Council - Regular Meeting

It's get everyone's attention. It's now 7:00 and we'll call this to order about with a public hearing on an ordinance to amend the p Batesburg leasable code of ordinances title 4 article G rates and charges section 4-1-113 schedule of water and sewer charges. That public hearing is now open. Does anyone like to speak? We have Lisa Rice, Rachel S. Taylor, and Lisa. That's on not not on this public hearing.

There's no one. Then we'll we'll close the public hearing and we'll call the April meeting of the Batesburg Leville Town Council to order. I'd like to welcome everyone here. At this time, do we have a representative from the Batesburg Leville Ministerial Association here? If you would give us our tell us who you are and give us the invocation, please. My name is Reverend Annette Matthysse and I come to give the invocation for tonight. Thank you very much. I want to thank you all for having me.

Let us every head be bowed and every eye be closed. Let us pray. most holy and everlasting God. Father, you are the author and the finisher of our faith and that you are the beginning and the end of life, God. Father, you hold all control. So God, I'm asking that you will be in the midst of this meeting this night, oh God, for we need you, oh God. We asking you, dear heavenly father, but that you will let your anointing flow and flop down on every heart, mind, and soul in this place, oh God. Father, we ask that you will allow it to be unity in this place. Oh God, Father, whatever decision is going on, we asking you in the name of Jesus that you God would take it to ba and you will leave it in the pits where it belongs, oh God. And so, Father, we ask that you would crown these officer with they say your head was wisdom. Give them understanding to your will and to your way, letting you them know, God, that you are the leader. You are the one that supposed to guide each and every one of us, oh God. And so, Father, we thank you for who you are. We thank you for your amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved wretches like us, God. We thank you. Ask that you would continue to bless this organization. Bless everyone who will stand tonight. Give them wisdom to what they want to say, God. But let it be uh disagree agreeably, oh God. Cuz Father, we all don't see things to say, but Lord, we know that you do. So father we thank you for all that you about to do in this place. It is in Jesus name that we pray and we all say amen.

Thank you very much for that wonderful invocation tonight. Uh at this time all that are able please stand and join us in the pledge of allegiance led by Bo Turner. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

At this time, I would entertain a motion to approve the agenda. So move second. I have a motion and a second that we approve the agenda. That's now open for discussion. There's no discussion. We'll vote. District one, yes. District two, yes. District three, District three votes, yes. District four, four, yes. District five, yes. District six, yes. District seven, yes. District eight, yes.

And the mayor votes yes. We have approved the agenda. All right. That takes us uh would entertain a motion to adopt the minutes from the meeting on March 9th and the work session on February the 18th. Motion to make approve. Second. All right. We have a motion and a second that we adopt the minutes from the March 9th regular council meeting and the work session on February the 18th. It is now open for discussion. If there's no discussion, we'll vote. District one,

yes. District two, yes. District three, District three votes yes. District four, four, yes. District five, yes. District six, yes. District seven, yes. District eight, yes. and the mayor votes yes. At this time, we will do presentation of some award awards. First is a resolution honoring the Batesburg Leville High School girls strength team for winning the class 2A state championship. Do we have representatives present for that?

Yes, sir. We have coaches David Prince and Talasia West. Uh, the two athletes were not able to be here due to track commitments, but uh, coaches are here tonight. Okay. Would you like me to read the proclamation? That would be great.

I figured you would. All right. So, the resolution honoring the Batesburg Leville High School girls strength team for winning the class AAA state championship. Whereas the town council of Batesburg Leisel wishes to recognize outstanding achievements by the students of the community who demonstrate excellence in athletics, dedication, discipline, and sportsmanship. And whereas student athletes Kira Fry and Jada Henson of Batesburg Leisville High School competed in the Class AAA state championship strength competition sponsored by the South Carolina High School Strength Coaches Association held on November 19th at Lexington High School. And whereas the competition featured approximately 300 female athletes from across the state of South Carolina competing in the events of broad jump, squat, and bench press. And whereas despite competing with only two athletes against numerous class AAA schools fielding much larger teams, Kira Fry and Jada Henson earned enough combined points to to secure the class AAA team state championship. And whereas in addition to the team championship, Kira Fry achieved an outstanding fourth place finish in her individual weight class, further contributing to the team success. And whereas the accomplishments of these high school student athletes were made possible through their hard work, commitment, and the leadership of head coach David Prince and assistant coach Talasia West, whose guidance and dedication helped prepare the athletes for this remarkable achievement. And whereas the town of Batesburg, Leville takes great pride in recognizing achievements of its young citizens who represent the community with excellence, determination, and panther pride. Now therefore, be it resolved that the mayor and town council of the town of Batesburg, Leisville do hereby congratulate and honor Kira Fry and Jada Henson for winning the class doubleA team state championship and commend them for their perseverance, athletic excellence, and bringing distinction and pride to Batesburg High School and the entire Batesburg Leville community.

We have one for school and one for each side. heard you come out this way and take the picture.

Thanks, coaches. Any words here? I will just say that this was the uh from what I've been told, this was the first ever female state title of any kind. So, we're proud to be moving in that direction. Thank you.

And uh we'll we'll go on to the next recognition is for Keep the Midlands Beautiful. Um so resolution recognizing the keep the Midlands beautiful for its partnership and service to the town of Batesburg Leville. Whereas the town council of Batesburg Leville recognizes the importance of environmental stewardship, community pride and civic engagement in maintaining the beauty and quality of life for its residents. And whereas keep the midlands beautiful and affiliate of and affiliate of keep America beautiful works to promote litter prevention, recycling, beautifification, and environmental education throughout Lexington and Richland counties. And whereas Keep the Midlands Beautiful has been a valued partner of the town of Batesburg, Leville on several community initiatives, including the spring clean B&L, where the organization provides free paper shredding services for residents and assist with community cleanup efforts. And whereas the organization coordinates numerous regional beautifification environmental programs including adopt a highway, adopt a waterway, adopt a street, as well as Lake Sweep River Street, one-time community cleanups, and spotless service Saturdays. encouraging volunteers and communities to work together to protect and improve their local environment. And whereas Keep the Mills Beautiful and its executive director, Trouty Sander, played an instrumental role in seeking, acquiring, and executing a $14,000 grant through the Arbor Day Foundation to support recovery efforts following Hurricane Helen in September of 2024. And whereas through its grant initiative, trees, bushes, mulch, and pine straw were provided to residents of Batesburg Leisel to help restore landscaping and improve community resilience following the storm. And now therefore it be resolved that the mayor and town council of the town of Batesburg Leville do hereby express their sincere appreciation and recognition to keep the Midlands beautiful and executive director Trouty Sander for their outstanding partnership, leadership and commitment to the environmental stewardship and and community improvement. Be it resol further resolved that town council encourages continued collaboration with keep the Midlands beautiful in efforts to promote sustainability, beautifification and communitywide pride throughout Batesport

Leisel. Now this they did not do and this is this is our fault that that this didn't happen. to why you punish citizen. Want to say a quick word about him?

You know, I do Jay, I've known Jay Hendricks for many, many years and he's been a wonderful partner for keep the Midlands Beautiful and he's helped me personally in a lot of ways. But uh through the Arbor Day Foundation grant um in December and January, I had the pleasure of getting to know several council members and and several employees of the town uh and residents. And I I understood why Jay loves this town so much. It is. We serve 19 different municipalities across Lexington and Richland counties, but Batesburgville is a very special place in this community and I appreciate you all and your support very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

All right. The next resolution I get it paper to separate as a proclamation for head and neck cancer awareness month April of 2026. You want me to read that or you can read it? I can read that.

All right. So this proclamation is for head, neck and cancer awareness month. Whereas head and neck cancers including cancers of the mouth, throat, voice box, skin, sinuses, and salv salivary. There you go. Thank you for the struggle. Salivary glands account for nearly 4% of all cancers diagnosed in the United States with an estimated 65,000 people diagnosed annually. And whereas South Carolina residents are affected by these diseases which often result in long-term difficulties with breathing, swallowing, and speaking. And whereas the fastest growing segment of oral cancer patients include young healthy non-smokers, smoking individuals due to the connection to the HPV virus. Whereas more than 85% of all head and neck cancers could be prevented and increased awareness of disease processes it it causes and its symptoms could result in earlier diagnosis, lower functional disability and higher survival rates. And whereas the Head and Neck Cancer Alliance and various local health care providers offer free screenings during April to encourage at risk adults to seek timely medical intervention. And whereas it is crucial to encourage our residents to recognize the signs of head and neck cancer such as persistent sore throat, difficulty swallowing or a lump in the neck and to discuss their risk with their healthcare providers. Whereas the Batesburg Leville Town Council and mayor pro approved this proclamation in memory of former Batesburg Lisville Town Council member Mark Delo who passed away in 2020 2010 and in honor of Chip Simmons who is currently battling head and neck cancer. Now therefore be it resolved that the mayor and town council of Batesburg do hereby proclaim the month of April 2026 as head and neck cancer awareness month. We urge all residents, healthcare providers, and community organizations to prevent to participate in awareness activities, attend screening events, share educational materials, and support those

affected, thereby emphasizing the importance of early detection and prevention. I I would like to add on that that on that particular proclamation. Uh Chip is not able to be here and and Linda is not able to be here tonight and this proclamation will be presented to them at our work session on April the 27th. All right. The next proclamation is for the South Carolina Poultry Festival. Uh, this one's shorter people, so we can all rest assured I'm about done talking. Uh, whereas the South Carolina Poultry Festival is sponsored by the Leisville Merchants Association, and whereas the 2026 South Carolina Poultry Festival will be celebrating 40 years of existence in the town of Batesburg, Leville. And whereas with the dedication of the volunteers of the Poultry Festival Committee, the South Carolina Poultry Festival has been and continues to be one of the most popular and successful festivals in the state. And whereas the South Carolina Poultry Festival provides a day for the entire family to enjoy the many activities and events scheduled. And whereas the South Carolina Poultry Festival honors the poultry industry which is vital to the economy, health, and well-being of our community, state, and nation. Now, therefore, it be resolved that the mayor and town council of Batesburg Leil do hereby proclaim Saturday, May 9th, 2026 as South Carolina Poultry Festival Day.

Thank you, Jay. All right, that takes us to the mayor's report. The next regular council meeting will be May 11th, 2026. This brings us to council committee reports. First up is Central Midlands Councilman Joe Montgomery. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I attended the uh March 26th meeting at the airport campus in Midland Tech. Oh,

excuse me. And uh there was it was a short meeting for a lot of reasons. Uh they didn't have a lot on the agenda. They made five different tip amendments to previously approved projects. Uh none which concerned our wonderful town. Not yet. And our next meeting will be April 23rd which will be week from Thursday at the Beltline campus of Midlands Tech. Thank you, Joe. Next report is going to be from Councilman Bo Turner on EPACT. Uh thank you, Mr. Mayor. uh attended the u the March meeting uh off of Greystone and um basically we covered uh Fairfield County's uh willing to be adopted by the uh water commission over in Casey, which I think will be denied because of the strain that it puts on the uh the uh infrastructure there off of uh I77. Uh so we'll meet again. Uh the April has been cancelled. April 15th meeting was cancelled. So it'll be the next and we'll vote on that. So we'll have a better report, but it was really nothing pertaining to Batesburg Leville. Thank you, Bo. All right. The next report is on Joint Municipal Water and Sewer Commission and it that's my report. Meeting was held on Wednesday, April the 8th at 5:30 p.m. at two notch office of the joint municipal water and sewer association office. Meeting commenced with approval of the previous minutes following this executive director Jay Nicholson

provided a report on the current status of the system. An additional report was presented by Guy Smokes regarding the capital improvement plan outlining ongoing and future infrastructure considerations. An executive session was then conducted to discuss the acquisition related to the Bluefield force main and bluefield is a subdivision going up over on number six. Uh upon returning to open session, a vote was taken to on the matter and the acquisition was approved. After concluding announcements, the meeting was formally adjourned. The next meeting will be in May, the second Wednesday night in May. All right, that takes us to the BNL Chamber of Commerce update from Mike Taylor, president of the BNL Chamber of Commerce. I was not in a fight. Okay, began today at dermatologist. Unfortunately, it's nice to be with you this evening. The Bates Le Chamber of Commerce and Vus Center hosted his first event on March 21st, Taste of Town. We received tremendous support from the community with scholarships, I mean scholarship, sponsorships, ticket sales, and local chef uh participation. We were most appreciative of this support. The evening was filled with assortment of great food, entertainment, karaoke, and just good old fun. Had a great time. Congratulations to the winners. Bobber Brown, who was chef of the year by the judges. People's choice winners were Steam and Barrel got first place, Delin Barnes second place, and Bernardine Kardinga third place. Uh Steam and

Barrel got the best display. The Batesburg Legis Minister Alliance held a Good Friday community service on um Good Friday of course and it was held at the uh Batesburg Church of the Nazarene. Once again, I can't tell you it was a extremely meaningful service. We are blessed to have the quality of ministers that serve this community. Bakes Chamber of Commerce and Vista Center was a member of the Mistate Chambers Coalition and that was from like 2010 to 2020. Uh due to COVID and some chamber turnover, it was dissolved about then. that consists of 19 chambers over the 11 counties in the midstate uh area. Uh some of the focus issues were workforce development, transportation infrastructure, uh military bases, maintaining them, uh businessfriendly monitoring, and the Charleston Port Authority. I to attended a meeting uh this past week to reorganize um the coalition. Scout Motors will begin production in 2028. There is a mass employ there is a mass of employees and contractors that will be hired and this will have a major impact on Carol on the Millan's um uh workforce. The Miller is projected to grow in those counties by 70,000 people over the next four years. So as we need to be prepared for it like they were coming here on April of our general membership meeting this month on April the 23rd uh during the the meeting the chamber and the mill technical college will recognize the potential honor graduates and debates high school. That's always a great uh meeting. We look forward to recognizing them. And that's my report Mr. Mayor and council. Thank you very much.

Thank you Mr. Mike. Michael Mike had a question. Yes, sir. I understand that they had purple grits. Is that right? They had what? Purple grits. That's right. And they were good. I've never heard of purple grits. I Yeah. Did you try the grits? I didn't get unfortunately. I'm running around. I don't get to eat. And some people brought me a couple things, but I miss that. Well, I have to get with Cal because I never My grandma's probably rolling over about some purple grits, but I do want to try the grits. I understand the fish were good, too. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Mr. Mayor, purple. Yes, sir.

Point of order. Uh, just before we go on with the agenda, you have I don't remember us voting on item 5B, which was the work session minutes. Did we skip over that? We did. Okay. Okay. We did. I combined the two. I got you. My apology. Man, at least you're paying attention, right? I figured we would try to make it as short as we can cuz it's a lot on this agenda tonight. It is. 12:00 meetings don't appeal to me.

Uh, okay. This brings us to public comment regarding items on the agenda. And I think we do have some people that have signed up. Before we start, I'm going to read the ordinance. concerning that. Okay. Any citizen of the municipality may address council at any regular council meeting. Discussion is limited to items on the current agenda. Those who request to speak must sign in with the municipal clerk no later than 10 minutes prior to the beginning of the regular meeting indicating their name, address, and agenda item on which they intend to comment. Each person who gives notice may speak at a designated time and will be limited to a threeminut presentation at the discretion of the presiding officer. No question shall be entertained and this is not a forum for debate. Individual council members and the mayor may be directly addressed before or after each meeting. The presiding officer may limit the number of speakers. One speaker may not defer his or her allotted time to another speaker. And I would like to remind question council that we do not speak during this time. This is the public's chance to talk. Will we please call up the first person?

Lisa Sheiley Rice. Yes. Lisa Sheiley Rice.

Okay. Good evening. I'm here to um speak on the Pine Street project in reference to the Batesburg Business Association, which is item F under new business. Um I'm Lisa Rice. I'm here as the treasurer of the BBA. Uh, and I'd like to briefly just revisit that project that the council approved several years ago. Uh, on April the 9th, 2018, this council unanimous unanimously approved a request from the BBA to move forward with beautifification efforts on that town-owned property. The goal was simple, to improve the appearance of that area and invest in the vitality of our downtown. While there was not a formal lease in place, the Batesburg Business Association proceeded in good faith based on that formal approval. Following that approval, the BBA along with the support from the Women's Society of Batesburg Leville moved forward and funded those improvements. The investments included 10,000 10,000 for paving the lot. Notably, the invoice for the paving work was issued to the town, but it was paid by the BBA as part of this approved project. Additional funds were also invested in landscaping, planners, and cleanup through a grant to to the Women's Society, all clearly designated for the Pine Street Project. At the time, this was a communitydriven effort to enhance town-owned property for the benefit of the public and surrounding businesses. Since then, the town town has sold the property. While we're certainly pleased to see continued development and progress in our community, we believe it's reasonable to revisit the investment that was made by

these organizations into that property. An investment that ultimately increased its usability and value. We are respectfully requesting that the town consider reimbursing the Batesburg Business Association and the Women's Society for the documented improvements made to that lot. We believe honoring this request reinforces a strong and trustworthy partnership between the town and the organizations that invest their own time and resources into improving our community. Thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am. Do we have another speaker, Rachel Taylor?

I am Rachel Taylor. Um, I've lived in Batesburg Leville since 1981. I've been a part of the BBA since 20 2010. Um, the BBA has been in operation. Actually, I have the notes that um May Bazard took and they're all handwritten from the 1970s. So, it the the BBA has been a driving force in in the Batesburg Historic District for many many years. And I wanted to give you a little background on this property. Actually, in the year 2000, the comp the property was acquired by a um out of town company called Ironwood from Scots Scotsboro, Arizona. Um the the property sat for three years. No improvements were made on it and the building actually imploded and imploded into this street that so it and that was in early 2003. The town ended up because this was an out ofstate company, the town ended up acquiring this property for $3,000. Um but they paid for the cleanup. Um the lock has sat vacant for 22 years bringing no revenue to the town. In 2017 um another initiative was formed by the Batesburg Business Association to make improvements on the Pine Street area of the of the downtown area. So much has been focused on the Oak Street and not on Pine Street. This lot, this rendering

that I gave each of you shows the intentions what what they strive to do. Um Lois Black Bazard is the one that who had spearheaded this project. We had um many many fundraisers to get the funds to do this this project. um we ran into several stalling parts, part of it being COVID. However, as it was stated before, um in 2018, Delin Barnes and Lois came before the c the sitting council then to get permission for the BBA to do improvements and it was unanimous that they could proceed with that project. Um both the Women's Club and the Batesburg Business Association collaborated on this project and I will tell you through the years even though there's been change in council people one minute in in the council we've always had a really good working relationship with the town hall staff. they have always assisted us upon request to do this. Um, again, I just ask that you take a look at the downtown area. We have another uh problem with the the properties being acquired by out of town folks and so many of the vacant buildings that are on Oak Street are owned by out of town owners. But we the BBA has always been a watchdog of the downtown area.

All right, we have another speaker. And the last speaker is Lisa Lewis. All right.

Hi, I'm Lisa Lewis, the president of the Batesburg Business Association. U mayor, council members, I hope this message finds you well. Um, on behalf of the Batesburg Business Association, I want to sincerely thank you for the support in making the St. Patrick's Day Festival a resounding success for the Batesburg District. Your encouragement and partnership play a vital role in all that we are able to accomplish for the community. I am especially grateful to council members who took the time to stop by the tent, our information tent during the festival. Mayor David Baltnight, Councilwoman Kathy Knox, Councilman Bo Turner. Um, thank you. Your presence was a wonderful demonstration of your commitment to our efforts. I would also like to extend this special thank you to Bo Turner and his wife Faith for their invaluable assistance with the setup and the takedown. Um despite the early morning and very late night evening, your dedicate their dedication was truly embodies the spirit of volunteerism that fuels our association. The backing of the town council is absolutely essential to the Batesburg Miss Bakesburg business association's mission as we work tirelessly to serve and improve the Batesburg district. Every initiative that we undertake is aimed to approving to improving the district through your support which empowers us to continue these efforts. The refund of the enhancements for the Batesburg for the town the North Pine Street improvements. That refund will give us will be reinvested back into the district um to further those improvements for the district ensuring that every dollar is used wisely. Our association constantly strives to be to use these funds that we both raise and that we have to give back to the

community in meaningful ways. However, I must admit that being questioned about the request for the hospitality tax reimbursement for the festival was both unexpected and disappointing. It takes both financial resources and dedicated volunteers to ensure the association continues to benefit the Batesburg district. It is discouraging to having to constantly or to continually battle for this support from the town council and I hope that we can find a resolution for this. I hope that we can move forward with greater understanding and collaboration as this struggle for support is disheartening and risk dampening the spirit of volunteerism. That is a crucial part of the work in the community. I urge you not to squash the spirit of volunteer volunteerism. Instead, let's continue fostering the cloud collaboration environment that empowers us all to work together for the betterment of the Batesburg district as well as the entire community of Batesburg Leville. Thank you once again for the continued involvement and support. Together, we can make lasting impact on the whole town of Batesburg Leville. With warm regards, Lisa Lewis, president of BBA.

Thank you. Thank you. Any anybody else?

All right. I would like to thank all of you for coming. I think this is what town council is all about. And I would encourage you all of you to look at the agenda before we have every meeting and come up here and give us your opinions on things. It helps us make decisions. When we make decisions, we want to make the best decision that we can for the town and for the future of the town. Public participation is greatly appreciated. And I'd like to thank you again for coming up and stating your your comments on this. All right, this takes us to item nine, unfinished business. Second reading of an ordinance to amend the Batesburg Leville Code of Ordinances, title 4, article G, rates and charges, section 4-1-113, schedule of water and sewer charges. Do we have a motion to adopt this resolution on second reading?

So move. We have a second. Second.

We have a motion and a second that we adopt this on second reading. It is now open for discussion. You tell me what this is again. There's no discussion. We'll vote. You said something. Yeah, I just asked Jamie if he could do a word say a word about it. So So this is the uh the ordinance that will give council and manager the opportunity to negotiate industrial rates. Why would you say that

industrial? Mr. Okay, if there's no further discussion, we'll vote. District one, yes. District two, yes. District three, District three votes, yes. District four, four, yes. District five, yes. District six, yes. District seven, yes. District eight, yes.

And the mayor vote yes. That motion carries. Takes us to new business. First reading of approval. The contractor for climate pollution reduction grant. Joselyn Faulenstein with the Central Midlands Cog is here. Uh Jay, you going to talk first and then she

I can give a quick overview. Uh Joselyn and Jory are both here. They have spoken to council previously. uh they're more the subject matter experts but just to give you uh the brief overview uh we have had a couple of work sessions about this over the past year and a half uh this is uh an approval of a.5 megawatt solar array for the wastewater treatment plant uh we are a subreient under the central midlands council of government for the climate pollution reduction grant u which was received in 2425 um through the partnership with central midlands Um just kind of a background uh we did have a work session in January of 2025 and then in October 25 uh Joselyn and Jory came uh had a council vote of 7 to1 to kind of to move forward. There was no commitment. There has been no commitment financially at this time. Uh the uh project has been put out to bid uh through Central Midlands. There were four bids that were received. Uh those were received later earlier well late November, excuse me, late March and uh we reviewed those last week. And that scoring sheet um is on page 25 of your council packet. I will put it on the board for you. Uh Brandham Group, Eco Jiva, South Coast Solar, and Weston and Samson were the the bid companies. And so the grading uh which again is on the TV for you uh that was conducted with our staff and central Midland staff grading that proposal. Um the Brandom group while not the lowest bid was

the one that was uh rated the highest. Um, their system price is $1,296,676. Monitoring equipment is $10,500. Fence to go around that property is $28,272 for a total cost of 1,335,448. Again, as a reminder, this is a 6040 grant, 60% federal funds and 40% local. The 40% we will be pursuing the IRS ITC. The ITC is the investment tax credit. Uh that is a 40% that will do the 40% match. 30% of that is is you're doing the uh improvements, the solar power, the alternative power. 10% is based off of the buy America build America. the Baba I believe is the correct pronunciation but by America build America that is a requirement of the grant so that is included so we are eligible for the entire 40% local match from the IRS ITC we will front the money and then the grant money would be reimbured fairly quickly as it is spent we would be able to apply for that reimbursement the 40% from IRS will take 18 maybe up to 24 months to uh recoup that. It is a long process. I have spoken with Neil Krider with McGregor and Associates. They are our auditors. They would be willing to well they obviously will get paid for to do this but they would be willing and able to do that uh reimbursement process for us since that is something we we don't deal with. We don't deal with the IRS often and so we had reached out to Neil about their staff helping us with that process. Um

Joselyn, if you want to step forward and just kind of perhaps reassure council of uh that IRS, I think that is the biggest question people have is is that IRS uh 40% match. Uh I don't want to say it sounds too good to be true, but 60% from the federal government in the grant, 40% local, but that would be also coming from IRS federal. I don't want to say free, but it's pretty close. It's about as close as you're going to get in today's world. Um, so not completely free. Obviously, we have ongoing operation and maintenances. It takes money to keep things looking new and shiny. Um, but that's pretty minimal. Um, in terms of this project, the IRS tax credit isn't like a grant where you apply for it and you're not sure if you're going to get it or not. Um, we have put in all of our contracts and in our RFPs that these are all the terms and conditions we will be applying for this tax credit. you need to meet all of these conditions. It's not a oops, we didn't like it's happening and then we will apply for the tax credit and it will come back as long as it takes the IRS to process it, which we've been hearing takes about 18 months at this current point in time. There's also a certain amount of lead time with you got to apply to for it within a certain amount of time from the end of your fiscal year, which I'm not entirely sure when that is. Um, but this project with the timeline and the contractor that we've chosen will be on the ground built interconnected by December of 2026.

All right. Uh, I technicality is we really don't have anything to discuss at this point as far as council goes. We would need a motion and a second to discuss. So move a second. All right, we have a motion and a second to approve first reading of this. Now, it's open for discussion if you have questions.

Yes, we're being asked to approve a contractor but not a contract. Um, and I am very concerned about uh the federal government and they're phasing out programs and we could wake up tomorrow morning and find that the IRS has decided to cut this short. Um, where is the contract and how are we protected? Should our contractor not meet the requirements of 5% by the 1st of July or is requirement if they miss the 5% by the 1st of July then we have a second target December 31st of 2027.

I understand I understand that. But uh and the other factor is that this is a very incomplete financial analysis. You say $80,000 in savings, but then we turn around and say that we have $15,000 annually. Is that coming out of the $80,000 savings? The 15,000 estimated maintenance cost for the system.

It has been not been calculated that way in the memo. Um the ITC actually has been sunset. Uh that is why we have those deadlines. So Congress has cut that tax credit. Um hence the deadlines, they are phasing it out. So, you need to hit the July 4th start of construction or if you don't hit the July 4th start of construction, that's what that second deadline in December of 2027 is for. If you don't meet start of construction slash the 5% um expenditure safe harbor, then as long as your project has been built and interconnected to the grid by December 31st of 2027, you are still eligible to apply for that tax credit. So, it has been cut. We do know that. But as long as you meet those deadlines, they are still reimbursing projects.

My my question again is the savings the 80 $80,000 a year is one number. Does it or does it not include the $15,000 annual maintenance? It does not.

Okay. So now we're down to 65,000. Now we're going to take 525,000. I'm not good at math, but 525,000 is 40% of the grant. Um, we're going to take that money out of our funds and we're going to pay for this construction and then not draw interest on that money for up to 18 months. We're currently saying that the funds are deposited and drawing uh roughly 3.8 89% interest a year. So, we're going to lose 6% of that. Again, I I'm I just would like to look at two things. One is the contract so that we know that if something goes wrong and you know, the construction company could go out of business. You don't know what's going to happen. I I am never 100% sure. So, does the contract protect the town in the event that we do not qualify for the IRS because of factors beyond the town's control? I e the contractor. Is there a penalty in the contract? Is there a clause in the contract that says we're protected? That we're that $525,000 is not sitting out there. the contractor does something or whatever and we don't meet the requirement. Are we protected?

I I'm just the grant manager at the COG. I don't um handle the town's contracting. We would of course approve the final contract to make sure it's in line with all of our federal terms and conditions that we have to follow for the grant and comb through it to make sure that we've dotted all our eyes and crossed our tees. But that's I think

I'm very uncomfortable. We do this and we have done this in the past and we have we have contracts for restrooms that were not completed anywhere near uh the completion date. We have instances where we spent additional money uh and we had four entities that could have been under a normal construction contract liable for for finding something in the ground that three different entities took a look at and missed. uh none of those being the town, but we spent $23,000. We were not protected in that contract. That project was supposed to be finished uh June when uh Pine Street project and we just signed off on it recently. So, I'm I'm concerned that we are looking at and approving contractors, not contracts, and we're not looking at what we're actually doing. We're looking at, oh, let's go spend this money, 1.2 million, 1.3 million, or our money is going to be possibly $520,000.

I will not see the contract.

I will say with our federal um terms and conditions that are imposed because it's an EPA grant, um all of our contracts require performance and payment bonds in 100% of contract value. So, that will be in the contract. So, and council is pointing out that you're approving the David, you you will say it better than I do tonight. You're approving the bid process. You're awarding you're awarding it to a contractor that has been recommended to you. At that point, the negotiations between the town and the contractor along with the cog will take place and a contract will be developed. At that point, we can the town can make ensure that there's provisions in there that protect it in case the the funding um tax credit or whatever is not there. And that will then come back to the town for approval.

So, the money is not actually obligated until we approve the contract. You the process has been bid out and you're awarding the contract to a contractor. Obviously, you have to sign an agreement to bind the town with that contractor and that's the negoti negotiation process. Could I ask a question? Yes.

Um, if if we sign and we get bound to that contractor and we back out of that out of that contract, we decide to go, aren't we going to be liable and subject to lawsuit? you're always potentially subject to to to anything. What what what I would recommend is you if in your motion to approve tonight, you include language that says this is subject to the a favorable approval of an agreement between the town and the contractor that meets your conditions. Oh, Mr. Mayor, if I may.

Yes, ma'am. What kind of guarantee do you have that the IRS will reimburse these funds?

So, um, the IRS is the mechanism that Congress decided to open up solar refunds to entities that do not typically file taxes. And, you know, solar tax credits have been something that was part of the tax code for some time. re uh you know, Congress then open that up to nonprofits, uh local governments. The IRS is a functional entity to essentially issue the refund and it's non-competitive and if the paperwork is filed on time and correctly from the town and as Jay mentioned, the town may um opt to work with an accounting firm in order to do so. The IRS will refund the money. Um there has been some um they don't commit themselves to a timeline. The practical timeline that has been observed is anywhere from 12 to 24 months. Um but it is guaranteed. Um in July of of this past year, um Congress opted to sunset the tax credits, but entities, both businesses and others, um do accounting far in advance. and so they do not make changes to the tax code during a tax year or typically in the next upcoming tax year. So, Congress has um made um a very expansive decision as part of the budget bill that was passed in July of 2025 and they will not change it again because it's being removed and they have instructed the IRS with how to process the removal and so on. So the rules are not expected to change um because the tax year for this year has already begun and the change from the law has already been affected.

Okay. Um I understand everything you just said, but my question was is there a guarantee? The yes or no. The guarantee would be that the federal government has committed to pay its bonds and commitments. So if we file this by a date, you who who will guarantee that the IRS is going to send us that will the COG do that? No, the COG will not make a guarantee on behalf of the federal government. The federal government through an act of Congress has guaranteed that it will refund in in the issue in in the way that Congress has dictated to the IRS. So the issue we the COG will not guarantee that the federal government will do what it said.

Okay? So we don't have a guarantee that that's going to happen. The IRS has not failed to issue a refund to any business or government entity recently to my knowledge in any scenario. Question. Well, I'm have to amend the I mean they make mistakes but that's um you know people do your own your own taxes and you know you got to talk to them but the IRS does not just suddenly decide to not pay people. They sometimes do get payments a little messed up. I work with him often. So, I won't comment on that, but I think in general Jesus. All right. Yes, sir. We Mr. Mayor, Steve wants to offer an amendment to that.

Go ahead. Let Bob Let Bob get it out for I do that. You're going to change a motion to include the language that our attorney suggested we put in there. Whoever made that motion. I did. I made it. Question. Go ahead. Well, let's we let's give somebody else chance to ask cuz you asked several. Joe, anybody else? Joe, Mr. Mayor. Yes, sir. Uh this money that we're supposed to or part of our 40% when will that be due? During the construction period and then we're we'll have to wait for reimbursement then or

correct. Yeah, this the $1.3 million would be paid out over the the construction process and the final payment would I assume be due right at the end of the year uh when the construction is completed

and we would be able to apply for the grant reimbursement immediately but the IRS ITC reimbursement would take about 18 months. My next question is how are we looking financially to handle that since we've taken on the water meter projects and all that? That's pretty good dent. So yes, the water meter payment is going to be a fair amount, but we do have at this time uh in the local government investment pool, we do have 3.337 million in that account and an additional uh you know, another $780,000 roughly in in capital improvement impact fees and and the utility account. Um,

so we're financially, but we can we can we can afford that upfront. We don't feel that we need to, you know, we would ultimately be out $534,000 for potentially that year and a half. Uh, we would be able to get that 800 roughly $800,000 uh grant reimbursement in a fairly quick order. So, we will be replenishing that throughout the the year. Yes, sir. Thank you. Yes, sir. Mr. Mayor, yes.

Um, where is the money actually going to come from? Uh, your I think your paper says it's going to come out of the the local government investment fund, but that's not an that is not an account. It's either going to come out of our general operating utility fund or our capital improvement funds based on u impact fees. Was this project included in the impact fee when it was levied? No, sir. So therefore, it is not eligible for correct use of that. Now we're down to the fact that we're going to take $500,000 out of our general operating fund for the utilities. That is Yes, sir. That is

How much money is in that account? We would have to go pull that number to to know that exactly. I'm I'm okay. I'm at a loss. I haven't seen a reasonable financial statement since December. Um, so I'm at a I could not possibly approve spending money that we don't know what the impact on our long-term financial is, but that's my opinion. All right. Thank you for the mayor. All right. Any further questions? All right. Are we going to amend that motion to include the I I I would, but um you think that uh Greg Krauss would guarantee this for us?

Guarantee the money. Yeah, I don't know what Gregor, but I don't think it's that's a hard note. Okay. U Mr. Mayor, I I uh move to amend my um my motion uh to include the language that uh attorney um has advised which I have forgotten now. You want to repeat that? Who seconded that motion? You approved his amendment. Do we need to say what? Yeah, let me let me read it into the read it into the thing. The motion would be to uh approve the award of the contract um the

subject to what's the name of the group negotiations to the brand random group contingent upon a favorable u agreement between the parties and that would mean that we aren't bound to anything until we agree on the contract. That's correct. And that would protect us against lawsuit. Well, anybody can sue for anything. So, I I can't We need to be relatively sure cuz I can't I don't want to see the town lose $500,000 that we don't really need to lose. Sure. Could I ask this? If we're approving contractor, we not in we not in discussion yet.

So, I'm I make the motion and I'll just say what he said and I need Chip and then we go back down the road. We have the we have the new motion which the and a second. Now that's open for discussion. That's correct. Mr. Mayor, if I may. Yes, ma'am. Does that mean that um we're approving a contractor, but we're not approving a contract with that contractor? That's correct. That's that's what that is. So, we don't have a contract with him until he comes and gives us a price

there. It was a Yeah, there's not a contract in place to to be signed. There are are certain details that need to be worked out as as David was saying that this was going through the RFP and approving this step to do uh to approve Brandom Group for that 1,335,448 and now we will have to have a contract uh in place. um by us putting that language, they will probably have to have some discussion and it would have to come I would assume it has to come back to council at that point to to get that final rubber stamp. That's correct. Yeah. Okay.

Any further discussion? If not, let's vote. Let's move it on.

District one. Yes. District two. Yes. District three. District three votes. Yes. District four. Yes. District five. No. District six, yes. District seven, no. District 8, District 8 votes no. And the reason for my vote is the fact that it uh I have not seen s sufficient financial savings actually documented for this program. We haven't spent the money.

The mayor votes no. along those same lines. But the motion carries 54 and we get a chance to write the contract. Next item up is ordinance to amend the Batesburg Leville Code of Ordinances Title 5 Planning and Development Chapter 1 Planning Commission section 5-1-2 Membership and Appendix A-Zoning Article 12 Planning Commission section 12-2- membership planning commission membership. Do we have a motion to adopt first reading of this ordinance?

So may second. This is you can live anywhere. No, I think they changed it. Uh what does this say? So last month the second reading failed to make planning commission and BCA at large across the board and it was brought up to bring up making both of them single member or from your district. So that's it was just the opposite of what was presented last month. So So this is the first reading of that. So this is the first read saying that you have to live in the district for to serve to serve for one of the council districts.

Um yes planning commission. This this changes the the thing where planning commission had been at large and now they have to actually be from the district that they're representing, right? For the planning commission. For the planning commission. But no, we were talking about the um the board of appeals. The planning commission already the board of appeals is already that way. No, the planning commission is that way. No, planning commission is at large. Typically, they are appointed from that, but it's not. Bo of Zorn and Appeals says you have to be from that district and we did not change that. Right. Right. You tried to change that with a motion and that did not pass.

Well, now what about the people that's already um uh appointed every everybody is currently from that district. So it it will not impact the current enrollment. Is that correct? Everybody's not from that from from there. That is incorrect. No lar. That's what I'm hoping. But is that the case? Okay. So, district three. Okay. These people talking. Okay. So, district three. Yeah. Okay. I didn't know where Geraldine lived. Yeah. So, now you she's already been appointed and approved.

Could we amend it to leave it like that until Okay. I don't even know why you eating food with that. this this thing this was fine. It it didn't need to be changed at all. Well, I believe there was not a problem. David, you're creating a problem where Mr. Mayor uh David Eper is saying that uh she would continue to serve until the term is up. Okay. Which is three and a half plus years. If if I may removal for cause what

they are is it is it like the uh Supreme Court you're there you're uh cannot be removed for cause previous ordinance says that you have a member can be removed for cause. Yeah. This does not did not define cause. So are we eliminating that uh from this right here? No, it it it's

it's in the ordinance. Yes, sir. I'm looking at the second paragraph. I'm bogged down with the with the fact that we put in there the uh the original conception of two members shall serve one-year terms, two shall serve two-year terms. Why is that? That just didn't get deleted from the original 1990s version. Uh but it does need to stay. It does state as you were asking that cause is still there and yeah that what is called

that language was that language was left in the ordinance in case at some point in the future the um planning commission may be abolished and need to be restarted again. So we needed to have that language remain in the ordinance. Okay. So council could abolish the planning commission. You could, however, you would have to recreate one based on state law because you're required to have one. That's interesting. Any further discussion? If not, we'll vote. District one, yes. District two, no. District three.

District three votes no. District four, four, no. District five, yes. District six, yes. District seven, yes. District eight, no.

And mayor vote yes. Motion carries. All right, that brings us to the next ordinance. The first reading ordinance to amend the Batesburg leville code of ordinances article A meetings of governing body section 1-3-1 B- council meetings and number of council members required to call a special meeting and this will be changing our ordinance to comply with state law. Do we have a motion to adopt this? I make a motion about this. We have a second.

Yes. Second. District two. All right. A motion and a second to adopt this ordinance. It's now open for discussion. There's no discussion. We'll vote. District one. Yes. District two, yes. District three, yes. District four, yes. District five, yes. District six, yes. District seven, yes. District eight, yes.

And the mayor votes yes. This brings us to item D. First reading of the ordinance to amend Batesburg Leville Code of Ordinances Appendix A, Article 7- District Regulations, tattoo parlors and piercing parlors. I make that. What is that ordinance now that we are changing to Jay, if you don't mind? What's your What is your question again? Would you read the ordinance that we're changing to?

So, this would be adding this uh section or an item V into C1, which would be tattoo parlors and piercing parlors. Sub is a the hours of operation shall be no later than 11:00 p.m. during any day of the week and may not reopen for business operations prior to 5:00 a.m. the following day. And then it would add 7-5.13 tattoo parlors and piercing parlors and defining a business or studio that performs body piercing and tattooing as a course of commercial business. And it restates a the hours of operation shall be no later than 11:00 p.m. and may not begin before 5:00 a.m. the following day. We also have uh the chair and vice chair from the planning commission, Sean Bryant, Riley Adams, here if you have questions as to what brought this up. Well, the thing that aren't we changing it from or did you say it?

Well, currently it is in an I1 and this would be moving it allowing it in C1. Currently, it is not allowed in the commercial district. So, this would allow changing it to C. This would change it to C1 location. Correct. All right. Do we have a motion? I make a motion we adopt. I have a second. Second. There we are. Who did you have for that second? I guess not. Joe, did you have Joe as a second there, Mr. Mayor? We have a motion and a second that we adopt ordinance

to amend the code of ordinances, appendix A, what all that long spill about tattoos parlors. It's now open for discussion. So, so now, Mr. Come here. Am I understanding that you can put a tattoo parlor next to the KJS now? If you going from industrial to commercial it can be like those cigarette places all over the That's what it would change it be it would have to be in C1, right? Correct. But C1 could be Yes, sir. So C1 Walmart parking lot. Yeah. Your most your strip malls are all C1. Um, we've got Becky uh from planning and we also have planning commission if you have some questions that might be better.

Let's throw Becky under the bus. All right. Becky, please step up make a presentation and

All right. Go ahead. I I just want How did Why did this come up? Why is this a thing? Cuz they're in industrial. There's nowhere for a tattoo parlor to Is it Is there a tattoo artist that's coming? Not yet. We do not have one on for that to happen. So, how did this come? How did this come up in the meeting? So, let's commission is tasked with making recommendations to the council and what we think is in the best interest of the design.

I don't think we felt that it was advantageous to have a space for a commercial business to bring jobs and services to our community. commercial districts council hasn't considered any of that. So we're seeking to have two parc from the industrial district which essentially relegates them to a place where they cannot exist. Yeah, I I understand what the process but again it's like this is not a problem. It's not even an issue. But you could wind up having

people from Augusta that do and usually that when you talk about breaking jobs, it's usually the tattoo artist that's there. It's just one person, single proprietor. And so I mean I have a tattoo, but it just seem like it's just not something that is knocking down our door. I think you're asking sort of where it why how this came about. Yeah. So I have I as the zoning administrator I have had some interest from just you know phone calls just here there random phone calls. Hey do you guys you know I heard this place is for rent. Do you guys allow that in commercial one? I noticed that we do not came up in conversation and here we are.

But we've not actually had anyone to uh submit permit any application submitted current. So this is just a foreseeable future. Correct. It would stream of, you know, commercial revenue that we could possibly Well, I don't know about how much revenue it would bring because um commercial business into the town. It's not like you're going to it's not going to employ a bunch of people. Most tattoo places are whoever the artist is and that's about it. They don't employ other people. But right now we don't have any pending uh permits for such services. No.

Respectfully, Martly, why would we have any pending applications when it's not allowed in commercial districts? But uh just as the housing situation, we these things they come up they they pop up. they occur and when they do occur, yes, someone would have asked the question or brought it to the council to the find out whether there is a an allowance for such. I do understand what you're saying, young man, in the core shirt. I don't know your name, but this is this is Riley Adams. He's the vice chair. Vice chair of the planning commission. Planning. Okay. What's that name again? Riley. Riley Adams.

Adams. Thank you. I'm not familiar with who's on those committees, Becky. So, um, that's why I asked a question and I am concerned about what comes into the area since I'm a long-term resident of this area and, uh, we do see quite a few things changing and we know that change is constant, but we do also need to be aware of the fact if there are people coming in with requests for could they could also make a argument for their set in industrial. We have zero indu We have a zero induction but nobody is for them. Nobody's making nobody's making an application. Okay.

Can I make can I make a comment about that's my personal experience trying to rent a place in the industrial park. It will not be allowed. Lexon County runs that industrial park. I tried to put locate my business when I was locating a place for there. I was told by Lexington County they did not want my type of business because it did not fit what they had going there. So a tattoo parlor would never get in. I had to either sell items that would directly involve the industries there or not. We only have one other industrial place in town. I don't know of any place up there. Is that right? Right now at the present time there's only one other area and that's up

Yeah. Russell Street is is industrial and then technically the the Middleberg Mill Park is is is still I I don't mind that. But can we designate a place for that so that you don't have like fake shop everywhere? Well, if it's in C1, you can't stop it. That's what I'm saying. We can designate some other areas as industrial so they can go where we want them to go where they want to go. And then

Mr. Mayor, if I may. Yes. Uh, are we actually changing two ordinances? One is this says we're moving it from industrial. We're going to leave it in industrial. I my paperwork doesn't show it being deleted. Is is it you're going to have tattooing problem? I don't think it would be necessary to delete it because they're not going to be able to get a place in industrial to do it. Right. We haven't made a recommendation to necessarily delete it from industrial currently typically. So we're not changing the answer is

recommendation or remove it from industrial. So the answer directly sir is that we are going to leave it in industrial so that we have at least three industrial sites plus we will have C1. C2 will still be no. Uh yeah, if you look at the board, uh it is written that it is reclassifying tattoo parlors from I1 industrial zoning district to C1 for general commercial district. So it is taking it from I1 and moving it to C1. Yeah, that's what I thought of anyway. That may not have been the intent from the DC, but

next. Okay. Okay. Any any further discussion? Instead of amongst ourselves, we need to discuss as a order. Any further discussions or questions? If not, thank you. And we'll vote. District one, yes. District two, yes. District three, District three was no. District four, four, no. District five,

yes. District six, yes. District seven, yes. District eight. No. Mayor, vote yes. That motion carries. First reading of an ordinance to amend the Batesburg leasal code of ordinances appendix A article 7 district regulations R1 and R1A district changes. Can we put those up and you tell us what's going on Mr. Hendris? We were not presented we're not presented with a change to the industrial.

All right. So this is multiple items uh from the from article 7 district regulations. our one single family district. Um we also this came from the planning commission as well. Uh they had a work session went through this and then they approved this last month. Uh the highlighted sections that are on the board uh are what they were changing just a typo with to establish a low in low density single family residential district. Uh 7-1.2.A A uh was to add including modular and traditional built houses. We we currently operate where modular is allowed in R1. This is uh because it does meet the uh building codes. Uh but this is just to uh put it in black and white for R1. uh 7-1.3C solar energy systems specifically affixed to or directly supporting a residential dwelling. The section does not permit commercial solar energy collection, transmission or retainment systems. So again, that is in the permitted accessory uses and structures. Uh do y'all want to add anything to that and Sean? No, we'll just if anybody has any questions, just stop us. Um, in 7-1.4, which is permitted special exceptions, they removed H cluster housing developments subject to the terms of section 8-6 and then adjusted the the letters accordingly. They did increase the minimum lot area and width in 7-1.6 from 10,000 square ft to 10,500 square ft.

We don't have a definition for a modular and then and we're not in sync with minimum setbacks uh 7-1.7 uh for sideyard went to I believe it went from 8 feet to 10 feet and rear yard I believe went from 25 to 30 feet. So they they making the law. Um,

and then they added the uh new 7-1-7A minimum setback from non-typical exterior property lines for R1 being 35 front, 15 side, 35 rear. Would y'all like to explain for people what the non-traditional or non-typical exterior property line is? Um yeah, this would be a public road like a corner property. Correct. Yes. So it would have a little bit more of a setback to keep it off the roadway. Have you ever heard of this?

We haven't discussed this. And 7-110 minimum off streetet parking and loading requirements. Uh, each dwelling regulated under this section shall have a minimum of two dedicated parking spaces off of the public or private roadway. Table work. That was all of the recommended changes for R1. That is R1A motion. Can't table anything yet. We don't have a motion yet. Sir, I'm sorry.

Okay. Thank. So, the next section is R1A, single family and manufactured housing residential district. Um, item E was manufactured and modular homes on individual lots subject to the provisions of 8-7. And then it goes into item A. A manufactured home must be permanently affixed to the lot of land it is situated on through the use of masonry or cement blocks with secure tie downs and underpinning and enclosed by lattice skirting masonry or vinyl to hide the underside of the home. I'm just changing some of the verbiage there. And again, this was adding modular homes to the section. Um 7-2.3 and C. Again, same thing as in R1 with a solar energy system affixed to or directly supporting a residential dwelling or its outuildings. This section does not permit commercial solar energy collection, transmission, or retainment systems. And just as in R1, they were removing H cluster housing development sub to the terms of section 8-6. Sorry. And I did not highlight this, but okay. No, that didn't change. Um, so the only thing was a minimum setback requirement sideyard went I believe it was 5t to 8t. And then again that non-typical exterior property line setbacks would be 30 feet from the side front 10 from the side 25 from the rear and and then 7-2.10 minimum off- streetet parking and loading requirements uh remove off- streetet parking and loading requirements um are set forth in

article six. uh that remove off- streetet parking and loading requirements are set forth in article six and it states each dwelling regulated under the section shall have a minimum of two dedicated parking spaces off of the public or private roadway. Um and then the section for signs signs are permitted in areas zoned for R1A in accordance with pro provisions of article 9. So those are all of the changes that are being presented by the Before we start discussion, we got to have a motion. Motion to stop. Well, Mr. Mayor, I'll make a motion that we table this.

Nobody's even seen nobody's even I think Chipotle if we don't have a motion. We got to have a motion and a second. Yeah. Okay. All right. Second. Have you read all this up? Second. Well, your chip, your motion was to adopt. To adopt and we got a second. Now we can open for discussion. Mr. Mayor, not as a as parliamentary procedure goes, you can't table something that you don't have on the floor as a motion, right? So, you got to do that. That's the only time you can have a motion to table something is during discussion of the motion that you're trying to approve. Mr. America if I may.

Yes sir. Discussion. Uh actually we reference modular housing yet in our descriptions. We do not have a valid description for modular housing. Are we changing the general that is going to be on our next at our next work session which will be so we're going to pass an ordinance for something that we don't currently have a valid description for. So we are out of sync with HUD. We're out of sync with HUD and we're out of sync with the state law as far as what a description of a mobile home, a manufactured home and a modular home is. Uh right now we have

how how can we how can we approve including modular homes when we don't know respectfully modular homes are already being approved in R1 zoning districts by the town of Bates for Leville. That's a special exception though. How do you you have to have you have to have uh two acres I think in order to that's manu say what now I consider them a state built home in my interpretation. Yeah that's like he said we don't have a definition for it. Council has not Hold on. I wasn't done speaking before you interrupted. Okay. Well listen council has not had a work session on on this. I'm not seeing this and what you're bringing to us is incomplete.

That's not correct. How's that not correct? What is a mod home? Let's not let's not argue. It's not an argument. The plan the planning commission is tasked by the council to give recommendations on what we think done to improve zoning ordinances for this town. The town has antiquated ordinances that have been in effect longer than you've been on this council and they are very inadequate as far as defining any terms. The definition section for most of these provisions actually are in separate articles, article 8, and we do not have an updated definition for a modular home yet, but that is not one of the um ordinances or that's what we just said that we've gotten to yet. But it is it is um

you know, but that's what we just said. The applicability of a modular home has different building requirements than a manufactured home based upon uh actual building code. So, it's completely classified as a different item than a manufactured home. So it's not necessarily defined in this provision before you, but it's already being already being applied in many applications that have already been approved. So we're formerly adding it into the zoning classification that it's used in currently if that makes sense. It doesn't. But I understand what you're saying, but just because you're doing it that way doesn't mean it's the right way to do it. You don't have to vote in in in agreement with it. But that's I understand. Listen here.

No, no, no. So, we need to um have time to discuss this to before we I believe before we make a a definite decision on this tonight because thankfully we had to we were supposed to have a joint work session. Why pushing this council and we haven't had it um I was supposed to be with all of council but we were shut down and that was we went home. There was no work done on any of this and that was our goal. So if that meeting was called at council's leisure that was our meeting. So we we have the right to end the meeting when we want to end the meeting.

Okay. So now you you don't have a right to because we ended the meeting now all of a sudden you going to do something uh totally different or we all had a chance to do it. So what we need to do now I believe that we need to have time Mr. Hall, I agree with you that we need to sit down and talk about this. We need to have a work session so we can get further clarity before we approve such because we are concerned about the uh may I ask council to use other parts of this ordinance and remove any rep vote on the other provisions before you today so we can advance changes to these

to help support the town and the growth that's coming that we're seeing on the planning commission. You don't have to approve the manufacturer, but our setbacks, our lot sizes, and other things that are going to be paramount to the influx of residential subdivisions that we've had coming this way would be uh for everyone's interest for y'all to look at that. Agree. Yeah, I agree with that. Mr. Mayor, may I? Yes. Hope

basically, I'd like to clarify something. The meeting was shut down because of the fact that the we were looking at zoning ordinances before we had a comprehensive plan. It is my understanding and maybe I'm illiterate that the ordinances support the comprehensive plan. The comprehensive plan does not support necessarily support the ordinances. Uh state law says we must have a comprehensive plan. Then we can tailor the ordinances to the comprehensive plan. We don't have said comprehensive plan and we have no schedule to have one. So I'm I'm Yes, I think our ordinances need to be changed and in fact I am in favor of everything that's here except for the fact that we don't have a modular definition and we're out of sync with HUD. But at the same time, you know, we're looking at an ordinance. We have to change the ordinance as it is or amend it. go through it and amend it section by section. But I'm still saying that where is our comprehensive plan so that we can actually have re truthful recommendations that implement that plan. That's what ordinances are about.

I'm going to make a comment at this particular time. Yes. is planning. I was on planning commission for six years. This planning commission the way they're their job is to go through these ordinances and make recommendations to change to council. Now, they're doing what they're charged to do. They're bringing it before us and they're not. We all know what's right down the road and it's coming this way. If we don't do something about these ordinances and you sit back and argue about stuff that doesn't matter, we're going to be overrun just like some of these other towns, it's time you wake up and smell the daggum roses and make a decision and quit arguing about stuff that doesn't matter. Thank you, mayor.

Thank you, mayor. Mr. Mayor, may I Yes, ma'am. Um, is not is it in the building codes the difference in a modular and a mobile? are is that not in international building codes? I believe there is a definition in there that we would, you know, most likely adopt. And there are no, as of right now, I'm not seeing any definition of a manufactured home in R1A, which is 7-2. Mr. Mayor, if I may,

could we task y'all with with getting those for us at a different different time? I I'm reading the memorandum here and it says manufactured and modular homes R1A. You've got them listed in the memorandum here. So I I think the definitions are on on we can either amend yeah the definition or distinguish from district to amend this motion to amend just the wording and we move on cuz we're beating the dead horse. I agree. You're correct. That's what it'll take to get us to a vote. I amend my motion as you suggested and I will amend the second.

Okay. Then we're voting on it without the modular home modular home definition, but that'll be put into the Everybody understand that? We're voting on this on this ordinance to approve without having the modular home in there. So removing modular from both R1 and R1A just removing modulars reference it completely. I think um lack of definition just improving it lack of definition in this section the definition will follow in article 8 which is you know not ideal but that's what a lot of definition sections are. Is that what the motion is?

Okay. Yeah. that 3 3-2-35 covers manufactured and 3-2-36 covers mobile. Uh, in the general definition, there's a lot of jobs references. Yeah. Excuse me. I'm sorry, sir. All right. So, what are we voting on with that? So, can we add those references into this? Do we have a new motion and a new Yes. I simply recommend that we amend the motion to cover that the ordinances are subject to clarification of the definition. Okay. All right. Okay. I made my motion uh so that say that again.

Subject to clarification of the definition so that we can uh clarify uh what a modular home is. Correct. Okay. So that's what we're that's what we're changing. and the second changed it. She's approved that. So, we're voting on this ordinance to approve it without clarification of manufactured or modular homes until we get that corrected. So, everybody knows what you're voting on. Yeah, Mr. Mayor, we we uh we haven't he my call for the vote. Yeah. My uh reservation Steve had started before you started that. We didn't really. Okay.

Go ahead, Steve. My reservation is the fact that council had done a work session on these ordinances and they may be correct but we this is the first time for me seeing it and so I just wanted to put that on the record. I have not seen this uh we haven't had a work session on it. So and and these folks have open meetings that we can attend and we can get information for ourselves. Are we supposed to be in there? I thought we supposed to be separate. Supposed to be there. Vote has been called for. Supposed to be separated. We'll now vote on this ordinance. And you can't talk in there as is presented and I'm not going to dare try to repeat it, but anyway. District one.

Yes. District two. Yes. District three. District three votes no. District four, no. District five, yes. District six, yes. District seven, yes. District eight, yes. And the mayor votes yes. The motion carries. All right. That brings us to item F, approval of reimbursement to the BBA for improvements to the North Pine Street lot. Mr. Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to reimburse BBA. All right, we have a motion. We have a second. Second. Go ahead. I think Chip.

All right, we have a motion and a second that we reimburse the BBA for improvements to the North Street lots. Now, open for discussion. And for clarity, Councilman Montgomery, can you state how much the reimbursement is? the 10,000 that we were first approached for. Yes, sir. Okay. Just wanted to make that for the record. Yes, sir. And if id had this information last month, we wouldn't be doing this again today.

It's now open for discussion. Any discussion? We're voting on $10,000. $10,000 the BBA to the BBA for money they spent with agreement from town council years ago. No discussion. We'll vote. District one. Yes. District two. Yes. District three. District three votes. No. District four. Four. No. District five. Yes. District six. Yes. District seven. Yes. District eight.

District eight recuses himself as I am a past community partner of BB8. and the mayor recuses himself because he is a member of the BBA and I don't need a conflict or anybody turning me over to ethics. We will get motion carries. We'll get that paperwork for y'all to fill out. Lisa has copies approval of a contractor for the vehicle wrap for the police department. We've had it in the packet. Get all that money walking out the door. So move more town money. All right, we have a motion. I have a second.

All the money walking out to go. I'm sorry. What did you do? The vehicle witness. That motion just We need a motion. That motion just We have a motion. Do we have a second to approve it? I'll second. All right. I don't know who. That was Joe that did the motion. No, I don't know. I don't know who did the motion. Who was down here? Who said who voted? Yes. Who Who made the motion? Who made the motion? Okay, Chip. I have to put that in my stuff. And Kathy, I didn't hear who made the motion.

All right, we have a motion and a second that we approve the contractor of the vehicle wrap for the police department. It's now open for discussion. Are we going to talk about that any at all or we just going to go to the vote? Mr. Mayor? Yes, sir. Obviously, I'm not going to disappoint you. If I may address Council Member uh Turner, uh in your opinion, are these realistic uh prices for such a job?

Um Mr. Hall. That seems quite high to me to be honest knowing a little bit about the wrapping process. Mr. Mayor, I move that we table this uh till we get quotes for the project. We got quotes. We've got three quotes. We have quotes, do we not? She said those are high. Have four quotes. four, but it might be four. I knew three. Yeah, I saw three on the board, but he said they weren't three. Three. We got three on the paper,

but that's what's required. Do we do that? Mr. Mayor, I remove 1800. All right. Any further discussion? We should, 1800. If not, we'll vote. Oh, chip. Did someone say they wanted to table the motion? Yeah, but he rescended it because it's we had three bids. All right. District one, no. District two, yes. District three, District three votes. No. District four,

four, no. District five, yes. District six. Yes. District seven.

I was abstain. I'm not that. You're going to abstain. Yep. Counselor. You have to have a reason, right? Financial interest. I don't want to vote on it. That's recuse yourself. I I'll recuse myself then. Okay. So, a non vote is a no vote. But go ahead. He's recusing himself. It's not a no vote. He has to have a financial reason to recuse, I believe. All right. I vote no then.

District eight. District 8 votes no. Mayor vote yes. Motion does not carry. 54. Mr. Mayor. Yes, sir. Then I'm not opposed to that and I would encourage coun um staff to come back with um with to rebid it out because I think that those bids were extremely high. I think $1,800 $2,000 was reasonable from what I understand about doing that. So,

all right. Approval of the contractor for painting of the cafeteria building at the Leville College Park. You want to give us any information before we go a motion to Mr. Hendricks?

Jesus. Uh we uh the day that we had the cleaning whenever power was out at town hall. Uh so staff we went several of us went to the cafeteria. The interior has not been painted in many years. The exterior was painted uh at the same time that the Midlands Tech was built around 0708. Um we had staff pressure wash or attempt to pressure wash recently. Um it it's it's that's as good as it gets the picture there. Uh we were chipping some paint off. Um it is it's just time to repaint the building. So we we put it out to bid. We we reached out to local painters. We were only able to get two that gave us a bid to paint the exterior and the interior. Um, but let me see if the other picture the interior uh includes the actual dining hall cabinets on the interior uh of the kitchen area. Everything that is a painted surface uh wall area would be included in this. Um so that is interior and exterior painting. the uh two bids that were received was true blue services at 18,234 and no worries painting and pressure washing at 24,629. We had uh reached out and tried to get flowers who did the uh did a good job at the um depot but they were they did not bid. Um, so what staff is recommending is adding a 10% contingency just in case we do find some rot on the building. Uh, so we are asking that council uh approve $20,57.40 cents to to contract with True Blue Services um to do the painting for the

interior and the exterior of Leville College Parks cafeteria. Uh it is not written here, but we would be able to take that money from uh we have not utilized the $100,000 line item for Hannes auditorium that's in the H tax. We would be able to use some of that money towards this project. That would be my recommendation. Can I ask a question before we do anything? Yes, certainly. Who pressure washed it? Our street department or public works guys. I don't know specifically who, but that was Well, I'm just I'm just asking. Was it somebody that does professional?

It was not a professional crew. It was our crew with a We do have a a very heavyduty pressure washer trailer mounted, but um it it they are certainly not professional. Was how was it done if it was done with equipment that would be designed to take that stuff off or was it done with one that you go buy at Lowe's?

Now, this was this is a a nice pressure washer that is it has the capability of doing hot water. Uh I don't think it is equipment. I It may be staff perhaps, maybe some skill. I I don't doubt that um a professional pressure washer might would have better luck, but uh the recommendation from staff was that, you know, they were chipping paint. They were uh unable to really get it to to look good certainly next to the new restroom facility. Well, my next question is concerning the new restroom. Yes, sir. Didn't we spend extra money to get brick that's going to match that bathroom? So, the brick of the cafeteria

caf well the the cafeteria brick is originally a gray brick. It was painted to match the Midlands Tech building. The brick of the uh restroom is to match the Midlands Tech building. So, they are supposed to be consistent. Yes, sir. And the paint's going to match the color to make all the brick look the same. That is the intent. Yes, sir. Okay. I have a question. Yes, ma'am. Mr. Hendricks. So, the Hannes Auditorium, I you mentioned the funds that were allocated for that. Are they going to do anything with that building on the outside or I know we were talking last year or so about renovations, but it seems as though it stopped.

So, we have the GMK uh study uh which came back several months ago. I believe that was emailed to y'all in the fall. Um I spoke with them and they're working on a a phase one of recommendations, but there would not be significant amount spent in this budget year. That would that's going to be a work session probably May May June time frame would be a work session uh regarding that eventually.

Yeah. So, uh, and and we have applied for grants through the South Carolina Parks, Recreation, and Tourism to try to get those as well. So, because the recommendation was over a million dollars on total reimbur or renovations renovations on that building. Yes, ma'am. Wow. Okay. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. Jay, I have a question. Yes, ma'am. Uh, the price is is a little bit different. Are they specked? is the who specked the job and what is specked to do. U do we have masonry filler going on there or are we just painting it like it is? Because if stuff's chipping off, we you know we need to make sure the specs are matching.

So on the board is the surface preparation that was provided by True Blue. Um Cricut had prepared that uh RFP and and posted it. The information you see there is the true blue spec. Does that answer your questions? Well, sure does. Yeah, that's just the interior. That's not So, there is your interior labor, exterior labor. Um,

exterior prep. What are they painting with? Because that that can make a difference. Cricket, I'm going to defer to you on that one. You you're the one that's had the contact with the the contractors. You got to come up where we can hear you. Right. Yeah.

It would be our recommendation as to what kind of paint and everything that we want to use. Ma'am, it would be our recommendation as to what kind of paint and everything that we want to use. And we certainly want to get something that's going to last us for a long time, right? And some of this may, you know, need some block filler or different things on it. So, are the contractors being as the prices as different as it is, are they specking the same job?

Well, they are. Both of them of course have looked at the jaws, but as you see on the true blue, that surface preparation and everything that's on there um would include the scraping and the repair minor wall imperfections, the cracks, caulking gaps and seams as necessary, and prime and repair the bare. Everybody knows this old. So you're saying that we really have not spec? We have not specified. I thought we had specified a Sherwin Williams, right? We did the Sherwin Williams.

Yeah. Is a Sherwin Williams brand that was in the RFP. Off the top of my head, I I don't have that. So we have paint. Yes, there is a specific type of Sherwin Williams paint that is specified that was done. I mean you protected because Sherwin Williams had got like 10 different grades, right? And I don't recall the exact one. We we had used the Sherwin Williams similar type on the um depot and this was incorporating the same types of paint. So both vendors are proposing the same paint.

Correct. They had the same information. Yes, sir. I would suggest when we have older building buildings like this when um you know you've washed them and they've got holes and different things in there that we call the paint rep from Sherw Williams or whichever company we decide to go with and let them look at it and they will actually spec it for us and they'll do that at no charge. They do it for all the colleges and everywhere else. They'll do it for towns and let them spec it. So the contractors, you have what needs to be done and everybody's bidding on the same exact thing. Mr. Mayor,

um Jay, I had a question now with these um these companies that bid, do we not have any local painters that bid? One of those is uh one of them is That's why I'm That's why I'm asking just trying to find out. Okay. Uh the no worries painting is local. Okay. Because I know a lot of we have a lot of painters with business licenses I believe and that's why I was asking. Yes. Okay. Jay, if you don't mind, I'd like to ask you what is the rate of use of this facility?

Um it is it is typically booked every weekend. There are times that it's booked on Saturday and Sunday. Uh it is regularly booked on holidays, family reunions, things like that. I know we've had former employee who would always have their Christmas meal there. That that facility is is used pretty heavily. I would say it's more

ballpark at least 75 times a year. And and and I just I asked that because I mean it seems to be $20,000 here, $4,000 here. I mean, we're we're we're going out. I mean, I don't know the the critical need of it, you know, and I mean, we got firemen that need turnout gear. We've got police that need vehicles. We've got workers that we just talked about bringing their pay up. And I'm just concerned that a lot of stuff's getting shuffled and we're not prioritizing some of our stuff. Is this a real priority? It is.

Well, you know, I do feel that we need to maintain our facilities. Uh and this has been going on 20 years since the the exterior was painted. I'm not sure if it was 20 on the interior or possibly further. Uh I would point out that this is hospitality tax money which is not eligible for police, fire, uh water, those uh purposes. This is for hospitality tax items. Um so so there are limits on what this money could be spent on. So I I do feel that this is a a good priority. Uh we we have done painting now on the depot. Uh we did an interior paint job maybe four years ago. We did the exterior last in the fall. I guess it was fall, early spring. Um, so that building has been painted. We've got the new restroom facilities. This is probably the next, in my opinion, is the next building that needs to be improved. Hannes is a whole another animal just because of its size and complexity and that there's going to be electrical needs that need to be

because you're going to turn around and ask for $2 million for that. Well, hopefully we're going to get some grant money for that. Um, but we we have a lot of needs at Hannes. Uh, 18 well roughly $20,000. We get this building where it's much more presentable. I don't know if you've been in there before, but we do hear complaints from renters that it's dated. It's it's kind of dirty. The paint's

chipping off. So, we we are kind of reacting to some of that input from the the customers, from the residents that do rent it. Uh, so you know, I I personally don't use it and you know the old joke, I can't see it from my house. I I it it doesn't affect me personally, but I do think it does represent the town and and the facilities that we have. Uh, you know, we rent that facility for $150. They do get a $50 uh refund if they uh clean up behind themselves, but you know, if we're we're charging that rental fee, I do feel we need to to make sure we try to provide them with a good facility. Thank you. Yes, sir. M

Mr. Mayor, cler because 75 times a year a $100 rental. So, we're actually getting $7,500 a year for that minus whatever remotely priority. I have a legal question if I may attorney. Oh my. Under our um under our hax ordinance, we have an exhibit A and exhibit B. Uh does exhibit B replace exhibit A or does it pass 201? Uh, Councilman Hall, I don't have the ordinance right in front of me, so I can't answer your question.

Okay, it's a question I've asked before because exhibit A specifically prohibits the use of H tax money for maintenance and repair. That's my mom's sister. Again, I'd have to review the ordinance and and get back with council. If if if council as a whole wants me to review that and give an opinion, I will. If I would need to have some direction from on that not at the church, don't touch that one. Mr. Mayor, can I make a suggestion? Oh, yeah. We Yeah, we going to need soon to get a motion. I want to make a suggestion that we table this until we can get a paint rep and let somebody What? We don't have I'm sorry. Point of order.

We don't have a motion. We approve. We have a motion. Do I have a second? Second. All right. We have a motion and a second to approve. Now, can I I make a suggestion to table this until we can get some motion. You got to make a motion. Don't do a suggestion. If you want to make a motion to table, make All right. I'll make a motion to table it. Have a motion to table this and second.

Have a motion and a second. We're now we're now discussing the motion to table. I'd like to make a suggestion that we get a paint rep to look at it and let them spec it. And my reason is is because the prices are so different. One of the guys that's local is a higher price. So that strikes me a little, you know, a little different. So I don't think they may be bidding on the same thing. Wait, hold on. No. If you do that, I just had a question, a legal question though, because um if you do that, do you have to send it back out to bid? Yes.

If if you have a if the if the decision of the paint rep needs to be included in the bid, yes, you would have to uh cancel the current process and start over. Okay. So table this, we just need to vote it down. Yeah, because if you table it, then you got to bring it back off the table and blah blah blah blah blah. So that would be right. Procedurally, it would be better if it was voted down and then you start the process over with. Yeah. Because if we do now, that just postpones us being able to do anything till the next meeting. That's correct. And then you have to change the bid and all that stuff. All right. So

she got to remove. We have a we have a motion to table with a second on the floors being discussed. Is there any further discussion on the motion to table? No, I I can resend that motion. If do I need to resend that motion? That's up for us to That's up to you. If you want to resend it, you can ask and see if the person I can't make that decision for you. I'm talking about the parliamentary. Who seconded? Okay, I'll resend the motion to table. Second. All right, that leaves us back into discussion of the motion to

approve the painting of that building. And I'm guessing that's with the lowest bid. Is that correct? Call for the question with the lowest. Question's been called for. We'll vote. District one, no. District two, no. District three. No. District four. We going to redo it anyway. No. District five. No. We still going. District six. No. District seven. No. District eight. No. Mayor votes no. Motion does not pass. So we starting the process over again.

Yes, sir.

All right. That takes us to resolution South Carolina folk yard sale restrictions. Is that a resolution or is that a We've always done a resolution. Um what is on the board? If you want to go ahead and just explain it. Um uh so to read the resolution, whereas the Leisel Merchants Association is sponsoring the annual South Carolina Poultry Festival on Thursday, May 7th, 2026 through Saturday, May 9th, 2026. And whereas the town council Bates Leisville has determined it is in the best interest of the vendors participating at the South Carolina Poultry Festival to prohibit yard sales in certain areas within the Batesville town limits. And whereas no yard sales shall be permitted within the area of the South Carolina Poultry Festival

as shown on the attached map and therefore be res further resolved that this resolution shall be in effect for the South Carolina Pure Festival from Thursday, May 7th, 2026 through Saturday, May 9th, 2026. And the map is shown there which basically incorporates the vast majority of the lethal district. Make a motion to approve. Second. I have a motion in a second. Approve the resolution. It's now open for discussion. David, how legal is that? Do what? It's It's always been illegal, but I'm never mind. I'll take it back. I take it back. I take it back. Hey, we done discussed enough and we still got a lot to discuss. Okay. Yeah, that's cool. All right. All right. That

who who who made that motion? Bob and Joe. Give me a second. I got to make my notes. All right. Those are my Well, votes been called for district one. Yes. District two. Yes. District three. No. No. No. District four. I don't know what we're voting for on the resolution to to not let yard sales go close to the poultry bus. Oh, we've always done it. It's always been done, but it's whatever you want to do. Yeah. Okay. Is it legal?

Yeah. Okay. Yes. We shut the whole town. I don't know. District five with Miss Betty. I'm going to go yes if it's legal. District six. Yes. District seven, yes. District eight. And the mayor vote yes. The motion carries. That brings us to the manager's report. You get to talk finally, Mr. Hendricks. Keep it short and sweet to the point. They don't. We need a bathroom break quick. People don't sell. People would tell it.

Make it fast. We'll keep it short, sweet, to the point because we still got an executive session to go. Uh the overunder was three hours. So, we'll see how that goes. We're two in counting. Uh just a few updates. Uh planning commission meeting is April 20th. Uh planning an April 27th uh work session uh regarding budget priorities and uh multiple items regarding the budget. Uh event updates, we'll run through that real quick. Spring clean B&L, we had over 100 volunteers from about 15 different organizations. Picked up about a dumpster full of trash. Uh had 100 cars come through the line for paper shredding. And we also collected 132 tires for recycling. There were also some electronics recycled. Um annual Easter egg hunt was a big success. 10,000 eggs collected. Um there were 11 organizations involved as well. Don't know the exact number in attendance, but the Easter Bunny did report that she gave out about 400 pieces of candy. Uh now that might mean that some adults came in there. That might have been some kids went twice, but who knows? Um May 30th is the mom son camo clash at the train depot park. It's a Nerf war that will be featured. There will also be teambased skirmishes including the capture the flag and last man standing. Peach Tree 23 June 5th and 6th we'll have a no yard sale fee uh on the agenda for May. Uh July 3rd, we'll have a combination of a 250th celebration of the signing of the Declaration of Independence as well as a 150th celebration for Batesburg Leville. Leville is 151. Batesburg's 149 right now. So we're splitting the difference. Um the event will start at 400 p.m. Uh there will be entertainment on stage, food trucks, historic displays, games, and um hopefully a creation of a time capsule. Um summer movie series. Maybe we can get a picture of town council before that we can include in that. Um, just had that great idea. Okay, nobody's

nobody's in the laugh mood at this point. Summer movie series. Uh, there'll be four movies in June and July. Uh, Lion King, Finding Nemo, Zootopia, and Charlotte's Web. Uh, also planning a movie night under the stars outside June 20th with a showing of the 2025 version of Superman. Uh that will begin around 900 pm. Uh summer concert is planned for August 16th at Leville College Park. And also the foodies event is being planned at the old high school middle school property on Highway 1. I forgotten to put that there, but the dates are uh right at September 11th. Uh it's a Friday, Saturday, Sunday 11, 1213, I believe. Um project update. The park restrooms, we have received the final CO. They were used for the Easter egg hunt. Uh they had to get the floors sealed, so they were closed back, cleaned up and closed back up. Floors are done. They're working on a couple of last minute uh items, a couple punch list items, the programmable door locks that are going to be installed and baby changing stations. Uh we anticipate having a meeting this week with the architect to finalize that. Uh CDB service line improvements. Um again, we're those that project is essentially complete. We're just waiting on some DOT roadwork repair guidance. Um but the water and sewer lines are in service. CDBG uh valve assessment uh mapping is over 70% complete. Um physical field work is complete. They're they're going to have a meeting u this week regarding this project and it's also due to be completed soon. Both of those have to be closed out by June 30th.

Jake. Yes, sir. Mr. That's so I want to stop you there because um I sent you an email about the work that they did on Maple you on that. Okay. Yep. I I have spoken with Andrew about that and he's going to be working with contract. I apologize. Make sure that's getting cleaned up. Okay. As well as some work at the the park. Uh yeah, I met with Tilman. Yeah. Yeah. Last week.

Okay. Weeks run together. Um, and again, we had the conversation about the high hazard dam grant. Uh, we've spoken with DEES several times. Uh, there are some liability concerns that came from DEES and also from from David. And so, we're we're working on getting some clarity for y'all on that. Um, received notification that we did not get the energy grant. Uh, that would have installed an EV charger at Pine Street parking lot town hall and had an EV uh, for town hall. Uh we did receive notification uh that we were recognized along with joint municipal water and sewer commission for the water project through the EPA uh with 48 infrastructure projects in the country and two in the state that were quote financed in part by the state revolving fund projects that demonstrate the importance of water infrastructure for supporting healthy Americans and laying the foundation for economic prosperity. So um the financial uh update shows you April 1st and also last month. So, I think you all have a copy of that. We'll hit the high numbers. Uh the LJIP uh general fund, we were able to deposit a good bit from property tax in there. So, we've got 1,192,000 plus in the general fund, 3,337,000 plus in the utility, and we're knocking on the door of a million in HX at $988,790. Um the general fund uh town line item 8 $591,645. Uh utility account is $229,83. Uh capital improvement impact fee $5496793. Uh you notice a big drop there. That was with some of the payments for CDBG projects. So we are getting refunds on those uh as we speak. Um there is some money that will be down, but that is

what some of that note drop there was. And then hospitality tax $293,119. Does anybody have any questions? Because we got more work. Quick one if I may and then I'll move on. Uh CBT grants or matching grants. Do we know how much the town is on the hook for for those two projects that have not been dispersed? Not off the top of my head. No. Could we get that information please? I believe that's in your weekly report but I think but we can I can pull that up. The balance due not the balance due but what the the difference is but we can get those financials. Okay. Trying to piece something together.

Okay. We can handle that. Lisa help me remember that. Anybody else? Thank you sir. All right that brings us we need a motion to go into executive session. We have a motion and a lot of second. Now open for discussion. No discussion. We'll vote. District one. Two. Yes. Three. Yes. Four. Yes. Five. Yes. Six. Yes. Seven. Yes. Eight. The mayor vote chess. We are in executive session. this whole time.

All right, we need a motion to to reconvene. So move. Second. Motion in a second that we enter back into regular session. It's now open for discussion. No discussion bill vote. Where's my pen? District one, yes. District two, yes. District three, yes. District four, yes. District five, yes. District six, yes. District seven, yes. District eight, yes. Mayor vote, yes. We're back in regular session. All right,

Mr. Mayor, I'd like to make a motion as far as the attorneys. I would like to make a motion that we um hire Mr. Cunningham. What? With the price difference that um we're looking at. Hey, that we accept his contract. That's so out of order. Second. What was the hire? All right. We have a motion and a second that we hire Mr. Cunningham. It's now open for discussion. I move we table this based on conversations in executive session. Jeez. There's a price difference of well over not May. I move that we sec that we table this uh motion.

Second. We have a motion and we have a second that we table the motion. The mo the motion to table the motion is now open for discussion. Mr. Mayor. Yes sir. I think per the discussion in executive session. Never mind because I can't discuss what happened in executive session. But anyway, okay. We're not. So, do we have a second on the motion table? Betty. Betty. Yeah.

Okay. Betty. Okay. Betty. Betty did the second her wasn't working. Mr. Mayor. Sorry. May I amend the motion? We didn't make the motion. Well, yeah. But anybody can amend it. We can go through that. That's already been documented that we can anybody can vote to that is absolutely you want to amend the motion to table no well we have a motion to table with a second that we have to deal with first okay say what now we have to vote we have a motion and a second to table that motion yeah because we that's

and we have to deal with that but you I I don't know that that motion's even amendable the table. The motion to table would not be amendable. I can amend to amend the original. I don't think you can. I don't think you can amend the motion to table. Oh, he wants to amend the motion. Mr. Mayor, I think he was dig deep in parliament procedure. I think he was referring to the original motion. I think right now you have a motion on the table on the floor. Somebody was ask, but I don't think you can. Not a motion. Make it clear. I resend everything that I said. All right, let's just move on table.

All right. Any discussion on the motion to table? I still want to know if that's the proper thing to do. But the table Yeah. the table. How we going to we we laying this on the table per our discussion and and get it off. Yeah. Yeah. We need to have a mechanism about how we going to do it. If that's if we table it, we bring it back up just like it is next meeting. Tableing, I don't think is the proper way to handle this. I I think all motions need to be with vote on it. Well, but see, you're still not going to stop it by tableing it. M Mr. Mayor, if you table it,

the item would come up at the next meeting and it would be another just like it was, right? Another item. Yes, sir. In other words, what they're what they're trying to accomplish is having discussion with the anyway with the candidate that we but if we table it they aren't going to accomplish what they want to accomplish by Okay. I I remove my motion to resend my motion to table. Okay. Okay. You resend the second. Second. Yes, I was saying. Okay, we're back. We're back in the motion to So now I can make an amendment.

All right, Bob, you want to make an amendment? There's original. I'm sorry. I can amend it to make it a viable motion. I can't believe you did that. I can't either up or down. Best is the way this would be. You either vote yes or no. If you vote no and it's the motion doesn't carry to hire him and we we need some other kind of motion. Okay. All right. That's how it procedurally that's what it would be. Yes. You vote yes or yay or nay depending on how you feel.

If the motion passes then he's hired. If the motion fails, then we still have to make some kind of motion. We can't have a council. All right. Any further discussion on the motion to hire Cunningham as the town attorney? Yes, Mr. Mayor. Yes, sir. She wants to vote on this when we do not You can't You can't tell what we said in No, we don't have a pay scale for the individual. Okay. Is what I want to say. She's basing it on what? I don't pulling numbers out of the air and we don't even have a pay scale on his application of what he's going to charge. Ridiculous.

From any further discussion? Yes, sir. from the information that we were given and some of the information that they gave us on resumeéumés, there were some some prices there and in the discussions that were had with them, I think there were differences of um Bob, if I'm incorrect, $100 or so on the hourly rates. Okay. Between the two of them, oh, it's not official, but that's, you know, that's what um we were, Mr. Mayor. And that's why we were going to do what we said we were going to do. So, I'm I'm basing that on the amount of hours spent. You have no idea what you're talking about.

That um that's going to run into a lot of money at $100 an hour difference. How How do you know that? Eddie had the floor, Steve. Let her Okay. She asked for the floor. Mr. Mayor. Yes, ma'am. In reference to the issue at hand, when we came out of executive session, we were coming out here for two. Can't say anything we did, man. Can't say nothing about what we did. Okay. Um, got to be careful. Yes. We're not ready to make that decision yet. Jesus. It's just a respect for council. Any any further discussion? I have

additional point mayor. Yes. Be in the best interest of the optics for this council not to hire someone without an interview. Just my comment. Thank you. I was going to ask the question. If this vote were to go into the negative, would that person be ineligible to be a candidate for the position? Probably. The motion needs to be rescended. I I would I would my opinion would be no. They would not be ineligible. Okay. Um what's legal? Yeah. But but that's you know because it'll be on the record.

Now they may choose to withdraw their name that they may say I don't want to deal with that. But um but from from our perspective I don't think that would make them that would disqualify them. or we going to screw something. I would I would I would really like to see us resend the motion and not take action. That's up to Kathy. Send it. You resend it. Do the interview. Make a motion to do the interview. I'll resend the motion. I'll resend the second. Okay. Motion to adjourn. All right. The motion. We rescending the motion. Now we are okay. We need to get that's where we want

the motion that we talked about. Mr. Mayor, I move that the council uh set up an interview process so that we may engage a new attorney. I second. Yes. Have a motion and a second that we set up an interview process for the two candidates. Motion. Uh as soon as possible. Yes. I will amend my motion to add as soon as possible. running out even if it's a video call Zoom Michael Nice can do it. We have a motion. We have a second

call for the question. Questions called for district one. How are we vote? What to set up interviews as quick as possible. Yes. District two. Yes. District three. Yes. District three. He said yes. You said yes. I didn't pick. District four. Yes. District five. Yes. District six. Yes. District seven. Yes. Eight. Yes. And the mayor votes? Yes. All right. Then we approving this fire contract? I seriously do. Uh, yes.

Yes. We need a motion to approve the fire fire service contract between county. Have a motion. We have a second. So moved. Second. Motion and a second is now open for discussion. There's no discussion. We'll vote since I get to my tally sheet.

We all still laughing. District one. You know we working. Yes. District two. Are we voting on the black contract? Sorry. District two votes yes. Yes. District three. Yes. Four. Yes. Five. Yes. Six. Yes. Seven. Yes. Eight. Yes. Mayor votes yes. Directly. We can't do anything on the last two. Okay. Let's make a motion we adjourn. Second. We need we need to do potential agenda items. We really Oh, sorry. Sorry. I resent.

Anybody have anything they want to put on the agenda next time? The procurement ordinance. The procurement and purchasing ordinance. Good.

Um, okay. It's out of state law, so we need to get that one fixed. That's very broad motion. I don't know what that even means. Yeah. Can you clarify? Yeah. Clarify. Jay, can you clarify which ordinance that is, please? Sir, so you're you're wanting us to bring forth an updated procurement ordinance. Um,

the one we looked at in the work session that one time. So, you want the one that was the one that you received from MASC. And what you're wanting to do is do the standard draft ordinance or the the one that MASC provided. The one that MASC provided us. Yes. So that we can be compliant because we're out of compliance with that. Okay. We we can bring that. Okay. And we'll have to enter a dollar amount. Are we out of compliance with state purchasing ordinance or are we out of compliance with state law? I

I don't think we're out of compliance with purchasing. We have utilized the existing procurement ordinance when we have uh applied for other grants. We have provided that order. Are we out of compliance with a state law based on that specific ordinance? Yeah, you got to make Councilman Hall, my understanding is that um the town is required to have a procurement ordinance by state law. We have one.

So, I think you're in compliance with state law when it comes to having an ordinance. I think what is being asked is to update the ordinance based on new um price increases and and changes in on the procurement uh processes that since the last time the ordinance was adopted. and and I personally feel the venue for that is a work session prior to a uh decision making process. Didn't we have a work session? We've already had it in a work session. You didn't accomplish anything. That's right. Yeah, but if you This is up to council to decide if we want this on the agenda. Revisited in a work session. I would This is up to council at this point whether y'all want that on the agenda for next month. that

say what? If y'all if you give direction to to us to bring this to council for next month, we can do that. Uh or if you want to address it in a work session, we can do that as well. Don't we have a work session coming up on the 27th? If you want to tackle it that night, we we'll make sure we have breakfast ready as well cuz that's going to be a long night that night as well. But we can put it on we can put on the work on the 27th. We'll put it on there. Well, it's on the 27th budget and priorities and and going over many many items that are dealing with the about the appropriate time to talk about the procurement. I think so, Mr. Mayor. We can roll with it. So, all right.

And Jay, can we get that um those materials way ahead of time so we can mark them up? I will do the best I can to get you information in advance. Yes. Yeah. It's still it's still a process. Well, I mean because we we haven't fully converted the budget stuff yet, you know. I mean, isn't that what you you sent us out? You said it hadn't been fully converted.

Yes. And that was uh we had a so spring to answer Councilman Hall's question is the company Springbrook is who we were working with and I had a meeting or a quick brief conversation with Christie who is our project manager and they are supposedly getting the last little bit of the the budget stuff converted. Um are they charging us for that? That's the software company. That's the software company. They charging us for that. Yeah, that that was part of the agreement that we had last year to convert. Okay. So is it involved? It's it's all involved in the contract. Uh and so

that all was sent over Thursday. So we should have updates soon. They that would be the final step for everything to be consolidated onto one form. Trust me, I want that as much as anybody else. Okay. Well, I agree with both. My problem with that council, fellow council members, is the fact that council should say what financial reports we would like to have in order to assure that we can make proper decisions on how set policy. We should define the financial report that we would like to have

within the confines of the ability of software or supplemental process. That's just my viewpoint. But anyway, um all right. So, are we now at a now we ready for a motion to adjourn? I hope so. So, move second. Second. Amen. All right. Any discussion? If not, we'll vote. District one. Yes. Two. Yes. Three. Three. Yes. Yes. Yes. Four. Yes. Five. Yes. Six. Yes. Seven. Yes.

Eight. Yes. If you have snow, he don't want to go home. No, I'm just see I came prepared. I brought Of course, it was empty.