County Council - Regular Meeting

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.

Let's remain standing. A kind, loving, and gracious God, we come thank you for allowing us to be here during this Easter season. Lord, we come thanking you for sacrificing your body on the cross. We come thanking you and so so loving and amazed that you were able to beat death, bring new life. Lord, we ask that you continue to watch over each and every heart and mind on this county council so that we may continue to make compassionate and sound, truthful, honest decisions while we serve here. Then Lord, we ask that you continue to watch over each and every child and each and every citizen in this community. These and all of the things we ask in your son Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen. All right, we'll begin with uh item 3A, which is the March 16th, 2026 council meeting minutes. Motion.

I make a motion that we accept the uh March 16th, 2026 council meeting minutes as presented. A second. All right. Is there any discussion? Call for the question. Those in favor raise your right hand to say I. I. All in favor. All right. Next up is number four, which is citizens comments. We have one person signed up to speak. I'll remind you, you have three minutes to speak. Please uh address the council and state your name and address when you come forward. So, Mr. Barry Dodson.

My name is Barry Dodson. I live at 3631 Andes Road in Richburg. Lived in Chester County 38 years. My lovely wife, Robin, of 45 years has lived in Chester County essentially her entire life. I was John AG's nominee for the zoning appeals board. The failure to approve an appointment to a board of commission is extremely rare, if not unheard of. The first thing you might want to consider is qualifications. And it reminded me of an incident I had 35 years ago when a friend called me up and asked me to help him with zoning and building codes. That friend's name adorns this very building that we're in. And I call on Carile's spirit to bear witness tonight. Did my councilman's standing up for his friend cause council such great offense that they would deny representation to 5,000 citizens in District One? I wish I had that kind of a friend. Maybe Robin's outspoken comments against council's actions caused the great offense. Public speech and dissent is the bedrock of the Bill of Rights and the heartbeat of our republic. I suppose the community meeting we had at Union Church was the great offender. People were concerned about what they saw as unfair treatment of a cherished member of our community. All were welcome, including the press and council's representatives. My job there was to ensure to quorum, and I did so. And even though I didn't agree with necessarily all the opinions, the

meeting was concluded appropriately and properly with prayer. Churches in this area have been meeting places since the Revolutionary War. How could you take offense at that? My mentor at that church was Buddy Martin. He was not only my mentor in that church spiritually, but my mentor in this county for public service. Buddy served was a lifelong member of union and served on this council for 38 years and couldn't move his neck because of shrapnel he got on the beaches of Normandy. It would appear that moving forward the council is denying representation to an important constituency of this county, denying desending speech and discarding the ability of a church to allow a community meeting. So what am I to do? The voice of my Lord thunders from scripture. Pray for those that curse you. Pray for those that despitefully use you. I pray for each one of you every day and I will continue to do so. I only wish Pete would teach me how to grow a tomato. I wish everybody remembered Mosley Fabrication being profiled on the national TV show Mega Machines. I've paid my gas bill every month for the last 30 years. and you disrespect me. So, may God bless you and forgive you and I'll be praying. All right. Thank you.

Next up, we have our public hearing. So, 5A is ordinance 2026-06 authorizing the transfer of approximately 5.259 259 acres of real property with improvements, if any, located on Doctor's Court on Highway 97 with county tax map number 0803 03301 080033029 and 080 03 03025 and providing for other related matters. I don't have anyone on the signup sheet to speak to that. Is there anyone in the audience that would like to speak to that? Seeing no one, I'll move on to the next one. And that's 5B, which is ordinance 2026-07 to adopt a comprehensive plan for the county of Chester, titled Chester County 2025 comprehensive plan. Again, no one's on the signup sheet. Is there anyone in the audience that would like to speak to that? Seeing no one, I will declare that this public hearing

you have someone. If you're going to speak, you need to come forward to the microphone. So, you'll have you'll have three minutes. And uh if you if you'll state your name and address for me, please. Robin Dodson, 3631, Hernandez, 29729. Thank you. I want to say that the hiring of our planner has been one of the best things our countyy's ever done. Uh he's worked so hard on the comprehensive plan. Oh my gosh, he listened to us and he put it in the plan. He listened to us how we want to keep our rural heritage in our county and and have smart growth. So kudos to m to uh to our planner and uh know it's going to be approved and thank you very much.

Thank you. Is there anyone else in the audience who would like to speak? All right, seeing no one else. Um this public hearing is closed. Next up we have number six, which is ordinances, resolutions, and proclamations. We have 6A is a proclamation in honor of National Dispatcher Week. We have several members of 911 dispatch with us. We will read the proclamation and then we will um come forward and take a picture and uh give you the give you the uh the proclamation at that time. So, a proclamation in honor of National Dispatcher Week. Whereas, the second week of April each year is designated as National Dispatcher Week, a time to recognize and honor the critical role that public safety dispatchers play in ensuring the safety and well-being of our communities. And whereas public safety dispatchers serve as the vital link between the public and emergency responders, providing critical information and support to law enforcement, fire, medical personnel, and other first responders. And whereas dispatchers work tirelessly behind the scenes, often under high stress conditions to ensure the swift and efficient response to emergencies, demonstrating exceptional skills in communication, problem solving, and crisis management. And whereas the work of dispatchers is essential in saving lives, preventing further harm, and maintaining the public's trust in emergency response systems. And whereas the men and women in public safety dispatch services deserve recognition for their dedication, professionalism, and commitment to the safety of others. And whereas National Dispatcher Week is an opportunity for all citizens to express appreciation for the valuable contributions of those unsung heroes of emergency services. Now therefore, I, Pete Wilson, chairman on behalf of the Chester County Council, hereby designates the week of April 13, 2026 as National Dispatcher Week and encourages

all citizens to join in recognizing the hard work, compassion, and professionalism exhibited by dispatchers in our community and across the nation. Chester County Council extends its deepest gratitude and appreciation to the dispatchers for their unwavering commitment to the safety and security of our residents and the exemplary service they provide to our emergency response teams. So, this is done on this day, April 6, 2026. So, thank you'all very much. Want to give you a round of applause. If I can get you to come forward. We're going to take a picture with you as well. Thank you, sir. All right. Are there any comments from county council? I just appreciate all the hard work. had to use you a couple times and I'm glad you're there when we do need it and I hope I don't have to use you again for a

long long long long time but we appreciate your work. Thank you. We all were very much in gratitude for the work you do. Very important work. Thank you very much. All right. So, next up is 6B which is the first reading of ordinance 2026-08 the six-month review and recommended edits to the subdivision and land development ordinances. Planning Commission approved six to zero. We'll call forward our planning and development director, Mr. Ward. Hard to believe it's already been six months.

Yes, sir. Mr. Chairman, I agree. Glad to be with you this evening. Uh, I'll remind you on September 15th, 2025, County Council passed into law the ordinance 202518, which culminated a complete revision to the countyy's subdivision and land development regulations. This is the first update to those codes in 25 years and they had a lot of drastic sweeping changes. We worked on them for quite some time. These included architectural requirements, parks and recreation requirements, new infrastructure standards for subdivisions. And because these codes were so major, so sweeping, I told you at the time of passage that I would be back in 6 months and 12 months, and in 18 months to bring you the feedback that I'd heard from builders, developers, and citizens regarding how the codes are working. We don't want to have codes that are trapped for 25 more years and never change. We want to continually update them initially and periodically. So, I'm here for the six-month update. It has been six months. The feedback has been largely very positive. Um, I've particularly have heard from a few builders that the codes are a lot simpler and easier to read. They like the tables and charts. So, that's been really encouraging to hear. I have taken notes throughout these intervening six months about things to change and updates to make it more clear, more easily understandable, clear up ambiguity, and that's what I'm here for. Um, you'll see in your packet the proposed revisions to the ordinances. These are across nine pages and are highlighted in green. I can work through the changes one by one if needed, Chairman Wilson, or just cover them generally?

Just cover them generally if you

Yes, sir. So, the changes generally are updates to the procedure or clarifying where things were not as clear up front. For instance, um in the original subdivision codes, I required that the well and septic letters for minor subdivisions be submitted to the county at an earlier stage in the process than are needed. So, now we've put that at the right place. Many of these changes are to eliminate burdens upon builders, particularly smaller developers, to make the process easier for them, remove red tape, and clear up things that were left unclear. Has a few changes with well and septic. um the plaques, when the plats are needed to be submitted in the subdivision review process, the ESU builts for streets and sidewalks, clarifying things about private minor streets, um explaining that multif family projects have some flexibility with their architecture. So, it's it's a range of things across these these few pages, but there's nothing that I would consider substantive or or major. Are there any questions about any of those changes in green? So again, in our packet, it's very clear what's being changed. So that's available online for anyone that wants to look it up on our agenda packet tonight, see exactly what's what's being changed,

right? Yes, sir. All right. Is there um any questions for Mr. Ward or would we like to entertain a motion? Make a motion we approve the first reading of ordinance 2026-08. I'll second. I have a motion to second. Is there any discussion? All for the question. Those in favor raise your right hand and say I. I. All in favor.

All right. So that brings us to um 6 C which is the third R ordinance ordinance 2026-07 to adopt a comprehensive plan for the county of Chester titled Chester County 2025 comprehensive plan. Mr. Mr. Ward, would you like to give us a brief uh summary of what we're third reading and what this is accomplishing?

Yes, sir. Chairman Wilson. Um this is this is a really big deal and a big day for Chester County and uh Mr. Wilson, Mr. Hester thought it appropriate to give both a summary and then a recap for everyone explaining just what has happened in the intervening months, how we came to where we're at and what a big deal this is. I was thinking the other day, it was September of 2024 and I stood here for my first of many county council workshops already. and I laid out a plan of three options for county council to solve what I considered an existential problem for the county. What will we become 10 years from now? And we all remember the questions from that time that had no easy answers. Is this subdivision appropriate? Is it appropriate on this road or this road? How will these this new growth impact our schools and our fire and our police? Should we embrace the growth at all cost mindset or should we build a great wall of Chester along our border with York and seal out all future growth to preserve our rural heritage? Hard questions. Chester County Council wanted to take it very seriously. So on that day in September, I presented three options, three timelines for how to tackle these problems. Had to create a new subdivision code for the county and a new comprehensive plan. The simple option at that time, and I told you this, that the easy route was to do what most cities and counties do, which is hire a consultant, pay a $100,000, $200,000, and have a consultant write the comprehensive plan, and then they come to y'all, and you rubber stamp it. That's what many cities and counties do. But you chose the hard option. You chose the option of involving our citizens, not just doing an online poll, but going out into the community, going into Baton Rouge and Great Falls and Richburg and everywhere in between. We had 150 citizens show up for workshops around our county in addition to an online poll that was very successful.

You chose the option, the hard option of spending long hours meeting and talking on the phone with Mr. Hester, with myself, with each other about solutions to these problems. He chose the option of four field trips, five meetings with municipalities and towns, eight council regular meetings, five meetings um with with other organizations as well where sections of this plan were reviewed and you chose the options of sacrificing your time above and beyond what anyone would reasonably require. And most importantly, what I think has what has made this plan so successful is that you chose the option of putting your wisdom and what your constituents told you directly, as was said earlier, into this plan, not what some consultant from Atlanta or Charlotte powered by AI told you would be best for the farmers of Rodman or for the businesses of the bypass. You knew what was best and you put your time and effort and what your constituents told you to make this plan great. So, we now have the plan, 120 pages. We've worked for well over a year on this. You chose the hard way and I strongly strongly believe that you chose the right way and it will pay dividends both now and in the future for Chester County. There's an old proverb that says where there is no vision people perish. We now have a vision on paper for Chester County. A real vision that the citizens want. It's a future with moderate controlled growth that revitalizes our towns and cities, protects our farmland, and strongly, unashamedly grows our economy. And we have a 90point work plan to make this happen through policies and future investment efforts. So, I'll just say a few more things. First of all, this plan would not be possible without you, Mr. Wilson. the many hours of research, the leadership, the meetings and phone calls you spent working on precise verbiage for this, figuring out how to revitalize our towns, supporting the rural areas of Westchester and Lowries and prioritizing a strong economy and freedom. I thank

you, Vice Chairwoman Mosley, as the atlarge rep. You brought a a holistic and a big picture view. You spend so much time out in all corners of this county, and that really showed through this process. Uh, I was thinking that you especially as I look back over time working looked out for the small businesses and for the rural areas of our county and really helped think about the long term. Where will we be and what's the strategy to get there? So, I appreciate your leadership, too. Councilman Guy, you brought so much experience from business and industry, a really well-rounded wisdom to this. You worked hard with me to find that good balance between good growth and protecting the needs of our existing citizens in Rodman and Chester and everywhere in between. Councilman Killian, you were relentlessly advocating for growth in the city of Chester, good growth in the city of Chester, and for the importance of getting our public schools involved, and I really appreciate that. Thank you. Councilman Reigns, you and I spent many hours in my office talking about specific roads and highways and the strain on them and how future growth would would change those patterns. I really appreciate your expertise on that as well. Councilman Brunson, you and I were meeting to talk about the Great Falls area and um that southeast portion of the county before you were even elected. You've taught me a lot about their needs and ways to to grow that area and make it stronger. And Councilman Ag, you and I have spent several great mornings driving around the Richburg area. Explain to me the history of that, their particular needs, and your vision for that area in the future. Again, this is a big deal for Chester County. I'll also say a major thank you to Chairman Huff and Vice Chairwoman Hill and the planning commission. They put many hours of work into this as well. And then of course, administrator Hester capably led as an intermediary between myself and council and spent many many many many hours with me fine-tuning this plan and and the process. That verse in Proverbs has a second

part. Where there is no vision, the people perish, but he that keepeth the law is happy indeed. So perhaps for us, we can amend that this evening. Where there's no vision, the people perish, but those that keep at the Chester County Comprehensive Plan will be happy. Thank you. If you have any questions, I'm stand ready to answer. I I have one. Yes, sir.

You just you just mentioned it in in your presentation, which by the way was very good. However, there is a significant issue that's happened in the county in the last few weeks that I don't know if you've taken into account in this plan and that is the lack of our mar coming to Chester County and what that does to the sewer system and the water system of Chester County and how that affects the comprehensive plan because without Alber coming the sewer system then I don't know how that's going to work out because that frees up an awful lot of sewage that was obligated to this plan. So I don't know how that is going to be looked at by the sewer system in your comprehensive plan because Alber was a part of that comprehensive plan that restricted a lot of that because there was no sur for a period of time. So I would hope you would look at that and take into account the growth out in Richburg because of that. because that was in the district one at Baskinville and that's not going to happen now.

Yes, sir. Mr. A, you're right. That is a a big change in what the county was projecting for quite some time. However, it is a good change. It's a good problem. We now have a lot of excess sewer capacity potentially near and closer than we thought we would. That area, that particular parcel in this comprehensive plan is marked for future industry. And so now if Albam Marl, which I believe there may still be uncertainty, but if it does not move forward, we now have a fantastic industrial site with sewer and water for it that I feel confident will be filled by by another industry in the future. In the near term, that won't change things. If anything, it frees up some of the of the stress in that area caused by the lack of sewer and can help us recruit another industry to fill their spot. My concern is not only the growth but the 43 to $45 million it was going to cost to just the sewer district go from Lando to Rock Hill and how that's impacted. Do we still need to spend $43 million putting a sewer line to Rock Hill that we no longer need a lot of that storage for?

Yes, sir. I appreciate it. All right. Thank you. Um so is there a motion here? I'll make that motion. The third reading of ordinance 2026-07. I'll second. Oh, I'm sorry, Cory. All right, we have a motion and a second. Motion. Yeah. Motion and a second. Um, is there any discussion? I want to tell him you done a great job. I think we did a great job hiring you for this position and you listen at people and I like that about you. So, thank you. Thank you.

I'd just like to make the comment that I think the continuation of adding sewer capacity is a good thing. I mean, the countyy's way behind the eightball in that respect anyway. I wouldn't think that that would be a wise move to back off of that for future growth, you looking 20, 25 years down the road. So, I think that should continue on. Is there anything else? Jeremy, thank you for bringing me up to speed on at the point of this project when I came on to council. Um, it's a lot to take in and you made it you made it easy for me. So, thank you.

If you don't mind, Mr. Chairman, I would like to say thank you as well. Um, if you notice, I do a lot less talking now with Jeremy and so that's a that's a good thing. He does a lot more of the talking for me and uh I appreciate I appreciate his hard work on this comp plan. He saved the county a lot of money by doing the majority of work himself. So as soon as we vote this through tonight, you all vote this, he will start working on our strategic plan. So that's his next sixmonth project. So uh happy to get him moving on. But thank you Jeremy. I appreciate all your hard work as always.

Since you're getting all the thank yous, I want to say thank you as well. But uh administrator touched on something that citizens probably need to know is that some counties don't have a Jeremy Ward and they have to get outside people to do things like that and it cost them a lot of money and you save this county a lot of money being an employee and doing this yourself. So the citizens I just really want to harp on that again that the citizens need to know that you you did this. We didn't have to bring anybody in from the outside. It was a good decision of uh our administrator to bring you on. I appreciate you. I appreciate what you did for our county and um making this a comprehensive plan.

Well, thank you, Mr. Guy, and thanks to everybody. And I'll just reiterate, too, this this big of a project could not have happened without the team Mr. Hester's assembled, um without Mr. Leester, Miss Baggley, um so many others, Miss Workman that I can't even name. So, this is this is not a oneman show. and I was very very happy to lead it and and serve you. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Is there any more discussion? All right. With that, I'll call for the vote. Those in favor, please raise your right hand and say, "I." I. I. All right. All in favor. Next up, we have number seven, which is administrator's report. Mr.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So, first I'd like to start off with uh our annual audit was submitted to the state on March 31st which met the deadline given by the state during the extension process. Um it is posted online uh on our website and we are working currently with our uh third party audit firm to find a date that is suitable uh for them to come and present that audit report to council as is always the case. Um, so that will be happening in one of the next hopefully we get it either the next meeting or the meeting following that. Um, and just remind everybody that is a third party audit. That is not a a company that has any ties. That is a firm out of Colombia. And uh, this is the second year they've done our audit. Our previous audit firm um, retired for lack of a better term, but uh, and so this is the second year. this firm out of Columbia. They do audits all over the state. They do this. It's a third party audit. It's not related. They come in, examine your documents, and basically make sure we're following the rules um every year and doing what we're supposed to with governmental funds. So, moving on, we will have a budget workshop on Thursday, April 9th, and Thursday, April 16th. We have one scheduled at 4 p.m. in the council chambers. Now, April 16th is sort of the tentative one for you all. If we get through everything this week and you guys are happy with what Mr. Darby and I present to you, I think we're going to lock oursel in a room tomorrow for about eight hours and try to finish this thing. Um, but uh, our staff and um, everyone's been working really hard over the last month to bring this budget together. And I'll go ahead and warn everybody, it's a, you know, it's it's going to be a tight year. It's not um it's not we don't quite have the same jump in revenue as we've had in the past. And a lot of that has to do with the fact that you all did such a good

job rolling back the millillage um and and being very fiscally uh responsible in that m in that sense as well as the the municipalities, the school district, everybody rolled back. So, um, and plus we we keep I tell people you can't keep getting leaner and you know your budget's going to get tighter and that's I think what you saw the other night um in the budget workshop where we are literally within a couple hundred,000 revenue and expenses that that's tight budgeting when it comes to a $38 million budget. So, um, we'll be trying to wrap that up hopefully this Thursday at 4 p.m. Um, that's open to the public, um, as well. So, uh, we will kind of go give a broad overview and go through each department and each elected officials budget as well. Um, the next thing I'd like to talk about is on March 27th, uh, can we bring up that picture if you get a chance? Um, Charlie Timmons was recognized and awarded the advanced EMT of the year. award during the 2026 South Carolina EMS symposium. Uh the advanced EMT of the year award honors an advanced EMT who has demonstrated exceptional service and dedication to the field. And um a little bit about Charlie. He began his EMS journey in 1981, earning his EMT certification before advancing to an advanced EMT and he ultimately completed his paramedic training. He was among the first in the state to complete the South Carolina pioneering uh speedome medic paramedic program. Uh in addition to his EMS service, Charles has also served the citizens of our county as both a firefighter and a police officer. With 44 years of experience, he brings unmatched enthusiasms to the profession. He supports new employees by volunteering as a field training officer, sharing his wealth of knowledge, and modeling the high standards of patient care. He is

always seeking opportunities to enhance his own clinical skills while readily offering guidance to others. Over the span of his career, he has completed countless emotionally countless emotionally and physically demanding t uh calls and has maintained all of his certifications. And those of you that uh you know have met Charlie and come across him um just he exemplifies uh what it means to be a member of that EMS and um EMT and paramedic team and uh such a fantastic guy. But there's a couple of pictures of him receiving that award. And again, it's great to see our employees representing Chester County throughout the state winning these types of uh awards and recognition. So congratulations to Charlie. Household Hazardous Waste Day and Earth Day uh celebration. Join us for the Household Hazardous Waste Collection and Paper Shredding Day on Saturday, April the 11th, 2026. Um, sorry about that. That's just Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the government complex. There'll be safe disposal of household hazardous waste. This is where you can bring your paint. All your stuff you uh don't want to throw, please don't throw into our recycle centers and into the containers there. Bring it to the household wes household hazardous waste day. We'll have on-site paper shredding and there's going to be some family familyfriendly activities as well. seed planting, some things related to Earth Day that our own public works director and parks and recreation director uh as well as our recycling supervisor are putting on just so families can enjoy coming out and doing that. There's flyers up as well and you can see the flyers online for all items accepted. And with that, that concludes my minister's report. Mr. Chairman,

thank you very much. All right, that brings us to number eight, which is a consent agenda. 8 A is the third reading of ordinance 2026-06. 8B is the third reading of CCMA26-01. 8C is the third reading of CCTA 26-01. Motion. I'll make a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented. Second. All right, we have a motion and second. Is there any discussion? Hearing none, I'll call for the question. Those in favor raise right hand and say I. I. All in favor?

We don't have any old business tonight. So that brings us to number 10, which is new business. 10A is a Chester County prioritized community needs assessment list approval. Mr. Hester.

Yes, sir. Mr. Chairman, council members. This is the priority needs uh list for Chester County as proposed by uh Miss Graier Ray from the COG on the March 17, 2026 council meeting. This list is created and modified by public input, government staff, and council input. Currently, there have been no changes or recommended changes proposed, and I'm asking council to approve uh the 2026 list as proposed in your packets. Questions for Mr. Esther? I'll uh entertain a motion. I'll make that motion. I'll second it.

All right. We have a motion to approve and a second. Is there any discussion? Hearing none. I'll call for the question. Those in favor raise right hand say I. I. All in favor.

Next up we have 10B which is update on Macly street and courthouse improvement project. Mr. Ward. Thank you, Mr. Wilson. So, at at the February 17th regular county council meeting, I gave y'all an update on this CPST on pity sales tax referendum project behind the courthouse. It is one of our few outstanding projects. Most have been completed and it is on track for completion on time and under budget. We had received a low bid back in February for the first part of the project phase one uh which was approved at that meeting the contract and it it makes half of the street one way does the handicapped ramp the new ADA parking space and additional parking spaces behind the Chester County Courthouse and AOS which is the firm selected has now submitted a cost estimate for milling repaving striping and doing some curb work for the remainder of Malilly Street. So, because their initial bid came in um at at what I would call a very good price, we do have excess funds remaining in that account to go ahead and repave the rest of the street. You can see from this drone shot some of the existing conditions. You can see the curbing there on um the courthouse side of Malilly that is in severe need of repair. this cost estimate for this change order to the to the original bid to repave the entire rest of the street, mill and overlay it, do the curbing, and do some curb cuts as well. As you'll see there, um, this came out to $151,900, which may rise slightly with some of the curb replacement after the past meeting. I know Councilman Guy, you and maybe a few others and talked about your concerns with the safety of making this one way. And so we did some modifications to it. You'll see later we have uh on the center street side, you'll we have the curb which will be landscaped all the way out to the street

now, which will be a really good place for us to put signs. So we made some modifications over the past month. As mentioned, because this initial bid came in lower than we had previously allocated, we do have sufficient funds remaining in the C CPSC account to move forward with this phase two. This portion of the project has been discussed with courthouse staff on February 9th in a very well attended meeting. There's no significant concerns with them about this. They're very happy actually about these new parking spaces on street that are caused by moving one way. They're not parallel par parallel anymore. They're 45 degree parking. So we will have some more on street parking spaces there. But before we move forward with this change order and authorizing the engineers to begin design work, we wanted to present this to you with the additional details with the change in the scope. Since the funding is already in account, there's no vote needed. If there's no dissension with this, what I'd call phase two change order on the whole, but if you have any questions or concerns or want more details, I'm happy to discuss that. Now,

is that road going to come from off where the library at? It's going to be one way going that way or it'll be the opposite way. So, it'll it'll be one way coming towards the library on Center Street. You going to come in off WY Street? Off We Street coming towards Center. Y'all think that's good? I'm just asking a question. No, that that's a good question. I think that was discussed at the last meeting, too. There's Everyone has their own opinion on that, it seems, since this project's been underway. Yes, sir. About that because it's coming in off coming over the hill, then you make a right, right, and then you go straight through. I think the people I think we need to let it come in off what is that? Center Street.

It It would It would be Center Street. I think the reason that the design brought it off of Wally Street and I I I was on the initial conversations with this is if it came in off of and I'm give you kind of in layman's terms here. If it came in off of Center Street, natural tendency is for that one way to be to the right side. The ADA work that has to be done and the curb and drain work that has to be done down by the courthouse has to extend the grade out into the road. That's why we had to go to a one-way street. So, we're taking that half of the road away. So, naturally, because the left side's what's left, it was kind of the reason they felt the turn in from that side. People naturally turn into the right lane when they're making a left turn. Does that Does that make sense?

Everybody would That's the theory behind it, I guess, the purpose. But it it's a good question, Mr. Killian. And I think like Mr. Hester said, this is what the engineers felt was safest, but now it's our road. It's not the SCDOT road anymore. So in two to three years, if we need to revisit it, we can revisit it at that point.

We could I'd like I'd like to ask, did you talk with the sheriff about the uh the law enforcement and does that suit you all right, sheriff, the way it is? Council voted u Mr. Chairman, council members, council voted uh at a previous meeting. Um this project was originally funded in CPST. Uh there was still funds there. U for the majority of this project, council approved excess CPST funds. We had asked for an additional I want to say 200 200,000 Mr. Ward. Is that right? 200 and some change or was it it was 345,000

345 that included the generator installation as well? Correct. did. So, uh, with that, all this still comes well within that budget. We're not adding in extra to CPS. In fact, we have a little left over from CPST in case there's a contingency need. So, you guys already approved this funding. We just didn't want you you all from the last conversation that Mr. Ward had with you where you approved the contract with AOS, uh, we wanted you to understand there was an additional contract that would still be using some of those funds. So, how about input from the people working there at the courthouse? Do they feel like this meets its needs, the changes that are are happening with it? I mean,

yes, sir. Mr. Brunson, I I'll say the courthouse staff over there had a lot of good questions and we had some good conversation. It will be a change for them. They are very happy with the new parking spaces on Mac Lily Street. One of the main comments was that especially on the days when they have court, that rear parking lot um off the road fills up very quickly and so having these additional on street parking spaces and maybe we even save some of them with signs for staff will be very helpful for them. They they had no major concerns, most of it discussed around parking spaces, reserve parking spaces for the judges uh for Judge Gibbons, the family court judges. But uh I believe all their concerns were addressed and they are happy that improvements are being made.

And last thing I'll say is just for all accounts. So the reason for this project was the fact that to get us ADA compliant with the courthouse to get the right grade going into family court to make everything safe to get the right grades going into the main courthouse. Um so that was the real purpose behind the the initial start of the project as well. The only way to do that was to utilize the street. Yeah. Sorry.

All right. So, uh, no, no, no action is needed by council. So, we'll move on to the next u any other discussion? We're good. All right. So, we'll move on to the next, uh, item on the agenda, and that is 10 C, which is consideration of a request concerning the Chester County Planning Commission board.

Yes, sir. As you know, as we've been working on our comprehensive plan over the past year and a half, one of the main topics that's come up is trying to revitalize Great Falls, focusing growth towards the town of Great Falls. However, this growth has been stymied for about four years now because Great Falls has not had a functioning planning commission. It's been an ongoing issue. As a reminder, Chester County and the town of Great Falls have a have an arrangement, long-standing arrangement where the county provides permitting. Um, we do the planning and zoning administration for them, meaning that we we run all of the meetings for their planning commission, their board of zoning appeals. We provide the education for them. We mail them their packets. I would attend the meetings. I would attend the Great Falls meetings. And for many years, they had an active planning commission. However, since 2022, they have not. This has been due to accommodation of members leaving or passing away and the council not being able to fill them with adequate replacements. This means that since 2022, there's been a backlog of about 10 resoning cases. And just w within these 10 that we know of, that represents about 20 new houses that have been unable to be built in Great Falls due to not being able to have the reszoning request even heard before can go to the Great Falls Town Council. So since I've been here and Mr. Leer before me and Miss Chapel and Miss Hudson as well during that time, we've trying to come we've been trying to come up with a solution for this. It's obviously an issue. It's not a sustainable state to be in. where a town does not have a planning commission and for a few reasons the town council has been unable to appoint the the five members of that board that are needed. So now we are at a creative solution allowed by state law SC code 629330 allows for the municipality Great Falls

in this in this case to request that Chester County Chester County Council allow the Chester County Planning Commission to serve as the acting Great Falls Planning Commission. This is a way that the counties can help out small towns. It's used a few times in South Carolina. Greenwood County, notably the Greenwood County Planning uh planning commission, also serves as the the planning commission for where Scholes and 96 and a few other small towns in Greenwood. And the reason I'm here tonight is because on March 17th, the Great Falls Town Council unanimously passed a resolution that you have in your packets requesting that the Chester County Council consider this, that you consider allowing the Chester County Planning Commission to serve as the Great Falls Planning Commission. If you vote to approve this, functionally, it will not mean any any new meetings or any new responsibilities for the Chester County Planning Commission. They'll have a few extra agenda items throughout the year added on at the end of their meetings. My role would continue. I'm currently the zoning administrator for the town. So, that role would continue to be the same. And I would take the recommendations from the Chester County Planning Commission to the Great Falls Town Council just like I do for you and explain it to them and serve as their staff. If you vote to approve it, the next step would be the creation of an intergovernmental agreement between the town and the county. Great Falls has been asked for and has agreed to create this agreement as a draft for the county to consider created by an attorney and that agreement would come back to you to review and vote before any changes made. I hope that clarifies the situation and if you have any questions I'm here.

Mr. Brunson, will that help you out a whole lot by this council letting our planning commission to help you down there in Great Falls? Do you think that'll be a good decision?

I do think it will be. Um, one not having it in place right now and um the lack of being getting that group together. Um, plus they reached out. You know, this is their request. You know, it's not like an overreach or anything like that. It's been clearly explained that the town still has um the final say. They still have, you know, final approval. So it's it's it's in no way where the the county's planning commission is is making decisions in the town limits. Correct. So there they will the council will still be involved in zoning changes. Long as you with that, I'm fine with it. I want to make that motion for that. I want to put that into a motion.

All right. We have a motion. Is there a second? I'll second. Motion second. Question for you, Mr. Ward. So, um, what about the functions of the planning commission that don't come back before a council? So, like naming of a street, there's a few functions that I don't believe, um, necessarily come back to a council. Will those will those need to go before Great Falls just to make sure to Mr. Kian's point that they have the final say so on on those decisions?

Yeah, that's a great question, Mr. Wilson. Um, the planning commissions by state law, they do have a few roles. Um the the main role the main function of a planning commission is resonings and those are obviously approved by by the council. Um there are a few other smaller roles that come up such as naming of roads. All road names have have to come before the planning commission for approval. I can't just come in and name a road whatever I want to. I have to be sure that it um is decent and in good order. And it also is is not currently the name of another road. Easements. Chester County Planning Commission no longer reviews easements themselves, but in the past they did. Great falls may. So, there are a few other minor things uh that would be worked out in the agreement between the town and the county. For instance, the role of our planning commission in their comprehensive plan would would need to be specified one way or the other. So, there's a few other things besides resonings. The the brunt of this is for resonings and the others could be worked out in the agreement just to be sure everyone's on the same page and understands I I I would think that would be important. Any any decisions relating to the municipality of Great Falls really needs a final say so by their town council. We don't we don't want our planning commission getting flag for for a decision made for their town. um you know allow them to always have the opportunity to even on the secondary stuff such as road naming

and the same are the same zoning classifications in both entities or is that a difference? The uh zoning ordinance and land development codes for Great Falls were patterned after the county. As best I can tell, they were created probably by the same group, probably by a regional council or something in 1999 when Chester County zoning ordinances were put in. So, they're very similar. However, the names of the zoning categories are not quite the same. For instance, ours may be R2 and theirs may be uh R23. So, they're a little bit different and that would be a case where if a reszoning came and um they were unfamiliar with the verbiage, I would help explain it to them. But our our ordinance would take precedence then. Correct. Or their ordinance still

would be in effect. Their ordinance would would always be in effect. So our planning commission is going to have two sets of rules to correct work under. Correct. But the bottom line is we're going to be a contractor for the town of Great Falls essentially. So yes, sir. So town council in Great Falls will still make the decisions, everything. All you're doing is providing work within the code of the count of their zoning laws trying to help them out. Yeah. The planning commission would do the public hearing for resonings and then they would make a recommendation to the town council. So it's basically just a body, you know, a body of folks to like we have just a general body of planning commission to make that assessment for them and recommendation. Yes, ma'am.

I think that would be a good thing too with with Great Falls and want to project growth down there. that might could fast track it some instead of you know having to worry about they don't have a planning commission and things like that. So hopefully that'll give a lot of benefit to town of Great Falls and see some things happening. So what about updating their codes? Will they look to you for help for that or will they have outside helping them update the codes?

That's a great question and that's something that's not been clarified to this point. Um, since I do currently serve as a zoning administrator for there, in the past, I believe most of the code updates have b have been through an outside consultant and then the planning commission would sign off on those or changes to the codes brought forth by perhaps a member of the town council. I do not envision doing major code updates for the town. If they have a minor, you know, small text amendment that would take zero effort, then perhaps that would be a discussion or worked out in the agreement. But I don't envision this being a code change responsibility.

Think how long how how long you think it'll take for them to get some body in place down there? You don't know? I do not know for sure if this you know the intention is for this to be permanent or you know a short-term thing. I don't know. You'll find out. Right. What have your discussions with them? What has that been Jeremy? Does it seem to be this would be in place long term or my read on the matter is that they're not sure how how long they'd like it to be in place, right?

And there's the potential that it may need to be many years or there's the potential that two or three years from now or even shorter they may change. I think that would be worked out in the in the agreement, too. How long is this for? Would it be long term or would they be able to change it back the way it was and appoint their own people at some point? Okay, that could be worked out in the agreement. That needs to be specified. I agree,

Mr. Chairman, if I may. Um the intergovernmental agreement will come back before council um once it's drafted, once we as staff uh go through that. Our our goal is not going to be to overburden um Mr. Ward, but rather provide assistance. Um I think right now the assistance will be more simplistic from a planning commission getting rid of the backlog of resonings. um you know get some of their homes being built that are kind of sitting waiting. Um if that intergovernment agreement that we'll bring back before you will also have language in it that obviously will um leave us the authority that if things get if it starts to overburden Mr. reward, then they'll have to contract services. We'll revisit it. We'll revisit it uh every so often as well. But we'll we'll make sure that I think the the key right now is let's get them off the ground and give them some help. Um and we've got a really good working relationship uh with the mayor and uh and all the council members that are there in place. And so our goal is to really just help them right now.

All right. So we do have a motion on the floor. Is there any more more discussion? I will call for the question. Those in favor, please raise your hand and say I. I. All in favor? Next up, we have item 10D, which is consideration of Walker's Mill bond release. Mr. Ward again.

Yes, sir. So, this is will be a little quicker. This is for the Walker Mill subdivision, and the builders for that, Lenar, have completed all their infrastructure work for the subdivision. They built all 305 houses and they're requesting a close out of their bond. It require it expired um or will expire in August of this year. So, they're a little bit ahead of schedule. This is the first modern subdivision of plan development in our county's history that has been completed. So, we're very excited for that. It is a beautiful subdivision if you have not seen it. And our subdivision code requires that after the subdivider fulfills his obligations as required by the bond, planning director shall certify that fact to the county administrator and attorney, bring it before the council and then the bond shall be released. So we are here asking for a release of the bond on the developer's behalf and I'm here if you have any questions.

Questions? And chairman, just to add, if you don't mind, um we received the certification from the professional engineer uh the application of closeout from dees and Mr. Ward has personally inspected on behalf of the county. Uh therefore, we're comfortable moving forward with close out of this bond um for phases one, two, and three of Walker's Mill. Um no vote is actually necessary to proceed, but we want to make council aware um of this subdivision um infrastructure completion.

All right, good deal. Thank you. Next up is 10E which is a first reading of CCMA 26-02 Colton and Curtis Meccer request tax amount number 069 0514 012 000000 27 and a half acres located off Larry's Highway Chester South Carolina to be reszoned from restricted industrial district ID1 to multifamily residential district RG1 planning commission approved 5 to zero to approve 5 to zero. Mr. Ward, if with this being first reading, if you would, you can speak to that briefly.

Absolutely. So, this is a resoning application by Colton and Curtis Meter. This is for a very beautiful piece of land off of Lowry's Highway 321 and Pikney Road. 27.5 acres. It has been zoned ID1 for many years now. It was adjacent to the former Gale Mill site. Um, so was zoned industrial along with that entire area and never was changed. It's a tricky site. It's much longer than it is wide. It's adjacent to two highways. So, there's some traffic concerns there for future development. And most importantly, about 55% of the parcel is in a flood plane from dry fork creek there. So, even though it is zoned industrial, it does have challenges to be developed as industrial. I believe the owners have had have not had great interest uh from buyers for an industrial purpose. Most of the interest has been residential. So they are looking to reszone it for a residential purpose. Uh it it is on public utilities. The comprehensive plan has this marked within the urban growth and infill area which gives a lot of flexibility for how land is to be used including for highdensity residential or single family residential. They're requesting, excuse me, resoning to RG1, which would allow either single family or multif family. They do not have a sketch plan or particular development in mind. They're reszoning it purely to sell it to a potential buyer for residential purposes.

So, let me ask a question about that. That's that's across the street from our recycle center, right? It is. Yes, sir. All right. So, if we zone it to uh multif family and someone does want to come in and put homes there, they have to come back and submit that plan those plans to us, right? Yes, sir. So, if if you reszone it to RG1 and someone wanted to come in and say build an apartment complex there, the subdivision plans would not come before the the council, they come before the Chester County Planning Commission. So, they would come back before the county. that have to meet all of our subdivision requirements that y'all just approved the edits to. Now,

let me ask you a question. Uh, with our current code, let's say for instance, at this slide, what if they would have put a row of houses there? What I'm getting to is a bunch of driveways there. How would that How many houses are we talking? How many houses you think can get in there if they would have put them all in a row? Right. Well, the the RG1 zoning is on public sewer and water. They could put single family houses as low as 6,500 square feet per lot. So that's roughly seven houses per acre. Most of the properties in the flood plane. So we're not talking the entire 27 acres. Um that that could be somewhere between um realistically 30 to 40 houses. Ballpark. Multif family could be a bit more. the the subdivision codes that we passed are very strict about not having one driveway after another though. So, and that was a big priority of council last year was making sure that there's not one

30 driveways in a row. So, we would be very strict about requiring just one or two interior roads there. That's my only question. That's out there by the softball field, right? Yes, sir. I got you. Um, all right. So, with that, is there a motion? Make a motion we approve first reading of CCMA26-02. I say have a motion and second. Is there any discussion? I'll call for the question. Those in favor raise your right hand and say I. I. I. All in favor?

All right. One more. And that's the first reading of CCTA 26-03, Chester County Zoning Ordinance, text amendment to chapter 5, section 5-01, supplemental regulations, solar project district and design standards required, planning commission approved 6 to Z. Yes, sir. This text amendment is the culmination of the workshops that we've had so far this year dealing with solar farms. You put a lot of research and thought into how to regulate solar farms better in the future and this is the result for your consideration. It keeps the same text and just makes major text amendments to our existing solar farm regulations as opposed to new ones. I'll briefly cover some of the highlights. The new changes are in yellow in the packet that you have and if you have any questions I can answer them then. But these new changes would continue to have one set of rules for solar farms on industrial property or brownfields, one set of rules for solar farms in the R2 zoning, which is our rural agricultural farmland zoning. Obviously, much stricter rules regarding setbacks for the R2 solar farms, which are all the ones we've had approved so far, except for the Eureka Mills, which is on a brownfield. some of the main changes in the R2 zoning district. First of all, it encourages participation in the Clemson University solar habitat program, which provides recommended plant species to plant underneath and around solar farms that'll help with erosion and are pollinator friendly. So, it does not require but encourages participation in that program. It requires a visual rendering that must be submitted. This was something that council had asked at a workshop. So, prior to the solar farm being approved, the solar farm developer has to submit a visual rendering showing what it will look like from the road and all adjacent

residential property lines with the goal, as was council's um main priority of shielding solar farms better from the road. Solar farms are fine was the takeaway from the workshop as long as they are not a nuisance to neighbors and as long as they are not destroying the rural scenic character of our highways. With that in mind, we have put some rigorous setbacks on the solar farms from highways and residential properties here. Many of the past solar farms approved have been 25 ft or so from the highways. And these new codes have a minimum of 500 feet from a state highway, 400 feet from any other public road, and 400 feet from any adjoining residential property. If that 400 feet is currently in trees, all the trees have to be kept. No mass grading is permitted on the site. So I I believe that these will effectively shield solar farms from neighbors. There are some specifications about landscaping a requirement for a 100 foot undisturbed buffer on each side of a perennial body of surface water like a creek or a pond and decommissioning plan specifications. Um many if not all of the solar farms previously approved have had decommissioning plans and this puts that down in the code. This outlines the process so that all the infrastructure is removed at the end of their life cycle so that 40 years from now there's not a solar farm sitting there rusting in someone's field. Being sure that there is liability for that and that the solar farm developer removes everything from the site. It requires that uh the applicant pays for Chester County to hire a third-party engineer to review their plan so that we're sure that the numbers are accurate and will be true and also requires that they're update that the plans updated every 10 years so that the numbers are current. One thing that I know we had talked about at the

workshop that is not in here as a requirement is a bond. if Chester County should require a bond for the removal of that solar farm, the solar fam, solar panels. Some counties do require a bond, other counties don't. Uh, I would say it's about 50/50. Duke Energy on their own at this point does require a bond for any solar farm that is hooked up to their grid. So, if it is a project connected to Duke, there they will already have a bond that's ensures that there's money to remove all the solar panels. Fairfield Electric does not. Uh I'm unsure about York Electric. So it's not um a 100% thing with the utility providers that they require a bond. I just thought I'd point that out there for discussion. And those are the main those are the main changes. If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them.

Say that one more time about Fairfill Electric.

Fairfield Electric does not require a decommissioning bond from whoever is installing the solar panels. Duke Energy does require a bond. So even if Chester County does not require that they have a financial guarantee to remove the solar panels, Duke could already have that covered. But if it's in Fairfield Electrics territory, they at this time they would not require that. The reason I asked that question, you this, an individual came to me and they going, they want to put in a 40 acre solar farm in the middle of a large track of land and it's a Fairfield electric uh thing. Now, there's nothing in the works, but they are asking the question and Fairfield County, I mean, uh, Fairfield Electric. Say that one more time about how they work with somebody. They don't have to come to the county. Is that what you're saying?

No, sir. What I'm saying is that some counties require solar farm developers to have a bond, which is a a legal certificate ensuring that money will be paid when the solar panels have reached their life cycle or through and the company who installed them has money legally on credit to remove the solar panels. Some counties require that of anyone that's building a solar farm that they have a letter of credit or a bond. Duke Energy on their own, separately from whatever counties do, Duke Energy requires that. Some of the co-ops like Fairfield do not. So that that is a potential risk, I'll call it, that someone builds a solar farm and there is no bond if the county does not require it. A bond may not be needed. There's mixed opinions on that, especially if we require a good plan that's legal and is tied in with the approval. But I thought it worth mentioning for discussion. All right. So, is there a motion?

Make a motion to approve the first reading of CCTA 26-03. Second. Have a motion. Second by Mr. Brunson. Um, is there any discussion? I'll jump in there. So, with the bond, um, I I would definitely be in favor of requiring a bond. I don't think that's too much to ask. um just makes a lot of sense to me with what what what is your opinion as far as compared to other counties? How um strict is this these proposed standards compared to other counties in our state on a on a scale of very strict and not very where are we at on this?

This is on the medium strictness side. It's certainly a lot shorter than many counties. Many counties go a lot more in depth with the landscaping particularly saying specific species that have to be planted specific depths for species. Where we've gone stricter with this draft is on the setbacks. We are on the stricter side with setbacks. Now some counties do have more. This is modeled after some counties like Sumpre County and Florence County that that do have some pretty good requirements to shield them from view. Um, but we are on the stricter side with setbacks from the road which would take more property out of solar farm production. And I know you said them and I know it's in our packet, but can you just one more time under R2 your R2 zoning? What are those setbacks one more time?

Yes, sir. The the approach taken with this was to require varying setbacks based off of the road or joining property use. So from a state highway the solar farm the solar panels itself this is not the fence or anything but the solar panels or transformers or battery storage are have to be 500 ft from a state highway 400 feet from any other public road and 50 feet from any private road as well as 400 feet from any adjoining residential property. Well, that that raises a really interesting question what Mr. Wilson just asked. Um there's uh Albert Marl is not coming to Chester County, but they still own the land. This is just just speculating. Don't know any I'm not saying anything. But we got a big track of land, 700 acres, 800 acres down there right now that's zone X, ID3. Can they pull a solar farm on that without having come back to us?

That's a great question. I skipped over that. So solar farms are allowed in the rural and in industrial zones ID1 and ID2. For ID1 and ID2 though, the feedback that I got from council was that you did not want a prime industrial site to be taken up solely by a solar farm such as the Alberoral site. That that would not be a wise land planning choice, have a great industrial site with sewer and water be taken up by solar. But it may work to have a company that has a solar farm in the rear 25 acres in the back. So the requirement for that for the ID1 and ID2 zoning is that the solar farm cannot exceed 25% of the overall site unless it's approved as a brownfield or some other use by the zoning administrator.

Going back to the bonds, the bond holder would be the company operating the facility, not the utility. Is that correct? Correct. Yes, sir. Okay. So in case of Duke Power, they were make company X have hold the bond. Fairfield Electric wouldn't do that. Correct. I agree that we need to hold that company accountable for removing their equipment through bonding. Yes, sir. All right. Is there any more discussion?

Mr. Ward, I have one question. Um Mr. chairman, if you don't mind, um on the vegetation on the buffers with vegetation and I'm I was trying to kind of breeze through it, but did we put I know we had talked about putting um a sentence in there that if it died within if the vegetation died within a certain amount of time, it had to be replaced. It's that last sentence in between page four and five. It says, quote, "All planted trees and shrubs must be replaced if they die. Although thinning of thinning of timber is permitted if approved by the zoning administrator.

So I not put in there within a certain number of years to modify that if needed. I know we council discussed that in some of our conversations that uh there should be something there whether that's for a three-year period of till they're established or however that's written. Um do you all have any comments on that? Would you as a zoning administrator be able to police that at any time?

That would probably look like me driving past the solar farms once or twice a year and just being sure that there's not vegetation that has died and then I'd reach out to the company. So, I would I think it is important. I agree with Mr. Hester. We we do that for our subdivisions now. So, absolutely. Um, okay. This would be a big change from where we are to what where this would take us. Um, 400 feet from that joining property. That would really give neighbors a pretty good buffer. Um, I think that would really help. So, is there any more discussion? Call for the question. Those in favor of this first reading, raise your right hand to say I.

All in favor? All right. All right. Thank you, Mr. Ward. Um, next up we have number 11, boards and commissions. 11A is the airport commission resignation from Dale Henson. Miss Workman, if you'll speak to that one.

Thank you, Chairman. Council, we received a resignation from Mr. Dale Henson uh from the airport commission. Upon acceptance of this resignation, the county will have one open seat available on airport commission. If you have anyone who is interested in applying for the airport commission, please direct them to Miss Harper to fill out an application. Uh the process for consideration will take place during next council meeting. All right. Thank you. Is there a motion to accept this resignation? I'll make a motion to accept the resignation. Second. All right. Any discussion? Those in favor raise your hand and say I. I.

All in favor? That brings us to number 12, executive session. 12A is the discussion of negotiations incident to proposed contractual arrangements and receipt of legal advice pertaining to project 2558. B is discussion of negotiations incident to proposed contractual arrangements for the animal shelter. And C is receipt of legal briefing regarding lot 26, Cedar Grove subdivision. Is there a motion to go into executive session? Make a motion we move to executive session. Second. Right. Have emotions.