County Council - Regular Meeting

OK, we're up and going. All right, give me just a second. My clock says 5.59. All right, looks like it's 6 o'clock. So if everybody's ready, we'll call this meeting to order, the Edgefield County Council on March the 3rd, 2026. Appreciate everybody being here tonight. We'll begin with the invocation led by Minister Jamil Eubanks of Chalk Hill Baptist Church, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. If everyone will please stand.

Let us pray. Our Heavenly Father, we come to you right now, Lord, giving you thanks for all you have done for us today, Lord. Lord, we ask you, Lord, to watch over us, Lord. Lord, we ask you to lead us and guide us. Lord, we know that all of us have different titles and we sit different places, Lord. But all of us know that you sit on high, Lord, and you're the one that rules over all. Lord, we ask you, Lord, to help our minds and help our thoughts, Lord, that we would do like we're supposed to for this here your people, Lord. Lord, we ask you, Lord, to help us where we fall short. We ask you, Lord, just forgive us for our sinful things we may have done. Lord, watch over us, Lord, because we fall short. But with you, Lord, everything's possible. We give it all to you, Lord, because we know you're able. And we give it all to you, Lord, because we know you're gracious. And we give you praise and glory for who you are. And we thank you for your wonderful son. In Jesus' name, we all do pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you.

Please join us in the pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Please be seated. All right, council. The approval of the agenda, I have no recommendations for any changes. Does anybody else have any recommended changes? Hearing none, there's a motion to approve the agenda as presented. So moved. Dr. Kenyon makes the motion. Is there a second? Second. And Ms. Ireland seconds. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by raising your hand. All opposed, the motion passes unanimously. Next, counsel, we have two sets of minutes. We'll take them one at a time for approval. First, the February 2, 2026 Intergovernmental Meeting Minutes. Any questions or comments on those minutes? Hearing none, is there a motion to approve those minutes as presented? So moved. Second. Mr. Moody makes the motion, and Mr. Talbert seconds. Any discussions? Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by raising your hand. All opposed? Motion passes unanimously. February 3rd, 2026, regular meeting minutes. Any questions or comments from counsel on those? Hearing none, is there a motion to approve those minutes? Ms. Ireland makes the motion. Second. Mr. Moody seconds. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by raising your hand. All opposed? Motion passes unanimously. Next, as a special recognition for our employee of the quarter, so I'm going to turn it over to the administrator to talk about that.

Thank you. This nomination was made by Captain Willie Butler, and it reads, it is my Honored to nominate Deputy Huff for Officer of the Quarter, Deputy Huff consistently exemplifies the highest standards of professionalism, leadership, and dedication to duty, making him exceptionally deserving of this recognition. Deputy Huff demonstrates strong leadership in every aspect of his work. He leads by example, maintaining high expectations for himself while motivating those around him perform at their best. Whether responding to complex situations, assisting fellow deputies, or guiding less experienced team members, he remains steady, confident, and solution focused. His leadership fosters trust, accountability, and cohesion within the unit. His unselfish work ethic is evident in his daily actions. Deputy Huff routinely volunteers for additional responsibilities, steps up when staffing is short, and ensures that tasks are completed thoroughly and professionally, often without seeking recognition. He places the needs of the team and the community above his own, demonstrating true commitment to service. In addition, Deputy Huff's positive attitude has a meaningful impact on morale. He approaches challenges with optimism and professionalism. even under pressure. His demeanor helps maintain a constructive work environment and encourages collaboration. He is always willing to assist others, share knowledge, and contribute to the overall success of the team. Deputy Huff embodies a true team mentality. He understands that effective law enforcement relies on unity and cooperation, and he consistently works to strengthen those bonds. His reliability, integrity, and dedication make him a respected member of the department. For these reasons, I strongly and wholeheartedly recommend Deputy Huff for Officer of the Quarter. He represents the very best qualities of our profession and continues to set a standard of excellence for others to follow. Respectfully, Captain Butler. And I just learned that Deputy Huff has only been here eight months, so to get Employee of the Quarter to work that hard for that recognition is just awesome. Congratulations.

We'll ask you to join us at the podium. So council, we'll go down there and recognize him.

You sure you got the chairman in there?

We can get him down front if we need to.

Okay.

Council, next is our guest speaker tonight, Will Williams, who comes here once a year. To give us an annual update, he's the president and CEO of the Western South Carolina Economic Development Partnership. So, Will, I'm going to turn it over to you.

Mr. Chairman and members of the council, thank you for the opportunity tonight to give you a state of economic development in Edgefield County. You've heard me say this before, but Edgefield County fights above its weight class in many things, and economic development is one of those. In 2025, there was one announced investment in the county, and that was $70 million from LUT companies. They will create 10 jobs, and as we know from the announcement to the time these things are actually deployed, there is some lag time. So let's look back in 2024. when Portland Bolt and Bondex announced their expansions in new buildings and new jobs. And if you've ridden down Five Notch Road lately, you'll see a big building behind where Portland Bolt started. And obviously, going down Highway 25, you can see Bondex's new building. So they're paying dividends. All these victories haven't come without challenges as well. Getting new companies to locate here has been somewhat of an opportunity because we're all aware of the ongoing legal issues between the county and the landowner at the industrial park. That litigation is continuing, and because of that, I don't want to comment too much other than to say there is hope that there is a resolution soon. Don't ask me to define soon, because that could be next week. It could be two years from now. But things continue to move forward. Another common theme that you've heard me say is no sewer capacity. And it's something we're still dealing with. And John Hare of the Water and Sewer Authority and I talk regularly about this. And we talked to North Augusta. And we talked to Aiken County. And this is another situation where we seem to be getting there some traction. We're still not in the clear light yet. But this has constrained our ability to actively pursue new companies to Edgefield County. You heard me say at the intergovernmental dinner, but it's really kind of hard to sell from an empty wagon. Or as a site consultant that we deal with regularly says, no product, no project. And while we have product, we just can't get to it. But that keeps us from getting looks, being able to submit on RFIs. But I know when we're free and clear, things will be much better and You all will be, have always, you always have high expectations, and you will continue to demand the best from us. But our existing industries continue to provide the backbone of job creation and taxes paid to Edgefield County. We just heard talking about Bondex and Portland Bolt. Chairman Campbell and I, along with Kel Anderson from our team, meet annually with those companies to thank them for their continued investment and how we can help them grow and maybe expand. 2025 was no different in that vein. They are always very grateful for the quick response time that they receive from the various levels of Edgefield County departments that they receive. They're also very thankful, and I want to compliment and congratulate you all for continuing to make sure that Edgefield County has the ease of doing business. Nothing repels investment faster than burdensome regulations with hoops to jump through and red tape to untangle. In 2025, Edgefield County collected a little more than $2 million in fee in lieu of taxes revenue. We don't have enough time for me to explain the nuances about property taxes for manufacturing, but suffice it to say, all industries in the county pay property taxes. Those with a large enough investment get a fee in lieu, and those agreements have clawbacks on that incentive if a company does not meet the contractual commitments. Thankfully, in the 15 years that I've been doing this, we've only had to claw back one time from one industry, and they remain a taxpayer and a job creator in this county. But out of that 2 million, county operations will get $666,000 based on the millage split between the county and the school. This amount is equivalent to county taxes only, not schools, but county taxes, of what, 389 homes that are valued at $375,000 would pay. So it's very important that we do continue to work for our existing industry and get new industry here. Some even, some good news, some more good news, from 20 to 2025, 2020 to 2025, jobs increased by 19.7% in Edgefield County. You know, percentage numbers are always, can be kind of deceptive. So in numbers, it went from 6,483 jobs in Edgefield County in 2020 to 7,761 jobs in 2025. The national growth rate was 10.6%. during that same time period, so we exceeded the national growth rate in jobs in counties, so congratulations. December unemployment data from the South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce had the county with a labor force of 11,789 And I think I've explained this before, but the labor force consists of people ages 16 to 65 years of age. Now, we know what you should be doing at 16 and 17 and 18. But anyway, that's how that classification works. So we have 11,255 of that number that are working. Now, not all of them work in Edgefield County. You know, some drive somewhere else. People from other counties drive here. But that means 544 folks were not employed. And then we do have a below average, I mean, above average labor force participation rate. And that's a good thing because that number has been going down over the years, not just in the county, but nationwide. You know, people make a living somehow. It's not reported, so they don't get picked up, so they're considered not in the labor force. I know that you all hear from your constituents that they would like to see another grocery store, some type of retail opportunity here in the county, and I hear that from you all, and David calls and reminds me of that regularly. If companies chose good people in good communities, Edgefield County would be full of all the opportunities that you want. Unfortunately, companies look at these things objectively versus subjectively. They have metrics that have proven time and time again they will be successful. I'll give you one example. Aldi would like to have a minimum of 20,000 cars per day going by their store and in a dense trade area. I don't know. I mean, downtown Edgefield is fairly dense. But if you think of dense trade area, wouldn't you probably think of that area around exit 5, right when you get off the interstate? So that's just one instance. They always look at the traffic counts. They look at the population density. There's so many things. But trust me, if it was because of good people and hard work, we'd have, you know, who knows what we would have. We could have a Longhorn Steakhouse. We could have an Aldi. You know, the good news is Trader Joe's is coming to Columbia County, so that's a short drive. So next I want to talk just briefly, because I know it's been on being put in front of y'all, about what seems to be public enemy number one in the world today, and that's data centers. When I read on social media, it's almost like in South Carolina they're bamboo, kudzu, or palmetto bugs. They're like they're going to be everywhere. And that's just not the case. There are 20 to 30 data centers in South Carolina. And everybody pulls their information, and you see these very large buildings on multiple campuses. Yes, that's a data center. But you also could be in downtown Columbia riding by a multi-story building, and the data center could occupy three or four floors of a building. I mean, your medical records are stored in a data center. Your bank records are stored in a data center. We've heard so long about the cloud. The cloud is a data center. And data centers are like manufacturers. They come in all shapes and sizes. And I just mentioned about multiple floors, multi-story buildings. Some use a lot of electricity. Meanwhile, we have manufacturers in this region that use more electricity and water than some data centers. So, you're, when you say data centers are bad, you're painting, taking a broad brush and not doing the industry justice. So, in Aitkin County, most of y'all are aware, we have three that are under construction right now. And they just didn't just parachute in. They went through an extensive vetting process where they met META is a bought 500 acres. They bought 500 acres from a private landowner in an industrial park. They before they did that, though, they met for two years with Santee Cooper and Aiken Electric to see if their electricity, if the amount of electricity they would need would be there in the time they needed it. They had to pay six figures for a power study to be done, and it came back and said, in fact, they were actually looking at two locations, Aiken County and another county in South Carolina. The power could not be brought to the other site in the time frame they were looking for. So they focused more on Aiken County. So they have those contractual arrangements. There were things that had to be upgraded. The electrical system had to be upgraded to serve. I don't know if you've ridden through Sage Mill Industrial Park, but if you go 12 miles to the east, That is where a 230 kV station is, power station. So the line, the poles, and everything that had to be constructed were paid, was paid for by Meta, and it cost north of $115 million. Nobody, I'm a member of Aiken Electric. I have not gotten a bill yet, and I won't get a bill. And no other member of Aiken Electric will get a bill to subsidize that infrastructure from META. META's also had to get a permit from Aiken County to say, even though they are on Breezy Hill water and sewer, the wastewater treatment plant had to provide a letter stating that they would serve them before construction ever began. And this isn't just how a data center is done. This is how manufacturing is done. This is how other developments are done. And so they're going to be using 30,000 gallons of water per day. It's a closed-loop system. The industry is transitioning to closed-loop systems, and they're going to be using They're not going to be pulling from groundwater, as has been misreported. Some data centers do. None of the ones in Aiken County are going to sink wells. Even if they were to sink wells, they would have to get the Department of Employment Department of Environmental Services approval to be able to do that. I mean, in your backyard, if you sink a well to water your grass or or in your home, you don't necessarily have to get a DES permit. But to be able to extract 5, 6, 7, 10,000 gallons a day, you would have to get a DES permit. They would have to tell you to do that. So there are mechanisms in place that will keep these things from happening. If there's not enough power, a data center is not going to just build a building on hope. You're not going to spend, Meta spent $800 million. I don't think they would have spent $800 million to build a building and not have any electricity there. That's a contract that exists between Aiken Electric and Meta. And that's how industrial deals work, either Dominion or Aiken Electric. Those contracts are separate. We have two smaller data centers. One's being constructed right on Bettis Academy Road. Looks like a warehouse. It's about 60,000 square feet. It will use 15 megawatts of power. Like I said, we have several industries in Aiken County that use more electricity manufacturing that uses more electricity than those data centers do. They will use the same amount of water per day in those data centers that you do in your house. They'll use 300 gallons per day. There's a lot of data centers, just like manufacturing plants, run 24 hours a day. Some manufacturers run 24 hours a day. Some don't. But those that do... They have lights in the parking lot. I mean, if you leave work, do you want to leave in the dark? So there is lighting. Manufacturing plants make noise. You're going to have some noise from data centers. They're not going to go just anywhere. Currently, Edgefield County, what did we just talk about a minute ago? Sewer? One couldn't be built in Edgefield County right now. because there's no sewer capacity. And depending on how much water they use, they might not be able to fit in because from, I know from March to April, I mean, excuse me, March to October, the citizens in the county use over a million gallons a day just watering their grass. So META is going to use 30,000 gallons of water a day, and watering grass is a million gallons a day. Many of your manufacturing processes, the food you eat requires a lot of water. So there are, I know there are, you all are potentially considering an ordinance put them in an industrial park, that's a perfect location. But before they would go there, our industrial park is served by Dominion. Dominion will have to tell them that the electricity is there. All of these things already happen. Also, there are several bills in the state legislature about the regulation of data centers. And we have to be careful because if we start regulating data centers, then we're going to start regulating manufacturing too. And so I think we have to find a balance between of where everybody can operate safely. But the property taxes that META is going to pay Aiken County is $4.8 million a year. Edgefield County gets $48,000 of that a year because of the multi-county park agreement. So to put that in perspective, $4.8 million a year is equivalent to 3,100 new homes being built in Aiken County that are valued at $375,000, the property taxes that would come from those, 3,100 homes. Metta will have 100 employees making $130,000 a year plus. The manufacturing wage in Aiken County, the average, is $70,000 a year. If you've ridden by there, they have 1,500 contractors on site right now. There are two caterers from Aiken. that never in their wildest dreams would have expected they would have the opportunity to operate in the mess hall that has been constructed on the site there at Meta. So you have caterer that was doing well and now is doing very well because they are serving lunch, selling lunches there every day. There was a benefit to cost analysis done on that data center. It was $24. of value to Aiken County for every dollar that was invested. So I understand there's concern, but there's also ways that you all, that can be put into place to make sure that there is not just rampant growth, which there won't be because there's not enough electricity at this time, and there's not enough sewer capacity. Any questions?

Last night, we heard about specifically the one on Bettis. Sorry. Jerry and I held a town hall last night. Senator Massey, Representative Hickson, and the sheriff joined us. And data centers got a lot of discussion last night. And specifically on Bettis, there was some discussion. And that had to do... with noise and something that none of us, I think, had thought about. Certainly Representative Hickson was sharing how he had not thought about that because they are discussing that, you know, on the state level. And there were some comments about the noise that that one is making already.

It's not in operation.

So what is the noise coming from that they are hearing from that?

Construction.

Just the construction?

Construction.

So afterwards, will there be a noise level or is there some way, is there some, are there internal things that they have built in to regulate their own noise level? Is there like an industry standard for them to be louder or louder? They're going to be looking at here.

Doc, do you all have noise standards at property lines now for industry?

Not for industry specifically, but in general, yes.

So they would have to confine to those. Okay, that's perfect because Doc and I have been working a lot with those things already. So, all right.

Yeah, I mean.

But that's in Aiken County, so that's, you know, that's out of our control.

But it's very close to Aiken. Edgefield County.

Right, right.

So, yes, construction, they won't turn the switch on until this time next year. Okay. So, construction, obviously, there are times when they shouldn't be working. I mean, but there are time, quiet times, you know, set aside, and I think there's a quiet time set aside here. So, with construction. Okay.

I'm not sure. I guess the residents in our county that are hearing it, I guess, are going to have to – and I see a sign being held up back there, and I'm assuming he's going to want to talk in a little bit. But EMF, I'm not sure what that stands for. Are you aware what that is, EMF? No. Okay, sorry.

I mean, electricity is everywhere.

So, that's, I just kind of wanted to ask you, had you heard any complaints about noise, specifically, or?

We're dealing with a, so, again, manufacturing. Shaw just had a, they doubled the size of their plant. There were some things that have occurred that they weren't expecting, and some of the property owners are complaining, and the company has been working to get those because they bought some land, and the way some of their exhaust and their dryer systems and their compressors, Aitkin County has been working with them on getting that, and they're measuring the sound and things like that. My guess is, at the property line, when they finish their projects, which they're ongoing, that there's two areas right now that they aren't in compliance, and they will be. They're installing some things. They will be in compliance, but the neighbors are still not going to be happy, even though they're within the regulations.

Are you going to be here for a while? I know there's some in the audience that might like to ask you some questions yourself. Are you going to stick around? I plan to. Okay, so I'm just going to let that... Y'all probably have some other questions. I know there's... some people here who were at our town hall last night and so that's how i know that they probably have some more direct specific questions for you for that as they live in the closer to those in aiken county so but that was one of the things that came up last night noise we heard a lot about that so just wanted to well i'm not sure again none of them are operating at this time okay So we don't know what kind of noise they're going to make yet.

Yeah, we don't.

But Aiken County, like us, has a little something in place for those.

I mean, there are noise regulations at the property line. Okay. And they have to abide by it, or they will receive a consent order.

I appreciate you coming and talking to us about all of that, specifically about the data center, since they are getting so much attention. And, yes, please, if y'all have some questions.

Will, I'm I WOULD LIKE TO THANK YOU FOR THE UPDATE ON EVERYTHING. I NOTICED THAT, YOU KNOW, UP ON THE NORTH SIDE, WE HAD BEEN TALKING ABOUT WE NEED A STORE UP THERE, A DOLLAR JOURNAL, AT LEAST. I KNOW ALL OVER THE COUNTY THEY GOT DOLLAR JOURNALS ALL OVER, BUT UP ON THE OTHER END, WE DEFINITELY APPRECIATE, WE KNOW THE ROOT TOP AND THE TRAFFIC FLOW IS PICKING UP A LITTLE BIT, BUT WE DID, I I THINK WE DID TWO OR THREE STUDIES AND IT HADN'T RAISED THE POTENTIAL YET. JUST DON'T FORGET ABOUT US.

TRUST ME, THE DEVELOPERS I'VE TALKED TO, THEY CONTINUE TO WATCH THAT AREA. OKAY. WE APPRECIATE THAT.

OKAY. ALL RIGHT. THAT'S MY COMMENT. THANK YOU.

ANYTHING ELSE FROM COUNCIL? All right. Thank you, Will. Appreciate it. And to Ms. Ireland's comment, let me just say tonight will not be a debate on data centers. If somebody has something to say when we get to public comments, they're welcome to come to the podium and say it. If they want to ask Mr. Williams questions after the meeting, you're welcome to ask him all the questions he'll answer. This is not a debate tonight, so I'm sorry. They're not going to have the back and forth public stuff because we, I believe, next week, meeting, we'll take up a data center ordinance that has been recommended by the Planning Commission. It's not on the agenda tonight. So just keep all that in mind as we proceed through this meeting. So with that, counsel, thank you, Will, for coming. Next is the first public comment period for things that are on the agenda. So I'll ask the clerk, did anyone sign up for the first?

No, sir.

Okay. So, Council, since no one signed up for the first public comment period, we will close that one, move to reports. Any questions or comments about the reports? Hearing none, next is the consent agenda. It's a long one because it's every March that we have all these reappointments and appointments to do. So, is there any appointment we need to take off the consent agenda to put under new business? Okay, hearing none from Council, is there a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented? So moved. The committee makes the motion. Is there a second? Second. Mr. Talbot seconds. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by raising your hand. All opposed? The motion passes unanimously. Next is Old Business. This is consideration of approval of the third reading of Ordinance 2526-006, an ordinance to amend the official zoning map of Edgefield County, South Carolina by rezoning tax map parcels 174-0000-071-000, 174-0000-072-000, and 174-0000-400-000 from general commercial to industrial. This is third reading, so I'll ask the administrator if there's anything new we need to talk about.

There are no changes and no new information. Thank you.

Thank you. Counsel, any questions or comments we need to consider? Hearing none, is there a motion to give third reading to ordinance number 2526006? So moved. Second. All right. Ms. Ireland makes the motion, and Mr. Talbert seconds. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by raising your hand. All opposed? Motion passes unanimously. Next is consideration of approval of third reading of ordinance number 2526005, an ordinance authorizing the execution and delivery of an amended and restated solid waste service agreement with Three Rivers Solid Waste Authority to extend the term thereof through 2050, update tonnage commitments, and increase annual tipping fees, and authorizing the issuance of the authority of its bond revenue bonds in amount not to exceed $30 million to fund the construction of a new phase and other matters related thereto. I'll go to the administrator first and ask this is his third reading, if there's any new information we need to know.

Well, if we recall, we skipped a month on this ordinance. There was some language that the three county attorneys, McCormick, Sluta, and Edgeville, wanted clarified in this ordinance. All of that's been resolved, so we believe this is ready for third reading.

So no recommended changes? No, no.

Okay.

Council, any comments or questions on this ordinance?

Okay.

Hearing none, is there a motion to give third reading to Ordinance 2526005? So moved. Mr. Talbert makes the motion. Is there a second? Second. I believe Mr. Moody's second. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by raising your hand. All opposed?

Motion passes unanimously.

Next is number three under old business, consideration of approval of second reading of Ordinance 2526007, an ordinance to provide standards for the preservation of trees as part of the land development and building construction process. I'll ask the administrator for any additional information we need to know tonight.

The only new information is that the public hearing will be held at third reading. It missed the deadline to get in the local paper. So we will have the public hearing at the third reading. And if Council approves this ordinance on second reading, we'll go ahead and schedule a workshop with the professionals mentioned in it, arborists, foresters, landscape architects, to advise them of how to help our engineers and developers comply with this ordinance. And that's all.

Okay.

Thank you. Questions or comments from Council? Hearing none, is there a motion to give second reading to Ordinance Number 2526007? So moved. Mr. Moody makes the motion. Is there a second? Second. Dr. Kenyon seconds. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by raising your hand. All opposed? Motion passes unanimously. Now we move to new business. This first item is consideration of approval of Resolution 25260010 of the Fair Housing Resolution. We do this one every year, but I'll ask the... Administrator, if there's anything new or different we need to know.

Resolution simply reaffirms our commitment to fair housing.

Okay.

Thank you. Questions or comments from counsel? Hearing none, is there a motion to give approval to resolution number 25260010? So moved. Mr. Talbot makes motions. Is there a second? Second. Ms. Ireland seconds. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by raising your hand. All opposed, motion passes unanimously. Number two under new business is consideration of approval of a memorandum of understanding between Marine Forces Special Operating Command and Edgefield County Council and the Edgefield County Sheriff's Office to approve them training in Edgefield County. So I'll ask the administrator for a little bit of an explanation, please.

This memorandum of understanding simply permits the Marines to train within Edgeville County. This training is not something that the public would ever really notice. It would not be obvious that it's occurring. We've approved this before. The last time was in 2021. That's all.

All right. Thank you. Questions or comments from counsel? Hearing none, is there a motion to approve this memorandum of understanding? So moved. Dr. Kenyon makes the motions. Is there a second? Second. And Mr. Tyler seconds. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by raising your hand. All opposed? Motion passes unanimously. Last piece of new business, consideration of approval to award the contract to Chandler Construction to enclose the rear of the maintenance shop area adjacent to the recreation building and add a roll-up door. Total cost $12,300. Project would be paid for with county building renovation accounts. I'll ask the administrator if he'll walk us through the details, please.

So this is a very small project. It's in the old sheriff's office or old law enforcement center, which is now the new recreation office. Well, our maintenance department uses the sally port, the metal building component that is connected to the sheriff's office, old sheriff's office. And the rear is not enclosed on it. We would obviously love to tear down the unsightly razor wire and everything around the old detention yard. And by closing this in and protecting the tools, we'll be able to do that, make the whole area look so much better. It would be enclosed with metal, just like the rest of the outside of the building.

And that's all. Questions or comments from Council? And it looks like the low bid was the $12,300 from Chancellor. That's right. That's right. Okay. If there are no other questions or comments from counsel, is there a motion to award the contract described to Chandler Construction?

So moved.

Mr. Talbert makes the motion.

Is there a second? Second.

And Mr. Moody seconds. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by raising your hand. All opposed? Motion passes unanimously. All right. That ends the new business. We move to the second comment period, and I'll ask the clerk if anyone has signed up for that.

No, sir.

Okay, thank you. Council, if nobody signed up for that one, we'll close that one. Move to reports from county council members. Are there any difference?

I would like to thank everybody that came out last night to the town hall hosted by myself and Ms. Ireland. We had three great guest speakers, Sheriff Rowland, Senator Massey, and Representative Bill Hickson. I think a lot of good information was passed out from all three of those, what's going on locally as well as what's going on in Columbia. A lot of things are going on in Columbia, so if you haven't heard, You might want to pick up a paper or find out somewhere, but there's some tax savings coming to the people throughout the whole state, Edgefield County included. So I just thank those three for coming, and I thank everybody for showing up and asking the questions you all did last night.

I, too, would like to thank Senator Massey, Representative Hickson, and the sheriff, and David as well for being there last night, and for all those who attended our town hall. Tonight, DOT was holding a public hearing on the trail side and shortcut intersection. We, of course, could not be there because we are here, but that phase of the project is moving forward finally after over six years of not moving, so about time. And as I stated last night, that public hearing was slated to have been in June, but they did move it up, so hoping that Other things get moved up as well, but we know that's not always the case, but perhaps this will move a little faster. They're expecting construction to start in 2027 on that. So also, Mr. Albert and I, we sit on the COG board, and some information that we learned this past week was South Carolina Association of Area, or last week, Area Agencies on Aging is doing a needs assessment, and that's really important for people to take that assessment if you can. You can find it online. But additionally, we learned that volunteers are needed for their – it's not – We call it within our board and within our governmental agencies, we call it Meals on Wheels, but that is a separate nonprofit, but it's what we term Meals on Wheels. They need more volunteers, and this would be one day a week, a couple hours, a few hours one day a week. So if there are people who are interested in possibly delivering these meals and being a part of this, just let us know, or perhaps we might get something on our website about that too, but we're just looking for some more volunteers there. I think that's all I have.

Yes, I would like to say I'm calling on every resident, every family, and every concerned citizen to join us for an important community awareness event on March 21st, 26th at the Cary Hill Resource Center. That's 1591 H. Field Road, North Augusta, South Carolina from 11 to 12. This event is about information, transparency, and strengthening our community together. We have distinguished guest speakers who will share updates and answer questions that directly impact our daily lives. Our guest speaker will be Garrett Lynn, EMS, Hart, Doc, Clark, County Roads, Tim Malcolm, Fire Department County Line, and State Representative Bill Clyburn, and our very own Admin David Cadell. Thank you.

I would like to say that I'm going to be hosting our town hall meeting that will be coming up this Saturday, March 7, 2026. And the time is at 10... 30 to 1230 p.m. And the place we'll be held there will be McKinsey Method Fellowship Hall. And its location will be on 565 USC Highway 378. And we have our county administrator going to be there. I have three speakers, four. County Administrator Doc Hart and Fairbrick Planning Commission and Sheriff Rowland will be there. And the public is invited. Thank you.

Thank you.

All right.

That sounds like all the reports. So I will turn it over to the county administrator for his report.

Thank you. So on the data center ordinance, some may be aware that the Planning Commission did recommend a data center ordinance to council a few weeks ago. We, of course, took that ordinance. We sent it over to Will Williams, our economic developer, and we sent it to Andrew Marine, our county attorney, to go through the language to make sure everything is correct. It's fine with it. We'll make some edits based on their comments. And then this should be on the April agenda. We'll pass a copy around to council for you all to review it beforehand. There's also proposed legislation in the State House. There are two bills, as I understand it. So as we go through this process, it'll sort of be in coordination with that process. Whether those bills will make it or not this session, we don't know. But we do want to keep an eye on them and to make sure that whatever we do is complementary with state law, obviously. I do have a very positive update on our FEMA, Hurricane Helene. We have received 100% reimbursement for three bridges, Hunters Run, Odell Adams, and Grandpa, 75% funding for Cross Creek Bridge, 100% funding for the roads and bridges work that was done, their overtime, their equipment, and their materials that they used. We're still negotiating on the Long Cane Bridge and the county workforce time and materials that we use responding to Helene. So we are 17 months out from Helene, but we have recouped about 75% of the costs. So that seems like a long time, but dealing with the federal government, I'm very happy with it. And I believe our assistant administrator had one or two things he wanted to speak on.

Well, just one thing. You mentioned the road realignment for shortcut. I actually got sent a concept of that. I don't have a full plan set, and DOT's not ready to release that. But if you want a copy of the concept, just email me. I have it. Okay, you do?

I have it, and I took it with me last night to the town hall, so some people could see what it looked like, but I didn't bring it with me tonight.

Okay.

I do have a copy. I just want to make sure you have a copy. I do. Thank you so much.

All right. Questions from counsel for the administrator? All right. Thank you. So, Chairman's comments. First, we appreciate Will Williams' annual report tonight. I think we have a better perspective on several important issues as we go forward. On a different topic, I want to mention that the legislature has revamped a state committee called the Military Affairs Advisory Council. They added seats to this statewide committee to include Aiken and Edgefield counties. For example, the new members include the North Augusta Mayor, Aiken County Council Chairman, and Edgefield County Council Chairman, among others. So, I represent us on that committee. The legislature made a decision to add all of us because of the proximity of fort gordon to us and how it impacts our area so that's a good thing we had our first meeting last week the group this group looks at various ways the state and communities could go about helping veterans and their spouses through various programs to encourage them to live in the state I also serve on the Fort Gordon Alliance Advisory Board, which has similar interests and goals. So I'll keep Council updated on anything that transpires on what we can do in our area to ensure our veterans and spouses have a better chance to locate or relocate to our area. Finally, I want to let Council and everyone else know that we will have our annual budget workshop on March the 10th, that's one week from tonight, right here in County Council Chambers at 6 p.m. The budget workshop is the chance for the administrator to go through the proposed budget with us, and we hear from elected officials and department heads on anything they want to convey to us about their budgets. It's a public meeting, so anyone can attend. This is our chance to informally discuss the budget and work through it page by page. No votes are taken at this meeting. So, counsel, I don't have any other business on the agenda, so I would entertain a motion to adjourn. So moved. Dr. Kenyon makes motions. There's a second. Ms. Ireland seconds. Any discussion? Hearing none, all those in favor, please signify by raising your hand. All opposed? Motion passes unanimously. Thank you, everybody, for coming.