficiencies and conveniences. We want to make this a service. Everybody pays the same price.

» I feel like we may be excluding people that have a right to dump there. We're going to come up with something that we're trying to look at driver's licenses. You could go to Richland County and get your driver's license issued to you and then you're going to have a 29 or a 40 code instead of the 28 for Kershaw County. That's not a true tried way to tell. Mr. Templer, if I might? Yes, and this is to Mr. Brazel's point. I've experienced in other counties where they will require you to show proof of a utility bill that you can have the utility company, even if you own it as a second home or in a business, they can put you as care of your actual name. I've seen that work well in other facilities I've been familiar with. You just pull it up or you get an email.

» You opt into email service or notice of your bill. You can pull up the email, show the worker, and then you're able to dump your trash. It seems like a pretty easy fix instead of a draconian driver's license requirement if you live out of state or otherwise. This is a learning curve. We have some instances where we've not made the right decision to allow someone to dump. I want to err on the side of the citizen. If we're trying to this week push out, it's not how you bring it in, it's what you're bringing in. Had a guy come in and get a landscaping company, obviously was not going to throw away all of his lawnmowers, he just had two household bags of trash. We just have to have discretion and common sense. I believe in this. I think we're going in the right direction.

» I want this to be a solvent department. I want it to stand on its own and not be propped up by capital funds and the general fund as a whole. We have new convenience centers to build. We have to rearrange. We have a lot of work going on. We have the impact fees going to help support this fund as well as recreation. Ultimately, we are going to continue to analyze and make sure that we are moving in the right direction and not be the one size fits all. Right now, that's what we have to start out with and see where those two sites end up and if there is an opportunity to make them more convenient because they are pretty well insulated inside the county. We don't have to worry about out of town dumpers. I think you make valid points. Mr. Jones makes valid points.

» The folks I spoke to up in that area make valid points. I can't ignore that. Just a quick question. How many sites do we have altogether? We're talking about 20% of the sites which probably account for 5% of the waste. Your savings is still going to probably be a 95 to 97% savings. Even if you just open that small window for household waste. I think Ben's idea is valid and fair. The only thing I would say is I know Internet service is spotty. Somebody may have to have a paper copy. Let's just be soft on how we implement those and not so rigid until people get accustomed to how we handle this for the general public. We had an all hands meeting with all the attendants Monday morning just to make these adjustments and to make sure people are getting to use the facilities they pay for.

» It's a work in progress but I believe in it. It's going to save a lot of money. Actually with the ID portion we've had a lot of positive feedback on site where people are thankful for the cost of dumping down and keeping the other folks out of our county. I can't disagree with that. It's just finding a balance. Absolutely and we'll continue to look for that balance. Thank you Mr. Brazel. Any other comments, discussion for those who are present? Mr. Shoemake, anything remotely? Per Mr. Jones, no votes required, no motions been made. That will conclude item number 12A on convenience center hours. Next up I placed on the agenda 12B council meeting schedule vote B will be required.

» I'll make a motion that regarding the council meeting schedule for the rest of the year we've been previously provided it and voted on it earlier in the year. I make a motion that we cancel the November 24 and December 22 meetings for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday weeks. Is there a second? I'll make that motion. I'm eating turkey and celebrating the good Lord's birth. Likewise. There's been some years where the second half after the budget or second three quarters of the year almost we've only had one meeting per month. That's not this year. We've got so much scheduled and so much going on in talking with the administrator and with legal council. Those are the only two meetings that make sense to do without for the rest of the year.

» We have every other scheduled meeting for August, September, October, November, December except for the two that we just mentioned that we'll bring up for a vote. Do we have any discussion? I would just like to say that's normal trend for us to council those two anyway. We're just doing it early. Everybody gets to plan their holiday travel a little bit better too. I appreciate it Mr. Chairman. Believe me I'd love to go to one meeting a month. We do have a lot going on. We need to keep our two meetings a month at least for the other months prior to the November, December. Yes sir. Any other discussion from those who are present? Mr. Shoemake any discussion and if not how do you vote? No discussion. I vote yes. That's a yes remotely from Mr. Shoemake.

» All in favor who are present raise your hand. It is unanimous and the amendment will take place. Thank you Ms. Hanna. We have a whole slew of council members put their names on this one. Moratorium related to data centers. Initially placed I think by Mr. Jones but we have Mr. Brazel, Tomlinson and Cato on. I'm not sure to what extent someone's going to make a motion first or amendments. Well I tell Mr. Brazel that I would yield to him if he had a motion he wanted to make. Is there a motion on 12C? Yes. I'd like to make a motion to place a moratorium on data centers and anything that resembles one for a period of five years so that Kershaw County as well as the state of South Carolina can put guardrails and clearly defined how we want to move forward as a state and as a county.

» We have a motion. Is there a second? I'll second. Mr. Jones has a second. Mr. Brazel you have the floor. There's been a lot of discussion and to Danny Cato's point, speculation on is there going to be a data center in Bethune in conjunction with the power plant. I can tell you I have not heard that. No one has told me that there will be. I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt no one has said Russell there's going to be a data center. Follow the power plant. As a matter of fact I've been told the exact opposite. With that being said I think while we're talking about the future of Kershaw County we need to clarify the situation.

» We need to find out if we are if we are asked in the future John if you don't mind I'm just going to ask you a few questions so that we can find out where we're at as a county where we're at as a state and what the future looks like and how we shape the future. Real simple questions just to put it on record and clear the air. Are data centers allowed in Kershaw County currently under our zoning regulations? There is no specific regulation on data center. I will say that under zoning codes there's not a specific fit for a particular use. If there's another fit that is legitimately close enough to be utilized. I believe there is some computing infrastructure but I don't know that it is a precise match but so to answer your question there's no specific data center regulation.

» Alright let me rephrase your question. Would there be a gateway for a data center via a known or existing zoning regulation? I do not think so based on ZLDR. So at this point in time a data center could not be adopted and built in Kershaw County without a change in zoning regulations. That is my understanding. In which that would have to be deferred to planning commission. There would be a public hearing. It would be a very open transparent process. Is that okay? So that answers a question that I think begged to be answered by many people in the public including myself. Now that we have that question answered and on the record I think if we could install a moratorium of five years that gives us ample runway to see what the future holds. To find out what the state is going to do.

» Gentlemen thank you for being here tonight sir. House member? Thank you Mr. Reese. Representative Reese thank you for being here tonight sir. We need to learn more about what the House and Senate feels about these data centers and where they see South Carolina in a global race for stored data. From flock cameras to iPhones to who knows what. Our data is being sold. I'm not saying I agree with it. Our data is being stored for large corporations for federal government military data is being stored somewhere. And some people would say well would we rather the United States store our data or are we afraid that it could be in the hands of someone else in the globe, Russia, China. Our data is being stored way above our pay grade here in Kershaw County.

» But as Congress as state officials work through these problems they will then come home to roost. And that is the need that is the reason why. I think a moratorium of five years is more than enough. Let me just say this. I agree with everything the citizens said here tonight when they got up and spoke about their concerns about the gas plant and also a data center. I've got to be realistic to myself. I know for a fact. When I put this on the agenda of course Councilman Browse and I had been talking about this for a long time. But I'm going to be realistic. I support the five years but I know it's not going to pass. It's not going to pass. So I want to make an amendment because I know what's going to pass.

» I want to make an amendment to the proposed motion that we do a moratorium for 12 months and there has to be regulations as well and we can also I know somebody like two years it's not going to pass. Okay. But I think we might have to have the votes here for 12 months. I don't know. But I would move for that amendment based on that reason. But just remember this moratorium for 12 months and we could also extend that and then 12 months or y'all could I won't be here. And also that Mr. Jones can I just ask for a point of clarification. Yes sir. You're making a motion to amend to 12 months. Yes. Yes. All right. Motion to amend takes priority over any further discussion. Is there a second? I'll second. There's a second. Any further discussion? Yes.

» You don't have to be a weatherman to tell which way the wind's blowing. I don't know why a five year moratorium wouldn't pass unless there was something on the radar. Mr. Chairman. Yeah. Mr. You asked for commentary. Yes sir. Thank you. Appreciate your comments. This is the first haven't heard anything about data centers. But what I am for is about regulations. I think we need a pause to put regulations in place. None of us know anything about data centers. Looking at the state right there. Representative Reese. Y'all had two years to look into it. You still don't know anything about data centers do you? It's something that is coming down the line that is growing in our state very fast. And we have to take a pause to be able to get things in place. Mr.

» Holland said in his comments, I believe it was Iowa that was referenced, where data center uses no water. Been there for 13 years I believe. Was it that comment you said? Doesn't use any water. We don't know anything about this. Technology is new to me. Half people up here or everybody up here is older than me and I am still technologically challenged. It's a hard word to even get out. I do think that we need to look at until the legislative session is over with. Representative Reese, you got big things when your shoulders is coming session. There's a lot of South Carolinians who look forward this regulation for the state. For guidance at the local level. We're struggling. You can see us here. I think it's the job of our state leaders to put those in place so we can act.

» I appreciate all you do. I really do. Thank you for coming out tonight. It's a great honor to see people sitting in the audience of greater bodies of government than you serve and knowing the challenges that you face here in and here out. I really appreciate you coming out tonight. I do think we're in a wave. I'd like to see us even making this right after session. Maybe even July 1st. I'm fine with 12 months. I have a question for clarification just so I understand legally what we're looking at. I do support a moratorium for a period of time. Five years I think would actually not be constitutional. I've been looking at this for about six months.

» There's a case called Sierra Club and I don't want to get in the weeds on, but that was a little over two years for a complete comprehensive plan rewrite that was found to be okay. That's not what we're doing here. Whatever we do for a moratorium has to be rationally tied. Think about the building moratorium that we had on residences for major subdivisions. We don't have to do this here, but just as an example, the moratorium was legitimate because we set up a smart growth committee that committed to having regulations ready or there was some other legal issue that would implicate the county's ability to act or not act at that time. So I think five years is too long just because it wouldn't pass constitutional muster. I think tying it to the end of legislative session would make sense.

» There are preemption issues there. If we go through a bunch of effort to come up with regulations and then the state preempts us, and we are home rule, but in some ways the county is the baby of the state. So we'll get preempted on those fronts. So end of legislative session makes sense to me, but if the state doesn't act, I think there's some point at which we have to where some of the regulations I've considered would be limitation on water usage, if it's even right in Kershaw County, limitation on power usage or self-generation, bonding if it fails, minimum amount of land size, additional requirements for setbacks, pretreatment issues and bonds related to that. And so there's all kinds of stuff that you would have to figure out if it ever worked somewhere in Kershaw County.

» This is the point of clarification, Mr. DeBose. I thought I had heard from economic development staff previously. There was some type of data center that was interested near the landfill. And we never researched it, didn't really come up with a council, but that just fizzled and went away. I thought that there was an industrial zoning in the county where a data center would be allowed. So is that not true? I just remember hearing that from... I would have to verify with our zoning administrator, again, as I said, there's no explicit line data center. There might be again, some computing services, something that again, is an arguable fit. And again, zoning codes, if you are not...

» if you don't have the magic language, it doesn't necessarily mean that it doesn't qualify under an existing use. So again, I'd have to get in the weeds with the planning director on that. But we don't have any specific granular regulations that would be specific to data centers. It would be underlying underlying zoning district regulations. If there is a box that is inclusive of a data center, it would just have to meet, again, those zoning district standards. We don't have any specific data center standards. Well, I think for this council, that's an essential question, because either there is an industrial zoning out there that allows for it, and so a moratorium would directly impact somebody's private property rights, or it doesn't, and it won't.

» And so that brings up a question of mootness for us on what we do. Of course, tonight, in order to have an actual moratorium, it'd have to be in the form of an ordinance. And so it'd have to be a first reading, second reading, third reading, and a public hearing that would occur. And so whatever vote we have tonight will be a recommendation for staff to put it on the agenda for next time, if it passes tonight, to have an actual ordinance. But between now and then, if we do something, I'd really like to know is the regulation a moot issue for us right now, because none of the zoning allows for it, or is the threshold question, is it allowed, and thus we have even greater need for regulation. Mr. Chairman, if I may. Mr. Jones. I don't care if it is allowed. I don't like it.

» And this body has the right to change that. And I would tell you, I'd vote for 10 years, but I just know it's not going to pass. I want to make sure when we walk out of here, we've got a moratorium, 12 months. Look, that's something. And to make sure we have regulations, those two things were the keywords in my motion. Mr. Jones, that's the question is, if it's not allowed anywhere, then a moratorium could be moot, because you can't do it at all. Well, listen, you're saying could be, could be. We don't know. What I know tonight is that I think this council should enact a moratorium for 12 months and make sure there's regulations in place. If it wins. You haven't heard from Mr. Cato yet. So I agree with you, Mr. Jones.

» One of the issues that I have with five years, I wish we could just band it all together, but that's not, that's not possible. Okay. We've got to be reasonable. I mean, you know, we can set up here and we can make things sound good and try and get applause and all that kind of stuff. And that's, that's fine. Well, they're good. But we've got to reasonably think about what we're doing this. If we did it for five years, I'd be off council. I want to see it to the end. I want to make sure that things would I don't have but a four year term so I could be off, off council and I wouldn't be able to see what regulations put into place and be kicking the can down the road.

» So I, my point is that I would like to see something where we can put some reasonable and really good restrictions on these data centers and to be perfectly honest, to maybe deter them from even wanting to come to start with me. We had some really good conversation at the the conference and every class that we went to dealt with data centers. There was a lady from Washington. Okay. This lady from Washington was over the national committee committee for the county, for the counties in Washington. She said presently there are 75 bills between the Senate and between the House and Washington that are presently being presented to them to take a look at. I wrote it down because I couldn't believe it.

» There's a lot of legislation fixing to come down and we need to know where we stand and what we can do and how far we can go. And I agree and I want to clarify this point with you Mr. Jones that this 12 months would start if it goes through the third reading, it would start at the end of the third reading with a chance or with the opportunity to extend it if needed. Correct. And think about this. We just approved no height limit on stacks. Okay. I mean come on. If I may. Yes, sir. I agree with the very first part of what you said and most of what you said. But just especially the part that says we need to know what can and can't be allowed in Kershaw County.

» The way I see it, if a data center is currently allowed in a certain zoning code, it's likely that it's going to be a light industrial or a heavy industrial zone which we only have a few parks that qualify here in Kershaw County. A data center is not interested in building in a park. They're interested in building in a very remote farm, maybe a thousand acres or more. That's going to be zoned Rd1, Rd2 and it's likely because this is something new that they have to have a moratorium in place in order to get all of the zoning passed to make it feasible to exist in a certain area. So while I wanted to say, frankly I wanted to ask for a 99 year moratorium but my wife wouldn't let me. If a five year moratorium is too long, then it's too long for what? Well, maybe it's unconstitutional.

» That's I guess for a court to figure out, not me. But let's not put ourselves in a position to accept them in rural areas if that's not the goal. So we can say there's a moratorium for data centers, but are we really even doing anything other than giving ourselves a year to figure out how to have data centers? And I don't want to get confused in this conversation. I want to know what's going on. I want to be clear with my colleagues that my goal will be to limit sites in Kershaw County. I want to be clear to the public that I want to preserve the natural resources and beauty of Kershaw County. That was a focus six years ago when I ran.

» One of the things that I said is that I wanted to help protect Kershaw County's natural resources and I find myself dealing with something that could be a huge hurdle for our natural resources. And I don't want to mistake tonight's conversation for moratorium for it to turn out to be something other than we intend it to be. Because I can assure you the system's intelligent. When I say the system, I mean the lobbyists that lobby the federal government. I mean the lobbyists that lobby at the state house. Now, we don't see them here. But when that legislation is passed, you better darn well believe that somebody is for it. You better darn well believe that somebody is courting somebody to get what they want.

» But you better darn well believe that I'm standing here today uninfluenced in fighting for the citizens of Kershaw County to make sure that Kershaw County stays what it needs to be. So I agree with Danny. I don't know if we need a moratorium or if we need a clarification before we move forward. And I think that's what our chairman was asking for from John DeBose, in which we got maybe a little conflating answers. Mr. Braswell, I have a suggestion. Are you done? Any one of us under our rules could place this on an agenda item for next meeting. And so right now I'll update the clerk that I think we should place it on an agenda item for next meeting. I don't know that a vote is needed tonight.

» But I think we've got to get clarification on whether or not it's actually allowed or whether or not... My motion stands for a vote tonight. That's fine. Or whether it's a moot issue based on zoning. Because I think I've heard something different in economic development. Like Mr. Braswell, I'd like to know the answer to that. Because either there's a private property right that could be infringed or not. If not, then there's less restrictions on a potential moratorium that is moot. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Mr. DeBose, do you have a response? So there is a... For the NAICS codes in our ZLDR, there's one broader code section on professional, scientific, and technical services. But it is the broad section. Some data center uses are under that code. Some are under 518.

» Some are under 519, which I don't know that we have. It doesn't look like we have it. So it truly is an attorney answer of...I think it would depend precisely on the ownership structure and exactly what kind of data might be getting managed at a hypothetical data center. Whether, again, arguably fits in that box. I think given that it would have to fit under that broader umbrella currently in the code, if there's a desire to specifically regulate data centers, a moratorium and a specific regulation would be a way to go. So my suggestion is... My suggestion is, regardless of the vote tonight, I'm already going to have it on the agenda for next time. So we can vote or not, but I'm going to have it on the agenda for next time.

» Whether or not we need to pull it will be the question, and how long it will be after in first title only will be the question. But I think Mr. Brausel is right. We've got to get to the bottom of what is actually allowed in Kershaw County versus not. And this is new. This is a question of first impression, as they would say in the legal world. There's no precedent that we can look to. Am I correct, Mr. Templin, Mr. DuBose, to try to divide it? And so you're all going to have to take some time to figure it out and let us know, and we're going to have to do some more independent research. Because I think I've gotten conflicting answers from staff in the past. Yes, sir. Just a legal question. So if we go... Mr.

» DuBose, if we went forward with the vote tonight and we still got our answers at the next meeting, you know, if we find out that the vote is null and void, I guess it has to be dropped. But at least if we vote on it tonight, we're one step closer. So, maybe going back to the chair's point, in order for any moratorium to be valid, it has to be passed by ordinance. Yeah, the vote tonight does nothing as far as imposing moratorium. Would it not start a pending ordinance doctrine? No. Public hearing hasn't been advertised. Now, if a public hearing is advertised, again, the local government has to resolve to embark upon a regulatory scheme. I think it's arguably of it that it could be invoked in this scenario. Well, then let's vote on it and have a leg rather than no leg.

» And to Ben's point and to Jimmy's point, I think we do both things. And just know that during this process, it's going to be it's going to be of my opinion to look for ways to protect Kershaw County. And I think we can move forward. Thank you, Mr. President. That's what we're trying to do with the moratorium. I appreciate that. I call the question. Well, you can, but I'm going to check on any other discussion from those who are present. And we haven't also heard from a particular council member who's remote. Mr. Shoemake, any discussion? Do we still have you? Yeah, you still have me. I mean, look, I think that just to be very short about it, there's been a lot of discussion already. I think that there is a certain hysteria around data centers that sort of misplaced.

» That said, I would support a short moratorium. But I'll tell you, like, I'm not going to vote for an extended one. And when the moratorium is over, I'll support regulations to make sure data centers are I agree they should be limited. They should have reclaimed order. They should have power sources. I think we should regulate them and not have not pushed our county into data center alley. But I'm not terrified of data centers. And one of the speakers mentioned that, you know, data hacks, the worst thing in the world we can do as a country is start sending our data overseas. So I'll support a short moratorium, but that's kind of all I have. Thank you, Mr. Shoemake.

» I don't want my data sent overseas either, but I'll tell you what, if it's something that needs to protect our country, let Ford Jackson have the data centers. They got a lot of land over there, but I don't want one. I don't want one in my neighbor's backyard. And so anyway, Mr. Tucker. Yes, sir. I'm making too much sense up here, obviously. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Mr. Tucker. I just have a question about process. So we do this moratorium for 12 months. I know that there's already because it was in my council briefing to talk about a little bit. There is there's already ordinance out there from other counties. I know for a fact, Chester has one. I think Buford of one to one down in that area. Yeah.

» So why are we not having this moratorium like we did with the growth? Why can't we work unilateral? In other words, if the moratorium is in place, we start processing the information for regulations, regardless what the health care system does. No offense to Representative Reese, who I love like a brother and been known forever. Heck, they can't even get the budget right. I'm not going to rely on them. I'm sorry to say it. I'm mad enough to sit up here and say that. I won't say behind their back. I think they just passed the budget today. And what's that? Forty something days, Representative Reese. Everybody else has passed one other than the state, all 46 counties. So what they pass, we can definitely make adjustments.

» But why can't out the gate as we're going through this moratorium, we work on those ordinance because there's stuff out there already. We don't have to reinvent the wheel. We just need to get the information and tweak it to our liking. Any other discussion? All right. Seeing none. And with the acknowledgement that the vote may or may not be moot tonight, we can move forward with the vote. We're on the motion to amend first, before we get back to the original motion. My wife told me not to get mad tonight. The motion above force is essentially a motion to direct staff to place on the next agenda. My motion was a 12-month moratorium with us to also look at having, making sure there are regulations in place during that time. I understand that, Mr. Jones.

» What I'm saying to you is that can't happen tonight. It has to have three readings in the public hearing. So it could be placed on the agenda for first reading. But I'm making that motion for tonight. Do you understand, though, that a moratorium is not passing tonight because the law requires three readings in a public hearing? Yes, I understand that. Okay. But why are you asking me that stupid question? I know that. I understand it takes three readings. That's why I want to make sure we get the 12 months in tonight and the regulations because it takes three readings. And, you know, we've got a couple of months. It's not going to be one meeting a month. It's going to take forever to get this thing passed. Yes, sir. I didn't think the question was stupid based on the context.

» I'm not saying you're much smarter than me, sir. I'm just saying that to me that's just, I mean... What this does is puts it on the agenda for next meeting. For first reading. I'm making the motion tonight for first reading. It's not on first reading, sir. Essentially, this puts it on the agenda for first reading next time. I'm just trying to clarify that for you, Mr. Jones. I got you. Okay. Mr. Chair, you know we still got the vote on the amendment. This is the amendment. We're talking about the amendment. All right. So all in favor on the Jones amendment, raise your hand. Present and voting. It's unanimous in person for those who are present and voting. Mr. Shoemake, how do you vote on the Jones amendment? Yes. That's a yes. It passes unanimously.

» Now we're on to the original motion as amendment. Any other motions? Any other discussion on the original as amended? I think we got it all out. All right. Seeing none, we'll move it to a vote for those who are present and voting. All in favor, raise your hand. It's unanimous, Ms. Hanna, for those who are present and voting. Mr. Shoemake, how do you vote? Yes. That's a yes remotely from Mr. Shoemake. And so we do have a vote on 12C, but essentially it places on for first reading for the next agenda. Thank you, Ms. Hanna. Just for clarification, did Mr. Brazel withdraw the motion for the five years? That was amended. We just voted on my motion that was amended by Councilman Jones. That's what happens on this long discussion going on. Correct. All right.

» That moves us on to council briefings. We've got first up, Mr. Cato. Caught me off guard. I don't know why. I'm still thinking. It got deep, didn't it, bro? It got deep. I want to thank everyone that had a part in tonight and the proclamation for Steve McCaskill and well deserved. And I want to thank the Sheriff's Office for what they did for him tonight. Very deserving for everything that he done for this county and for that Sheriff's Office tonight. I truly appreciate, appreciate them having a part in it. I want to say thank you to the Alpha Center. We had a opioid meeting today. I'm on the Opioid Coalition and Advisory Council and I tell you, I go to these meetings and I'm more and more impressed with them each and every time I go to these meetings.

» They do some excellent work and found out today that the Alpha Center and our detention center had been working along together for a program which was called Medicine Assisted Treatment. And this program was started back in 2023. It's been in the process of trying to get started. My understanding is it got started up this past Monday. And so I'm really proud of the Alpha Center, our county government and the detention center. They had some setbacks and they had some, some times that they kind of got put behind the eight ball. But it's up and running. And I'm thankful for that. I want to say that we got the Jamboree coming up to kick off the football season this year on the 14th. That'll be next Friday.

» So if you'd like to attend and watch Lugoff, Elgin, Camden and North Central play some, play some football to kick off the season. They'll be doing that next week. That ends my report. Thank you, Mr. Kato. That's this 14th. Yeah, the Jamboree is this Friday. Yeah, that's this Friday. Camden had a scrimmage last Friday. I know. I said the 14th. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Kato. Mr. Tomlinson, any report? Mr. Chairman, no report tonight. Thank you. Mr. Jones, any report? No report. Thank you. I think we just lost Mr. Shoemake. Is he still on? Yeah. Okay. Mr. Tucker? Yes, sir. Any report? Just very briefly. I was going to recognize House Member Reese, but he's gone already. I want to say that the conference that we attended a couple weeks ago was phenomenal. A lot of great information.

» Staff attended class as well as the council members and learned a lot and absolutely right. Data centers was the topic that no one wanted to speak about that everybody talked about. So learned a lot. And then I just had a class last week up in Greer on economic development. And we had that topic too on the data centers. And a lot of good information is out there for us to learn from. And if we're ever going to do one, we can shape one like we want or we don't want any. And then we can block what we don't want. So I appreciate this council taking a step in the right direction. And if we all work for it, we'll come up with a good product. Other than that, I want to make you aware of an announcement that I received yesterday on I-20. The bridge, the Waterview River Bridge.

» So I want to make this publicly known just in case you didn't get the email. This is from SCDOT conducted traffic shift operation on I-20 westbound over the Waterview River Bridge in Kershaw. And they sent this out yesterday, August 10. The South Carolina Department of Transportation will conduct the traffic shift operation on I-20 westbound over the Waterview River Bridge in Kershaw County beginning the night of Tuesday, August 11. A single lane closure between mile markers 97 and 95 will be conducted to shift traffic from the existing I-20 westbound bridge to the newly constructed bridge. Traffic shift operations are expected to be completed by the morning of Thursday, August 13. Last part I want to read to you. Drivers should expect delays and seek alternate routes if possible.

» SCDOT encouraged drivers to use the 511 SC app or visit 511sc.org to plan route ahead and get real-time traffic updates. Okay. Thank you. That concludes my report. Thank you, Mr. Tucker. Mr. Brazel. Thank you, Chairman. It was really nice to see the McCaskill's here tonight. What a great family and what a great legacy. Danny, thank you. I think that was phenomenal. Thank you for doing that. I'd like to kind of give a shout out to a particular member of our recreation commission and a large crew of people whom I can't name all. But Rick Jay brought it to my attention. His good friend Clay Hannah is the manager of a Lowe's store. And Danny, correct me or help me.

» I think there were eight Lowe's stores that donated 25 picnic tables, sod, mulch to our recreation facilities, and actually helped put it out, set the tables up, put out trash cans. I mean, this was a tremendous donation. Do I have this right? The numbers are wild, how much they donated. Wheelbarrows, rakes, all kinds of stuff that we'll use from now on. Mulch, I mean, it's just like hundreds of bags of mulch, things like that, just to help beautify Woodward. And I really think it's cool that, you know, of the eight Lowe's stores, one of them was in Kershaw County, the rest of them, it was a friend of a friend and a phone call. And Rick said we were talking about it over around the golf and all of a sudden that happened.

» So, isn't that wonderful? So, not to discount every other member of the Recreation Commission, but I just wanted to give Clay and Rick a shout out and all of the managers and team members that came out and gave to Kershaw County. Tremendous amount of money, tremendous amount of time. I thought it was really cool when he was telling me that today, so just wanted to highlight that. Also, something that's really neat. You all remember Dale Watson from Charleston that painted the Battle of Ruigle's Mill for us. Dale has, if you want to see it, in the Camden archives, a display of all of his work for the 250th. And to include a smaller version of what we have of Ruigle's Mill, but gosh, it must be 20 paintings. Some of them are owned by the 250th Commission. Some of them still belong to him.

» But if you're in town and, Martin, if you'd like to highlight what's at the Camden archives, it's all, if you walk all the way to the back and hang a left, it's in a room by itself, it's really neat to see all that artwork. And just kind of coincidental that we connected and did what we did here and now he's doing other things in Kershaw County, so I thought that was cool. Had a neat conversation with him and was able to stop in and check that out before the meeting tonight. So I just wanted to highlight Dale and his artwork and what it's doing here in Kershaw County. And if we could afterwards, if we could maybe circle up and find out the gentleman at Persimmon Drive that was having multiple issues. I'd like to lend a hand if I could. We can talk afterwards regarding that.

» I've got his info. Perfect. Thank you. That concludes my report. Thank you, Mr. Roswell. I have no report for tonight. Mr. Administrator, any report? Other than I've been selected for federal grand jury, that's my report. Any dates that conflict with anything we need to be concerned with? I have yet to see all the dates. Because a lot of those trials run at least a week. So I'll keep y'all apprised. Okay. They won't keep you. Thank you. All right. Legal briefing, anything nonprivileged? No. We do have one item for executive session. I'd seek a motion to enter executive session regarding discussions. Let me get through it real quick. Discussions and negotiations incident to a contractual matter under SC Code 30-4-70A2. Is there a motion? So moved. Second. And we got a second.

» All in favor of ending executive session, raise your hand. It's unanimous and we've lost Mr. Schumacher. We are in executive session. No votes anticipated after executive session. Any discussion on exiting executive session? None. Seeing none, all in favor of exiting executive session, raise your hand. It is the four who are present in the room, Ms. Hannah. In favor, we're out of executive session. Motion to adjourn, Mr. Schumacher. Second. Motion to adjourn, we've got a second. Any discussion on adjourning? None. Seeing no discussion on adjournment, all in favor of adjourning, raise your hand. It is unanimous, we are adjourned.