County Council - Regular Meeting

Good evening. It's 5:34. We apologize we're a few minutes late in convening this meeting of the April 21st Greenwood County Council meeting. Your county council has been in executive session since 400 pm. In the interest of full transparency, I'm going to ask that manager Toby Chapel tell you why we had that need. Mr. Manager.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of county council, we entered into executive session for the following 10 items. Six economic development matters pertaining to projects Patriot, Apex, Paper Trail, Helios, Muscogee, and Piranha, and four legal matters pertaining to opioid settlements, United Signs LLC, Special Tax Districts, and the Greenwood County Planning Commission.

Thank you, Mr. Manager. Do I have a motion we exit do? Have a motion by Mr. Temple, second, second by Vice Chairman. All in favor? That's so ordered. And we are out of executive session. Thank you. Give me one quick second. I got a whole lot of papers up here in front of me. Councilwoman Teresa Griffin has our vocation uh this evening and that will be followed by our pledge of allegiance and after which we will approve our minutes from the last session. Miss Griffin, please stand if you're able.

Good evening council and um those attending tonight. On behalf of the um district 1, we will have Bishop Dexter Cannon. He's a um newly elected pastor at Mount Mariah Baptist Church which is within the district one. So we're going to ask him to come forward at this time. Let us pray. Most gracious and all wise eternal God, we come before you today to with humble hearts to acknowledge the fact that all wisdom, authority, and power ultimately becomes from you. We thank you for the privilege of gathering in this sacred space for the opportunity to serve the people of Greenwood County.

Yes. Now we lift up every council member, every constituent, every leader, every public servant present. Grant unto them now clarity of mind, integrity of heart, and unity of purpose. In moments of decision, guide them with your wisdom. In times of challenge, strengthen them with courage. and in all things remind them that their service is not only policy but also to people. Father, we ask now that justice would flow through every discussion, fairness would mark every decision and compassion would shape every outcome. Amen.

Help these your people and your leaders to look beyond differences and work together for the common good of every citizen, young and old, near and far, seen and unseen. Bless now this county, Lord. Bless its families, its schools, its businesses, organizations, and its churches. Let Greenwood be a place where peace prevails, opportunity grows, and hope is renewed. Now have your way in this meeting. Order every agenda, every conversation, every vote according to your divine will. We pray and trust you to lead, guide, direct, and sustain us now and in the days ahead. In your holy and most righteous name we pray. Amen.

Amen. Thank you, pastor. I pledge algiance 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. Thank you. Please be seated. We have several presentations um to take care of this evening. And what I'm going to

Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Yeah. Before we do that, I trust that you've each had an opportunity to review your minutes from last meeting. If so, I'll entertain a motion. We approve those minutes.

Motion by Miss Miller, second by Miss Griffin. All in favor? That is so ordered. Thank you. We have four presentations tonight and I'm going to take a little chairman privilege here before I do that. Hold on a sec. Yeah, excuse me. We'll move we'll move first into public comment. We have um two people signed up here to make comment this afternoon. U Miss Sandra Hasky, Sandra Hasky, is that correct? That's correct. Miss Hasky, if you would come forward, please state your name and address for the record. Come to the podium, please. Ma'am,

yes. I really I really just came to see what was going on on Tranquil Road because I live on Chinkapen, but I pay the taxes at 275 Tranquil, which was my dad's home. And so I'm just here to see where this access road is going to go. Uh that's important to me. Okay. Well, we're happy to have you. Thank you for coming. Thank you. So you don't have any comments you want to make in regard to that action? I

Well, there's I'm just hoping it's not going to go down the side where my bedroom is because I I plan to move there in in the next several months. But it's just there is a lot of traffic on Tranquil Road and I was just wondering I mean what is that going to what is that going to be like? Well, we appreciate you being here and hope those questions will be answered for you tonight. Thank you. I appreciate it. Come back anytime. Mr. Gary Pard, you're signed up, but if I'm if I'm not mistaken, I believe you're going to speak during the public hearing. Is that correct? I am. I signed up. Yes, sir. So, we'll hear from you later. Okay.

All right. Thank you. We have four presentations to take care of tonight and I'm going to take a little chairman's prerogative here and in the interest of time for people that might have to sit and wait. What I would like to do is in for John I would ask that you would wait. I would ask for our friends from first citizens wait. And what I would like to do is uh to first uh let's take care of the proclamation uh recognizing the National Daughters of the American Re U revolution. I will read that uh proclamation into the record. Uh Miss Gloria Evans, are you in here tonight? Come forward if you care to please ma'am. So let me go ahead and read this please. Whereas the objectives of the national society daughters American revolution are patriotism, education and historical preservation. My eyesight outruns my vanity. Um, patriotism and historical preservation and objectives of America 250 are meshed completely with these three great concepts. And whereas the preservation of our nation's history is essential to understanding the values, sacrifices, and vision upon which our communities were founded. And whereas the this historical marker stands as a tribute to the men and women who believed in liberty and courageously endured hardship to help establish and shape a new nation. Whereas generations of citizens have benefited from courage, determination, and selfless sacrifice of those who came before us. And whereas it is fitting and proper to honor and preserve the memory of the men and women whose sacrifices secured our freedoms that we cherish today, whereas the dedication of this marker provides an opportunity for present and future generations to reflect upon our shared heritage and the enduring principles of

liberty and justice. And whereas this occasion brings together community members, leaders, and visitors in a spirit of remembrance, gratitude, and unity. Whereas the county council of Greenwood County recognizes the importance of commemorating significant historical contributions and ensuring their stories are preserved for generations to come. Therefore, be it proclaimed that the County Council of Greenwood County does hereby recognize and honor the dedication of this historic marker commemorating the men and women who believed in liberty and through courage and sacrifice helped lay the foundation for our nation and the growth of small town America. We encourage all citizens to reflect upon upon and preserve the legacy of those who selflessly secure the freedoms that we cherished. and that is witnessed by all county council members and attested by our county manager today. Would you like to speak?

I'd just like to say that this marker is being erected u with town of Hodgees their blessing and their support and also in conjunction with the America 250 coalition and um we believe it's very important. We think it's important to have your approval and we appreciate it if we get that tonight. Thank you very much. Please go ahead.

Thank you so much. All of you have an invitation to come to this service. It will be on Sunday, May the 3, 2 o'clock. It won't be that long, trust me, but it'd be significant if you can be there. Thank you so much. Abby, you want to take a picture? Who would you like in the picture? I'm happy to

any council members. Where our next proclamation is for Small Business Week, May 3rd to 9th. I'll read that into the record. Whereas America's small businesses are the backbone of our economy, creating nearly two out of every three new jobs in the United States and employing nearly half of this country's private workforce. And whereas small businesses foster innovation, create opportunities, and provide vital goods and services that strengthen communities across the nation, including right here in Greenwood County. And whereas Greenwood County is home to thousands of small businesses that enrich our local culture, support community development, and serve as critical drivers of our local economy. Whereas the contributions of small business owners and entrepreneurs are worthy of recognition, especially as they demonstrate resilience, creativity, and commitment to their crafts, their employees, and the citizens that they serve. Whereas the US Small Business Administration has designated the week of May 3-9, 2026 as National Small Business Week, we celebrate and support small businesses and the big impact that they have on our economy. So now therefore, the Greenwood County Council does hereby proclaim the week of May 3rd through May 9th, 2026 as Small Business Week in Greenwood County, South Carolina, and urges all citizens to join in recognizing the importance of small businesses supporting local

entrepreneurs and celebrating their vital contributions to the community and nation. And that is proclaimed on this 21st day of April by the Greenwood County Council. Transy, how are you? I am good. Um, thank you so much for reading that proclamation. I also have with me uh Mr. Earl Gregorich. He is from the US Small Business Administration, the South Carolina District Office, and he serves as the marketing and outreach specialist for our area. So, thank you as well for coming um from Duncan. And we thank you as well uh to the county council for this proclamation all the way from Duncan. Would you like to speak? Thank you for being here.

Absolutely. Happy to be here and thank you for taking the time for the proclamation. Um Small Business Administration, uh we're out and about in all all places and rural folk folks. Uh we're trying to get out there and help small business as best we can. So we appreciate you taking time for the proclamation. So

thank you very much. We'll take a quick picture. Anyone that wants to come down, join me. Kathy. Kathy, you should have jumped up and photo bomb.

Should have. Exactly. It would have been great. You're in the perfect spot. Okay, we'll get back in order now. So, first uh first uh our next presentation, our quarterly update on investments from our friends from First Citizens, Neil Chapman and Jared Davidson. Is Neil not here tonight, Jared? We do not have Neil tonight. Um apologies there. He unfortunately got double booked, so I'm flying solo for the day.

Quite sure you can carry the ball for us. I appreciate your confidence. Thank you, sir. Uh great to be here as always. Um I'll be somewhat brief, but we of course do like to have uh the this time. We're appreciative of it every quarter. Um to speak a little bit about market, what we're seeing out there that affects you guys specifically in your portfolio uh and naturally go through some of the portfolio performance. Um so we'll start there. Um I'll jump right in and in your presentations in front of you. Uh if I could have you turn to page five. And so we'll start off talking a little bit about inflation. Um you'll see on our on the report here for those uh looking on the screen to the right side uh of our chart, you'll notice a pretty big uh a sharp increase uh in inflation expectations just about after February. Um, many could probably guess why why that occurred, but um, the entrance into Iran has certainly um, changed a lot of things as it relates to inflation. I think probably most of us in this room have felt that one-on-one at the gas pump uh, within the past couple of months. Um, expectations uh, changed pretty quickly. Uh, the one-year uh, swap rate is at 3.11. uh with inflation now of course uh we were somewhere between two and a quarter two and a half so call it 2.3 as we started the year uh or at its low point in February of this year um so good little jump I we'll look at a couple more slides here in a second um most expectations would would have that trend continue uh for the near future um in the distant future we'll see um if you flip one more page to page six uh this this is one of those trends that I think speaks to it. Um, of course, a big driver of of interest rates and uh and you all's portfolio is the Fed uh in their in

their recent cut uh their process of cutting down. Um, if you look towards the right side again, you'll find a gold line uh which will say market pricing March 23 uh of this year. And then under that in blue, kind of a brighter blue, you'll see it says market pricing February 27. Um so this is showing how quickly uh there was a change in expectation on on how many times we will see the Fed cut. Um it's shown in the little table below as well. Uh so in 2026 uh Fed reserve projections are about 25 basis points. Um so a quarter point cut before the end of the year. Uh that's what the Fed is is believing and saying that that they imagine will happen. Um market pricing though has it closer to zero. uh which is why you have uh the gold line essentially extending out through mid to late 2027. Um so analyst and and the like are are more in the boat that likely rates stay about where they are uh for for the foreseeable future at least if if you define that as about a year and a half. Um otherwise the Fed is is projecting uh the 25 basis point cut this year and then again next year and at that point they would they should likely be at their terminal um terminal rate of somewhere between three and three and a quarter. Um of course the piece of the puzzle that matters a lot for for your portfolio uh is the yield curve. Um if you flip to page seven, we'll look at that a little bit and kind of the updates we've seen in just these first few months of the year. You'll have only two lines. Try to keep it simple this time. Uh December 31, 2025 is your darker line, your blue line. Um the shape of that curve in the blue is pretty consistent with what we've seen for the past um call a year and a half, two years with a a much higher very short term in the one and three month

and even six month as as compared to the one year and on. Um the gold though is representative of uh changes in the market after um the the effects of of Iran and the the gold actually looks just about at what we typically aim for uh when we're looking for what would be called a particularly healthy yield curve where everything on the short end is lower than anything beyond it. Um so normalization happens in a few different ways. Um I did check this morning um and the one and two-year have come down a little bit but they've held pretty close to where they are even here uh listed in in March. Um the the very short end of one you know three-month call it uh is still right at about 3.7 um maybe 3.65 I believe it was for the one year now. So um if it's if that belly is coming back a little bit it's not by much. Uh so it seems like market trend is is holding what would be a normalized curve. Uh so um I suppose there are silver linings here and there. Um and that's that that's where I'll probably pause and just wait to see if there's any questions on market economics. All right. Um if you'll we of course have the two different portfolios. Uh similar strategies but different. Um the first we can look at uh would be on page 13. Uh this is the electric capital fund. Um on the far right hand side, get us caught up on the screen. There we go. It will be hard to read there, but I'll I'll help everybody's eyes. Um on the far right side about middle page, uh yield to maturity for your portfolio 3.82%. Um this of course is the best representation of of takeaway uh for the for a portfolio like yours holding individual fixed income securities issued by the U United States Treasury.

Um so yeah I think that we are we are trending in the same way. This is the one where in which we went out a little further on the yield curve in in pursuit of locking in some performance that was available in some of those previous yield curves that we've reviewed that were one or two% higher in the past two or three years. um expectation has always been that we will see rates come down. Uh but that was a great opportunity to lock some of those some of those potential short-term gains in at the time. Um the next one we can flip to page 20. Again, similar strategy, slightly different uh shorter term. Uh this would be your operating fund portfolio. Um similar, but again, a little bit less, 3.79% in yield to maturity. Um, this one is a more of a three-year strategy. So, slightly closer on the yield curve. Um, but close enough that, you know, there's from a liquidity standpoint, there's never an issue. 3.82, 3.79, uh, as it exists today. Um, investment policy statements are in the back of of the presentation as well. All of course um, compliant with with state statute. Um, and I'll pause there. Any questions on performance? All right. Well, as always, it's our pleasure to be here. Um, we thank you for the time. Um, if there's any questions, we we can be available whenever it's needed for counsel.

Jared, before you step down, Miss Dorne, our assistant county manager for finance, any comments or questions you'd like to ask of First Citizens before Jared sits? Thank you, ma'am. Thank you, Jared. Appreciate having

Mr. John Lumis. And before John gets started, John, I want to take the opportunity to publicly thank you for all the support that the Upstate Alliance has given not only to Greenwood County, but all the counties. For those of you who don't know John, he's the executive director of the Upstate Alliance, and he has come down to Greenwood County many times to meet with us uh and help uh sell Greenwood County to people who are interested in making this their business home. So, John, thank you for always being there for us.

Thank you so much, Mr. Chairman. I really appreciate it and really enjoy working with Greenwood County a lot. Actually, some of you know this. I lived in Greenwood for three years. Um, worked at Upper Savannah Council of Governments back in the early 90s and uh, always enjoyed being in this community and I really appreciate what the council does, what our administrator, Mr. Chapel, does for us as well and our working relationship with James Baitman um, and his team. And I'm going to talk a little bit more about that in a minute. At our annual meeting recently, we featured an upstate manufacturing employee. He told us the story of his family's journey with his company. His father retired from that company and his son now works there. His story is an example of the generational legacy that Upstate leaders have hoped to achieve with economic development. Hearing how individuals can find a passion, blaze a path, and progress through their career right here at home is exactly why communities engage in economic development. Today, I want to share a little bit more about the role that the Upstate Alliance plays in that process for our 10ount geography. So, as you see, these are the 10 counties that we represent, about 1.6 6 million people in those 10 counties. Um we have uh 2500 manufacturing companies, existing companies within that footprint about 120,000 people working in manufacturing businesses in a diverse array much like what you have in Greenwood and I think Greenwood is a perfect microcosm of what we have in our economy.

So who is the upstate alliance? We were founded in the year 2000 and a group of public and private sector um leaders came together and felt that we could be much more successful in economic development in recruiting industry here as a 10ount strong region than separately. Um so that group came together and we've grown since that time. We are a public private um partnership. We're governed by an executive committee and a board. Um and again the reason why we're here is the strength of that regional approach when we can talk to companies and talk about great you know groups that have chosen to be here like Lines and Vlux and you know you go on down the list BMW Michelin others and we can make that strong statement. Um it's very very important and also we're here because um of the limited resources of counties and the South Carolina Department of Commerce to be able to do that worldwide marketing. I always tell the story I was the Anderson County Economic Development Director back in the early 2000s and my budget for the year for all of my travel, for all of my marketing website um was $4,500 a year. So, I couldn't uh I always tell people I couldn't much get past Pelzer for that much. If y'all know where Pelzer is. Um but so we are also one of eight regional groups um across the state that work together and allow the state and communities to put resources and drive in private sector support. So currently about 42% of our funding comes from the private sector companies that are our members.

Um most of us know the region story, a textile production hub that felt vulnerable to new technology in global markets. For decades, leaders of our state and region have worked diligently to lay the foundation for a prosperous community. They envision good quality jobs for everyone working to attract strong employers like Eaton ES Foundry and EA Sween ones that have one that was has been here and a couple that are are newly recruited um to the county. Today we focus on attracting companies within these target industries. aerospace, automotive, engineered materials, food and beverage, life sciences, and then office and professional. Today, the upstate's economy has matured into a diverse powerhouse where manufacturing and technology meet. The wages and prosperity prospects for everyone in our region improves. One central element to the upstate success is our global business environment. A recent study by the South Carolina Manufacturers and Commerce Group reiterated the importance of manufacturing to South Carolina's economy with a $300 billion economic impact yearly and 30% of all jobs direct or indirect in manufacturing. The study also found that manufacturing jobs pay 24% more than the average South Carolina job. And manufacturing has a high multiplier effect. For example, in the automotive industry, for every 10 jobs created in automotive manufacturing, 36 additional jobs are created elsewhere in our economy. These

jobs include fields such as engineering, architecture, construction, legal, financial and accounting services, human resources, information technology, utilities, and many, many more. The study also found that the upstate contains nearly half of the state's direct manufacturing employment base. And I talk about this the importance of manufacturing because you know that's the bread and butter what we do in South Carolina. James and his team you might have different type of companies that come in. You may have distribution that's supporting you may have manufacturing may have others but generally we're a manufacturing economy and that's why our economy is so strong. We also have a lot of international companies here. We currently have 590 international companies represented representing 38 countries which is pretty incredible and a number of those are located here in Greenwood County. So how did we do in 2025? The upstate had 53 projects with 7.6 billion in capital investment and nearly 5,000 jobs created. That brings our 5-year cumulative total to 18.8 8 billion28,600 jobs for the people here in the upstate. Just to put it in a little um focus,

we had 7.6 billion in announcements in the upstate. The state of South Carolina had 9.1 billion. I won't say anything more about that. dragon, right?

Um anyway, so during 2025, we made 429 presentations about the upstate to share our region's value proposition. We completed 78 requests for information, which is a key step in the site selection process. And these requests for information are sent to James and his team in our other nine counties and four cities um for them to respond with information. And so hopefully those projects will land somewhere in the upstate. We hosted 102 visits to the region between companies and the centers of influence who help guide them or site consultants. And we added 262 new leads to the project pipeline. Each of these activities are meant to support and promote our most important constituency, the local economic development offices. And when I talk about this 7.6 6 billion in new investment. We're just on the front end of helping with some of that. It's the local economic developers and local economic development offices that close the deals. Um, we work very closely with James Baitman and Billy Ray Morgan and their team here at the county on a frequent basis to try to help bring leads to the area and assist wherever we can with research um, and just supporting projects that are here. Really enjoy and appreciate the hard work that the Greenwood County Economic Development team does and they're really fantastic and they're they're top-notch. Um, so that's all I have. I just want to again thank y'all for y'all's support and thank you Mr. Chairman for your nice comments. We really do try to support Greenwood County and all of our other counties as much as we can as many ways as we can. John, it's it's a wonderful partnership that we have and I think it's fortuitous tonight that Treny Williams was here from the chamber

recognizing Small Business Week because as you pointed out earlier, we like to tout the BMWs and the Michelins and the big dogs, but the but the jobs that they create through small business, you probably know the numbers are average numbers with some of those, but that is also a huge component. Oh, it definitely is. most I mean I guess 80 to 90% of people work for what's considered a small business and um but again these manufacturing projects will you know create the small business being here um creates wealth but the small businesses you're right that's the backbone of the community

thank you council any comments before John takes a seat if not thank you again for doing thank you John presentation good seeing y'all and appreciate y'all's support appreciate you thank Thank you. We'll move now into old business ordinance 202616 will amend the will amend the Greenwood County zoning map as and if amended so that two parcels of land totaling approximately 15.68 acres at 1511 96 highway in Greenwood County change from a 2 to I1 light industrial Mr. Rob Russian assistant county manager.

This is uh second reading tonight. The applicant Chandler Construction Services address is 1511 96 highway. Again, currently zone AG2. The request is I1. This is a legal non-conforming uh business on the site. Has been there for uh decades uh with their expansion. Uh they have subdivided the property and are looking to uh reszone both uh subdivided properties to light industrial. Again, those two parcels totaling uh just under uh 16 acres. Uh and this is in district two. Uh those are the two properties as you see there. Uh Chandler Constructions original building, they're right under the 1511 address point and then the new construction will occur on the uh parcel here uh to the right. Uh pictures of the parcel itself. If you can see on the left picture there, uh construction has started on that. Council has already addressed uh the economic development piece of this project and we're here to uh address the zoning piece of the project to match that economic development piece. Uh there on the right, the driveway and you could see uh the original building back there on the left hand side of that picture. view towards the east uh that would be towards 96 and a view towards the west that would be towards uh Greenwood on 96 highway. Uh current zoning uh the parcels are right there in the middle. Uh there's some other red lines there, but you do have those two parcels right there in the middle. In the dark green, all the uh well that's really medium green, but uh is the AG2. Uh we do have some commercial uh which is just up the road there uh as far as current zoning uh but it's pretty much surrounded by AG2 and

then some R2 directly to the west. Uh again the subject property there in the red boxes future land use has uh these two parcels as low density residential. However, uh just kind of overlapping the parcel right there does have uh recognizes that area as being commercial uh which kind of goes out of the current property lines there and catches some of the building uh for that future land use map. Uh as far as property history goes, uh the current uh construction services been in use since uh 1971, I believe. Again, legal non-conforming in the AG2 district. Uh, future land use maps does recommend low density, but we did mention that commercial staff does recommend approval based upon that. Some of that property is under the uh future land use map as far as commercial goes. Again, this is light industrial though. And then again, uh this property has been under this use uh for uh decades. I can take any questions you might have at this time.

Comes with planning and zoning recommendation and staff approval. Correct. Correct. No, it will go to planning commission. Excuse me. Go to planning is only planning commission will be next week. Correct. Mr. Chairman, I'll make a motion to approve. I second. Now you can ask a question. Mr. Had me a bit here. Can I ask a question? What? Yeah, we have a motion and a second to approve comments. Miss Miller, please.

Yes. Could you explain to me and to our attendees today what legally non-conforming means? Essentially legal non-conforming means that uh the existing use of the property is allowed even though the zoning is incompatible with that. Um in this case the uh property was in existence when the zoning went into into effect. So the zoning that was zoned did not match the use at the time it was originally zoned we believe. So it is been operating under that um legal non-conforming uh due to the expansion and the splitting of properties. They need to bring that within uh compliance with zoning and in this case uh we have recommended the I1 zoning to match the use that it has been for decades.

Thank you council. Any other comments or questions before we vote? We had a we had a motion by Mr. Alson, second by Miss Bishop. Legal non-conforming is the legal better term for grandfather, just so everybody knows. Any other comments or questions? Motion was to approve and all in favor and that's unanimous and so ordered. Thank you, Rob. I will now open public hearings. We have we have public hearings tonight, I believe, to address three matters. Um, so I will need a motion now that we enter into public hearing. So moved.

Second.

Motion by Mr. Temple, second by Miss Bishop. All in favor? And we are now in public hearing. Item B, ordinance 202615 to amend the Greenwood County zoning map as and if amended so that one parcel of land totaling approximately 34.88 88 acres at 3414 Highway 221 South in Greenwood changes from R1 single family residential to I2 heavy industrial. Mr. Russian, this again uh request by Mr. Gary Pard. He is the applicant. This is the Pard's auto salvage yard on Highway 221 South. requesting to reszone the nearly 35 acres of land located at this location from R1, which it currently is, to I2, which is heavy industrial. Again, this is a uh legal non-conforming uh property uh or use um for that property. A picture on the left there is a picture of the uh property from the front. Uh a view to the southwest on Highway 21, 221 south towards the bypass. And then the third picture is a view uh to the northeast on Highway 221 south toward Old Mount Mariah Road. Uh current zoning in that area that is the uh the parcel is that uh red box in the middle. Um it is currently surrounded by R1 R3 here to the north. There is some commercial in this area. And then you move into the uh light industrial which is uh part of the fairgrounds and everything out there on the bypass also is that um industrial. So while current use is auto salvage again it is currently zoned R1 single family residential. As far as the future land

use plan, council uh had deemed this uh future land use to be um the industrial use. So it is in a sea of uh the orange around it would be the medium density residential but the property itself for the future land use plan was deemed to be uh industrial. uh the heavy industrial district. Again, the purpose of this district is to provide a variety of industrial operations but not to restrict or prohibit those industries which have characteristics likely produce adverse effects. Uh history of the property. Uh it has been a legal non-conforming use as an auto salvage yard. It was converted to an alv to a salvage yard from farmland over 63 years ago. and most of the salvage uh accumulated between 28 and 20 2008 and 2011. Uh does have some frontage on Highway 221 south. There is septic, CPW gas and water utilities in the area. Uh and no flood management on the property. As far as comprehensive plan and zoning impact, uh we are compatible with the future land use which is industrial. uh the I2 zoning which they are requesting does permit auto salvage which is its current use and then all um the non-residential use comply with standards set forth in the section for that uh particular use. Uh there is a some buffer yards that apply to amilarate new nuisances. I can barely say that but uh and then the um again compatibility with the zoning ordinance legal not currently legal non-conforming uh and if it is reszone to I2 uh would it fit would it current be compatible with its current use staff does recommend approval uh again

and there's just some uh requirements through our zoning in the I2 for this particular use I can take any questions you might What was the board's This board was uh actually That's wrong. No, the the planning commission voted denial uh unanimous denial. There was uh several uh speakers in the vicinity that were uh worried about what under the I2 uh zoning uh what other uh uses of the property may be.

Okay. Thank you, Rob. If there are no questions. Um, so I will ask first if anyone here tonight cares to speak in favor of this ordinance, please come forward, state your name and address for the record. Mr. Pard,

Mr. My name is Gary Pard and I live at 536 Wilson Street in the city of Greenwood. And I just wanted to bring a few things, reiterate a few things because I see some unfamiliar faces here that I don't believe have heard me speak in the previous meeting. Um that a lot of the neighbors have had discussions with negative thoughts of the future use of the property when I believe it'll be far more aesthetically pleasing. It'll be far more ecologically friendly and uh I think it will preserve or improve property values on the adjacent properties. I don't actually see any negative to this and that's not speaking for self-s serving reasons. Um I don't believe there'll be any additional traffic created because the auto salvage produces a significant amount of traffic and noise um with the opaque fencing that will be required. the there will be minimal view of salvage vehicles right now with the uh nonconforming use. Um I'm pretty much not regulated as to anything that I can do there with regards to auto salvage. So I think it'll be a lot kinder and gentler to the neighbors for a future use and you'll get to get rid of an unsightly junkyard. That's really all I have to say. So, so let me first ask a question. So, you were touting that that approval of this is better for your neighbors in your in your mind.

Absolutely. Absolutely. So, but your vision if it were to be better would be what? Industrially on that property? Uh there's a multitude of things that it could be. I would think some sort of manufacturing would go in there, but I would think that landscaping and an opaque fence and setbacks, etc., would make it much kinder to the neighbors in terms of noise and appearance. Okay. All right. Thanks, sir. Anything else? Any questions, comments, council for Mr. Paul it? Madam Attorney,

I I'm not sure of the conversations that he's had with planning, but as a general matter, he's required to do those things now, even as a legal non-conforming use to have those six foot high opaque fencing so that people cannot see into the salvage yard. So, I I don't know what those conversations are, but those are our requirements. Understood. Understood. Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Thank you. Anyone else would like to come and speak in favor of this ordinance?

State your name and address for the record, please.

I'm Glenn Cole and I live at 119 Metobrook Drive, just outside the city. I live in some Greenwood. Um, I'm all for this as well. Um, what the neighbors might not realize would happen if this stays R1 is the what's happening all across town and I think everyone knows what's happening like with Beasley Homes, Ryan Homes. What they do when it's R1, it doesn't stay R1. They come in and they change it to multi- family homes. So instead of having, you know, single family homes, now you have town homes or apartments. And instead of having a nice uh aesthetically pleasing building, now you have who knows what's living in your backyard. So in my eyes, I agree with Gary that an industrial building is going to be a much much nicer neighbor than who knows what these builders are going to put in your backyard. So, like I say, we already have way too much R1's going on right now that are being changed to what is it the multi-planning I forget what you call it. Like what Beasley is trying to do up there on Woodland Drive. So, I'm all We have too many neighborhoods now. So, I'm all for industrial I1 or whatever it's called.

Yeah. because it's in keeping with your multiple appearances now before us in regard to anti. You don't really care about the junkyard or an industry. You really are here to talk more about He don't want any more neighborhoods. No more neighborhoods. Yeah. No more neighborhoods. Okay. Anything else? Yeah. Thanks for being here. Thanks.

Is there anyone else here would like to speak in favor? name and address of direct place. Sir Bernste and our company owns property on Anderson Circle here in Greenwood. It's a warehouse and uh I work in Abbyville and I happen to drive past Mr. Pard's yard at twice a day going to work and coming back from work. And I can say that it not being a salvage yard would be a visual improvement over what's there now. I know he keeps as good as he can, but it's a junkyard. Junkyards look like junkyards. It looks like a scrapyard. So for buildings that would be industrially oriented would be much better looking than half demolished cars, flat tires, broken windows, all that kind of stuff. So, I I think it would be a good idea and think would be better for that part of town. I like I said, I go past it all the time. It's got the fairgrounds on one side, some truck repair places on the same street. I think would be an improvement.

That's it. Thank you, Danny. Appreciate you being with us. Okay. Thank you. Any comments or questions before he sits? Excuse me. None. Thank you, Danny. Thank you. Anyone else here cares to speak in favor? Seeing none, I'll ask if there's anyone here who wants to speak in objection to this. Come forward, sir. A minute. Either one of you. Either one doesn't matter. Let the lady come first. Come, ma'am.

I'm Alice Hint. And this is my second time up here. And your address, Miss Alice? Alice H. 305 Highway 221 South. Yes, ma'am. Thank you.

I'm post uh I'm concerned about the industrial part if it be approved to have the industrial part put into that 34 acres. It's only one way in and out to that property. And if it be approved for industrial, then that's going to be a very very bad decision because uh of the uh driving condition. You know, that property is right on that bridge. You're already having cars coming over 45 and 50 miles an hour right now. 221 is a very busy road and by putting industrial thing and that's going to uh make everything goes up faster. More cars and things going to be coming in and out. So, you're not going to even have enough room to stop coming over that bridge doing 45 and 50 miles an hour to get in and out of that property. So that was one of my biggest concern about approving this property for industrial pro for industrial reason.

Thank you. Thank you ma'am. Thank you. Anyone else here would like to speak in opposition? Thank you sir. Come forward. State your name and address.

My name is Glenn Weidman. I live at 119 Weidman Drive. My property actually backs up to Gary's property. Um, the biggest thing that I can see is the industrial that he's asking for. What does it actually allow to come in there? Can we have chicken farms in there? Can we have anything under light heavy duty industrial can move in there once he sells the property? Once he sells the property, he's going to be gone. But we still going to be there. We've been there. I've been there all my life. I'm 68 years old. So, it's residential property now. And I would request that it if it he closes the junkyard up, it goes back to residential R1 because it's going to create who knows what whatever is allowed. Once he sells the property, they can do whatever is and what is heavy duty industrial. what is allowed in that? Once he's gone, he has no ties. Once he's gone, what are we left with? So, that's something you need to consider. If it was your house and and like I say, I own almost 40 acres in that area. My brother owns another 12 acres. So, it's just uh it just concerns me what could go there under that zoning.

Thanks, sir. Mr. Russian for the benefit of the speaker. Would you like to elaborate on that for him for clarity? That's what I'm saying. It's a lot of them. Okay. Thank you, sir. We can go back to that momentarily. I guess I think he's saying he don't care if it becomes We'll move we'll move we'll move now the second item. You got one more. Oh, we have one more to speak. Oh, I apologize. Come forward, please, ma'am. Name and address for the record. Didn't see you there.

Good evening. My name is Linda Thomas and I live at 315 Highway 221 South. And um my concern is uh the proposed I2 zoning may negatively impact our quality of the neighborhood. There are several disadvantages of putting uh reszoning to I2 in a residential neighborhood. And some of the um disadvantages is environment and health hazards, um noise and odor pollution, heavy traffic and congestion, reduce and residential value. I've been there for over 30 years. It's a nice neighborhood and I would like for it to remain like that. Now, um my understanding with IU that is heavy industry there and hopefully my grandkids will be there and I would like for it to remain safe for them and thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, ma'am.

Yes, please. Please, Rob. So the I2 zoning district allows everything in um I1 I'll go through I1 plus solar farms. So first would be solar farms and then again under the I1 you have everything which is in C2. So, anything in C2 would be allowed, but uh specifically agriculture including poultry, uh contractor shop and storage yards, fairground, manufacturing, fabricating, processing, mobile or manufactured homes conditionally, railroad facilities, storage yard other than for scrap metal, wrecked on bills or junk, tobacco storage and processing, truck terminals, warehouse, welding shops, uh accessory uses, and structures customarily incidental to permit use solid waste transfer stations and solar farms. Uh and then mobile food truck vendors and I believe that's uh inclusive.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. I had another question for you, Mr. Rob. Um with the future land use of the property, you said industrial, but was it medium industrial? The future land use doesn't distinguish between light or heavy. It's just industrial really. And there there it is in blue there. Any other comments, questions? Council, anything from staff?

Only thing I'll point out is I think Mr. Russian said it includes all of C2 allowed, but C2 also allows all of C1 and C3. So essentially anything in a C1, C2 or C3 would also be allowed. And I can read you this list, but it's pretty large list. Hotels, motel, retail, mini warehouses, etc. So a reminder, council, we're going to we're going to move through these and then when we close a public hearing, we'll vote these individually.

If I can say one more thing, Mr. Chairman. Yes, sir. y'all talked about if he ceases to use it, and y'all never really said how long that period is, is 180 days. So, if he was to stop using the uh facility as a junkyard for 180 days, he would lose his protected legal non-conformance status. Okay. Thank you very much, Mr. Manager. All right, council. We'll move now to item C 202617 approving request by the treasurer's office that we dissolve the spring lake spring lake special tax district our assistant county manager for finance Stephanie Dorne please.

Thank you chairman and council. This is um a request that had been taken off and is being brought back to you to dissolve the spring lake special tax district. it has not been used um and they do not have any funds on hand and it is our understanding that the neighborhood would like to dissolve. Uh we have sent out letters to all of the neighborhood notifying them of um our intent to dissolve and um the meeting schedule so that they could appear before you if they wanted to. Happy to answer any questions that you might have.

Yes, ma'am. Thank you. and we spoke this morning about previous notifications and I think you you provided me with that information. Thank you. Um we're we're still in public hearing. I will ask if there's anyone here in the audience has come was wishes to come forward and speak in support of this ordinance. Seeing none, is there Oh, excuse me. I'm still learning. That's okay. Happy to have you. State your name and address of the record, please.

My name is Christina Cobb. I live at 115 Spring Lake Drive and uh this is my second time here. Um I want to thank Miss Griffin and the pastor for that beautiful prayer because I was just going to come up here and say forget it and uh but I had something on my heart ever since I've gone through this. It's been very stressful. Um so that kind of gave me confirmation. Um so uh I'm here to speak against the special tax for spring lake. What I've learned through this process has been deeper than just policy or money. It's shown me that even when there may be dishonesty or disagreement, we are still called some to something higher. Because at the end of our lives, none of this, none of the money, the material things will matter. What will matter is who we were. How did we treat people? Did we keep our word? Did we stand for what was right even when it was hard? Did we show grace even when we were frustrated? When people hear our name, what will they say about us? For me, my faith is the center of that. I want my life to reflect God's grace and love. I want to do what is right, not out of convenience, but because I fear God and I want to honor him in everything I do. And I'll be honest, this process hasn't been easy. I've had to restrain my emotions. I've had to check myself to make sure that even while standing firm in my truth, I'm still leading with grace. But standing in the truth and standing in grace can happen at the same time. So I stand here today not just opposed to this special tax, but to commit to doing what is right in a way that reflects my integrity, my faith, and the respect for everyone in this room. I thank you for hearing me, and I pray that God gives each of you wisdom, discernment, and guidance as you make your decisions. Okay. Before you sit down, Yeah. I want to make sure I'm clear. I asked if anyone was here to

speak in support and the and the the ordinance is to dissolve the district. You want it dissolved. That's what she wants. Yeah, that's what she wants. You do want it dissolved. I don't want it. Okay. Okay. We're where we should be then. No more tax and and thank you for what you said. Thank you for being here with us. Thank you for being so kind to me. This is my first second time. Is there anyone else here would like to speak uh in support of dissolving the tax district? Seeing no whoops, I'm going to have to take a longer pause. Name and name and address for the record, please.

Grenda Jones. I live at 114 Spring Lake Drive. Um there was she was explaining to me about the tax and I agree with her um to get this resolved as soon as possible. Thank you.

Thank you for being with us. Anyone else to speak in support? I'm pausing. Is anyone here that wants to speak in opposition of dissolution of tax district? Seeing none, council, any comments or questions before we move to the next item hearing? None. Item D, the lease of hangers at the Greenwood County Airport. The lease and the designated hanger are specified in the table that you have before you. Mr. Rhett Templeton, our Mr. Rhett Templeton is not here. Mr. Rob Russian is back.

I'm gonna be pinch h pinch hitting for Rhett tonight as he had to attend a uh a baseball game. Uh we have a requirement that before we lease a uh hanger to uh a new customer that we perform a uh public hearing. there in front of you have the uh six hangers for this month that we would like to lease uh to those customers listed next to them. That's all I have. Thank you, Rob. I will ask if there's anyone here to speak in support of item D. Seeing none, anyone here to speak in opposition of item D? Thank you. We will we will now close the public hearing.

I make a motion to close second. Second motion to close by Miss Bishop, a second by Mr. Templan. All in favor? We are now out of the public hearing and we will now vote these individually. So first item B, which is ordinance 202615. Council, what is your pleasure? Mr. Chair, I offer you a motion to deny the approval of the reszoning from R1 to I2. I have a motion to deny my by Miss Griffin. I second.

I have a second by Miss Bishop. The motion is to deny. Any questions or comments before we vote? Are you ready to vote? So voting to deny and I see six voting uh any any in opposition. So that's 61 and that is approved and so ordered. Thank you. Item C, ordinance 202617, the treasur's office of the dissolution of Spring Lake. What is your pleasure? Offer you a motion to second approve the denial. The this dissolution.

Templeton motions to approve denial. The dissolution. Yeah. Have a second. Griffin. Have a second by Miss Griffin. Any comments or questions before we vote? All in all in voting in support of denial. And that's unanimous. And so Mr. Chairman, excuse me. Can I can I say Mr. Chairman, please? I think using the word denial is problematic. The motion was to vote. Dissolve as presented. Thank you for correcting my grammar, Mr. I appreciate that. Item D. Um, as you just heard, the lease of hangers at the Greenwood County Airport.

Motion to approve. Motion approved by Vice Chairman, second by Mr. Templeton. Any comments or questions before we vote? All in favor? And that's unanimous and so ordered. Thank you very much. Too many papers for us. We'll now move into our section of new business. Item A is a consideration of proposal from Davidson and Floyd for the design and permitting of two emergency access roads in the Gatewood Chinkapin area. Mr. Josh Skinner, our capital project sales tax director. Please, Josh.

Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and councel. We're going back to the watershed study from the 2016 CPST. Um, of course, we've been over this a lot. We had eight critical areas in the county based on the watershed study that seematic flooding during storm events. Uh two areas in Chicaen, three areas in Gatewood and two areas in the city of Greenwood uh near Sample Branch Creek. The two are the three areas really the two areas we're looking at tonight are in Gatewood. This is Brookfield Drive after Hurricane Wine in 2015. You see, it's uh impassible. There's about 30 houses on the other side of that road that have no emergency access when this street floods. And then Tall Pine Trails in Gatewood, which is uh uh also not as bad as Brookfield Drive, but also becomes a problem when uh when there major flooding events. And there about six houses uh behind that that little uh flooding river. Uh this is our flood our flood map from GIS. You see uh you see Tallpine Trails over tops in the flood zone. You also see a small spot here uh in Shinkapen on Creek Road that over tops. That's exactly what over top during Helen I believe. So that's our flood zone map. Uh the projects based on that watershed study that we've been going through and checking off. Um number two projects was to build emergency access drives uh for Brookfield Drive and Tall Pines Road. And this is this is the print out from the actual wershed study that kind of details emergency access roads uh and estimates how much they how much they

would cost. It's project number two on the list. Uh just a a brief rough sketch of where these emergency access roads might go. This is the one that connects to Tranquil Road. Uh you see Brookfield Drive here, which we saw earlier that overtopped um off of Glenn Ridge Circle. Uh our engineer suggested uh building a little cutth through emergency access road to Tranqu Tranco Road there. Um, that's an empty lot. Gatewood has purchased that lot. They closed, I think, at the beginning of this month. Um, so that is one option and that would allow these 30 homes on this side of Brookfield Drive access if there's flooding. Um, it also allow fire trucks, emergency services to come in. Uh the yellow the little yellow line there, it would denote a emergency access gate that would only be offerable to to Greenwood County Emergency Services. And the other emergency access road we're looking at tonight is off to Tall Pines Trail, which would connect to Creek Road East. Um, when we were first looking at this road, the shortest, most logical option seems to be option one right across here through uh a property owned by Chicapin community. Uh, but after meeting with uh David Trent, who's here, the president of the HOA at Chica and Jerry Stevens, uh this road actually go right through their picnic area and there's some nice landscaping and fencing here. Uh so there's a a second option down here. uh a little further down it might be a little better. Um but somewhere in between here would be uh the second emergency access road uh to connect Tall Pines Trail to to Creek Road and out in case there's

flooding. Um of course to build these roads we have to get them designed and permitted surveyed first. We reached out to three engineering firms in the county. Davidson Floyd was the low bid at $30,000. And this would include surveying the sites, designing, engineering 24 inch 24 foot gravel roads, uh designing the emergency access gates, and uh I think the most important part would be the permitting and then easement platting. You see a breakdown of the funds left in the watershed study um bucket. Uh we have we've uh set aside $100,000 for each road. Um of course Davidson Floyd has already started the drive branch court uh study for those emergency access roads. So we have two uh $100,000 for each road set aside in the budget. And um with that we are recommending approval of the $30,000 proposal from Davidson Floyd to uh design these two emergency access roads. Any questions,

Mr. Chairman? I have a question.

M. Mr. Skinner, who will maintain these roads for the next 20 years? One to make sure that they're passable, the gravel's not washed out, and they're functioning. Who takes that responsibility? Imagine it would have to be if if Greenwood County is going to have the easement. I imagine it would have to be Greenwood County, but I don't think that's been uh finalized yet. I think it's something we need to to know because uh if we're responsible, then we're responsible. If right there was an issue and an event happened and they were not functionable, then are we liable? The liability of it is more of my concern than

the road and the gates too, right? Yeah, that's correct. The the the functioning of them and everything. So have some I personally have a few concerns there that I I I think they're needed and certainly want people to have access but just want to make sure we know what we're signing up for staff any further comment other than Mr. I mean, I think tonight's decision is do you want to hire someone to design it? I think between there and bidding it out and building it, you get his qu you get the council's question. I don't have a problem with that. I think I just made that statement. That's something we do need to be looking at

in the future, but I'm fine with the next step of of uh so for for Mr. Chairman, I'll motion to Mr. Templeton to approve. I second. A second by Miss Bishop. Any comment or questions before we vote? All in favor of approval. And that's unanimous and so ordered. Thank you. I'm going to try to move quickly through these folks. We got 10 items of new business. Item B, consideration of the approval of results from the 2026 RFQ 003 for design services for the renovation to the Greenwood County Health Department. Christian, good morning. Good afternoon, Christian.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Uh before you tonight, I've put out a formal RFQ for the design services for to renovate the health department building. We were awarded back at the end of 2025, uh possibly end of January of 26, uh the CDBG award. So, this would be a part of our 10% match towards this project. Um we did pass council did pass a resolution back in August of 25 for this project. The exact amounts will depend upon the negotiated um price with the selected vendor. The there was an evaluation committee of four people that evaluated the submitted bids. We received two qualified submittals. Um I believe in your packet you should have the tabulation of these. You'll see Bufort Design Build with a score of 83.25 and Neo Corporation of 29.5. So there's quite a large gap there. So our committee does recommend um your consideration for the authority to be granted to county manager and the county attorney to negotiate and execute all of the required documents to employ Bufort Design Build for the services stated in the RFQ.

Council, you heard from Mr. Loner. What is your pleasure? So move. Have a motion by Mr. Allison. Motion to approve. Yes. Have a second. Have a second by Miss Griffin. Any comments or questions before we vote? Let's approving the one with the 82. Right. Just I'm joking. Ready to vote. All in favor? That's unanimous and so order. Thank you. Item C. Consideration of the approval of grant application for taxiway D and taxi lanes project at the Greenwood County Airport. Rob, you back up. Pinch hitting again. I guess

I am pinch hitting again. I got to put my glasses on for this one.

I could just hold the iPad over here. Council has previously um approved the five-year uh capital plan uh for the airport which includes a current project out for bid that's taxiway and the taxi lanes project that's rehab of those um two areas. Again, the project is currently out to bid. Bids are due on the 23rd, which is this Thursday. Uh the grant 95% uh federal funds, 2 and a half% state funds, and 2 and a.5% are local match. Uh county shares estimated between 70,000 and $100,000. We do expect it to be on the low end of that, but again, bids are not until Thursday. Uh unfortunately, the application deadline for this uh funding is May 1st, which is before your next meeting. So, what we're asking for tonight is that uh council grant uh the county manager approval to move forward with the grant application. We do believe there is some language in the grant application that does commit uh to uh some funding. So, uh, we wanted to come to council and just ensure that you were behind this project, uh, for that amount and give the chair or give the county manager the authority to sign that grant and get it submitted by May 1st. We will have to come back to council when and if we are awarded the grant uh, to accept the grant and do the uh, budget resolution to fully fund the grant.

Offer a motion to approve, Mr. Chairman. I second. Have a motion by Mr. Templ, second by Miss M. Bishop. Any comments or questions before we vote? I have a question, Mr. Chairman. Miss Miller, the 2 and a half% match from the county is being funded from where? The there's an airport improvement fund that we hold. There's over a million dollars currently in that fund. We're asking for between 70 to 100,000 depending on what the bids come in. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Miller. Any other comments or questions? Yeah, Mr. Chairman. Yes, sir. Throwing this out to the county attorney who's yawning over there. Uh, just kidding. and county manager about time. Of course, you wow.

Anyway, talking about um possibility of Felo money because of improvements to the airport. Um that's still I know we've got a considerable amount in that fund, but that's still a possibility because I think our airport's kind of lacking in uh improvements. We've not done a whole lot. I'd like to see us looking at that a little bit more. So possibility of some fo funding. Sure.

Any other comments before we vote? Motion is to approve. All in favor? That's unanimous and so ordered. Thank you. Item D, consideration of the appointment of special tax district commissioners for the following subdivisions. Miss Dorne, you're going to go through these for us, Miss Dorne. I don't need to read them, do I? No, sir. You do not.

Thank you, ma'am. I follow instruction very well. We have several appointments here. One um first is an new appointment to the Orchard Park subdivision, Albert Gamrell. Second is also a new appointment to Orchard Park subdivision, Elma Dillard. Then we have um another for Orchard Park. We apparently have those cleaned out. Uh those are that is for Brenda Trivet. Um, these are all one-year terms because this is one of the tax districts that you recently dissolved and they have some funds on hand. And so you'll notice that um on the agenda item, these all expire on April 21st of 2027 because that is the point at which they have to have the funds expended by uh because it's been dissolved. So that's why those three are that way. Then we have a reappoint for Cherokee Hills, Angie Timberman. We have an appointment for Beach Lake, Joy Rivers. Um, she is replacing Johnny Holtzclaw. We have reappoint of Harold Odell in Beach Lake. We have reappointment of Kevin Wisham in Beach Run. Um, and that is the full list. And all of these have other than Orchard Park, which is new, these all have signatures of um appropriate commissioners on their request. Happy to take any questions you might

offer you a motion to approve. Second. Have a motion by Mr. Puit and a second by Mr. Templeton. Any comment or further discussion? No questions. All in favor of approving as presented and as unanimous and so ordered. Thank you. Item E, consideration of the approval of the South Carolina opioid recovery fund. Stephanie,

we have, you'll notice I'm coming to you kind of on a quarterly basis. Uh, that's when the application periods open and this application period is uh the application is due on May the 1st. What we are requesting um is mostly recurring funds. U this time last year, you approved a um application for a peer support specialist. Uh this person is employed with Carolina Health Centers and they assist um our opioid coordinator with um working with uh clients trying to help them um in their opioid recovery um uh journey. Uh this cost um in addition to some marketing um you hopefully have noticed billboards throughout the county uh that we have up which is advertising the um phone number for our opioid coordinator for people to reach out to. Um just as a reminder that phone number is not just for someone who is suffering from addiction. It is also for uh family or friends um that are looking for resources to figure out how to help those that are in need. Um another part of this would be uh for Narcan and test strips that would be available um to the community as they need them. The biggest part of this request is a continuation of our good life program that um that is in the schools. uh we want to expand that program. Uh currently it is only at uh one middle school and one of the high schools. Uh we kind of did that to see how the program worked before we wanted to expand it. I will tell you that um according to the information provided to me they have engaged with um students more than 1500 times in this school year. And these are not one-time

conversations. Uh these are repeated conversations, coaching moments and skill building. They are seeing that the teachers are um have reported that students are setting goals, managing their emotions, building relationships, and responding differently to pressure and setbacks. And I think that's one of the key statements in this is the pressure and the setbacks because this is when um all of us struggle to figure out how to resolve those situations and unfortunately for some people they choose to turn to opioids or other other things. Um, and so we're we're teaching our children how to deal with those situations in a positive way instead of a way that alters their complete trajectory of life. Our schools are starting to identify needs in our students sooner. Our students are staying more connected and the staff are gaining those tools that they need to be able to use to assist the students. So, the expansion of the program, they would move into um all of the uh the goal is to move into all of the middle schools in all three school districts. Uh working with the sixth grade students and in the high schools working with the ninth grade students. We estimate that that's a total of 3,000 um children in addition to providing support for at least 1,600 on an ongoing basis. um the the equivalent they believe is 77 engagements every day. So contacting and working with 77 children every day on average. And what we call this is consistent prevention. That is our goal is to prevent students um from turning

to opioids to solve their problems. In this package that has been offered to us by good good life, it will include 10 professional development sessions. These are gain um geared toward our teachers in the school districts. Um they will work with the districts to set these up in the way that works for the districts. And these um training and workshops will help with supporting student behavior and decision making, building stronger relationships in the classroom, increasing student engagement, managing the stress stress and pressure in the classroom, responding to challenging situations, reinforcing positive expectations, improving the communication with students, strengthening school culture, and supporting the teacher confidence and effectiveness. uh they believe and I agree having been a parent to two children that the two transition years that can that truly shape the de direction of a student's life is the move into middle school and the move into high school

100%

and so a focus is on the sixth and ninth grade classes. Um, as they have stated, this is when peer influence increases, habits begin to form, and students start making decisions that affect their future. Um, Good Life is evidence-based. Um, they have provided me with a lot of information. This program started um in Ohio. If you ever have the opportunity to hear um from Nate, who spearheaded this program, he will inspire you with um with what started him on this journey. in our elementary schools, which would be a new move uh for the program. This would work with our fourth and fifth graders um to work with uh the point where um they are forming beliefs about themselves, developing habits, and responding to peer influence. This program helps them with early goal setting, personal responsibility development, decision making awareness, confidence building, and future planning skills. I don't believe it's ever too early to start. It's important to understand that the students won't develop these skills from one lesson alone. These tools are used consistently across all of the classrooms and the common framework will be shared with all of the schools to reinforce the expectations everywhere the students go. the district will extend prevention uh to to carry on and so additional district-wide tool tools and programs will be provided that allow them to continue to spread this program internally and not just with the support of good life. The challenge that we have for our children and dealing with these issues is not from a lack of effort. The challenge is is providing a consistent

result. When prevention happens occasionally, our progress is limited. But when it happens consistently, our outcomes change. This expansion will create a system where students receive the right support at the right time. Teachers will have the tools that they need to succeed, and the schools will build a culture that strengthens young people before problems escalate. It will be building a prevention system that supports our students, strengthens our teachers, and protects the future of the community. I already shared this with you previously, but I'm going to share it real quick one more time. We have two situations um that have been shared with me where first where a sixth grade student um stopped one of the facilitators and shared about their personal academic achievement of receiving all A's on their test. Another student heard the conversation and said, "How did you do this?" And he said, "Good life helped me do this." And so then that student's accomplishment got shared with someone else. And now another student is going to begin setting their goals knowing that it is an effective program. In another situation, a child was under stress um at home due to a home situation. Everybody thought that student was just fine, but they found out that he needed additional support. And because of the good life program and the things that have been that are being learned through working with the students, they were able to get the student the additional support that they needed. And this is what we talk about with prevention. We need to find the problems before they they turn into other things. As we close out this school year, there are teacher leader surveys being sent out and then pre and post test skills

that are done with the students. And so I look forward to being able to share that data with you all. In the meantime, we need to apply now so that we have the funding in place before we start our next school year. The total of all of these requests is $338,400. If you recall, we will write our application. It'll be submitted to the SCORF board. Um, as of March the 4th, our report, we have about 1.3 million almost 1.4 million available to us. Um, our most recent award was the 192,000 for juvenile um, intervention. I'll be happy to answer any additional questions that you might have.

Mr. Chairman, I'll offer you a motion to approve and I second. I have a I do have a question. Have a motion by Mr. Templan second by Miss Bishop. Before we vote, Stephanie, I may have misunderstood, but the um the Good Life program currently is in how many schools? It's in a middle one middle school. I think it's Brewer Middle School and Emerald High School. And in in what time trajectory do we and I I think it needs to be in all schools as I think you do. And what time trajectory before we can possibly accomplish that?

The the intent is for this upcoming school year. Um it will be dependent. Um one of the things that we're working on now is securing all of the approval um from the different school districts. Each one functions a little bit differently. Um but we expect to receive that. We already have the support of district 50. Well, I know you have great passion for this. I really appreciate it and having having raised only one typical boy, but I absolutely agree with you about those milestones of development. I think it's critically important. Any other comments or questions before we vote?

I just wanted to say thank you for your presentation, Stephanie. And um I'm I'm always excited about making a difference and I know this makes a difference. So, thank you. You're welcome. Any other comments or questions? All in favor is presented. That is unanimous and so ordered. Thank you, Miss Gore. Item F, resolution 202611, amending the fiscal year 2026 hospitality tax fund budget for the purchase of three signs at the Greenwood County Recreational Complex and to correct budget line items. Miss Dorne,

I'm gonna try really hard not to confuse everybody, but I I I can do that pretty easy. So, um, we we put two different items into one resolution to make everything easier, but sometimes that makes things more complicated. Um, so as part of this resolution, this would include um you all approving for us to change contractors as it relates to the Greenwood County Recreational uh complex sign. Uh, the change in contractors will result in us needing an additional $2,633 um you previously approved $222,000 which included 192 for the sign and up to $30,000 for the um electrician to actually wire all those signs. So we're asking for an additional 2633 to complete that project with a um new contractor. The second piece of this is, if you'll recall during our budget process, we normally provide you with a spreadsheet that lists all of our hospitality tax requests, uh what they asked for and what we recommend. And we kind of work off of that spreadsheet. We came to realize that the actual line item budget that we included with the budget ordinance did not match that spreadsheet. And we believe council's intent was to approve the projects as presented on the spreadsheet rather than the line items. We we failed to update the line items. And so this uh would just correct that by correcting the allocations that we believe was your intent to approve.

I'll motion to approve. Mr. Chairman, I second. I have a motion by Miss Templ, second by Miss Bishop. And for the benefit just of understanding we've we've had discussion about this the needed contractor change. It was somewhat unusual situation we're all familiar with. So any other comments or questions before we vote? All in favor is presented and that's unanimous and so ordered. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, if you would just indulge me one minute to say um at your desk is your FY27 notebook. Um please make sure you bring it when we u meet later. Thank you.

Thank you. We'll move item G, resolution 202612 to grant the county manager the authority to opt in to a South Carolina County large municipality and solid waste authority electronics recycling program. Mr. Russian, again, I'm'll be really quick. Before we uh in this program, we were spending over $20,000 on a year to recycle e-waste. Opting in has saved us 95% of that cost. We're averaging about $1,000 a year. uh because the way the program runs, the council has to opt into it this year. This is just granting the authority to the county manager to opt into the program. Uh there's a resolution there for your um for the optin. Copy a motion to approve.

I have a motion by Mr. Puit, a a second by Mr. Templeton. Any comments, discussions, or questions? All in favor presented? That's unanimous and so ordered. Thank you. Item H resol resolution 202613 approving the county's participation in proposed o opioid legis litigation let me say that again county's participation in proposed opioids litigation settlement Penny our county attorney

uh this is another group of defendants settling in the nationwide opioids litigation that we are part of the county must sign on now to receive the benefit of the settlement More details will be forthcoming once all the plaintiffs have signed on to participate and this resolution if passed memorializes your decision at this point. Off you motion to approve, Mr. Chairman. Second.

Have a motion by Mr. Templeton, second by Mr. Puit. Any comments or discussion before we vote? All in favor as presented. Unanimous and so ordered. Thank you. Item I, ordinance 202618, authorizing pursuant to title 4 of the Code of Laws of South Carolina 1976 as amended, including sections 4-1-174-1-175 and 4-2968 thereof and article 8, section 13 of the South Carolina Constitution, the execution and delivery of an infrastructure credit agreement by and between Greenwood County, South Carolina. Um, and excuse me, and a company known to the county as Project Piranha to provide for certain annual special source revenue and or infrastructure credits to enlarge the boundaries of joint county industrial and business park and other related matters. This is first reading and title only. Mr. James Baitman, our economic development director.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and good evening, council members. This is first reading and title only, but I'm going to tell you why at first reading. We're going to talk with you about more details about this project. And I first want to start with a bit of history and what got us to uh to this project. And it began it began in 2020 with a a grant award to develop a site. And it proceeded in 2022 when this council approved a land option agreement between Greenwood County and the Adams family for their land uh on Highway 34 off of Business Park Road where Mumford Industries and Global Supply Warehouse currently have the the former Greenwood Mills facilities. Also in 2022, we put the site through the South Carolina Department of Commerce Palmetto sites program. The county is the only eligible entity for that grant program to complete due diligence on the site and check it for readiness for industries such as project piranha. Then in 20123 this council approved the the county participating in a waterline extension. New water service was needed. Uh had outdated mill system for the existing facilities there. And uh to have a viable industrial site for prospective industries, we needed a new water line off of Highway 34. So county participated as did the Adams family 96 Commission of Public Works and the two existing businesses. All contributed money to that new water line that will serve both of the existing industries and project Birana and the future tenants of the 96 business park. Then in 2024, this council approved expanding that land option to include what is uh what is currently at the 96 business park that will host Project Piranha, which came to us 18 months ago. And so

this has been a multi-year uh site advancement initiative of county economic development to reach the point that we have a viable site for project piranha when they came to us 18 months ago so that we could get to the point tonight of first reading to tell you that project piranha is Amazon. Amazon will construct a approximately 57,000 square foot last mile delivery facility on 23 acres of the 96 business park. They will invest upwards of $20 million and create up to 185 jobs between full-time and part-time Amazon positions and third-party driver positions. a last mile delivery facility, as you might imagine, is where customer packages come in on truck and the vans pick up those packages and go out for the last mile delivery. This will enable faster delivery Amazon packages to your front doorstep in the greater Greenwood County area and the Lakeland's region. We've talked about the park and the project and why you have first reading is a proposal from Amazon and that is for Amazon to install sewer service for their facility which would also serve the rest of the 96 business park. So we put in a water line but don't have new sewer service. So, Amazon being the first tenant in the park has agreed to install the the sewer service necessary to serve that facility and they are requesting council's consideration for an reimbursement of that infrastructure improvement for the park and we will talk more about that at your second and and third readings on the details of of that request. So, we're pleased to announce that it project piranha is Amazon coming to 96. You all have a press release uh that you've been provided tonight that is going to be released tomorrow morning at 9:00 am

with the index and other media outlets that Abby has prepared with Amazon's public relations. Excellent work. As you said, been going on now for about a year and a half. I know Councilman Puit is delighted. Yes, absolutely. I go ahead and make your comment because I know you want to. Oh, I was going to let you finish.

I'm done. Yeah, I would say part of that history was the very first time I walked up on the stage as a sworn in member right over here. I I asked Mr. Baitman, I said, "We just got through sitting through executive session talking about all these projects going on around Greenwood County. Why can't we do that in 96?" So, um, he thankful for him to involve me in this process this whole time. Um although it's kind of the worst kept secret secret around 96 now I think um and but having known this for a year and a half uh it's it's it's really come to fruition. So it's a big deal. Um it's a big announcement. James, you and your group have worked tirelessly on this project. I'm appreciative um you know meeting with uh Wellelburn Adams and the Adams family to discuss the options to the site readiness visiting the site Adams plant where uh I actually worked as a kid growing up. It's just it's got a very special meaning to me personally and I appreciate it very much. Thank you very much for your involvement in this project and your support vice chairman. You have a unique history uh working in that plant and a unique perspective because of that history uh on the development of this park and locating the first t first new tenant in that park is is critical to the future development there and bringing more opportunities as the uh the reverend said in his uh in his prayer opportunity for growth has been given to us by God.

Mr. Chairman I will proudly offer you a motion to approve motion by Mr. I'm still going to offer it. Second. Second by Mr. Temple. He's right. I jumped the gun. Pardon me. We don't vote on first. Oh, I'm sorry. It is first. Well, let me say this. Great work. Great work. My favorite My favorite thing. Tomorrow, Greenwood grows greater. Good job. Thank you.

I was ready. Item J, ordinance 202619 to also first reading 202619 to amend the Greenwood County zoning ordinance being ordinance 13-86 and as and if amended so that section 6-343 I1 light industrial district section 6344 I2 heavy industrial district and section 6347 RDD rural development district be amended to add data centers as a conditional use. This is first reading and title only. Re requires no action. Mr. Russia,

I just want to uh say the county manager came to planning staff to inquire if data centers were mentioned anywhere in our zoning ordinance. They are not currently in there. We do want to address that. We do feel it's appropriate to that to be allowed in the I1 and the RDD uh zoning districts. However, we do want conditions attached to that uh allowance in those uh districts. So, we're currently researching the state and really the country on the best practices uh as to how they would be conditionally allowed. Uh we do intend to come back to council at a future date uh with those uh conditions much like how we allow solar farms with the list of conditions. We'll look at data centers as well and kind of what the best practices are in those areas.

Thank you, Mr. Rush. I appreciate Rob. Is it safe to say that solar farms and data centers were not listed in our because they weren't around when a lot of these things were written? That is correct. And when we looked through the zoning, we couldn't find another category that they might be included in. So, we made the the changes with the solar farms two years ago and now we'll look at data centers as well. Thank you, Rob. Seeing no pending items, we will move into district reports. District one, Miss Griffin.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. like to say good evening to everyone. Um, thank you all for attending and staying. Um, again, thank you Bishop Cannon for our prayer tonight. Um, thank you to Mr. Templeton, my little warriors, Mr. Craig Stucky and Miss Diane, um, Jan Howell, Donna Wright, Bill Qualls, Christine Martin, Michael Tombber, Thomas, Miss Amber, and myself. We had litter clean up on April the 11th from 8 to 11 in District 1. Um started at Crossroad Baptist Church and we collected a total of 28 bags. Um Westside Community Meeting will be Thursday at 5:00 p.m. at 5:30 at Macedonia Baptist Church. Um Friday, April the 24th at 6 PM at the Josephine B. ABNE Auditorium Atlanta University um Gleam's um Dr. Benjamin EA's historical preservation site will be celebrating their 15th anniversary celebration and they are presenting Morehouse Glee Club concert. Um, so if you free, please come to that Friday at 6 PM at Lander University. And on Saturday, April the 25th at 8:30, the West Side will be doing their spring community um litter cleanup, I will be there with them. And anybody else want to come, please come with me. And so ends my report.

Thank you, Miss Griffin. Mr. Allison, District 2. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have a couple of short things. Uh first of all, let me say how much I enjoyed uh Bishop Cannon being with us tonight. Beautiful prayer. I'd love to hear you preach sometime. If you pray that good, you got to be a good preacher. So, I would like to get your card and uh come hear you speak sometime. Very, very honored to have you with us tonight. And he stayed with us. Most preachers pray and leave. I was going to recognize that.

I was just impressed that he stayed through all of this, but thank you for coming and we appreciate you and your ministry in in our county. Uh I was privileged also on Saturday to go to uh the big city of Troy, which is in my district. uh they unveiled the new signage uh representing the the battle of Long Cana which dates back to the founding of our nation and with our uh South Carolina and Greenwood County 250 celebrating the uh celebration of 250 years of our nation's history. Uh very informative about what took place in that area uh during the Revolutionary War. uh appreciate Miss Biller. She was there there representing helping represent council. So, uh great evening. Uh the only other thing I want to say is that Mr. Baitman comes up here tonight and and he smiles and grins while we give him all this praise. And he has two associates with him tonight that I am sure have been very effective in his success.

That's right. And I would like to know if he would introduce those two gentlemen to us tonight.

Yes. Council is my two sons and pleasure to have you gentlemen with us tonight. Thank you for coming. Thank you for being Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That ends my report. I have another message for the boys by the way, but it'll save that until my time. Miss Bishop, District 3.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, I would like to say thank everybody for coming and Bishop, thank you so much for your prayer and um, it was very thoughtful and it it truly was a blessing to all of us. So, thank you. And then, um, thank you Trenty for being here. Thank you. And then also um I wanted to I don't know the actual name of um the event, but there's a community meeting that will be held um April the 28th at 4:30 to and it says to 6:30. I'm not sure, but it's at the Genesis um boardroom at the um for the Greenwood District 50. and it's a community meeting and we've had such gun violence in our community and Natalie, Miss Natalie Talbert from Greenwood District 50 called me and invited me to come. I won't be able to go, but I wanted to make sure that I mention this to everybody. So, everybody, everybody needs to get involved and we can we can work together and figure this thing out because our children do make that they our youth is our future. And so, if you know anybody that needs to be at this meeting, please be at this meeting. And that means you if you can be at the meeting. But that ends my report, Mr. Mr. Chairman,

thank you, Miss Bishop. Miss Miller, District 4.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, I want to give a shout out to the index journal and uh for the three past three weeks, we've had some excellent articles on explain the economic development process. Um, I read them. I learned some things even. I thought it was very well written. Thank you for the, you know, the staff and the input that they've had. There was also one around, uh, focus on CPW and how they determine capacity. I think it's on everybody's mind these days with with developments and whatnot. And then the city's role. So, three separate articles in three weeks and nicely done to uh Renee uh or Ortez if I'm saying that correctly. Renee, you know I um the battle of long canes, Mr. Allison. I'm not a history buff, but I did learn some things. So, it was very interesting to learn about some of the history um in our country as part of the 250th celebration. I do want to say that tomorrow is administrative professionals day. So a shout out to Miss Susan McIntyre for her support to us to council.

Yes, we really appreciate that. And the Hajes spring festival kicks off Thursday and for Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, four days. So everybody plan to attend and support that event as well. That concludes my report. Thank you, Miss Miller. Mr. Fuit,

thank you Mr. Chairman. Uh Mark started stealing the thunder and I'm going to piggyback everybody else. Thank you, Bishop. I I truly enjoyed that as well. Thank you for being here and and the words you had to say. Um I attended the U 96 town council meeting last night and one of the things that was mentioned and I think it's very important. We're talking about the youth and our schools and you know there's a lot of misinformation especially with all the talk about developments going on is you know our schools are crowded our schools are packed. Let me tell you, I got the numbers straight from the school district. And the year that my son graduated in 2014 2015, we had over 1,600 students in 96 at the 135day enrollment. And as of this year, that number is down below, 1300.

I'm told there are similar numbers in where Scholes. I can't say that for sure. So I do think an announcement like an Amazon having additional developments especially in 96 that there is room for growth. Um there is there is a need for that. Um not sure what the cause of it is but I think it needs to be looked at and addressed and I think accurate information needs to be handed out. Um also I wanted to recognize the Chromers. Um, Brian and I went to school together. Brian's a classmate of mine and Brian actually worked at one of the mills as well. Lived on the Mill Village his whole life and grew up unfortunately near me. But, um, thank you guys for always coming to these meetings. Uh, first time I've recognized you. I'm sorry it took so long. I know you attend the 96 meetings as well. Um, it's a big deal and thank you guys. Um, I was going to write stay tuned for an upcoming announcement, but I think that uh bubble has been burst. Uh, we all know what that was. And um, so I will I will end like I always do with a Bible verse. Philippians 3:12 says, "Not that I have already obtained all this or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." That ends my report, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Puit. That's 10th on District 6.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, first I would like to say that um last night um Johanna and I along with Abby um presented the um trophy to the city for beating us in the city council versus county council food drive portion. I did point out that we won the big contest, but they did win a little contest. that we presented the mayor last night with the trophy um begrudgingly. Um this next part I will try to get through. I'm not sure I can. Anyway, we talked a lot tonight about education and making a difference and what we do with our youth and this week's teacher appreciation week. And Brewers started their teacher appreciation yesterday with the recognition of my wife who passed away in November. And I just think we have to understand how important teachers are and what kind of impact they have on their students. Um, all the comments that I have read, I cried all day yesterday. All the comments I read were from I mean were from from students and parents and how much appreciate they appreciated Robin and and their other teachers out there that all the teachers out there do the exact same thing and we just got to appreciate them for the impact they have on on our youth. That is my report. Mr. Jim,

excellent report. Thank you, Miss Templeton. And Robin Robin not only impacted students in the classroom, but we also know how she impacted students outside the classroom with coaching and mentoring and the like. Um, I'm going to Allswwell in district 7. Uh, District 7 is delighted that WCTL has now has fiber optic cable uh, pretty much throughout my district now all the way up to wear shows. Uh, they ran ran by the front yard of my house about a week and a half ago. So, folks in my district are delighted with that and uh, we worked real hard, the county did, to negotiate with WCTL to get that done. So, it been a long time coming, but I hope in the next couple of weeks maybe I'll actually have internet service for the first time. James, bring your boys up here for just one minute. I'm gonna forego anything else in my district report.

Mr. Chairman, while they're coming up. Yes, sir. Now that I have recovered, I I just got a um a notification that um Tubby might want to share with What's that? with us, but you probably don't see Facebook because your wife puts it out there. But your daughter played her first high school game tonight and had a clean sheet seven minutes ago. Just came through. So, congratulations.

How about that? How about that? So, boys, let me let me tell you this. Pay attention now because I want you to remember this for the rest of your life. When when you are grown and if we're fortunate enough to still have the Baitman family in Greenwood County, you're going to look all over this county and if you follow the successes of your father, you're going to say, "My dad helped do that." That's exactly right.

My dad helped put that here and bring that here and it's going to create jobs and it's going to create a pos a great economy and maybe even one day you will work in something that your dad built. Your father does superb, excellent, great. Any other accolade I can give to him work in his job. And I know it takes him away from you guys a lot. Uh so I was happy to see you here tonight. So anyway, make him do something nice for you. Take you for a cheeseburger, whatever you want to do, but I just wanted to tell you how proud you need to be of your father. That concludes my report and we will adjourn this meeting. Thank you. Oh, excuse me.

I did not ask anything. County Attorney, County Manager, Miss McIntyre. We're good. Ajourned. I know kind of heavy.