Full meeting transcript - September 22, 2026

» I'd like to welcome everyone out tonight for this Kershaw County Council meeting, September 22nd, 2026. Thank you for coming out tonight. We've been called to order. We have Councilman Tucker listed for the invocation, but he's calling in remotely due to work. I'll go ahead and offer the invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance tonight, and we'll proceed to that point. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, we're thankful for our many blessings. We're grateful for our lives this day, for the breath that we have, for our families, for our responsibilities that help us grow, the challenges and trials in life, and the joys. We're thankful for all that thou hast given us. Please help us do right by thee. Please help our fellowship and meeting tonight be pleasing unto thee.

» Please guide us with thy spirit and direct our discussions. Help us be wise in doing good things for Kershaw County to the best of our abilities. We pray for the McKenzie family tonight and pray that thy comfort may be upon them. Please guide us in all that we do, and we say this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. 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, for liberty and justice for all. Thank you, everyone. Next up, gentlemen, is item number four, adoption of the agenda. Do we have a motion on the agenda? I'll make a motion. We adopt the agenda. We have a motion from Mr. Shoemake. Is there a second on the agenda? I'll second. We have a second.

» Any discussion on the agenda? Seeing no discussion from those who are present, Mr. Tucker, any discussion? And how do you vote? No discussion and I'll vote yes. Who seconded that? That's a yes vote on discussion remotely from Mr. Tucker. All those who are present and voting, raise your hand if you're in favor. It is unanimous for the record, Ms. Hanna. The agenda is approved. Next up, we have a series of proclamations and resolutions. The first one is related to honoring the headquarters, the 117th engineer brigade task force cast on accepting an American flag flown in honor of Kershaw County. I would make a motion. I'd like to second the motion. Okay. Ms. Parler, do we have anyone here tonight? Okay. Mr. Titus is here. Where's Mr. Titus? Oh, I'm sorry. I couldn't see it.

» Do you happen to have the flag with you tonight? Or is it being presented at a different time? Okay. It already has it. Wonderful. Well, we'd like to, um, to recognize you tonight, um, and approve this proclamation. Um, we're very thankful for the thought that went into this and after the council votes, you'll have an opportunity to speak if you'd like to, um, any other discussion from council members? Um, if, if there's a flag in the building, uh, that Mr. Titus, um, is, is brought, can we have it and bring it up front for the photo? I'd be happy to go get it if I knew where it's at. Perfect. Sergeant Major, we'd like to hear a few words when we get there. Yes, sir. Thank you for all you do your service. Thank you, Mr. Jones.

» Um, so ultimately what came from that flag being flown was the thankfulness that we had for Kershaw County. The unit is actually based out of Newberry County, uh, out of Newberry itself, but myself, multiple soldiers appreciate what, how Kershaw County goes ahead and all the people envelop our families. So we can't do, we do overseas without y'all supporting our families and of course our service people. So it was the extreme honor. Initially the flag was gonna be flown in Kuwait, but things happened and we moved to Jordan. So we flew it in Jordan for you, um, for all of Kershaw County.

» The funnier piece about it was, is that your administrate, one of your administrative officers who went ahead and called said, Hey, um, Scott Titus, what do I do with this flag? Um, I'm like, well, I'm pretty sure County Council will know what to do with it. They'll figure out something with it, but I'm over here. And she actually called me while I was in transient from, uh, Saudi Arabia to Jordan at the time. So it was somewhat comical of like, I'm still getting my phone call and go ahead and say, Hey, this is for y'all. So again, for all of County and again, the representatives for County Council, thank you so much for wrapping around our families while we're deployed. And it's more than just Kershaw County.

» Obviously, we have a unit here in Camden itself, the one, the one five one, uh, signal unit different from ours, but we definitely appreciate everything that you do for us, that we're willing to do that. Y'all want to wrap arms around it and for y'all to be able to do what you do now. And for all of the people behind me, they're getting ready to speak for and against different things to go ahead and have that right to do it. Thank you all very much. Thank you, sir. Thank you, Sergeant Major and welcome home. Any other discussion or questions from those who are present? Thank you, Mr. Jones. Yes, sir. Any other discussion? Um, I'll share, uh, just a set of facts I learned last night from one of our mental honor recipients from Kershaw County.

» So South Carolina, speaking to what we just heard, South Carolina, I think is still one of the highest per capita participants in the armed services. Over 40 million Americans have served in the armed services and there's roughly 3,500, um, mental honor recipients. And there's only 65 or so living at a given time like today. And four of those have come from Kershaw County, which is the highest per capita tied in the state with, I think, Spartanburg. And so there's this really deep, uh, military spirit and love here that gets reflected in how people serve and how gallant they are. Mr. Templer, do we have the flag almost here? Chairman, if I may. Yes, sir. Go ahead.

» Um, Sergeant Major Titus, I'd like to thank you for, for what you and, and your unit, uh, has done to protect the United States. We're grateful to have you protecting the United States. And, and it, it really, it really is, is hard to put into words how much we appreciate you because I feel like at times we take for granted the safety and security that we have in the United States. I've been many places, um, not as many as you, but I've been many places in which safety and security aren't even close to what we have here in America. And I just, um, I know that my grandfather served, my father served, and, um, I've got a lot of respect for you and others. And, and we just wanted to thank you so much for, for coming and, and flying the flag and being here tonight with us. Thank you, sir.

» Thank you, Mr. Brassel. Any other comments or discussion from those who are present? Mr. Tucker, anything remotely on this proclamation? Oh, no. All I just wanted to say is thank you to, um, the 117, um, unit for their service and commitment. We appreciate you. Thank you very much, Mr. Tucker. Well, let's move it to a vote. All in favor, raise your hand who are present and voting. It's unanimous for those who are present and voting. Mr. Tucker, how do you vote? Vote yes. Sorry about that. I couldn't give you that earlier. That's a yes. And we'll save the photo op for whenever the, uh, the flag gets in the room, uh, being retrieved from somewhere on, on the premises of the County right now. Thank you very much for being here tonight.

» If you can hang out just a moment longer, we'll do a picture, uh, whenever the flag arrives with that one. So as, as we're waiting, um, as we're waiting to receive the flag, we've got a few minutes. I've offered to read the proclamation. It's a proclamation honoring the headquarters of the 117th engineer brigade task force castle and accepting an American flag flown in honor of Kershaw County. Whereas the brave men and women of headquarters, 117th engineer brigade task force castle were serving with distinction during the 2025, 2026 deployment. They have demonstrated unwavering dedication, profound sacrifice, and exceptional valor in the face of adversity.

» And whereas on July 21st, 2026, amidst the trials and tribulations and strife of active combat during operation epic fury, the members of task force castle proudly raised and flew the American flag over their deployed headquarters. And whereas this sacred act was executed in distinct honor of Kershaw County, South Carolina, forging an unbreakable bond between the citizens at home and the warriors fighting on the front lines, and the American flag flown on that day has been presented to Kershaw County by Scott S Titus, command sergeant major, United States Army.

» Second, CSM of the brigade, and whereas the flying of old glory under hostile conditions stands as a powerful testament to the unyielding will and resolve of the American people to protect those who cannot protect themselves, to remain ever vigilant against oppression, and to bring swift justice to anyone who would bring harm to anyone. Now, therefore, be it proclaimed that the sacrifices, patriotism of the headquarters of the 117th Engineer Brigade Task Force Castle are hereby recognized and profoundly honored. Kershaw County graciously accepts the American flag presented by this brave men and women of headquarters 117th Engineer Brigade Task Force. Their courage under fire serves as an enduring inspiration to Kershaw County, the state of South Carolina, and the United States of America.

» Thank you. Thank you very much. All right, so we're here for the picture. Sir, if you'd be able to come up, please. All right, well, here we go. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Command sergeant major. No, that's how it goes through your flight. That's how it goes through your flight. Thank you very much, gentlemen. That moves us to the next proclamation placed on the agenda by Councilman Tomlinson regarding FFA. Do we have a motion? Yes, Mr. Chairman. I'd like to make a motion. Is there a second? I'll second. We have a second on the proclamation. Mr. Tomlinson, you have the floor. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

» It's my honor to recognize the Willard Technology Center, Kershaw County, Future Farmers of America chapter, and all your accolades and awards that you all got at the state convention and headed towards national. So I'm going to read a little bit of the proclamation and then name out some of the individual awards, and then afterwards we'll have the group come up for a picture. Whereas the Willard Technology Center, Kershaw County, Future Farmers of America chapter provides students throughout Kershaw County with opportunities to develop leadership, personal growth, career readiness, and agricultural skills through hands-on learning and participation in agricultural education.

» Whereas the Kershaw County FFA chapter works in partnership with families, educators, community organizations, agricultural professionals, youth organizations, including 4-H, to provide young people with opportunities to develop practical skills, leadership abilities, citizenship, and an appreciation for agriculture and natural resources. Whereas in 2026, members of the Willard Technology Center, Kershaw County FFA chapter achieved the distinction of becoming state champions in horse judging, demonstrating exceptional knowledge, preparation, teamwork, and skills in one of South Carolina's agricultural career development events.

» The FFA chapter was also recognized in 2026 with the National Chapter Award, Gold Emblem, one of the highest level awards and recognitions available for the National FFA chapter program. Now therefore be it proclaimed that Kershaw County Council hereby recognizes and congratulates the Willard Technology Center FFA chapter of Kershaw County and its student members for the outstanding accomplishments in 2026, including being named South Carolina State Champions in horse judging and receiving the National Chapter Gold Emblem Award. So I would like to individually recognize a few of the students here, and I know that one wasn't able to make it. I can't remember which the name, but I'm going to read off all the awards here.

» And first I'd like to give a round of applause to the FFA advisor and teacher, Audrey Cathcart. So thank you for all you do. It takes a great leader to build future generations, and you're doing a wonderful job. Really appreciate all your leadership, and I know these students really appreciate your hard work. So students, and if I mispronounce anybody's name, I'm really, really sorry. I'm gonna do my best. So Corinne Ran, first place South Carolina FFA horse evaluation team, first high individual in South Carolina FFA horse evaluation. Eric Lopez, first place SC FFA horse evaluation team, Talon Hunt, first in South Carolina FFA upper creed speaking, LDE, Brennan Dinkins, Kershaw County FFA chapter officer president accepting three-star chapter for the national 2026 award.

» Also you have Kayla Kern, vice president, Haley Kern, treasurer, Janiah Hollis-Baskins is the secretary, Kimmy Mitchell, the reporter, Mason Klein, Sentinel. So congratulations to all of you. Job well done. I appreciate y'all leading the charge. Across the state, agriculture is our our main economy. That's the highest grossing economy here in the state. So we appreciate all y'all doing to keep our state rural, protect our farms, and protect our future lands. So thank y'all so much for all you do, and you make Kershaw County proud. Thank you, Mr. Tomlinson. Mr. Cato, you have the second. I just want to thank y'all for coming out tonight. I want to thank Councilman Tomlinson for putting this on the agenda.

» I'm extremely proud to see y'all here because the FFA was a big part of my high school days, and that was a long time ago. But we had things such as soil judging, swine judging, cattle judging. We did it all. And we actually won our district multiple years in a row, and we were very proud of that. But it's nice to see the young people taking part in the agriculture and the conservation of this land. So it means a lot tonight to see young people interested in that kind of stuff today because a lot of young people are only interested in what they can get on their phones or what's coming up next on some type of sports field or something of that nature. So I'm glad to see that y'all taking an initiative for agriculture and conservation. So thank you so much, and congratulations.

» Thank you, Mr. Cato. Any other discussion from those who are present? Mr. Tucker, Mr. Tucker, any discussion remotely? Yes, congratulations, and I vote yes. That's a yes vote from Mr. Tucker remotely. I'll just mention that out of the 3,300 counties that the Department of Agriculture monitors in our country, Kershaw County most recently was number one for profits per capita for farms. And you really don't think about that, but we really swing way above our weight in Kershaw County. So I look forward to you all having a bright future, and thanks for what you're doing. For those who are present and voting, raise your hand if you're in favor. Ms. Hannah, it's unanimous for the record. Everyone has voted in favor, and it is adopted and approved. And do we want to hear from anyone, Mr.

» Tomlinson? He already voted yes. Yeah. Do you want to hear from anyone or do you want to take pictures? Yeah. Audrey, would you like to come up and say every word, then we'll give the picture? Ms. Audrey, yes, ma'am. I just wanted to thank y'all for letting us be here tonight for this opportunity. Obviously, I believe that agriculture education is so important, not in this generation, but every generation, including the future generations. So I'm just super thankful for this opportunity to showcase the kids. You know, a lot of what we do is after school, late at night, in the afternoons, and it's kind of behind the scenes. And so it's very rare for us to kind of get the opportunity to give these kids just a round of applause.

» You know, that's something that we don't see every day when they're practicing for these competitions or when we're on the bus for hours traveling across the state. And so it really does mean a lot to just be recognized. And it's even more special, like coming from our hometown, from our home county. And we're proud to represent Kershaw County when we go up on that stage at Nationals this October. And I want you guys to pay special attention if you're not familiar with FFA, but we have our chapter name on the back. And it's really cool that in our chapter, Kershaw County is in our name. And so we always will keep Kershaw County with us. And as we go to Nationals in Indianapolis, just know that Kershaw County will be on that national stage for everyone to see. And we're very proud of that.

» So thank you for having us. Thank you for believing in the future of agriculture and this emerging virtual world. It's so important to have kids working on those skills and learning those things outside of technology, you know, the things that we can't erase like farming. And so we just really appreciate you guys keeping us a priority and letting us be here tonight. Thank you so much. Absolutely. And we're looking forward to welcoming national champions when y'all get home at the end of October. Important reminder that my granddad who grew up in an agrarian family would always tell us, he said, you can't eat your furniture, you can't eat your car. For us here up on the dais, you can't eat your, your wood trim. You can't eat your legal documents. You can't eat your money. We need farmers.

» Thanks again. Let's give him a hand. If you want to bring your group up. Let me tip the top of that towards me a little bit more. That's it. Thank you. There you go. One, two, three. Keep listening. Congratulations. Y'all take care. For those who were here for the last proclamation, you can feel welcome to stay for the rest of the meeting if you'd like. If not, we'll give you a moment to clear out if you want to move on to whatever you might have going on tonight. Thank you, gentlemen. That moves us to the next item on the agenda, which is item number 6A. With common consent without objection, I would request that we move this to the next agenda for the first meeting in October.

» I just got a message from some of the family, the McKenzie family, that they were not able to make it tonight due to some unforeseen circumstances, and they would like to move it to the first meeting in October. Any objection? None. Okay. Ms. Hannah, if you'd note that and put it on the first meeting in October. Mr. DeBose, next up, we have public comments. No objection from Mr. Tucker. Thank you. Mr. DeBose. First speaker is Lawrence Lamb Arnold. Let me get how many do we have signed up? Oh, sorry. My apologies. No worries. Six speakers for public comments. Six speakers, and the first one was who again? Lawrence Lamb Arnold. The subject is animal shelter and animal services. Ms. Arnold. Yes, ma'am.

» I'll just let you know before you start, this is the time for council to hear from the public. They'll put up a time indicator right there in front of you, and it's not a question and an answer. We look forward to hearing from you. Thank you. Good evening. I'm here about the status and the lack of animal services in Kershaw County. It does deserve serious attention, and it requires the county to take a little more active role in protecting both animals and the people that live here. We are approximately about 75,000 citizens and growing. The South Carolina Animal Welfare Alliance, myself and others, request two things immediately, an improvement of adequate shelter and care requirements for pets, and a clear definition of humane tethering. Rabies is 100% lethal.

» The prevention of rabies is managed with the reduction of pet overpopulation, as well as vaccination programs and enforcement. The best method for reducing pet overpopulation is spay and neuter. It's simple math. Dogs and cats reproduce at a 5 to 15 rate. Just in the past few years, five South Carolinians have been killed by dogs. Regulations on breeding and spaying and neuter programs can likely reduce this horrific outcome. Kershaw County currently does not have a county-operated animal shelter. You have a contract relationship with a 501c3, the Kershaw County Humane Society. That takes in your animal control animals. The shelter does an amazing job every day for the animals it receives, considering it operates at over triple capacity. It's built to house 80 dogs.

» It receives over 250 a month and 100 cats. I travel doing volunteer work to many different shelters around the state, and I do love visiting all these brand new, state-of-the-art facilities that many of our neighboring counties have. Darlington, Lee, Lancaster, Spartanburg, and Chester, just to name a few. Most of these facilities have spay, neuter, vaccine, microchip, and more programs for their citizens and pets. Unfortunately, Kershaw County essentially has nothing. I drove an hour last week to get my rabies from Chester because it cost me $10. I've gotten several cats T&R'd in Lancaster because I get them for free. I drive to Columbia or Monroe for my spay and neuters. Our animal control officers have no authority to enforce rabies, vaccines, or animal abuse violations.

» They should not be placed in difficult situations without the resources and authority to do their jobs. They and the shelter workers can come in contact with rabid animals, and they are not offered the preventative vaccinations they need for their protection so they can protect the public. So I'm asking the council to consider a comprehensive plan for the animal services in Kershaw County because by comparison to other counties, we are seriously failing. We need meaningful support for the existing shelter with consideration of expanding the current shelter's facilities and capabilities. We need a long-term commitment. We are a fast-growing county as you know and with that the animal populations dramatically increase as they have been.

» Consider not what we need now today but what we need 5, 10, and 20 years from now. So please take the the opportunity to build and support an animal services system that can benefit Kershaw County with of course public safety at the forefront. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for coming out tonight Ms. Arnold. Mr. DuBose, who do we have signed up next? Next speaker is Thomas Curley, height variance slash zoning. Mr. Curley, yes sir. Spartanburg county approved a data center and just after that approval went went through, residents discovered that the data center was estimated to use more than twice the amount of water originally estimated. Right now, Bethune Energy is not known to eventually transition to powering a data center.

» But that does not mean that Spartanburg county story is not our own. The story is of telling we the people all the good stuff and either fudging or outright lying about the bad stuff. We know, however, if only by Freudian slips and FOIAs. Furthermore, despite the zoning committee's non-recommendation concerning the height variance, you all are still considering it. What is going on? If this is amended, then it's a classic flaw of government getting what they want at the costs of the lands and people living on RD2. If you change a zoning requirement in order to fit what you want in, what is the point of zoning? I thank those council members who have voted in line with their constituency thus far. It is seen and greatly appreciated.

» If you are not one of those council members, we see you as well. If the Spartanburg county debacle does not trouble you, and you continue to say yes to a developer from Virginia and refuse to ask him the tough questions and require answers and transparency, well, we the people see that too. The fact of the matter is that we the people want to trust our representatives, especially when challenged by the ambition of private industry. Spartanburg lost. I respectfully ask you to remember who you're supposed to represent. Thank you. Thank you for coming out tonight, Mr. Curley. Mr. DuBose, who do we have signed up next? Tina Robinson, who looks like a problem on Race Street. Ms. Robinson, yes ma'am. If you would pull the mic down just a little bit.

» I have pictures, if y'all want to see them, of our road. And I have the original pictures from the 70s. I have a picture where a fence was put up, the drain coming across the road was closed off, and all the water ran to one side. They dug the ditches deeper so they could somewhat fix it. And I live at the end of the road, and I have pictures, and I have videos showing anybody and everybody turns around in our yard. We just had a new driveway put in today, so it kind of helped a little bit. But it's not going to stop the scraper that only scrapes one area. He don't come all the way down. He comes down, but he runs over to Humps to back up. We have a truck. I think I talked to him. He come out. And I showed him the video. We have a manhole that is wopsided, grass is rolling all around it.

» And we pay taxes for our property. And the scraper, the big trucks that come out and get people's trash cans, they're just running all over our yard. We had one truck, a regular-sized truck, that was pulling a trailer with trash cans. He pulls all the way into our yard to turn around. And it's a mess. And there's a picture on there that you can see when my grandmother lived there. You can see the ditch that went beside her house where the train come through. Well, there's a new one on there where the fence was put up, but it shows the property is on the inside of that fence. So the fence took away the circle. It used to be a circle that people could actually drive through. I have videos of it where people could drive around the circle. Well, you can't do that no more. My aunt passed away.

» Christmas would be three years, Christmas night. It was raining. The ambulance had to come and do a three-point turn. And I'm not complaining about the damage they did to my yard because it's an emergency vehicle. So, but they have no way to turn around. And the people that do come down for whatever reason is just pulling into our yard, destroying it. And as us being taxpayers, we shouldn't have to put up with that. And the man that was allowed to put the fence up and get rid of the easement, he has a relative with this community, and he has a friend. And they allowed him to do it. So that took away the circle. And they dug the other side of the road up to make the ditches wider and steeper. I bought the house from my daddy. It's the last thing he wanted me to do before he passed away.

» Because the house I was living at, he couldn't even get under it. So we bought the house from my daddy. Back in the day, the road had a very bad name. They said there was crackheads. There were never crackheads. A couple of my uncles were alcoholics. I'll admit that. But they were good people, down-to-earth people. They wouldn't do anything for anybody. But they always had a bad rap. So nobody cared about this road. But when I moved here, and I'm looking at it, and I see the way it is now, the way it's supposed to be, it makes me angry. And this is a whole new generation living down here now. It's not the generation back in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. My daddy bought this land from Mr. Ray. He bought it in 1970s, Mr. Ray did. My daddy bought it from Mr.

» Ray in 1990s because my mama had passed away shortly before that. And he bought it to build a house there to take care of his mama that lived on the property where the ditch ran by, where the fence is now closed at all. But you can see the pictures. I have them side by side. One where you can see my grandma's house with the ditch right here. And one that shows the property line cut like that, where that fence is closed at all. So now there's no circle. I have a video on my phone also where a few months ago, an amulet had to come down to the road to get a lady that was towards the end of the road. The amulets literally backed out onto McCray Road to get out. The night my aunt passed away and the amulets come. It was raining. They didn't know the road.

» They pull in and then they backed in the eye driveway. I'm not complaining about them backing in the eye driveway and that's in the yard up because that was the murder situation. But it's a law that emergency vehicles have to have a safe way to turn around. But with the fence there, it took that part of the circle away. Ms. Robinson, Ms. Robinson, I'll just let you know your time has expired. Would you be able to conclude your remarks, please? That's it. Is that it? Okay. The videos and the pictures, they might have videos. And they'll make sure that these get returned to you. I'm sure some council members might want to see that, but it's not appropriate for right now. Yeah, I would love to see it. Thank you for coming out tonight. Mr. DuBose, do we have a contact number, Ms.

» Robinson? We do. Okay. Thanks for coming out tonight. Mr. DuBose, who do we have signed up next? Amy McCaskill, Project Malice. Ms. McCaskill. This is about the noise aspect. Decibel, or dB, is the unit used to measure sound intensity or absolute sound pressure level. The A weighting in the acronym DBA is an adjustment filter applied to the decibel measurement that mimics how the human ear actually perceives loudness. In a Freedom of Information Act request, Kershaw County submitted this month a document called Noise Contours, a color-coded graphic from Beaufort Rosemary featuring the proposed power plant site. The bull's eye in the graphic was the power plant. The sound level, if you were at the plant, would register 60 DBA.

» The sound, if you were at the outermost colored ring, would be 30 DBA. The graphic covered a mile and a quarter radius from the site. The graphic misrepresents the current location of the proposed power plant. According to testimony about the latest location of the structure by Beaufort Rosemary at the Kershaw County Planning Commission meeting on September 24, 2026, Beaufort Rosemary must update the noise contours graphic and make public that information and provide it when the developer presents other critical missing data that Kershaw County has requested.

» When questioned about the lacking responses submitted thus far, the Beaufort Rosemary representative referred to a report that he had received the day before, too late for the presentation, and another he received en route to Camden last week. He said the data would be reflected on their web page. The only new information on their web page is titled visual impact analysis finds limited visibility from nearby homes and roads. Once corrected, the noise graphic will show that Timrod Road, as it comes out of the town of Bethune, and Timrod Road north of the Boise Cascade and Timrod Road intersection and its environs, will also suffer from noise pollution in addition to that experience by the properties adjacent to the plant.

» According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, in a 500 megawatt power plant, the typical noise range of the main turbine room and generator hall is 85 to 102 dBA. The Beaufort Rosemary diagram has that number at 60 dBA. Kershaw County should demand this data for Bethune. And in the Freedom of Information Act response from Kershaw County regarding this project, in an August 29th email from the Kershaw County Economic Development Director to the Planning and Zoning Department, introducing the project, he said, quote, as a side note, I wonder if the data center group would be interested in this as well, unquote.

» So the question is, who's the data center group? And is anyone in here a member of the data center data center group or any council employee, county employee? There hasn't been any report from a data center group in light of everything that's happening with data centers. Thank you. Thanks for coming out tonight, Ms. McCaskill. Mr. DuBose, who do we have signed up as number five? Lance Lee, flock cameras. Yes, sir. Mr. Lee. I'm here to address a silent but aggressive expansion of government power taking place on our public streets. The widespread deployment of flock safety automated license plate readers, 40 in Kershaw County alone.

» Under the banner of public safety, our local government has handed a private company the keys to track, log, and analyze the daily movements of every single citizen in this community, which data a normal citizen cannot attain. I stand here to say clearly, this is not targeted crime fighting. This is dragnet mass surveillance. It is a direct violation of our constitutional rights. Let's be precise about what these cameras actually do. They do not just photograph license plates. They use artificial intelligence to scan and log the make, model, color, and unique features of your vehicle down to your roof racks and bumper stickers.

» Every time you drive your children to school, go to a medical appointment, attend a political rally, or visit a house of worship, a permanent digital breadcrumb is left behind. Lock operates more than 120,000 of these cameras nationwide, forming an interlocking database that captures around 70 percent of the population. There is no opt-out button like your telephone. You can't just cut it off. You drive a car in the city, your life patterns are being mapped, stored, and made searchable to thousands of law enforcement agencies and even private homeowners associations without your consent. Hence the reason that they want to put data centers in. This brings us to the core of the issue, the United States Constitution.

» The Fourth Amendment is explicitly designed to protect us from unreasonable searches and seizures. It demands a warrant based on probable cause. It requires the government to specify the exact time and place they need to investigate. By installing a system that monitors everyone all the time, the government has essentially issued a permanent de facto general warrant against its own people. The U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled in landmark cases, like United States v. Jones and Carpenter v. United States, that the government cannot track a citizen's movements over time using GPS or cell phone data without a warrant. The aggregation of thousands of flock images creates that exact same invasive long-term map of our private lives.

» Just because we are on a public road does not mean we forfeit our right to be free from continuous automated tracking. We are told to trust the system, but history and recent events prove that we cannot. Across the country, we have seen alarming instances of police officers misusing this data to stalk ex-partners, romantic interests, and private citizens. To make matters worse, tech companies have streamlined these systems to replace written search justifications with meaningless one-click-down menus, meaning they can put in, I don't know, and find out about somebody. Research it. Furthermore, these systems are deeply flawed.

» Independent analyses have shown error rates where license plates are misread a staggering amount of the time, leading to high-risk, mistaken police stops of completely innocent drivers. We are sacrificing our fundamental privacy for an unaccountable algorithm. As a rural Missouri sheriff recently stated, when his department pulled the plug on these cameras, no piece of technology is more important than the trust of the people that we serve. Communities from Arizona to North Carolina, most recently Oconee County, are actively fighting back and canceling these contracts because they recognize that a free society cannot exist under a dome of constant surveillance. Safety is achieved through the total elimination of privacy is not safety. It is control.

» I urge this body to uphold its oath to the Constitution, protect the privacy of your citizens who elected you, and terminate our contract with flock safety. Thanks for coming out tonight, Mr. Lee. Mr. DuBose, who is Speaker number six? Linda Franklin Moore, height exemption. Yes, ma'am, Ms. Franklin Moore. Good evening. Again, from the record, my name is Linda Franklin Moore, and I reside in Camden. I attended the last Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, and I would like to provide counsel with a report on this meeting in case you were not able to attend, which you weren't, or view the meeting online. Beaufort Rosemary first approached counsel regarding these height exemptions, trying to sidestep Planning and Zoning.

» The agenda for the Planning and Zoning meeting, the most recent one, stated that Dylan Casey was representing various property owners. While we appreciate Mr. Casey had business accomplishments in high school and managed restaurants until going into the family business in 2018, I did not see where Mr. Casey is an attorney, thus not being able to represent anyone. One of the property owners is deceased, and the probate case is still open. During his presentation, Mr. Casey told Planning and Zoning that in some of the studies that they have conducted at other data centers that the property values of the nearby residents did not go down. Yeah, I had a hard time believing that one.

» The Planning and Zoning Commission went into executive session, and upon returning into open session, they announced that the presentation slides were not what the commission received in their packets. That was disturbing, and there was never a satisfactory explanation regarding the two different scenarios. There is also a battery storage facility on site, which was not disclosed to the public. Do we have battery storage regulations? Not sure. There was also talk of a retention pond for water waste. It was revealed that the power plant would consume 150,000 gallons of water per day. There was no discussion of environmental safeguards for this retention pond. I think the gold mine in Ridgeway has some experience in these retention ponds and might be able to shed some light on that.

» I'm sure Council is aware of the ping pong ball match between the Public Service Commission and the Office of Regulatory Staff regarding who has jurisdiction over private energy projects. Last month, the Public Service Commission ruled these energy projects are exempt from the Utility Siting Act. They also declare that they do not have jurisdiction over these power plants because they are private entities, and the Office of Regulatory Staff said, well, it's the Public Service Commission, and so back and forth it went. This means just passing some zoning regulations do not go far enough for the citizens of Kershaw County. While we appreciate you having some type of regulations on these energy projects, it needs to go beyond that.

» Studies should be conducted by the county and paid for by Beaufort Rosemary so we can be assured the studies are accurate and not slanted by the people that Beaufort Rosemary hires. So the traffic studies, the noise studies, the environmental studies, these should be as unbiased as possible. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Franklin Moore. Mr. DeBose, does that conclude public comment? That concludes public comment, no votes required. That moves us on to public hearings. This is item number 8A, no votes required. Do we have anybody signed up for item number 8A? This is a public hearing regarding moratorium on data centers, data processing facilities, cryptocurrency mining operations, data processing facilities, and the like is listed in the agenda.

» Yes, one speaker, Linda Knatzer, obviously speaking on this temporary moratorium. We have one speaker signed up. We'll open up the public hearing. Ms. Knatzer. Yes, ma'am, the time is yours. I think some people might be writing your name down or making notes otherwise, but we'd love to hear from you. Okay, we're going to. Chairman Connell, Council Members, this is not AI generated. Whatever happened to common sense? The knowledge obtained from reliable sources that enable us to use sound judgment in making good decisions. I think through time, many people have allowed AI technology to do their thinking for them.

» Does that not make us wonder how our founding fathers ever wrote the Declaration of Independence ever wrote the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, Bill of Rights, or how Abraham Lincoln composed the Gettysburg Address without AI? It is human intelligence and ingenuity that bring us great achievements. AI technology cannot. There are many advantages that AI technology can provide as long as we can safely develop it and not let it become a monster that we create and then cannot control. Please use your common sense to put in place the temporary moratorium on data centers and other technology until we can regulate and control them. Thank you, Ms. Knatzer. Mr. DuBose, is that, am I correct, we have no one else signed up? Correct.

» That will conclude public comment, or excuse me, public hearing for item number 8A. And that moves us to item number 9A, approval of the minutes. Do we have a motion on the minutes? Mr. Chair, I'll make a motion we're approved. Mr. Thompson has the motion. Is there a second on the minutes? I'll second. We have a second on the minutes. Any discussion on the minutes? Seeing no discussion from those who are present. Mr. Tucker, any discussion remotely? No, sir, and I vote yes. That's a yes vote on the minutes remotely from Mr. Tucker. All those who are present and voting, raise your hand if you're in favor on the minutes. It is unanimous, Ms. Hannah. All have voted in favor. The minutes are approved.

» Gentlemen, we next have a series of ordinances that we'll get into, and that will be the bulk of the business for tonight. No executive sessions or other business to handle. Let's get to the first one. Item number 10A is a first reading related to an ordinance to amend the Kershaw County ZLDR, Section 3, 3.18, to impose performance standards for energy infrastructure projects. Is there a motion on first reading? I make a motion we adopt this ordinance on first reading. Mr. Shoemake has a motion. Is there a second? Mr. Chairman, I second. Mr. Tomlinson has the second. Mr. Shoemake, you have the floor.

» Yeah, so basically what this is, if you look at the actual revisions, it's a very small revision to what is already our noise ordinance and fire and various things for manufacturing facilities. And what this does is it expands that ordinance to energy infrastructure projects. So obviously, there's been a lot of talk about the Rosemary plant, if it were to exist, or any plant like it in the future. Right now, our ordinances are silent on the noise and vibration and fire issues. So this basically takes what we already require for manufacturing facilities and it applies it to those energy projects.

» I know not everyone on the dais is necessarily in favor of the beautiful Rosemary project, but what this does, even for those of you who are not in favor, is holds them to the same standards manufacturing facility vis-a-vis noise and some other. That's the short of it. Thank you, Mr. Shoemake. Mr. Tomlinson, you have the second? Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chairman. I'll be brief on it. I think this is a good ordinance to include and appreciate staff and Mr. Shoemake helping with this draft and any industry coming in needs to be regulated and that way it can be beneficial for both the industry and adjacent property owners going forward. Thank you. Mr. Shoemake, anyone else have anything to say before we hear from Mr. Shoemake again? Mr. Cato? I agree with Mr.

» Shoemake on the fact that these help enhance this ordinance that puts the energy plant, although I'm not in favor of Buford Rosemary, I do think that we need to take a look and put them under the same standard as any other industry in Kershaw County. Hopefully something may happen to where it gets even stricter than this, but I'm in favor of it on first reading until I hear something different or see something different. I believe this is a, I guess we could call it a positive step forward. Thank you, Mr. Cato. Mr. Jones? Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of County Council. Just a couple of questions. One, I wish we weren't even having to address this, but we are and here we are.

» Can you tell me how are we going to manage the noise? How are we going to enforce it? What are the standards? What are the regulations? Well, I think if I may answer that question, Mr. Chairman. Please. You know, it's how we, I mean, we have noise enforcement through code enforcement now. It would be enforced in the same way manufacturing affordances are enforced and the standards are the same. I can't recite them to you off the top of my head, but they are in the packet, but basically they would be the exact same standards we impose on all our other manufacturing and the compliance mechanism would be the same through code enforcement the way it's done now. I assume code enforcement. I guess it's just law enforcement.

» Does anyone want to go before I tell you? But I think code enforcement is going to, I've never known code enforcement to enforce noise or something like that at manufacturing companies. And of course, obviously we don't have anything here for this, but I would think there would need to be a, there would need to be a little bit more advanced way of enforcing this. And I, and you know, I know this is nobody's intention, but it's so easy to sit up here and put an ordinance on the books. But then I think we need to have a, we need to show how we're going to enforce it. And I'm not sure that, uh, saying that we're just going to put our code enforcement out there. You know, I just don't, I just don't know how well that would work. I'm concerned about that.

» I see we got this on the books and I like what it says, but I'm just afraid that it just really doesn't have any teeth in it. Or if somebody can correct me on how it does, I would certainly appreciate it. And this is, I say this with all due respect to each of my members. Mr. Chairman, if I may, Mr. Jones, you concluded? Yes. Thank you for now. Mr. Brasley. Yes, sir. Councilman Jones, uh, to, to help further address it and to add to what Councilman Shoemate said. I think my industry is probably one of the loudest in the county. I don't know. Manufacturing wood products, we're running a sawmill, which I don't, but we do manufacture wood products and wood moldings. The decibel rates extraordinarily high, 120, 130, maybe we all have to wear ear protection.

» I think the decibel rates are lower, but the difference is my equipment is inside of a building and the equipment is inside of a sound enclosure at times. Um, I would certainly want to, you're also, you're also inside of an industrial park. Exactly. This place is not. Exactly. Um, so I think to, this was brought up by a few members, um, of planning and zoning. Um, one, one I know of which is deeply rooted in the community of Bethune and that he wanted to make sure that, that all necessary steps were taken to if this was indeed coming to help protect the community standards.

» And I would think, um, not to disagree with Councilman Shoemate to, but maybe to add to, um, some of what he had forementioned that it would be, uh, particularly important that zoning buffers and different things to obstruct the noise would be in place. I would like to defer to our legal counsel and find out if that is in fact, um, one of the zoning rules and regulations that's in our ZLDR or could be for manufacturing operations that would, it, at which this would be equally a standard measure. Yeah. There are existing, um, setbacks within the zoning ordinance for various, um, zoning districts. Some, um, projects have conditional, uh, buffers and setbacks that are required.

» Um, the project ballast, you propose Rosemary projects, um, gone through and set forth their buffers and setbacks on their plans that were before planning commission. But, um, this would go back to planning commission. This particular, uh, text amendment, if passed by all first reading, we'll go back to planning commission for their review study and, um, even possible further, um, tinkering to address concerns that might exist with manufacturing facilities, but, um, also overlap energy infrastructure projects. So, um, um, it's a long answer to say that, um, this would, this would is council's oyster and planning commission's oyster as far as, um, how they might want to address some of these concerns.

» So whether, whether you like the project or dislike the project, I think this is planning and zoning an opportunity to better, um, protect the community. And, and for those reasons, I'm for this ordinance. You know, I would like, Mr. Chairman, I would like to see and go back to planning and zoning and for them to not only put this, and this is written, I like the way this is written. I really do like this, but I just would like to see some teeth into it as of what we do, whether it'd be like what the interstate does, putting those, those noise barriers up. I'd like to see some kind of direction because if we don't do that on this council, it's not going to happen. Mr.

» Jones, um, certainly if it does pass first reading, there'll be an opportunity to amend or otherwise edit on second and third reading. So to the extent you want to bring something in the form of a motion, I'm sure the council will be glad to entertain it. Um, but before we hear from anyone else present, let's check with Mr. Tucker remotely. He hasn't had an opportunity to speak yet. Mr. Tucker, do you have any commentary, questions, concerns on item number 10, a first reading? I just want to say, uh, thank staff and Derek for, um, for looking into this and bringing this up. And that, um, I do agree that any changes or any, um, further, um, I guess, uh, enforcement can be looked at on second and third reading. Let's not hold up the process if possible, please. Yes, sir.

» Are you prepared to state your vote at this time? Uh, you vote yes. I'm so sorry. That's okay. That's, uh, so item on 10 a, we have a yes, remote vote from Mr. Tucker. Any other discussion or comments from those who are present before we vote? Does anybody, does staff or anybody have any recommendations on enforcement tonight or? Well, if you're taking a question to the staff, Mr. Templer? Yeah. Sure. Um, you know, I think code enforcement is interchangeably used where some might think we would send animal control out to an industry for a complaint. It's not the case. Code in this case would be through planning and zoning.

» And if a complaint was lodged, and we get this often, um, the very nuanced, very delicate, uh, issues, um, they range from everything from stormwater issues to, uh, you know, chemicals being dumped into our, our treatment facility, uh, for sewer. Um, but they're handled there. They include meetings with the, the industry in question and the appropriate staff. So, um, should this come in, in, in pass, you know, I feel confident in staff's ability to go out with the appropriate talent to, to go and approach these industries or whichever offending industry may be in question, better understand and work on a solution. So it's been done many times in the past on kind of vast array of, of issues. Um, so that would be the approach if this came across my desk that I would use.

» Any other questions, Mr. Jones? If I could. Yes, sir. You know, I'm, I'm willing to support this on first reading if, uh, administrator staff can bring back some kind of written enforcement, something that would kind of give us some direction on how it's going to be enforced. I, I think that would, it, I can come up with a very boilerplate piece and, you know, um, there's just a lot of variables in what would be the issue. It's almost like predicting the future, but a boilerplate would be pretty possible, um, come up and say just a base approach and how we would go, um, you know, standard operating procedure to how we initially. Yeah, and I guess we probably need to know exactly what kind of noise it would be making. We don't know yet, and I understand that.

» But, um, if we could maybe just do some research and see if anybody else maybe has done something before us that we maybe can pick up on and have, I won't look folks, I won't regulations on this, this plant noise regulations. I just want to make sure that, uh, we, there's some direction and that I feel comfortable something's going to be done. And not that we would do this, but that it would just sit on a shelf somewhere and never go anywhere else. Yes, sir. But I, but I would, I appreciate if you would take the opportunity to just do some research and see what you can come up with. And, and sir, I'd be glad to talk with you before the meeting or during the meeting, whatever. I would like to see something pass, but I just like to see a little bit more depth into what we have here.

» Thank you, Mr. Jones. Yeah. Mr. Tucker. Yeah. I hate to jump back in, but I just want to make this statement. Uh, thank you, Mr. Jones for being understanding. And, and I totally agree with you on the, uh, more enforceable, um, part there. So I appreciate your, um, your support and, um, your request is supported by me as well. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Tucker. I think we're ready to move it to a vote. Um, we already have a yes remote vote from Mr. Tucker. All who are present and voting, raise your hand if you're in favor on item number 10 B, excuse me, 10, a 10, a, and it is unanimous. All who are present and voting this and are in favor 10 a passes that takes us to item number 10 B. This is a second reading efforts come back.

» Um, this is an ordinance to amend the Kershaw County Z LDR regarding section three, 2.6 exceptions to height limitations and listing additional related structures. First readings are even occurred has indicated in the packet. Do we have a motion? I make a motion. We adopt it. Mr. Shoemake has a motion. Is there a second? I'll second. Mr. Thompson has a second. Mr. Shoemake, you have the floor. I mean, we talked a lot about this a lot of first readings. I think I've, I've said what I need to say. Thank you, Mr. Shoemake. Mr. Thompson, you have the second? Um, yeah, I just have, I have one question. I was looking, um, kind of at the amendment.

» Is the, the one foot setback for each one foot in height, uh, the standard that we use with, with all industries here for setbacks? So the existing one-to-one foot setback, um, in the code is for communication towers and antenna and water tanks, um, specifically within the laundry list of, of items listed as, as exceptions. Um, other exceptions are monuments, chimneys, conveyors, flagpoles. They don't have that one-to-one. Um, given the fact that, um, structures associated with energy projects are, are tall very often. Um, staff and legal believe, and again, it's a policy call for county council that one-to-foot one fall zone, um, would be appropriate on a potentially tall structure. Yeah. Um, they're very similar to the concerns one would have with a water tower and, um, antenna.

» So if we had a hundred foot tower and we're looking at 30 yards from somebody's property line, that's going to be a hundred foot? Yeah, we're looking, yes, correct. It's, it's a, it's a one-to-one from the nearest property line. Um, I don't, I don't know if council has the appetite, but I, I wouldn't mind looking at two foot for every one foot in height. I mean, that doesn't kind of change a whole lot, but at least instead of having a 30 yard setback from a hundred foot, I mean, or 200 foot, you could have, you know, at least a little bit more than a football field, um, back. Mr. Thompson. Oh, sorry. Were you, were you good? Yeah. Okay. I was just going to say, we've got a couple of different ideas for amendments and additional regulations and restrictions.

» Um, I personally am not ready to support an amendment tonight because I've got more questions based on some conversations with planning commission folks and staff. Um, but I think we'll see one come up for third ring. That's just me personally. I've got some questions I need answered before I can support an amendment tonight, but it might actually be more restrictive than some of the ideas that have been put before us. Absolutely. I'd like to, um, kind of look at that, um, step back and maybe look at some other, other industry for power plants, um, across the state and kind of get an idea about what, what they're doing. So that'd be good for third reading. Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Uh, Mr. Kato.

» Of course, everybody knows my feelings on the, on the power plant in general, so there's no need to go there, but there is some issues here that, that I want to bring out first. Um, it's my understanding that this is not a recommendation, a positive recommendation for planning and zoning. It's my understanding that planning and zoning is, has an unfavorable, um, vote coming to the council. You know, I, as I look over this tonight, the general zoning provisions and the height limitations, it talks about, in the addition to this, it says, or structures and apparatuses associated with energy infrastructure projects. And it talks about, um, different kinds of stuff. So it's, it's not, let's not get this wrong. It's not just about stack height.

» It could be anything associated with this plant or any other plant in Cershaw County. I don't like the fact that in the past, um, these companies have come to planning and zoning and the council with variance, um, applications, meaning that it's forced, they come with a specific, um, request on their specific plant. This is broadening out to where any company can come to Cershaw County and they will have these, these regulations set forth. So it bothers me that it's across the board and it, you know, this, this plant has ultimately the phyllo and stuff has been approved and I get that, but I, I'm not in favor of this. And I wish that it would go back to the, to the variance way of doing things per project and not across the board. Thank you, Mr. Cato.

» Any other discussion from those who are present? Seeing none, Mr. Tucker, any discussion on item number 10 B? Second reading on an ordinance? Uh, no discussion. I vote yes. Yes. Vote remotely from Mr. Tucker. Seeing no further discussion from those who are present on item number 10 B. We'll move it to a vote for those who are present and voting all in favor. Raise your hand. That is Shoemake, Connell and Tomlinson in favor. All opposed on item number 10 B. Brazel, Cato and Jones opposed. 10 B passes on second reading. And that moves us on to item number 10 C. This is a second reading related to an ordinance to amend the ZLDR creating a zoning overlay district for a RMPD or residential master planned district. We've had first reading as indicated in the packet.

» Do we have a motion on second reading for 10 C? Mr. Chair, I'd like to make a motion. It's not specifically to adopt, but, um, I basically would move to amend that we remove this item from the agenda. Um, and basically, uh, it, I moved it, we removed it from the agenda and did not appear before us until it's reviewed and considered as part of the holistic ZLDR rewrite. That would be my motion. Second. All right, we've got a motion and a second. Um, Mr. Brazel, this was originally one of yours. Any, any heartburn about that or? No, I don't, I don't think there's, um, as this is written, I think this, um, changes some of the density that, uh, Councilman Shoemate and I had, um, worked on a few years ago.

» And, and I think we don't, as, as, as a, as a, as a couple of council members have, have any particular, um, problem with the, the residential master plan district, but we'd like to shape it a little further. And I think that's what, um, what he would like to do tonight. And I have no, no issue with that at all. Thank you. Okay. Um, the motion was in the form of amending the agenda, amending the agenda to add something requires supermajority and amending to remove something, uh, does not require that additional restriction. And the motion is a little bit different. Uh, Mr.

» DeBose in the form of, we're essentially deferring until it gets reviewed and a council member would just have to proactively place it back on the agenda at some point in the future, if they so desired, correct? Correct. Um, as I understand the, the motion, and I think you're correct. Um, the spirit of the motions really an indefinite deferral until the ZLDR rewrite comes back to you, but of course, nothing would bar any council member from, um, resurrecting a matter and placing it on the agenda in compliance with y'all's rules. Okay. That's how I'm receiving the motion. Uh, any other discussion from those who are present? Seeing none, Mr. Tucker, any discussion remotely? And how do you vote? Uh, no discussion. I vote yes. Yes. Vote remotely for Mr. Tucker.

» Seeing no further discussion from those who are present, we'll move item number, uh, 10 C to a vote. And this is for, uh, indefinite deferral. All in favor, raise your hand. It's unanimous. Ms. Hanna is so deferred. That's item number 10 C. That takes us to item number, um, 10 D. This is an ordinance approving a private hangar contract at the Kershaw County airport, establishing the contract rate and related terms and authorizing execution of the contract and all actions necessary to effectuate it. We've had first and second reading. This is third reading. Do we have a motion on 10 D? Mr. Chair, I make a motion we approve. Mr. Thomason has the motion. Is there a second on 10 D? I'll second. Second. We have a, we have two seconds. Um, I heard Mr. Shoemake first. I'll defer you. Okay. Okay.

» Mr. Shoemake has, um, second. Uh, Mr. Thomason, you have the floor. Yeah. Uh, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, with this being third reading, um, uh, we've had a lot of discussion regarding, regarding the disordination. So, um, unless staff has anything to, uh, to input, I say ready, call the vote. Okay. Uh, any other discussion from those who are present? I agree. This is Councilman Thomason. Okay. Seeing no other discussion, Mr. Tucker, any discussion remotely and how do you vote? Um, no discussion all as well. Uh, vote yes. That's a yes vote remotely from Mr. Tucker. Let's move it to those who are present and voting all in favor. Raise your hand. And it's unanimous Ms. Hannah. It is approved on third reading. That is 10 D private hanger contract. Thank you, gentlemen.

» That moves us to item number 10 E. This is another third reading of an ordinance establishing a moratorium, uh, for which we had the public hearing tonight, uh, moratorium related to data centers, data, data processing facilities, cryptocurrency, mining operations, um, and matters related there to data processing facilities. We've had first and second reading. We've had public hearing. Do we have a motion on third reading for 10 E? I make a motion. We move forward. We have a motion and we have a second. Any further discussion? Third. Unfortunately, we don't entertain thirds. Um, any discussion from those who have first or second? Who was second? Um, Mr. Thomason was second. Mr. Cato was first. I think this is a much needed ordinance.

» We've had a lot of discussion, discussion, and we've heard a lot of comments from the public. And, uh, I believe this is something that's desperately needed for right now. And, um, gotta give us a year to look into things and see where we need to go from there. Thank you, Mr. Cato. Mr. Thomason? No discussion. Mr. Chairman, ready to vote. For those who are present, any other discussion? It's just right. Just a comment. I would like to thank Mrs. Linda, Mrs. Linda Franklin Moore, or, uh, I know she contacted me and I'm sure she probably contacted some of you as well too. And, uh, but bottom line is, um, get this thing kicked off when we did a few weeks back. I think this is good. I think it's great to have this oversight and then I appreciate council's support on this. Thank you.

» Thank you, Mr. Jones. Any further discussion for those who are present? Seeing none. Mr. Tucker, any discussion remotely and how do you vote? No discussion. I vote yes. That's a yes vote remotely from Mr. Tucker. For those who are present and voting, raise your hand if you're in favor on third reading. It is unanimous, Ms. Handa, for the record. And the ordinance, uh, 10E has passed on third reading. That brings us to item number 10F. Another third reading that we have.

» This one's related to an amendment on the ZLDR to add section 34.2-19 related to directional signs for hospitals and medical facilities and to amend section 34.5-1 prohibiting certain signs, uh, and sign characters and section 34.11-2 related to off-premise advertising for exempt directional signs for hospitals and medical facilities. Do we have a motion on third reading for 10F? I'll make that motion. Mr. Shoemake has the motion. Is there a second? Second. Mr. Brazel has the second. Mr. Shoemake, any discussion on third reading? No, we've went through this a few times. I think we've explained it pretty well. Mr. Brazel. Agreed. Any other discussion for those who are present? Seeing none. Mr. Tucker, any discussion on line number 10F, third reading? No discussion, Mr. Chair, I vote yes.

» Yes, vote remotely from Mr. Tucker. We'll move it, uh, to those who are present and voting. All in favor on 10F, third reading, raise your hand. And it is unanimous as Hannah and 10F passes on third reading. We have just a couple more third readings, uh, to handle. Item number 10G is next up on the agenda. This is related to, in order to amend the ZLDR section 342.2-19 and to amend section 52.2 to clarify subdivisions of land. Under exempt subdivision conditions, it's related to larger common plans and, uh, matters as defined by the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services and general permits for stormwater discharges from construction activities. Do we have a motion on third reading? I'll make the motion. Mr. Brazel has the motion. Is there a second? Second. Mr.

» Thomason has a second. Mr. Brazel. Hey, so this ordinance, um, it's particularly interesting to me because I see the good in it. Um, I wanted to discuss a few things that, um, uh, a member of, uh, the Department of Environmental Services, myself, John DeBose, and our administrator, Mr. Templar, um, discussed. I wanted just to be able to discuss it in open forum and so that everybody kind of understands, um, what the take is on this. And I'd like to relinquish some of my time to Danny so that he could speak to the meeting that's upcoming. Um, um, we had it at one point actually said, Hey, this plat is referring you to DES and call this number. And upon review with Mr. Boz and, um, Mr.

» Vaughn from DES, we thought it better to have a manual with some, um, examples, if you will, just something really lightweight. And I think, do we have it yet? The, the one that Greenville County had adopted, they had faced similar issues with the larger common plan. We want to make sure that how we do this and in the way that we do this, people are able to, uh, subdivide land with their families. Um, or if they wanted to subdivide property to, to sell property for a home, we want to make sure that that's treated differently than if someone is, um, basically stripping a hundred acres to build up a development that would have to fall within our zoning regulations, obviously, but we all see the ones, uh, that are, uh, very, um, destructive and change the landscape tremendously.

» So, um, I would like to yield my time to our administrator for a further report on the upcoming meeting and, and how we're going to work together with DES and our partnership to have a, a guideline and, and a, a goal for how we're going to present this to the public, just so that it is no confusion and, uh, surveyors and real estate agents and people that own property, um, can, can do the things that they need to and want to with their property, whether it be agricultural timberland or smaller parcels that are residential. Thank you, sir. So the results of that meeting with DES last week resulted in, um, two prong approach. So with this ordinance here, we have four third reading. Um, this will just be the plat note itself.

» Um, and we will make adjustments to, uh, you know, with DES's input as a result of that meeting phone numbers and the things that are most likely going to change over time will be eliminated. Um, but the second prong will be, as you stated, the manual, if you will, uh, using Lexington and Greenville as, as a, uh, kind of a guide, uh, ours would be very unique because the, the two counties referenced took all, uh, oversight and took it on themselves and they won't reference or send anything to DES anymore. They assumed all responsibility for stormwater. I wouldn't recommend we do that. So ours will, it may be a hybrid, but still capturing the spirit of what you had suggested and, and the outcome of that meeting.

» So, um, we did receive an email from David today with, uh, a lot of good information on it. So we'll continue to drive down that road and see what we come up with something realistic and, uh, uh, um, usable. So, um, the essence of, uh, and the kind of what prompted the phone call was we're going to put, we were going to put a message on the survey that was recorded and it was going to say, Hey, before you can build a house on this piece of property, you got to call DES and, and make sure that it wasn't part of a larger common plan and you have to have any engineering work done. And it had a phone number and through our partnership, I was able to speak with David Vaughn and David and I met and, and we all had a good conversation, very positive with Danny and John DeBose.

» And David said, well, the first thing I think that I would suggest is to point to some of the state law and some of the state policy and procedure. And as the conversation evolved, we decided that some sort of a, maybe a sample, if you will, of how to subdivide five acres into four lots or 10 acres into two parcels or maybe 500 acres into a 200 and 300 acre track. We don't need those things being bogged down with the same red tape that in which you would put a hundred houses on 125 acres or something of that nature. Um, those are apples and oranges. And of course we don't need the same law to apply. I think that uniquely agricultural property and timber property, um, in the way it's timbers harvested, crops are harvested, um, fields are plowed next to a river. That's legal.

» But silt fence is required when you're, when you're moving dirt for construction. So I want to make sure that through this process, we don't come up with a blurred line via the county's rules and regulations. And I just like that to be really clear. And I'm, I'm happy to help sit in, give you my two cents, whether you want it or not, and try to be helpful in that process. And, uh, I'd love to see our engineering team work with DS, D-E-S and, um, and come up with a really nice pamphlet to give someone so that they have that clear picture so that everybody's phone doesn't ring when something doesn't go, um, as planned or as hoped. So with that, I'm all done. Thank you so much. Mr. Thomason, you have a second? Um, I'm going to yield to Mr. Shoemake for an amendment. Okay.

» We actually have an amendment. So a lot of what Mr. Brazos said, part of, well, part of what Mr. Brazos said was incorporated to this note. Let me just make the motion first. I move that we amend and propose the ODR text to match the document labeled suggest amendments from staff on third reading that was included in the posted agenda materials. And basically this has some of that, like, for example, the phone number stuff that changes. So basically it sort of cleans it up so we don't have to come back and amend it again, at least with some of the stuff you guys have already discussed again. I did not write the amendment that was written by John. Good. That's the amendment. Good. All right. We have a motion to amend before us. Is there a second? Second. We have a second. No discussion.

» I think Mr. Brazos did it all. Okay. For a motion to amend, any other discussion from those who are present? Mr. Tucker, any discussion remotely on the motion to amend before we get back to the original Brazos motion? Discussion on motion to amend. I vote yes. On the Shoemake motion to amend, we've got a yes vote remotely. All in favor on the motion to amend. Raise your hand. It is Shoemake, Brazel, Connell, Cato, and Tomlinson in favor. All opposed to the motion to amend. Mr. Jones is opposed. The motion to amend passes. That puts us back on the original Brazel motion now as amended to pass on third reading. Any further discussion on third reading? Excuse me. I have a couple of questions. Mr. Jones. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

» I appreciate y'all always kind of giving me the time and sometimes I don't think as fast as you guys do. Listen, they're already state law. We're pretty much just marrying state law. Am I correct? Very. It's actual, it's federal law through the EPA that's passed down through state law and regulation that comes to the county. And it wasn't an issue because development was almost non-existent in Kershaw County for a long time. It was small. And as in this like post-COVID environment, lots of folks are moving to South Carolina. No different than us adjusting zoning regulations, lot sizes and that sort of thing. We want to keep Kershaw County wholesome. And I think a lot of the enforcement that had not been taking place, Councilman Jones, is now taking place.

» And that's either the county through the state. And what we're doing is trying to give a clear road map that doesn't entangle anyone with a piece of property that they now have a surprise expense of engineering, which would be a complete, I think, failure on our part if we allowed that. And so what this does is it cleans that up and then everything that I discussed and proposed and thankfully supported by my colleagues in the form of an amendment as well as administer. Thank you. It's gonna, it's gonna help industry in a positive manner. Thank you so much. Let me just say, here's where I have a concern. You know, just more regulation, more regulation. If you hear me out now before you judge me. More regulations.

» If state law's already there, we have the ability and the power to enforce state law. I don't know why we would necessarily need to, with every state law, have a county ordinance. And I realize that this, we're entering some different times here. I realize that. That's where my concern is, is that too often, too quick, I think government just thinks more regulation, more regulation is the way to fix the problem. I don't happen to think that way. Um, I'm concerned about everything we're talking about here. But I, I think there's probably a simpler way of getting some things done without necessarily just creating, uh, new ordinances, you know, time and time again. Um, but you, you and I won't disagree on that point. I, I don't disagree with you at all.

» But what this is, is, is, is, is a pretty simple, it's, it's basically saying, here's your, your survey plat. When, after, uh, whomever surveys the property and it, it points to that existing state law and it helps clarify it. It's actually, it's, and they have to, and I'm glad we can have a conversation. And they, uh, when someone comes in now without this, they have to still get that, correct? They, they, they would be left with confusion. And, and that's been some of the issue that, that we've had, um, maybe as to how it's applied. And this, this is a clarification ordinance, if you will. It's the way I interpret it. Gotcha. Well, I'm confused. Some of what, some were confused, no, a little bit with it. Uh, but I appreciate all the hard work y'all put on it.

» And I respect that, but I probably am not going to be able to support it. But Mr. Chairman, thank you for the time. Yes, sir. Mr. Jones. Gentlemen, we are back after amended on the original browsal motion as amended. Any further discussion from those who are present? Seeing none, Mr. Tucker, any discussion remotely? And how do you vote on the original as amended? No discussion. I vote yes. That's a yes vote remotely from Mr. Tucker on the amended, uh, version. So back on the original vote, all in favor who are present and voting, raise your hand. It is Shoemake, Brazel, Connell, Cato, and Tomlinson in favor, all opposed. Mr. Jones opposed. It passes on third reading as amended. That's 10G. And, uh, last ordinance for the night. Item number 10H. This is a third reading.

» It's related to an ordinance to amend the Kershaw County ZLDR section, excuse me, to amend section 5, 1.4-5 systems to include fire hydrants and to clarify fire hydrant requirements in major and minor subdivision submissions. Is there a motion on third reading? I'll make a motion. Mr. Cato has the motion. Is there a second? I'll second. Mr. Shoemake has the second. Mr. Cato. Uh, we've been through two of those readings. Uh, this is simply something that I asked administration to look into. Um, because of the rural area, this is what it affects the most in reference to the fire hydrants, and they did so. They've got it corrected, and I asked, asked my colleagues to support third reading tonight. Thank you, Mr. Cato. Uh, Mr. Shoemake, you had a second. Nope. I'm good. Thank you.

» Any other discussion from those who are present? Seeing none. Mr. Tucker, any discussion remotely, and how do you vote? Uh, no discussion, and I vote yes. That's a yes vote remotely from Mr. Tucker, Ms. Hanna. For those who are present and voting on item number 10H, third reading, raise your hand if you're in favor. It is unanimous in favor and passes third reading. That is 10H, Ms. Hanna. That concludes the voting portion of the meeting. We don't have any executive sessions tonight. Can I go first? Yes, sir. Just in case we lose you, Mr. Tucker, please. Do you have any report for us? Uh, just briefly, Mr. Chairman, sorry to interrupt you, but I really wanted to go first just in case you get disconnected.

» Um, just want to say that we have a finance meeting tomorrow at three, and, um, we will update you at our next council meeting, if not before, and all are welcome, um, to attend. That concludes my report, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Tucker. Mr. Cato? I have no report tonight. Thank you, Mr. Cato. Mr. Tomlinson? I concur with Mr. Cato. No report tonight. Mr. Jones, we're going for a record. No report. Oh, wow. Okay. Dangerous. Mr. Schumer. I mean, I can't, no report. Did I say something? Mr. Schumer. I'm sorry. I didn't hear. Okay. Mr. Brazel, any report? Absolutely. Y'all not getting off that lucky. I'll keep it brief. Um, I hear you laughing, Councilman Tucker. In this world that we live in, the only thing constant is change.

» You know, I hear, I hear a lot of concerns from the podium and, you know, what I'd like to say and express is that we, we do hear you. Um, sometimes it looks like we're, we're looking down or we're, we're checking a note or something. Um, the world around us is changing. It's evolving. Uh, I can't say that I like all of it. I can't say that, that I would, uh, be a driving factor of, of a lot of these things, but it's, it's up to us and it's up to state lawmakers to put guard rails up against data centers. It's, it's up to us to have real discussions with our sheriff about the flight cameras. And I think our sheriff did a great job when he, when he came and spoke. Um, it doesn't mean that I support flight cameras.

» Uh, it means that I respect our sheriff and, and I think I can say that for everyone here. Um, I think he does a great job and appreciate the education. Um, the gentleman that was here earlier speaking on flight cameras, can't say that I disagree with the thought process. Um, you know, sometimes constitutional protection that we have here in this wonderful nation is eroded. And, and I think that's, that's some of the fear with the flight cameras. And I can't say that, that I disagree at all. Um, those are things that we hope that you can trust us to evaluate. We hope that you can trust us to, to, to make a change if, if needed.

» And I think we heard that from, um, from him, from our sheriff in, in his speech that he gave us these data centers, guys, I'll tell you, I'm on the payroll at Roy's wood products. I work for a living and I run a business. I have not heard, uh, from, from any of these data center corporations. I think that nice lady had mentioned, I don't, I don't know if one's coming. I don't know if one's not coming. I, but I can tell you one thing. I was actually golfing down at Edisto and I got paired with three guys and one of them built data centers. And I said, man, are they as bad as, as everybody says, he says, they're pretty bad. He says, and I build them and it's on fire. He said, it's, it's, it's unreal, the amount of money that's coming for the construction of these data centers.

» So we'll learn together. I can tell you this. I, I've got a lot of trust and confidence in my colleagues to, to work through these situations. Uh, even if, if we vote similar, we're different, uh, there's a tremendous amount of trust in this group. And, um, I can say that we're here for those questions and we do hear you. So if anybody has those particular concerns, uh, your home and your residence, I know, um, the appropriate people be happy to speak afterwards. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Mr. Brazel. Um, I just want to say one of the sacrifices of serving up here is sometimes you miss your kids' sporting events. Uh, it's very difficult, but I want to wish my daughters, Annabelle and Alexis, the twin towers of power, uh, at the volleyball net success tonight in their game.

» I have no further report. Um, Mr. Templer. You don't want to talk about your singing? Oh, no, no, no. I will not be volunteered to sing again. He did a great job. He can sing. That's a story for another time. Thank you very much, Mr. Jones. Mr. Templer, any report for us? Uh, yes, sir. Just one quick note. Early voting starts October 19th and runs through October 31st. Early voting is available at the Camden City Arena and Elgin Community Center. That is all. Thank you, Mr. Templer. Mr. Treveaux, is anything non-privileged? No, sir. No legal briefing. We have no executive sessions or any other items for business. Seek a motion to adjourn. We have a motion. We have a second. Any discussion? Seeing none, Mr. Tucker, do we still have you? He had to drop off. He dropped off. Okay.

» Uh, for those who are present and voting in favor of adjournment, raise your hand. We are adjourned and miss- We are adjourned and perhaps the following? We are adjourned and miss- We just need to retire. We were adjourned in for too long and back in to the Expectations. Yes, sir. This is what the two of us cable surveillance systems do will need to be removed from every service system. We have sheräus- We are disappointed at the opportunity that may be managed.