Full meeting transcript - October 27, 2026

» If somebody wants to call that a crime, well, they have to prove that it was intentional. If you intentionally harm somebody, well, there's a certain degree of hate in that or disrespect in that. It comes close to hate, and why would you then want to put a surcharge on top of that? A hate crime is a crime on top of a crime. You've already got them for one thing, and you're just going to get them for another thing. It's whittling away at American freedom and following what other states are doing and what has already happened in Europe and is failing. You're going to do that? I hope not. Please don't. Thanks for coming out tonight, Mr. Webb. Mr. DeBose, who signed up next? Lynn Conto. Same subject. Yes, ma'am. Ms. Conto. First, I want to thank you for putting this on the agenda.

» I attended the city council meeting when they discussed this topic. And it's very important to address it. The definition of a hate crime is a criminal act. There must be an underlying illegal act like physical violence, property destruction, or real threat. Just speech, bigotry, and prejudice alone is not the crime and is protected under free speech. However, hate crimes are not okay. It may include assault, murder, arson, vandalism, and serious threats against someone based on race, gender, religion, culture that are motivated by bias against a victim's particular characteristics and interests. A hate crime perpetrator must target the victim because of their protected social group based on race, religion, and gender.

» A perpetrator is a person or group of people who carry a harmful, illegal, and criminal act against someone. It says nothing about words or speech. Oftentimes people will use the First Amendment as a reason not to address hate crimes. Why is it that the FBI, U.S. Department of Justice, Congress, 46 states, 26 cities and towns in South Carolina have hate crime ordinances or standards or laws? This includes against race, color, ethnicity, religion, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, and disability. The city of Camden is progressive. They have already addressed hate crimes. Why hasn't Kershaw County followed in line? There are four states that don't address hate crimes. Wyoming, 92% white in Wyoming. Also, they live very far apart.

» Indiana, Arkansas, and South Carolina. And South Carolina is the fastest growing state. So if you think you can ignore this, It's not a great idea. Richland County was one of the first counties to address this, and then Arzberg followed suit within a couple months to pass an ordinance. In the case of Richland, they gave a fine for jail time. People are concerned that the First Amendment will risk this not being upheld in court, but I think you're wrong on this concept. This is not about freedom of speech. This is about actions, not words. So please consider addressing hate crimes as an ordinance in Kershaw County. Congress addressed it in 1990 and passed a Hate Crime Statistics Act. 2009, Congress passed a landmark case of Matthew Shepard and James Byrd on Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

» 2015, the FBI included religious bias as a category and started collecting and reporting crimes because it was an issue and 2021 the department of justice issued guidelines for state local and tribal laws enforcement agencies to address this concept this is your opportunity to let your community know you are against hate crimes and it gives your law enforcement a tool to use if hate crimes are involved 46 states south carolina is not one of them let's not let Kershaw County be behind. Let's be progressive. Pass an ordinance to protect people in our community against hate crimes. Thank you for your time. Thanks for coming out, Ms. Conto. Mr. DeBose, who's the next person signed up? Eve Carlin, same subject.

» Okay, well, thanks for letting us know, but if someone's not signed up, we won't be able to delay the meeting for someone to arrive. We'll have the next person speak, and if she's able to show up after the next person speaks before we move on in the meeting, we're happy to accommodate that. Mr. DeBose, who's the next person signed up next speaker's representative robert reese mr reese same subject good evening chair and members of the council it was not my intent to speak tonight but on the way here i got several calls around this issue being sort of relegated to the state and so i felt like it was important for me to at least share these comments yes i'm robert reese state representative for house district 70 but i'm here to urge this council to move forward with a carefully written hate c

» rime ordinance for kershaw county this is a difficult issue but the principle is clear no one should have to fear violence or intimidation because of who they are what they believe or how they worship south carolina still has no statewide hate crime law the attorney general's Office has issued a non-binding opinion warning that local ordinances could be challenged under the state constitution. Council should take that warning very seriously. But a non-binding opinion is not a court ruling and it does not erase our responsibility to confront bias, motivated harm, or confront bias-motivated harm in our communities. The county does not have to wait indefinitely for the state to act. Local governments often respond to local needs.

» While statewide leaders continue debating broader legislation, Kershaw County can move forward, subject to careful legal review, while continuing to urge the General Assembly to pass a comprehensive statewide law. I'm not asking this council to ignore legal advice or adopt language without careful review. I'm asking you to work with county council and law enforcement to craft an ordinance that is narrow and forcible and grounded in conduct, not thoughts, nor beliefs, no unpopular speech. It should require evidence of unlawful conduct committed with the intent to intimidate or target someone because of a protected characteristic. It must protect free expression and due process. More than 600 residents signed a petition asking this council to act.

» Those signatures represent neighbors who want their county to make clear that everyone deserves safety and equal protection. Those citizens deserve a thoughtful response, not an indefinite delay. I would hope that council would move this ordinance forward, listen to your attorney, work with the sheriff and local police, amend the language where needed. Then give the people of Kershaw County a clear answer. Their safety, dignity matters here. Let this council stand for the simple promise that every person deserves to live without fear or being targeted for who they are. Thank you. Thank you for coming out tonight, Mr. Reese. Mr. DuBose, excuse me, I already recalled. We do not have Ms. Carlin. Did she come in at any point? Okay, we can't wait indefinitely.

» we've got to move on with the meeting and get the council votes regarding important matters yes ma'am someone's standing miss davis is there any objection from council i have no objection it's kind of quiet good afternoon everyone i want to talk tonight just to greet all of this board and talk about the implications of hate crimes and how they affect our community our communities are much more than just one diverse nation or color or creed But hate crimes are more than acts of violence against an individual. They are attacks against the foundation of all of our community. They target people because of who they are, what they believe, where they come from, or the groups that they belong to. Hate crime sends a very dangerous message. You are not welcome here. You don't belong here.

» You are not valued here. You are not like us. And that message, Lord, is the consequence far beyond the immediate victim. First, hate crimes create fear and division. When someone is targeted because of their race, religion, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, or another protected characteristic, the impact reaches far beyond just that one person. It reaches the entirety of a community. Families become afraid. They become suspicious. Children then begin to question whether they are safe in their own school. And we don't have to look far. Just turn on the television and you will see the implications of hate crimes, how now children are scared to go to school.

» People may change how they dress, where they worship, where they travel, Or how openly they express themselves because of fear of becoming the next victim. I don't know about you, but there are moments of my life that go just to the local store out of fear that someone may start shooting. When fear replaces trust, the entire community suffers. Second, hate crimes damage relationships and weaken our community. Strong communities such as Cameron County, Lugov, and all of these beautiful cities in this area, they're built on respect, understanding, and the belief that every person deserves dignity. Hate crimes tear at those values. They can deepen racial and religious tensions.

» They discourage community participation and weaken the trust that people have in public institutions and our law enforcement when people believe they are not well protected or treated fairly they may stop reporting crime cooperating with authorities and participating in community life not too long ago I had the privilege of participating the check to the Lugo fire department and to hear the fire chief talk about all the implications of how people are now afraid to deal with law enforcement. We must understand when one group is targeted, the consequences can affect everybody. When one group is affected, the consequences can affect everybody. No community can truly prosper when some of its members live in fear. Third, we all have the responsibility to stand against hate.

» Addressing hate crimes requires more than condemning violence after it occurs it requires education it requires prevention accountability and a commitment to treat everyone with dignity listen ladies and gentlemen our differences should never become a reason to harm one another what you like I may not like your color might be green my color might be blue you might say pecan I say pecan you might say tomato I say to model but that does not make us different and that should not cause us to hate one another because we say simple words differently hate crimes do not simply hurt individuals they divide families divide neighborhoods and undermine trust and threaten the safety of our community tonight in my closing let us choose understanding over prejudice courage over silence and unity over divi

» sion because when we stand against hate we do more than protect one person we help protect the future of our entire community thank you thanks for coming out tonight mr taylor all right gentlemen that brings us on to public hearings do we have anyone signed up for the public hearing mr dubose there are two speakers one is eve carlin though with hate crimes listed next to it um and i believe that's redundant from public comment uh the sole speaker on the matter for public hearing is lynn kanto and again public hearing matters are specific and have to be germane to the matter on the agenda item so um as a point of order i'd rule the first one out of order though the individual is not present at the time and then miss kanto we do have appropriately signed up to speak on uh energy related infra

» structure projects and related regulations related to there too is that correct all right we'll go ahead and open up the public hearing miss konto thank you again for implementing regulations to impose performance standards for energy infrastructure projects in kershaw county it's long overdue applying modern regulations to penalize failure and reward stability and infrastructure is critical setting a framework that incentivizes reliability decarbonization and climate resilience is a must Please make sure you ensure strict limits on the gallons of water used per megawatt hour on any type of energy plant, particularly if it involves cooling operations that have financial penalty or replacement clauses.

» Initiate performance-based regulations that link utility revenues directly to performance metrics. If you're not addressing many of these items, you've overlooked key components. Penalize prolonged or frequent outages. Put in place strict physical security and cybersecurity resilience metrics. Penalties for noise pollution are also a must. Set standards that enforce strict environmental outcomes. Make sure there are limits on emissions per megawatt hour generated. Ensure that a percentage of electricity load come from clean sources, and you must define clean sources. With natural gas and pipeline infrastructure, have strict guidelines on admission for natural gas and pipeline infrastructure throughout the process.

» This should be enforced by local inspection, advanced satellite, and drone monitoring requirements. Have standardizing rules to guarantee that new infrastructure can inject power without destabilizing distribution locally. Create a stricter performance standard that will drastically lower operational risk and societal cost over a long period of time, looking at 30- to 40-year asset lifecycle. Think long-term, not short-term. Use caution on standardizing a specific technology, which creates infrastructure risks before capital costs are recovered. Technology changes drastically over short periods of time. Allow for market innovation to dictate the most cost-effective technology solutions that meet community environmental needs. And I repeat, meet community environmental needs.

» Focus on the people around the infrastructure. Focus on output-oriented standards. Require clear environmental and grid reliability thresholds that make sure they're legally met. Establish tier grandfathering for technology phase compliance. Phase out older models for newer models. More cost-effective and environmentally sound technology for the community. Impose financial penalties on utilities that fail to review and connect new clean energy projects within a standardized number of days. Require qualified community benefits and metrics, including localized air quality improvements and targeted job creation in transition economies. Remember, the council serves the people, not the infrastructure, when deciding on standards for energy infrastructure projects. Thank you. Thank you, Ms.

» Conto, for coming out tonight and speaking. Mr. DuBose, we don't have anyone else signed up, correct? No other speakers. We'll close the public hearing. That's, again, on item number 8A, excuse me, 6A. Next up, no votes required there. Next up is approval of the minutes. Item number 7A, do we have a motion on the minutes? I'll make a motion to approve the minutes. We have a motion to approve the minutes. Do we have a second on 7A? I'll second. We have a second. And do we have Mr. Tucker on the line now? Okay, Mr. Tucker, any discussion on the minutes? Yes. If no discussion. No discussion, vote yes. I say yes remotely for Mr. Tucker on the minutes. For those who are present and voting, raise your hand if you're in support of the minutes. And it's unanimous for those who are voting. Ms.

» Hanna, the minutes are approved. That brings us to item number 8A, first reading and title only. An ordinance to amend the Kershaw County Code of Ordinances, Chapter 24, Section 24-4, regarding criminal conduct based upon hate. 8A, is there a motion? Mr. Chair, I'd like to make a motion that we approve first reading and title only on the hate crime ordinance. We have a motion from Mr. Tucker. Is there a second? Seeing no second, the motion cannot move forward. That concludes item number 8A. That brings us to item number 8B, first reading and title only regarding a hangar contract at Kershaw County's airport and terms related there to actions necessary to effectuate the terms and conditions of the hangar contract. Do we have a motion on 8B? Mr.

» Chairman, I'd like to make a motion that we approve first reading and title only on the hangar contract. uh we have before us mr tucker has the motion on item number 8b is there a second on 8b mr shoemake has the second mr tucker you had the motion you got the floor okay there's really nothing to discuss other than um mr um the bows and i and staff have been working on uh some of the language and we look forward to second reading yes sir thank you mr shoemake anything it is first reading all right uh no further discussion mr tucker how do you vote remotely yes that's a yes from mr tucker on 8b for those who are present voting raise your hand if you're in support of 8b that is unanimous and 8b passes first reading miss hannah for the record we have another first reading this is item number 8

» c this is in order to amend amendment of the official zoning mac for kershaw county to rezone approximately 10 plus or minus acres related to the stated tax map number located at 2080 Highway 601 South in Lugolf from RD2 to GD. Is there a motion on first reading for 8C? Hearing no motion at all, item number 8C does not move forward, is not passed on first reading. Under the same section, next page, we have item number 8D. This is a third reading. This is the ordinance to amend the Kershaw County ZLDR related to section 3.18 related to performance standards for energy infrastructure projects.

» do we have a motion on 8d i'll make a motion mr shumake has the motion is there a second well second mr kato has a second mr shumake you have the floor i mean we've discussed this at length this just basically brings energy projects at least from far with commercial developments thank you mr shumake mr kato you have the second no comment any discussion from those who are present seeing none mr tucker any discussion remotely no discussion i'll vote yes that is a yes vote remotely for mr tucker and if there's no further discussion for those who are President, all in favor raise your hand on 8D. And it is unanimous, Ms. Hanna, item number 8D passes third reading. Under new business, item number 9A, placed on the agenda by Mr.

» Templer, the administrator, comprehensive athletic field turf management and chemical application services. It looks like it will require a vote. Mr. Templer, any summary before we seek a motion related to this? - Just that this will be the turf application treatment that we desired for our new facility that we've opened up to maintain the integrity of what we've invested in. - Yes, sir, and I recall we had this on, I think it was two meetings ago. All those issues have been sorted out. - Yes, sir, and what I have before each of y'all is kind of the matrix or rubric, if you will, that we use to qualify the periods bidders. They were the low bid, everything, the procedures were followed, so the staff recommends going with the low bid. Okay, thank you for that summary and background.

» Do we have a motion on item number 9A related to the recommended bid? I'll make the motion. Mr. Shoemake has the motion, and is it on True Green Irmo SE? Yes. All right, is there a second on the motion? Yeah, I'll make the second. Mr. Broussel has a second. Any discussion, Mr. Shoemake? Mr. Broussel, any discussion with the second? Is this a one-time spend, or is this something that we'll do on an annual basis? This will be annual, And we will obviously have performance evaluations moving forward. Will it be bid annually or? Yeah, each time it comes up, it will go out for bid. Okay, perfect. Thank you. All right, thank you, Mr. Brousel. Any further discussion for those who are present? Mr. Tucker, any discussion remotely? And if not, how do you vote? No discussion, I'll vote yes.

» That's a yes remotely from Mr. Tucker on 9A. For those who are present and voting, raise your hand if you're in support. And it is unanimous 9A passes, Ms. Hanna, for the record. that brings us to uh appointments and some reminders first one is item number 10a planning zoning commission at large seat this is one i was responsible for um i understand mr william stacy's packet has been in uh his application has been in the packet for the required number of times is that correct miss hannah i make a motion that we appoint william stacy to the planning and zoning commission this would fill the at large seat that was previously held by miss ives dykes is there a second we have a second William Stacy lives in Kershaw County he's soon going to own a business in Kershaw County he's he's had some go

» vernment service volunteer service in the past and I think he'll be a great addition to the planning zoning commission and I would just seek your support on this any further discussion Mr. Tucker any discussion remotely no discussion I vote yes that is a yes vote on the appointment for Mr. Tucker remotely and for those who are present in voting raise your hand if you're in favor on the appointment and Mr. Stacy is appointed it's unanimous Ms. Hanna on 10a. Item number 10b, c, and d are reminders for the council. I've got a little bit of work to do. We got district four, district six, and then all of us or most of us have some work to do on the building code board of appeals. The five members that were reconstituting that board after some revisions that Mr. DuBose took us through.

» Does anybody have any questions or clarifications they need on those reminders for various boards in the county? Seeing none, And I'll just say thanks for all those who volunteer and serve on the county council commissions and boards. Your volunteer service is essential to making sure we get the work of the county done. Appreciate that. All right, this will bring us to council member briefings. We'll start off with Mr. Tucker first, since he is remote. And I know you said you're traveling for business. I don't want to lose your call and not have you have a briefing. Well, I have no briefing tonight, but I thank you, and I'm going to try to hold on. Thank you, Mr. Tucker. Mr. Shoemake.

» none other than to welcome miss connell i don't know if it's your presence or what but i believe you're about to set the record for the shortest meeting i've ever been a part of so you're gonna have to come back for your extra credit this isn't his account a second all right thank you okay mr brazel mr cato just a couple things just uh want to tell everybody to make sure that they're safe and watch out for the children this weekend as they're out trick-or-treating and uh please anyone in district six that is interested in a clean commission position or a recreation uh commission position please reach out to us we sure would appreciate your service thank you so much mr cato i have a few things to share in summary tonight um first of course we're in a moratorium related to data centers right

» now um the council generally or staff will be seeking input related to data centers and moratoriums and any regulations that should relate to those and so feel free to filter those in as you're able to to the council or staff otherwise um again i just want to express my love i have a rare chance to do this with my daughter annabelle present tonight love you so much honey and proud of everything that you do um a few comments on the smart growth committee meets tomorrow wednesday october 28th at 6 30 p.m this originally started off as an effort to figure out what we were going to do with the rewrite for the zldr and kind of the mammoth undertaking that that was one of the main results and i feel like the primary amount of work that was done by that committee has been handled it came up with t

» he permit allocation system that addressed real growth issues in kershaw county at the meeting tomorrow the committee will be restructured as a step forward in smart growth i've discussed some of these issues with the committee chairman and the planning and zoning director and we've had a renegotiation and confirmation of our consultant contract for the read um redrafting or new drafting of the zldr which addresses many of the issues that the smart growth committee would have addressed would have handled we have one person that is rolling off who won't be able to serve anymore in the smart growth committee and so that leaves the remaining members either already on council or on the planning commission and so as we tackle our most pressing growth issues it seems like a natural transition to

» push this back to staff and our consultants as we've renegotiated that contract and got a proper scope in front of us so the consultants will work directly with planning commission and related stakeholders including the school district who also had a presence on that committee previously and you know growth is coming to kershaw county we just have to figure out how to address it as best as we can people have property rights i respect that but we also have some restrictions that we just have to pay attention to for example we generally can only build new schools every 15 to 17 years based on when you can do a penny sales tax that last bond referendum would expire i think the next is 2030 2031 somewhere around there and so that's the next infusion of capital to be able to build some schools a

» nd look at significant projects here and we're just not one of those big populated counties that can take care of ad hoc school spending or large projects like that we have to be creative in how we finance things and so this seems to be a natural progression and that concludes my remarks mr administrator thank you sir just have a few things i'd like to thank everybody that came out to the woodward park grand opening we had a little over 2 000 visitors out there we had double headers for baseball softball and we had some playoff games for soccer so that's a really nice facility and i look forward to seeing it packed out just like we had that night so trick-or-treat trail the government center will host our annual trick-or-treat trail thursday october 29th from 2 to 5.

» public is invited bring their trick-or-treaters during that time so they can walk through the department in this building and enjoy some trick-or-treating rec department jack o'lantern jamboree parks and rec hosted uh our jack o'lantern javary at uh wtc last saturday and uh it was a good event uh very popular and we bring in around 1300 visitors to that event so just a lot of good stuff going on in the community for uh just parks and the Halloween season. So that's all we have. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Templer. Any non-privileged legal briefing, Mr. DeVos? No. Seeing none, we do have three executive session items. These will be items number 14A through C.

» We will take B and C first, and those will be matters either related to Section 30-470A, a personnel matter, which we'll actually handle last, Threatened or pending litigation or legal claim, SC Code 30-470A2, and also privileged legal matter regarding contractual arrangements or relationships related to the acquisition of real property. This will be SC Code 30-470A2. No vote is anticipated for the public's benefit after these executive sessions. Do we have a motion to enter executive session? I make a motion we enter executive session. Mr. Cato has a motion on executive session. I'll second it. We have a second. Mr. Brazel, do we still have Mr. Tucker? Okay. Mr. Tucker, how do you vote on executive session? Yes. I vote yes. Yes, sir. You still have me. That is a yes on executive session.

» For those who are present and voting, raise your hand if you're in favor of executive session. We are in executive session. I so move. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion on executive session? Seeing none, move to a vote. All those present and voting in favor of exiting executive session. That's unanimous. Mr. Tucker, how do you vote on leaving executive session? That is a yes from Mr. Tucker. We are out of executive session. No further business or votes being taken or needed. Seek a motion to adjourn. Make a motion we adjourn. Mr. Cato has a motion. Is there a second? Second. Mr. Braswell has a second. Second. Seeing no discussion, all in favor of adjourning, raise your hand. Mr. Tucker, is that a yes? Yes. Good night.