County Council - Regular Meeting

All right, we're live.

Good evening, everyone. Let's be called to order here on this Kershaw County Council meeting, Tuesday, August 11th, 2026. School is back in session, and everybody's been getting back in the swing of things. Glad to have you here tonight. To start off, we have an invocation, which will be led by Councilman Danny Cato.

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, I just thank you so much for this night, for this time that we have to fellowship together here, do the work of your county. Dear Heavenly Father, we just thank you for your love, your grace, your mercies that you bestow upon us each and every day. Dear Heavenly Father, for the love that you give us, for the love that you have bestowed upon us in this county for giving us such a great place to live and to raise families. Heavenly Father, I ask that you'd be with us tonight as we conduct the business of this county. Lord, that you'd help our hearts and minds to be clear in doing what we need to do that we think would be the best way to go for this county. Heavenly Father, we just ask that you'd be with the men and women in our armed forces. that you'd be with our emergency personnel and our law enforcement throughout this state. Lead God to direct them and bring them home safe. Lord, forgive us of our sins and our shortcomings, for it's in your precious name we pray. Amen.

Amen.

Councilman Cato, thank you very much. Mr. Shoemake, do we have you on the line? You do. Thank you, sir. We'll excuse your physical presence, everyone. Mr. Shoemake is moving in his only daughter into college today and tomorrow, I believe. And so tender moments, but very important. Thank you for joining us. With the invocation and pledge being completed, we're now on to the adoption of the agenda item number four. Do we have a motion on the agenda?

Make a motion we adopt the agenda as submitted.

Mr. Tucker has a motion. Is there a second on the agenda?

Second.

We have a second. Any discussion on the agenda? Any discussion remotely, Mr. Shoemake?

None.

We'll move it to a vote. How do you vote, Mr. Shoemake, on the agenda?

Yes.

That's a yes remotely for Mr. Shoemake. All those in person, raise your hand if you're in favor on the agenda. Ms. Hannon, it's unanimous. The agenda is approved. That moves us on to proclamations item number five, a placed on the agenda by councilman Danny Cato honoring former sheriff Steve McCaskill, who we see here today, along with family and friends and supporters. Do we have a motion?

I'll make a motion.

Do we have a second approving this proclamation? We have a second. Any discussion at all before we move to a vote and can hear more from Mr. Cato. Since I've got the floor now, we'll move it to a vote for those who are present all in favor, raise your hand. It's unanimous in favor of those who are present and voting. Mr. Shoemake, how do you vote on the proclamation, 5A?

Absolutely yes.

That is a yes from Mr. Shoemake remotely. Ms. Hanna, it's unanimous for the record. Mr. Cato, you have the floor.

This is an honor for me to present this tonight, and I want to read the proclamation, and I'll have a lot more to say after that. But tonight's proclamation is honoring Steve McCaskill, And it says, whereas former Sheriff Steve McCaskill has dedicated 36 years of extraordinary and exemplary public service to the citizens of Kershaw County, and whereas during his tenure as sheriff from January 95 to January of 2011, he demonstrated exceptional leadership, integrity, and an unwavering commitment to public safety. And whereas former Sheriff Steve McCaskill successfully implemented vital community initiatives and significantly improved the quality of life for our residents. And whereas his career was defined by a profound sense of duty, earning the deep respect of fellow law enforcement officers, community leaders, and public alike. And whereas former Sheriff Steve McCaskill started his career in law enforcement in 1975 under the late Sheriff Hector DeBrule and worked his way through the ranks as deputy shift supervisor, narcotics supervisor, and chief deputy. And whereas during the 16 years as sheriff, He had many accomplishments to include the FBI Academy in 96 and received a bachelor's degree in 2006. He also overseen the handling of many big cases and growing, changing culture in Kershaw County. He also oversaw the construction and design of the present-day Kershaw County Sheriff's Office in Lugolf. The retirement of former Sheriff Steve McCaskill took place in 2011 with 36 years total service and dedication to the citizens of Kershaw County, which marked the conclusion of a distinguished chapter in law enforcement history within Kershaw County. And now, therefore, be it resolved that Kershaw County Council do hereby officially proclaim in Kershaw County and call upon all citizens to join in expressing heartfelt gratitude for the dedicated service, leadership, and lasting legacy of protection and community care in honor of Steve McCaskill.

Thank you so much, Mr. Cato. You still have the floor.

You know, I really don't know how to start. I've got so much to say. I worked for this man for 15 and a half years, and we've remained close ever since the last day. He was part of a changing time in Kershaw County and in law enforcement, probably like none other. We've seen the computers come into play in the 90s. We saw cell phones come into play. We saw emails come into play. And the internet come into play. Social media come into play. He was the first sheriff to ever have the bloodhound unit. A narcotics canine. A bomb canine. A boat patrol. He established the resident deputy program, which at one time I was a part of. He brought in the very first polygraph examiner to the Kershaw County Sheriff's Office, which was David Tomley. He was also his captain over investigations. He established the first CERT team, which was the Sheriff's Emergency Response Team. That included a building entry team, well-trained building entry team, a police sniper team, which I also was a part of. We were well-trained. And also hostage negotiating. He had several hostage negotiators that were well-trained and sent off to learn how to negotiate. He brought in an equine search and rescue team. And mind you, this was done by volunteers. It really was very little cost to the Kershaw County Sheriff's Office. He had two fine men that he brought into this county as his chief deputies. Roger Latham, who passed away unexpectedly, and Jim Tomney, who was his second chief deputy after Chief Latham left us. I can't say enough, Sheriff, about what you've done for me and for this county. I appreciate it, and I wouldn't be, I wouldn't have made the career out of it that I did if it hadn't been for you, and that's the truth. I couldn't say any more without saying, lastly, thank you to Miss Becky. Yes. You know, my wife's here tonight, and she'll tell you that it's not easy being the wife of somebody in law enforcement. When that phone rings at night, it don't just wake us up, it wakes them up. When we come home in an ill mood, it don't affect just us, it affects them. And there's a lot of sacrifice in your family. And I think his children, so maybe his grandchildren and Miss Becky are all here tonight. And I know others has got some things to say, and I got everything I want to present to y'all tonight. But again, my heartfelt thank you He was the second longest serving sheriff in Kershaw County history so far. And what you did for us and the changing of those times will never be forgotten. So I thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Cato. Well said. Any other comments or discussion from council members who are present?

I do.

Mr. Jones.

You know, Sheriff McCaskill and I go way back. I can remember when he first walked into Hector Brule's Sheriff's Department, which was right over here at the courthouse. He was standing there. I said, what are you doing here? He said, well, I just got a job as a deputy sheriff. I said, well, I was hired last week. And then I'll tell you something about him, too. We were in Boy Scouts together. He may not realize this. He made Eagle Scout. I made Tenderfoot. I think they kicked me out. I was running my mouth so much. Steve McCaskill, I have much respect for. He's got deputies now that still tremble when he walks by. You knew who was the sheriff. You knew who was in charge. He gave my son a start. And Jamie today, if Steve McCaskill walks by, he trembles because he was a sheriff. If you didn't want to be locked up, don't break the law. And that's the way he stood. He was a man of the law. He stood by the law. And Sheriff Steve McCaskill, I have much respect for you and your family. And Ms. Becky, you have stood by him. You see one, you see both. And it's a beautiful family here tonight. And Danny, thank you for bringing this and doing this. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Jones. Mr. Cato.

One more thing for anybody else who goes forward. I know that we've got several deputies here tonight. It was brought to my attention earlier tonight, and Sheriff Bone wanted me to tell you all that he couldn't be here tonight. He is in North Carolina in a class, and he really hated that he couldn't be here tonight. But I think there's only six deputies in the sheriff's office right now that work under Sheriff McCaskill. I mean, it's been a while. We're getting old, Danny. I'm getting old, too. But there's only six left, and I just wanted to share that before anybody else.

Thank you, Mr. Cato and Mr. Jones. Mr. Tucker?

Excuse me. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Sheriff Steve McCaskill, Mr. Walkin' Tall. That's the way he carried himself. That's the way he ran his department. And I want to tell you thank you for the many years of just excellent service and being willing to always put yourself on the line and expect the same out of your deputies to deliver first class service. Not everybody can do it and not everybody should do it. But you had your way of hailing that sheriff's department officer. And your law enforcement team that no other will probably ever be able to repeat. And with all respect, I often tease the new sheriff and the sheriff before him that came after you. How can Sheriff McCaskill run this department on a string shoestring budget? And now you're asking for ten million dollars. So I might need to send them around there to get some budget lessons from you. But I want to tell you thank you and what an awesome job. I want to thank Ms. Becky and the rest of the family, Matt and all them as well, because it does take a team. And Ms. Becky was serving in the public side, too, because she was working in our medical system, which is demanding as well. So you guys have really given all you had to this county and to these citizens. And I can't say thank you enough. And this is well, well deserved and should have happened some time ago, in my opinion. But thanks again. And I still continue to wish you well and let you keep making birthdays. Thank you, sir.

Thank you very much, Mr. Tucker. Other council members who are present?

Yes, sir. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, if I might. Might add something to it. Sheriff McCaskill, it's good to see you tonight and your wife. It's good to have you with us. You were the sheriff of my generation. And I think for me, as I sit here and listen to everything that Danny had to say, all the good things, I'll say this. Danny talks about you a lot. There's a tremendous amount of respect for With Danny's referencing you in a lot of conversations where you're not around, and I'll say that in a very positive way, he's looked up to you because you led. And being the sheriff of my generation, I say that as I was looking at your tenure, you became sheriff when I was a junior in high school. I didn't want to find out who the sheriff was when I was a junior in high school.

You didn't want to find out who Steve McCaskill was.

Right. But I knew who Steve McCaskill was. I'm glad we never met any further back in those years. But a family, a fine reputation in our community, friends of ours, and always pleasant. anytime we've ever ran into you. I'm just so, so happy tonight to be a part of this and to be able to help present this. Danny, thank you for putting this together. This is top-notch, fantastic. You deserve every kind word and more. So we're so proud that you are such an integral part of Kershaw County. Thank you. Amen.

Thank you, Mr. Brazel. And the statute of limitations, I believe, is run on anything else you may have been involved in back in those days. Any other council members who are present have any other comments or discussion? Mr. Shoemake, remotely, any comments or discussion?

Just very briefly, when I was a young teenager, Sheriff McCaskill allowed me to ride in his patrol vehicle to take Senator Dole back to the airport during a British campaign. And for a budding political nerd like myself, that was enormous and Those small acts say a lot about somebody because he didn't have to do that. That's something I remember every time the election cycle comes around. That was something special he did for me, and I'm one of thousands of stories like that. So thank you, Sheriff. This is a great honor, and thank you, Councilman Casey, for putting this on the agenda.

He's definitely a legend.

Thank you, Mr. Shoemake. I'll just conclude before we have you come up, and I believe we've got the resolution here and a picture with any family you want to bring up as well. that I was a young man, if I ever was. I was a young man whenever you were serving as sheriff, and I always remember you being an example in the community. Everybody looked up to you, and more importantly, everybody respected you and feared you a little bit, which you might need if you have that occupation. Everybody looked up to you, and you're a good example, and I appreciate that very much. Any other comments or discussion? Mr. Cato, do you have the resolution? Mr. McCaskill, would you like to come up and bring any family members you'd like to come up here with you?

Let's give them a round of applause.

Mr. McCaskill, I was just going to mention that you can feel free to share any remarks if you like. We can do it after this or before. At your leisure. Come on up. Let's take a picture.

Thank you.

I'll just recognize you. Don't be so bossy, Martin.

Thank you. Congratulations.

Yes, ma'am. Oh, I think Rock, chief deputy with the sheriff's office, has something also that he wants to share. Yes, sir. You're recognized.

Thank you, Jim. This is a token of our appreciation from the Sheriff's Office. This is the actual badge of the lecture that's currently at the Sheriff's Office that we will share. So let me put it on for a plot for you. Well wishes to you. And it says, honoring Sheriff Steve and Steve McCaskill, 1995 to 2011. Thank you for your honorable and dedicated service to the citizens of Crescent Hill County. Your commitment and service truly made a difference.

Thank you, Rock. Thank you. Sheriff McCaskill.

I'd just like to say thank you to everybody, especially Danny Jacob, for organizing this. I appreciate everybody. I appreciate everything.

Everybody talks about what it means here. I had to smile and say it. Danny Jacob, it's a miracle. anybody else. I apologize, but I appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Mr. Cato. Mr. McCaskill, Sheriff McCaskill, we'll give you a moment to clear out. You don't have to stay. You can if you want to. Any family members or friends that want to depart are able to do that as well. And then we'll get back on the agenda. That's part of what makes Kershaw County special. Yes. Thank you again, Mr. Cato. Gentlemen, back on the agenda, right on time with item number six, public comments. Mr. DuBose, do we have anyone signed up for public comment tonight?

Yes, there are nine speakers signed up for comment. First speaker is Julie Strickland. Revolutionary is the subject.

Ms. Strickland, I'll just say as you're coming up, this is a time for council to hear from the public. It's not a question and answer. The time that's been allotted by the council will show up on the screen. And, yes, ma'am, look forward to hearing from you.

Well, some of you know me. Most of you probably don't. But I just want to tell you a little bit about what happened on June 18th in Baltimore, Maryland. As you all know, and the battle of camped it.

Take your time, Julie.

Excuse me. The Battle of Canton. There were many people who died. 14 of them were found. One of them was my fifth great uncle. His name is Thomas Pumphrey.

He was 13 years old when he joined. He was probably about 18 when he died. But he was 13 to 15. We are coming up on the well-known celebration anniversary of the Battle of Camden. And the ceremony will be held Saturday at 10 o'clock at the battlefield. And it will move from there to at 1130 to the cemetery. where there will be wreaths laid on the graves of the soldiers. My uncle was the first to be made nun. But y'all, there are 11 more that don't have a name.

I'm asking. that during this time you still remember all of them. This touches my heart too much. And I'm a softie.

Yes, ma'am, you're doing fine.

But I'm asking that anything that you can do, you know, keep in your prayers. We still have 10 more that need to be Funded. We have one more that's almost funded. His name should be announced very soon. I don't know how soon, but I know that they're close. Just keep the others in your prayers so they are also fully funded. They deserve their name back too.

Amen.

And let's just all pull together as much as we can to make this happen. It's very costly. Very costly. And I'm here to remind everybody tonight that nothing good comes free. And I just think about that young boy on the battlefield. I have grandsons his age. And he fought for our freedom and our independence that we have and enjoy today. He didn't get to see that happen. His family did. And beyond... On behalf of the whole Humphrey family, I want to say thank you very much. I want to say thank you for letting me stand up here and speak and cry in front of you. I want to thank the people who spoke that day in Baltimore and also the ones who took such precious care of those bones. as they were taken to the coroner's office and carefully preserved for burial later. I want to thank everybody involved in identifying the DNA and making matches. They're making good matches right now on 11A. My uncle was number 9B, and now he has a name. But Allison Peacock, Cindy Despaux, and Valerie Kemp did all the DNA work, and it's very tedious, and it's very lengthy, and it's very in-depth, and you don't get it done quickly. The forensics that I heard speak, the man with the forensics was Rick Wise, here from South Carolina, and Stacey Ferguson, is with the Battlefield Preservation Trust right here in South Carolina, and I wanna thank all of them. Let's just keep the faith that they're all named. I got mine, I want other families to have theirs. That's all I got.

Thank you, Ms. Strickland.

But except for this, if you'll accept this.

Ms. Templer. You can hand the documents to Mr. Templer.

At the bottom of the page is the full history on John Pumphrey. It's a website so that you can look him up and the battles he was in. He actually was in Valley Forge with George Washington, and he fought many battles before he re-upped for his second time, and he died a year and a half after that.

Thank you very much, Ms. Strickland.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thanks for coming out tonight. Mr. DeVos, who do we have next on public comment?

Next speaker is Andrew Whitaker, Project Transparency.

Andrew Whitaker.

Mr. Whitaker.

I would just say, Mrs. Strickland, we certainly remember Good evening, Kershaw County Council. It's been a while. I'll be brief. Just questions for your consideration, not answer, but for your consideration, some of which you no doubt ask yourselves, but I'm sort of worth publicly mentioning these. We all know that growth is coming, is here for Kershaw County. It's all in the how. How is it best for Kershaw County to grow? Do we all want Kershaw County to end up looking like Richland County? A county today that is one of cleared land and concrete. We have all, thanks to you all, a Kershaw County comprehensive plan. Are we still being guided by following that plan? And if not, why not? Up to now, Kershaw County Council has been working, sharing very transparently, which is great to see, with Kershaw County citizenry on all upcoming business. Why has this transparency changed where the power in next door Bishopville, Lee County, right down the road is concerned? Have you also noticed this change? Yes, it's not in our county, but it is so close it might as well be, especially over 900 acres. What is the actual full scope intended use of the proposed and approved 900-acre gas power plant so close to Kershaw County? Is it only to underpin both Kershaw County and Lee County power needs for our growing populations? Or is it a plan to prepare power as a yet-to-be-shared but planned AI data center in Kershaw County, Lee County borders? Have any of you been asked to sign NDAs where this project or any other county-adjacent project is concerned? Is Kershaw County Lancaster's proposed industrial park project acreage purely speculative or do we already have tenant company contracts fully executed? And lastly, how do we want Kershaw County slash Lee County skyline to end up looking like? Do we all want tall timbers or tall stacks? for Kershaw County and Lee County skyline and our air quality. Thank you.

Thanks for coming out, Mr. Whitaker.

Yeah.

Mr. DuBose, who do we have next on the public comment section?

Next speaker is Brian McCarty. Problems in my neighborhood is the subject.

Brian McCarty. Mr. McCarty, yes, sir.

Yes. Um, I've made inquiries online and stuff, and it's just been a big problem in my neighborhood. And I mean, I'm sure y'all are aware of, because of all the water leaks stuff.

Let me just ask Mr. DuBose. Do we already have his address?

Um, I don't have an address, but there's certainly a contact. Okay.

All right. Yes, sir. Um, this past year I was, I got up one morning and I left out and I went down to Georgia and I had no idea it was the moderator came through. They do that periodically, not near as much as what we needed, which is another subject that I'll address. But when I got back home, I hadn't had any water. But I don't know, to me, the motivator literally went off the road, crushed my water main, broke it. Didn't do anything about it. This might sound ironic. I mean, it's a lot of them laughed at me about it, but they, they bill me for $5,000. You can imagine a $5,000 water bill. I don't even have a swimming pool, but motor grader actually went across my water meter, crushed it down a foot and a half said, I still had water. I had no way to turn it off. So it's been a thing back and forth between the county. That's a water company. They're bickering over their lines aren't deep enough in it, but it's got to do with me. I didn't put it in. I just ran to my house. Since then, it's been, what, since last year of November until now. I've actually got phone pictures on my phone. I took them this evening. It's still out of the mound of dirt. That was another problem. There's no drainage out there. All the pipes are closed, clogged off with all the gravel and dirt. His thing of correcting the problem, he took his plow and carved the whole side of the ditch for the road. He carved out a big swatch and just piled it up there. Now you know what happens. All the water up in the neighborhood comes down the road and floods my yard over my ankles deep. Now a portion of my yard looks like a river has run down through there with all the gravel. I've made the comments, complaints. They have not yet fixed this. Not as of yet. I've talked to the county. They blame them. Like I said, it's a bicker back and forth. I actually had to threaten to get an attorney to get my money back. I don't know if they did anything to the motivator operator. I mean, I don't know what kind of coffee he drank that morning, but it wasn't good coffee, obviously. But there's another issue out there, which I sent up to one of the administrators and I recently, back in February, had an unfortunate accident. I broke my back in two places and the disc was blown between. I had my dog out in the yard. He's always on a leash, always. I don't, I just, I've got a K-Block, I won't leave him. Here's the reason I don't put him on the tether. There's dogs everywhere in my neighborhood. That particular morning, Here come a dog a third bigger than him. Now he's over a hundred pounds, mine. He's not a joke. Especially if you go after daddy, he is time to K-I-L-L. He's not going to play with nobody, but he never gets away from me. I'm there with a broke back. I had to pull my firearm out to make that dog back off. After that, another guy's walking his little pup, Pit Bull. The dog attacks his pit bull. He has to literally bend down and throw sand in that dog's face to get his dog and leave. Now, if that had been a toddler or kid, it wouldn't have been a good news. It wouldn't have been a good outcome. Don't you think so? That would not have been good.

Mr. McCarty, I meant to do it on the first speaker, but I always try to give people just a little bit of extra time beyond what the council has allotted. So I'd either ask that you conclude your remarks, or we can seek a motion from the council if they want to extend the time in any way. Are your remarks about done, or do you need?

I'm fixing to wrap it up. Yes, sir. The thing is, what is it going to take? I mean, I went straight to the top with emails, and the county's not doing anything about the road or anything, and the drains are still stocked up. Apparently, they arrived because we got another water main this past weekend. But, I mean, and I appreciate y'all's time. And I hate to complain, but I'm not being comfortable sitting here waiting in line. And I appreciate everybody else that's done. And if you would, please help me get something done.

Thank you for coming out, Mr. McCarty.

Appreciate you coming out tonight. It's 1233 Persimmon Drive.

Okay. Thank you.

Oh, and somebody's terrorizing the neighborhood out there tearing the road up. And if you look on Persimmon Drive on the corner, you'll find the truck. It's a gold Dodge.

Yes, sir. Thank you. Thanks for coming out tonight. Mr. DuBose, who do we have next on public comment?

Next speaker is William Holland, data center issues.

Mr. Holland.

Good evening. Yes, sir. Touch base on just a few hundreds of issues with data centers that are going up everywhere in this country and actually everywhere in the world. You can Google them yourself, but these are just a few that could happen here. Various news outlets reported that in February, 2026, the Cheyenne, Wyoming Board of Public Utilities found Cupriovitis gallardi in the water the city cleans and recycles. This bacteria is metal resistant. That happens to be one of the primary ways of killing bacteria. According to the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, this bacteria can be and has been fatal. bacteria was traced back to 800,000 square foot meta data center which had not opened yet it is a closed-loop facility and it had to go through what they call a flush and fill procedure before opening where the pipes were drained and refilled with clean water the drain water and The drained water was then sent to the local wastewater treatment facility via its sewer system to be cleaned and recycled. It's either that or they dump it on the ground if there's no regulations. So they sent it to be cleaned. Okay, a couple months later, routine testing found the bacteria after the water was already in the plant. So Cheyenne, Wyoming had to close down that part of the plant for two months disinfect it's a it's a metal resistant bacteria okay i had other comments or more information on that but we don't have time so june 15th kpbs out of san diego reported on a lawsuit filed against the imperial valley irrigation district this was filed by imperial imperial valley computer manufacturing which applied to build a mega data center that would use 750,000 gallons of water per day. They pledged that they would not use drinking water, but they would use wastewater from nearby towns. The negotiation with these towns fell through. Okay, and this is a private corporation going to these towns to use their wastewater. Now that it fell through where these towns wouldn't acquiesce to the private corporation's demands, they are suing an Imperial Valley Superior Court to draw 260 million gallons of water per year from the Colorado River. The Colorado River is in drought right now. It is some of the lowest levels in for a longer period than has been seen in decades. According to Salt Lake Tribune, experts say that the river is heading towards a system crash. I assume they mean out of water. According to the Bureau of Reclamation, 40 million people across seven U.S. states and northern Mexico get all or some of their water from the Colorado River. So you can imagine what will happen when they put these online. And the third thing is this guy named Doug Seavey. He is the CEO of Enceva LLC. a data center company. He lives in Palo, Iowa. I'm going to read what he said to council parts of it, city council. He said, I've called the mayor and suggested I get put on some kind of a committee because I am Palo's resident expert. I build data centers. I own data centers. I built the first private data center in the state of Iowa, and everything that Google is telling you is BS. I have a data center right now that's running in Hiawatha for 14 years and has never used one gallon of water.

Mr. Holland? Yes. I'll just mention that your time has expired by counsel. If you're able to conclude, please.

Yes. Okay. Google is telling you what they want you to know. The developers don't want you to know that they have technology they can use that doesn't require water, but it costs too much for them. They want to make a profit, okay? In conclusion, there are too many variables and too much at stake to allow data centers to be hastily approved and built in this county without any regulation. Research must be done to assess the best design for the least impact on the community without regard to the cost of the developers. They'll go home to different states. We have to live with it. I suggest an independent committee of stakeholders be assembled consisting of environmental experts, engineers, and members of the community who will be impacted by data centers to do the necessary due diligence before any data center is given the county's blessing. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you for coming out tonight. Mr. DuBose, who's up next?

Linda Franklin Moore. Topic is moratorium.

Ms. Linda. Yes, ma'am.

I want to recognize my House member, Robert Reese, for coming out tonight and listening to our concerns. I know he didn't sign up for public comment, but maybe if there's a council member that during their council report will give Representative Reese a few moments. I want to thank Councilman Jones for initially putting this moratorium question on the agenda. I would also like to thank Councilman Cato Brazel and Tomlinson for signing on as well. We should follow the example of Sumter County and establish separate moratoriums for data centers, solar farms, and battery storage facilities. South Carolina does not have a single comprehensive statewide regulatory law for data centers. Though lawmakers are considering multiple bills to establish legislation, that should be scary to us that there is no regulation whatsoever. We're ripe for the picking. That being said, there should be no industry regulation. that should locate in South Carolina that has zero regulations. I don't care if you're talking about data centers, toy makers, whatever it is, every industry should have some type of regulations. Councilman, the chairman, stated in a previous meeting that the power plant that Project Ballast, the property, It was a permitted use. And the only thing that council had to vote on was the fee in lieu agreement. I paid attention. And so therein, we should make sure that we have regulations because although a lot of these data centers are coming into industrial parks, multi-county industrial parks, we need to make sure that there are regulations and not just some zoning law saying that you could be there and, you know, come what may. I understand council is on a deadline of October 31st of this year to place real property into the multi-county industrial park and maintain it for the life of the fee-in-lieu agreement, which I read in its entirety. Thus, item 10B on our agenda tonight. Again, I would like to urge council to have a moratorium to allow the state to be able to enact a statewide moratorium, as well as to come up with some state regulations. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Franklin Moore. Appreciate you coming out tonight. Mr. DuBose, who do we have next?

Next speaker is Lynn Conto, moratorium.

Ms. Conto. Yes, ma'am.

My theme is going to be let's get it right, not get her done, meaning let's take our time and get this right. I'm going to recommend a two-year moratorium on data centers in Kershaw County for multiple reasons. Kershaw County serves all residents and property owners living within the county boundaries. It's apparent that residents of Kershaw County have very serious concerns about the potential of a data center coming here for very good reason. Once the fee in lieu of tax was approved for the gas power plant, Kershaw County became a national target. I mean national target for potential data centers. It is like we are waving the white flag saying, we surrender, we have plenty of space for a data center. And not only that, we have no guidelines or regulations for a data center. You don't think they're looking really hard at us? A two-year moratorium would allow for the county to plan appropriately for potential risks for a data center. I'm gonna give you a risk. My father passed away several years ago, but I got a letter for him. It says, Dear James Cheely, this is a notice of data breach. Unlimited technology systems had a security incident at their data center. This occurred back in October of 2025. The letter was sent out on July 20th, 2026. It affected 3,800,000 people. That meant that a lot of information was given about the people. Let me tell you what information. Their names, date of birth, social security, home address, emails, phone numbers, medical records, diagnosis, dates of service, health insurance policy, claim details, government ID information, and driver's license information. So data centers carry a lot of information that could be hacked. And I'm letting you know because I'm very concerned if we place data centers in Kershaw County. I'm requesting a two-year moratorium for data centers in Kershaw County so you have a clear definition of what is considered a data center, determine the appropriate regulations for data centers with strict security guidelines, a strict application process for data centers, experts on data centers to give you feedback on what data centers involve and know exactly how data centers affect the environment. Most importantly, the state needs time to create expert guidance for counties and communities in regards to data centers. What does this mean? The House and the Senate both have bills they're looking at to come up with guidelines for data centers. Now, how can we have a data center without the state coming up with guidelines for data centers? Nine other counties in the state have either enacted or in the process of enacting moratoriums on data centers. Kershaw County I considered progressive, especially when it comes to development. Let's continue to shape smart growth by getting it right, not just getting it done. Please respect the wishes of the Kershaw County residents by putting a moratorium in place for at least two years to get it right. Your motto should be get it right, not get it done. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Conto, for coming out tonight. Mr. DuBose, who do we have next on the public comment section?

Next speaker is Jim Corley, Data Center Moratorium.

Mr. Corley, yes, sir.

Good evening. Last time I was here, I said that I didn't object to power plants in general, just where they're placed, especially in my backyard. I don't have the same kind of feeling about... data centers necessarily, though. Generally, data centers historically have been this is where our photos are stored, this is where data is stored. But there's been a recent frenzy of need more and more data centers because of AI. And I am concerned about that. If you limit data centers or delay them, we can get more of a handle on what AI is, what it does, if it's good or if it's bad. We all know, well, I don't know, maybe we don't all know, but we have a history as a people, I don't know, just in this country or worldwide, of if we can do something, let's do it. If we develop new technology, let's use it. Let's worry about consequences later. You know, just in the past couple weeks, there's been a lot of news about vaccines that were approved quickly, right? And some of the disastrous results. In the 70s, CVCs, chlorofluorocarbons, miracle refrigerant, right? And now we're paying cost because it turns out they eat ozone. So another example that's close, sort of close to my heart, calculators, simple calculator, very good tool. Use it all the time. But if it's implemented incorrectly, we have a problem. I teach science in college, and I have students that if you say what's three times 15, I mean three times five, they pull out a calculator. They don't have basic math skills anymore. In math, calculators have made the students dumb, not because of what they are, but because how they've been used. And this is my concern about AI also. Will it make us dumb? You know, will make us dumb because depending on how it's used and things like that. So a moratorium on a data center also gives us time to look, and maybe this isn't just a county issue, there must be maybe a global issue, but we're part of the globe, right? That we should take a look at, a moratorium gives us time not only about data centers which have their own problems if you have too many of them. I read recently, IN OHIO PERSONAL ELECTRICITY RATES ARE GOING UP BECAUSE THEY CAN'T PRODUCE MAYBE THIS IS AGAINST MY ARGUMENT AGAINST MY POWER PLAN BUT THEY CAN'T PRODUCE ENOUGH POWER TO POWER ALL THE DATA CENTERS SO IT'S RAISING RESIDENTIAL RATES. SO THERE'S ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES, VIBRATION ISSUES, ALL KINDS OF THINGS. And that's something to consider, too. What are the consequences? What are the consequences of AI? A moratorium on data centers can at least pause the frenzy so we can figure out how we want to implement the technology so it helps us and doesn't make us dumb. My dad and probably your dad or mom said, when you go to cross the street, Stop, look both ways before you cross. Or as Davy Crockett's famous motto was, make sure you're right, then go ahead. And I think that's sort of just a moratorium will help us think about these things before we go ahead and do this. All right, thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Corley, for coming out tonight. Appreciate you coming out. Mr. Dubose, I think the eighth speaker, who's signed up next for public comment?

Amy McCaskill, Project Ballast.

Ms. McCaskill, yes ma'am.

Yes. My subject specifically about it is with the smokestacks. In the planning and zoning commission meeting on July 13th, Ms. Dykes requested information on Project Ballast, and Attorney Sidney Douglas recommended moving that discussion to executive session. Ms. Dykes made a motion to enter executive session seconded by Ms. Montgomery. By show of hands, all were in favor. The commission entered executive session at 6.17. Mr. Proctor made a motion to exit the executive session, seconded by Mr. Wolf. By show of hands, all members were in favor. The commission exited the executive session at 6.25. Mr. Proctor stated that no decisions were made and no votes were taken. So the question is, The next day in the Camden Chronicle was a notice of public hearing that the Kershaw County Board of Zoning Appeals would hold a public hearing on Tuesday, August 4th. For the purpose of hearing and deciding the following request, applicant Dylan Casey on behalf of property owner Russell Horton, PR for the state of Linwood, H. Horton, is requesting a variance to the maximum building height limitation as outlined in table 3-4 and or table 3-6 of the Kershaw County Unified Code of Zoning and Land Development Regulations. Specifically, the applicant is petitioning the Board of Zoning Appeals for maximum height limitation of 220 feet above finished grade for the exhaust stacks, serving the large-scale dual fuel power generating facility and any required pertinent structures. the property located at 3197B Youngsbridge Road. That came out in the Chronicle before the third reading of the ordinance. I know that you have to turn these in months ahead, so I don't know how much leeway there is with that, but... I see that tonight there's the first reading about amending the code section 3 colon 2.6 exceptions to height limitations to list additional structures. In the meeting that Beaufort Rosemary had in Bethune at that restaurant the Friday night after the one that Mr. Tucker came to on Thursday, the people were told that the stacks would be 100 or at the most 125 feet. And an article in the Lancaster paper that was just published Wednesday, August 5th, says the plant would use air for cooling and the stack for the plant would not exceed 100 to 150 feet. And so this variance was dropped, but now it's appearing tonight for first reading. So the variance, a maximum height limitation of 220 feet above finish grade for the exhaust stacks and the code, the code gives unlimited, the height limitations of this ordinance shall not apply to these things. The code name is exceptions to height limitations. So that sounds like, It's not 100, it's not 125, it's not 150, and it's not even... Ms. McCaskill, I just have to note that the time's expired, that the council's allotted.

Are you able to conclude your remarks?

It seems like we don't know. The specifics are just being kept very quiet about everything to do with that company, and it's just still really disappointing that

Thank you for coming out tonight, ma'am. Appreciate you. Mr. DuBose.

Final speakers, Tom Webb, Gas Plant.

Mr. Webb. Yes, sir, Mr. Webb.

All right. I'm going to shame county council. Shame on you. Shame on you. Shame on some of the members who did what they did to poor little Bethune. Bethune just wanted to be left alone to attend to their own business, their own rural conservative sort of way. There needs to be a place for people like that. And Bethune was it. But some of y'all have taken that away from them. You might call it modernization, but that's a polite word for what you've done to Bethune. You're dealing with Rosemary, a company that is secretive and bribes people. They seem to have an awful lot of money to throw around to get what they want, whatever that is, whatever that is. The people of Bethune see a data center coming or a solar farm or a big housing development, something changed that they don't need. It's only the beginning. Once you get the foot in the door with a big power plant, there's no telling what's next, what's next, and what's next. So American government is unusual, and it's supposed to protect the people from government, government protecting the people from government. This is our government, but y'all have failed that. Y'all failed. County council has failed. Some of y'all have failed. Some of y'all are really on the ball and doing good, but some of y'all have failed. And by the way, data centers should never be near people. Data centers are spy centers.

Thank you for coming out, Mr. Webb. Mr. DuBose, does that conclude the public comment section? Yes, sir. Okay, gentlemen, that concludes public comments. Thank you, everyone, for coming out tonight. That moves us on to item number 7A, public hearings. Do we have anyone signed up for the public hearing, Mr. DuBose?

No, Mr. Chair.

Okay, we'll open and close the hearing as no one has signed up. This is a public hearing on an ordinance to amend the Kershaw County ZLDR, Zoning and Land Development Regulations section to create a zoning overlay district entitled Master Plan Development District. First reading was on May 26th. Planning Commission meeting was July 13th. Seeing as no one has signed up to speak on this public hearing, we'll go ahead and close the hearing. Correct, Mr. DuBose? And that concludes the public hearing. I'll just note there may be some motion or commentary on this matter, which would be 10D later in the agenda to push it to the next meeting. But we'll get to that when we get to it. That gets us to approval of the minutes. Do we have a motion on the minutes?

Motion we approve the minutes as submitted by Ms. Hanna.

Mr. Tucker has the motion on the minutes. Is there a second on the minutes?

I'll second.

Mr. Cato has a second. Any discussion on the minutes?

Thank you, Ms. Hanna.

Seeing no discussion, we'll move it to a vote on the minutes. All in favor? Who are present and voting, raise your hand. Mr. Jones, how do you vote on the minutes? It's unanimous in favor for those who are present and voting. Mr. Shoemake, remotely, how do you vote?

Yes.

That's a yes remotely. It's unanimous for the record. Ms. Hanna. This moves us to item number 9A, placed on the agenda by Mr. Brazel, inmate work crews, road crews. For discussion only, do we have a motion?

I'd like to make a motion to continue the discussion. We started it, and I was not here in person. Is there a second?

Second. We have a second. Mr. Brazel.

Thank you, Chairman. I'll just direct this question at our administrator. We discussed the potential of having our inmates, whether it be voluntary or involuntary, help keep Kershaw County beautiful and clean by getting back to that pre-COVID work crew environment. And I had hoped that maybe someone, the director of the jail, could come and speak to us. Is that something that we could hear from him in the future in the next meeting or two?

I can arrange that. I mean, any questions you may have that I can handle, I would certainly be happy to with our jail is primarily filled with pre sentenced detainees. Not they have yet to be tried in the cases adjudicated. So it makes it a little difficult for us to force them into any kind of labor outside. Matter of fact, the last. probably 10 efforts for us to clean up trash from the jail came from employees themselves just because we had detainees that were not fit to be outside they were their bonds were denied they were violent offenders and that makes up a vast majority of our jail population Every now and again, we get some sentenced individuals from the state, and they number maybe one or two, maybe three. I'm not sure of the number we have over there now, but any information you would like for me to curate, I'd be happy to do so.

So I'd just like to hear from the jail administrator and give him time to repair. Maybe in two meetings he could give us options. If we did it in the past, we can do it in the future. So I know it's just a matter of whether or not we have the appetite for it. So I'd like to hear from him on that, and I don't have any more questions or inquiries today. Okay.

Thank you, Mr. Brazel. Any other comments or discussion? Mr. Jones, you have the second.

I would like to hear from him first.

Mr. Jones defers.

I'll correct him after he's done.

I just have a question to my colleagues on if you had an opportunity to review the executive white paper report that was sent by the director of our detention center. which he outlined it in a 60-something page document on the reasons why his recommendation is not to allow that to happen from constitutional law, state law, federal law, and staffing and many other things. There was a list of reasons that he had researched not to enter into this arena. And I know we've done it in the past, Mr. Brazel, but laws change every year over that General Assembly and to the Congress that represents us. So things that we probably used to do are probably not legal today to do. So just want to put that out, but happy to hear from him, Mr. Templer, if you bring him up here.

Thank you, Mr. Tucker. Any other comments, discussion, Mr. Jones, if I can.

And I, you know, having basically been the project manager, building the jail there and now and running the other jail prior to that, I know things change in 20 years. But I think a lot of your local jails still do litter pickup. And our administrator is right. You cannot put a pre-sentenced person out there. But we used to have a lot of family court detainees, and they are sentenced. And that's mainly who we used to go out on litter pickup detainees. I haven't seen a jail roster. I don't know how many would be sentenced or not. But you cannot put a pre-sentenced out there. But I tell you this. We had a program picking up trash, even if it was one inmate or two inmates, you know, to help, you know, at certain times. But I would be interested in seeing the jail roster, know the jail count and how many they got sentenced and how many they got pre-sentenced. But do you know, Ms. Templer, if you have a, and it comes in spurts with the family court, but do you know how many they have family court detainees at this point in time?

I get the jail listing every morning, and I look over and scrutinize it just to see what's going on.

I knew you did that, yeah.

Yes, sir. It's in and out. I hadn't seen family court in a while, but that's not to say we don't have anyone in there for child support. And, of course, to your point, you're right. Those are low-risk, low-flight risk. You know, they don't want to run. No.

They don't get five years for three months.

I can certainly...

If you'd look in there, that'd be great. And, you know, when I was jail administrator, it was difficult to do the pickup. But we did it. And we did utilize what sentence people we had in there. And I'd rather see them out working than to just be sitting there three hots in a cot all day long. But if you could just look at that number and get back with us as well, I'd appreciate that.

Yes, sir. Absolutely.

I'll just note before we recognize anyone else, I didn't see any hands pop up that I think it was around COVID that there were a series of cases or statutes and regulations that were passed in relation to having inmate crews clean up on the road that made it much more problematic and expensive based on the ratios that required to monitor those folks. And it almost would be more cost effective to hire somebody to go out and clean up the particular area based on how many paid or overtime related staff members you'd have to have out there fully armed. providing specific transportation for the inmates, in addition to all the insurance and everything else that's required to having inmates outside of the facility. So that's something I remember from COVID times that has carried forward to today that hasn't reset.

And COVID was a bunch of stupid laws too.

Well, you know, everybody has their opinion on that for sure. That's right. I thought it was good prior to that time when the regulations were different. I think they've changed, and maybe we can get some more information. And if it can be done, we can look at it. Any other comments or questions, discussions?

I just have to say, I do think it's just reasonable what Mr. Brazel asked for. It's very reasonable. And, of course, Mr. Temple said he'll supply that to us. And just look over the list. I mean, you can tell me. I trust you on that. Just how many senators you do have at this time.

Yes, sir.

Yeah, I appreciate that.

Okay, so that's everyone who was in person. Mr. Shoemake, any commentary, questions, or concerns remotely on this particular item? Discussion number 9A.

No, I mean, just other than I explored this issue for a long time when I came on, and I just, I do not see an economically viable way to do it, which is pretty much what the jail director said, but happy to hear from him.

Thank you, Mr. Shoemake. Again, it might be more effective to hire individual folks from the community to clean up a particular area on a contract basis if we wanted to do that and there's an area that needed it, as opposed to having inmates go out and do it based on the additional costs that are related. Okay, no votes required on item number 9A. So that concludes item number 9A. We've got a series of first readings. And then again, I think we might move a second reading. Item number 10A is a first reading, a title only. relating to an ordinance approving a private hangar contract at the Kershaw County Airport, establishing the contract rate in terms, and authorizing execution of the same with related items to the private hangar contract. Do we have a motion on first reading?

Mr. Chair, I'd like to make a motion that we approve.

Mr. Tucker has a motion. Is there a second on 10A?

Second.

We have a second from Mr. Tomlinson. It's entitled only, but do we have any discussion?

No, sir.

No discussion.

No second reading.

Okay. No discussion from those who are present. Any discussion remotely from Mr. Yu, Mr. Shoemake?

No.

Well, I've got your attention. How do you vote on 10A remotely?

Yes.

That is a yes from Mr. Shoemake remotely, Ms. Hanna. And for those who are present and voting, raise your hand if you're in favor. That is Mr. Tucker, Brazel, Connell, Cato, and Tomlinson in favor. And any opposed, raise your hand. Mr. Jones votes against, so it passes 6-1. Ms. Hanna, first reading passes on 10A. Item number 10B is another first reading, entitled only. It's related to a multi-county park or MCIP between Kershaw County and Lancaster County, South Carolina, to create and develop a joint county industrial park. The geographical boundaries would initially be within Kershaw County and provide for other matters related thereto. Do we have a motion on 10B?

Make a motion, Mr. Chair, to approve.

Mr. Tucker has a motion on 10B. Do we have a second on 10B?

Second.

Mr. Thompson has a second on 10B. We're still in first reading title only. Is there any discussion?

I have a question. Is this specifically involving Project Ballast?

Is the question from Mr. DuBose or Mr.?

Mr. DuBose would be fine.

Right now, the ordinance is not populated. Any property would be eligible to go in there. I believe that the FLO for ballots required they be put in a park by the 31st, and I think the idea is that this would contain ballots.

Any other questions? I'm curious. Mr. Thompson, you have a second. I'm sorry?

Yes, sir. And just to confirm, so any future Filos are able to go into this MCIP, correct?

Correct.

Mr. Brazel, yes, sir.

Just out of curiosity, I've been sitting here almost six years, and it's typically been Lee County in which the fee and lieu of tax agreements, the partnership has happened with Lee County. Not that I'm opposed to it, but any particular reason why now it's Lancaster instead of Lee?

Some of those matters are probably subject to attorney-client privilege.

Well, that stinks.

I mean, factually, I believe some of that basis is. But the other MCIPs, one exists with Fairfield County. There are a few iterations with it, a few iterations with Lee County. Projects are typically placed with a non-sponsored county here and there. It's almost on a rotating basis. But another MCIP would allow the county to – theoretically look at distributions and um again y'all would have the ability to look at distributions and adjust those um for specific projects that have specific well the fee and lou agreements typically are 99 kershaw county one percent whichever other county we partner with but

I guess, would it be a fair statement to say that their laws would have to parallel with our laws for said agreement to be valid? And maybe some counties wouldn't have a parallel law? Or is it just happenstance that we're in a rotation?

Mr. Bowes, I can respond to this.

Yeah, I'm not sure I understand. The 99-1 is statutory. What each county does with its distributions is up to the county.

Yeah, that's per county. So there's 46 counties that would determine how MCIP funds are distributed as they come in. But in short, I thought that it would be a good idea to connect with other counties that we didn't have MCIPs with. We got them with some of the smaller counties, nothing against them at all. But I think there's a market out there for 1% money to come in Kershaw County. We put a lot of projects, as we're able to, into other MCIPs, and we're sending these funds to other counties. And Lancaster, with all of its growth, I'm interested in having potential arrangements with large growth counties that can send funds to Kershaw County. And so that's one of the reasons.

Makes sense. I was just curious as to why the change. We hadn't really had conversation about it, but that's a perfectly legitimate explanation.

I still don't support it.

Thank you, Mr. Jones. Any other, Mr. Tucker? Yes, sir.

Mr. DuBose, just want to make this clear. So on second reading, we'll get a majority, if not 100% of these answers that folks are looking to hear tonight when we go to second reading. Am I correct by stating that? Correct. Thank you.

Okay. Thank you, Mr. Tucker. Any other comments, questions, concerns? Okay. Mr. Shoemake, anything remotely?

If I could.

Hold on. Please pause, Mr. Shoemake, Mr. Jones.

Thank you. Mr. Chairman. Mr. Tucker, I look forward to that. Getting some of those questions answered as well, too. Yes, sir. Thank you. But at this time, I cannot support it.

Okay. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Mr. Shoemake, any questions, comments on 10B remotely?

No. I vote yes.

That was a yes vote from Mr. Shoemake remotely. And seeing no further discussion, we'll move it to a vote for all those who are present on 10B. All in favor, raise your hand. That is Tucker, Connell, Tomlinson, and Shoemake in favor. And all opposed, raise your hand. That is Brazel, Cato, and Jones opposed. 10B passes on first reading, Ms. Hanna. All right, this moves us on to item number 10C, another first reading title only. It's related to an ordinance to amend the Kershaw County Unified Code of Zoning and Land Development, the ZLDR, related to Section 3.2.6 regarding exceptions to height limitations and related additional structures. Do we have a motion on first reading?

Make a motion on first reading title only, Mr. Chair.

Mr. Tucker has a motion. Is there a second? Second. We have a second. I'll second.

I yield.

Okay. Mr. Shoemake yields. Mr. Thompson has a second. Mr. Tucker, any discussion?

No, sir.

Still in first reading, any other discussion? Mr. Thomas, any other second?

Just would like to get some clarification from staff, if they could.

So there's an exception from height limit section in the ZLDR. It contains numerous kind of industrial telecom-type uses, as well as other unoccupied by human improvements and structures, like... church spires, et cetera, et cetera. This text amendment will ultimately include clarifying language for energy project related uses, but other industrial uses as well that are very close and similar to the existing exemptions. For example, an existing exemption is already chimneys, which is inclusive of some industrial infrastructure But again, perhaps not all aspects of all potential, I guess, tall structures that might come into the county. And again, it'll go to Planning Commission and come back to you all with recommendations and vigorous debate.

Perfect. Thank you, Mr. DeBose. Thank you, Mr. Thomas. No more questions. Any other discussion with those who are present?

Yes.

Mr. Jones?

Well, Mr. DeBose, let me just ask you or maybe somebody on County Council, why now?

I can respond to that.

Well, I asked him.

Well, I don't think he knows, but you can try. Well, he's the county attorney.

Go ahead and try. If I'm not mistaken, he also attends the Planning Zone Commission meetings, right? Correct. Yeah, and, of course, we've got the chairman of the commission out here. Can we hear from him on what he thinks about these smokestacks? And my question is, why now? Because you know who this is about. We all know who it's about. We all know what it's about. but we're just not talking about the exact elephant in the room.

And perhaps I'm being a little exact and precise on first readings and title only. Typically don't have debate because there's nothing for debate. But yeah, I mean, it's for, like I said, energy infrastructure projects. Ballast is an energy project. There are other energy projects that could come into the county. Again, I'm not aware of any pending ones at all, but... Again, this would apply to structures typically associated with energy infrastructure and other matters.

Oh, Lord. Thank you. Thank you so much for those kind words. You know, guys, we need to be more transparent on this. I really believe we need to be. Yeah. And let me say this, too. You all know I've only got four and a half more months. I'm not doing this to get reelected. I'm doing this because it just absolutely is not the right way. We're rushing it. I felt like we rushed through Project Ballast. And we're rushing now, all of a sudden, going to give this exemption to this height. Let's just say, which I don't think we are right. I think we're wrong. But let's just say we are right. The public's perception is reality. But I happen to agree with the public on this wholeheartedly. And if I could say 75 years ago, No, I don't look it. But if I can say anything to you guys up here is put people before money. Put people first. That's your community. And I've said enough.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Mr. Cato.

You know, I agree with Mr. Jones. I don't always agree with Mr. Jones, but I agree with him tonight. But I have an issue with both of these first readings and Because it's all directed to one particular item on the agenda. And it's all to that one thing. And, you know, this company was going to do a variance. And then they pulled the variance. And now we've got this. So I don't understand how this comes up after the company pulls the variance. So far, that's the way it's been. If it goes beyond the standard that we have set forth now, you file for a variance. So why is this changing all of a sudden? I can't support this tonight. I couldn't support that, the other one with the agreement. Not that I don't believe in those agreements and not that I don't think in a way it would be really beneficial to Kershaw County, but... But it all goes back to this one project, and I can't support it.

Thank you, Mr. Cato. I'm happy to respond to some of these questions. Not that I'm the poster child for this particular project. But, again, Project Ballast, I think, has been one of the most open economic development processes ever. Never has the council ever taken a site visit, which I arranged, so that everyone could see what a potential project like this might look like. Everyone who attended and was able to see the project and take it in or ask questions since December of last year was able to ask for any information they were interested in. And at the time of the tour, almost every portion of the facility was over 35 feet, which is the height restriction that would be in place. And so it would be totally inconsistent for the council to majority of the council to vote in favor of a philo which that's the will of the council that was recently voted on and then not acknowledge um the the building that would go along with that which is in excess of 35 feet now a variance is opposed to a conditional use that's a very good question that's an interesting question uh variance is a one-off conditional use in my view allows for greater teeth and regulation from the county on a particular use in a particular area. And so you can add all types of teeth on penalties and different terms like that, which we'll see come up, I hope in second reading and for amendment on second reading, as opposed to a one-off variance. And so I hope that answers some of those questions, but I think the process has been as open as possible. And the folks who toured this facility since December of last year had every opportunity to get any questions they wanted answered and poke and prod in any way they wanted to. And I tried to make sure that that could happen. I certainly did a bunch of my own research and asked many, many questions of experts and otherwise in making my decisions. Any other discussion for those who are present before we go remote?

I think just to kind of defend that for myself, I'll be the first to tell you, I toured the facility. The facility was nice. It was clean. I didn't see anything wrong with it. But to be honest, I didn't know what questions to ask because I knew nothing about it.

Exactly.

So, you know, I'm kind of in a learning process, and I ain't ashamed to admit when I don't know what I'm talking about. And I'll be the first to tell you that I toured it, and I thought at first it was nice and it was clean and they'd done an outstanding job where we went. But there's some questions you didn't even think about. I'd have never thought about a stack height or any of that kind of stuff.

Dettison.

Or a possibility of that. Yeah. And I understand and I won't say this in front of everybody. There are so many rumors that are just absolutely not true. I'm telling you. People's talking about data centers. I ain't never been brought up up here and I can assure you of that. You don't have to believe me. But there's just so many rumors and that's the part that's really destroying people is the rumors and the misinformation that's being put out there. So I just wanted to say that You know, I'll still have a bunch of questions because I don't know what I need to know about this.

And I'll just share as well. Economic development traditionally in Kershaw County, and I guess it's like this in every other county, this is the only one I've served in, is usually a much shorter runway. And I personally didn't like that as much because I thought that council members did not have as much time to ask questions and investigate things as much as they want to. Typically, it would be maybe a first reading in title only, and then you'd have two readings. And so over one month period, you could land on a third reading on a philo. And so you're looking at roughly 30 days to get your questions answered, as opposed to the extended number of months I've tried to arrange here on this particular one. So any other comments or discussion for those who are present before we go to Mr. Shoemake Remote, who we have not heard from yet? Mr. Shoemake, any comments or discussion on item number 10C? Mr. Shoemake, do we still have you?

He's asleep. He's asleep.

And we lost him?

He just texted me a minute ago.

I call for a question. Bet you do. Well, we have to move on. We can't sit here forever.

I'm getting a message that the system booted him off.

Okay, well, we need to move on and vote. I call for the question, Mr. Chairman.

Hey, sorry.

I was off. I hit my mute button, but I hit the wrong button, so I apologize. Mr. Shoemake. No comment. Okay, I want to make sure, have you had the opportunity to hear the discussion? You just got booted off?

Yeah, right when you called for me, I went to hit unmute.

Oh, you booted yourself off. All right. Well, no comments from Mr. Schumacher. That's a yes, vote remotely. Seeing no further discussion, we'll move it. And we've had the question called by Mr. Jones, which I'll honor. All in favor who are present, raise your hand. It is Mr. Tucker, Mr. Connell, Mr. Tomlinson in favor. All opposed? Mr. Brazel, Mr. Cato, and Mr. Jones opposed. It passes on first reading and title only. That is 10C. Item number 10D. Do we have a motion to defer or otherwise? I'll make a motion to defer. To which meeting would you like to defer so we can get a second?

To a later date. Two meetings, one meeting? I would need, let's say two.

All right, to the second meeting after this one, Ms. Hanna. And do we have a second? Second.

Second.

Mr. Thompson has a second. Any discussion or you just want to vote? None needed. Okay. No discussion from the movement.

I got a question. Mr. Jones has some discussion. You're talking too fast now. Look, why is it so necessary to put a timeline on for it to come back? He said at a later date.

I mean, it could be next year if he prefers, but do you want to bring it up in two meetings?

I'll bring it up to Mr. DuBose to make sure that it's handled correctly. I'll put it back on the agenda.

Just some for a future date? Yeah, likely two meetings, but sure. All right, so no vote on the matter, so it doesn't fail. It can be brought up again. Let's move it to a vote for those who are present. All in favor of deferring? What did you just say? Let's move it to a vote for all those who are present. All those in favor of deferring per Mr. Brazel's motion. It's unanimous for those who are present and voting. Mr. Shoemake, how do you vote? And forgive me, I didn't recognize you for any discussion on it. That is a yes, it's unanimous on deferral, Ms. Hanna. All right, we've got item number 11A, which is resolution. This is put on by the administrator related to a memorandum approving, allowing the Kershaw County Probate Judge to serve as a special probate judge for emergency involuntary commitment cases arising in other counties. Do we have a motion? Any background needed, Mr. Templer?

Just other than that, this will be a mechanism to allow Judge Branham to serve as a regional judge for these emergency voluntary commitment cases.

Okay, thank you very much. Mr. Jones, you have the motion?

I so move.

Do we have a second?

Second. I'll second.

Okay, we have three seconds. Mr. Cato, I heard first, I think. Okay, Mr. Cato has a second. Mr. Jones, any discussion before we move it to a vote?

I think our probate's here. Our probate judge is here.

Yes, ma'am. Yep. Judge Brandon's in the back. Thank you for being here.

Listen, thank you for being willing to take all this on, Judge. I know it's extra work and everything.

Mr. Tucker, have a question? Yes. Yes, sir. Go ahead.

So, Mr. DuBose, if you and Mr. Templer could go to page two, I just want to make sure we're on the same understanding on the language. And The first paragraph to the top talks about cases from these fees by outside agencies. As long as she holds these hearings, payment of salary shall commence upon receipt of adequate revenue. So that's reimbursable is what you're saying? So – Or adequate revenue in the general fund. That's kind of vague to me as for the chair of finance, so I need to get it clear.

Yeah, I think the intention there is that the salary will commence when the collected funds for the hearings meet or exceed that salary amount for mental health, et cetera. And again, the expectation – is that those receipts will certainly cover that additional.

Right, yeah. I want to know whether we're paying as the work is done or is it being reimbursed as the funds come in?

I believe it is a set salary, so it's going to be, again, added to each pay period. But, yes, it will be essentially reimbursed from receipts. I think I'm answering your question.

Kind of, sort of, but I got it.

That was the original agreement, was that it would be almost in arrears, if you will. Work would be completed, and then it would be reimbursed.

So it would be running like the federal government. You do the work, pay out, and then they reimburse you. Correct. That's how the cogs ran.

Thank you, Mr. Tucker.

I got one more, Mr. Tucker.

Oh, go ahead. Yes, sir.

Go to page 3. So if you go down where it says this agreement shall automatically renew for the success of one-year periods beginning July 1 of each year, ending in June 30 for the following year, is that going to be read into the budget each year or automatically just renewed without approval?

Y'all, just like county council put a spot for this in this year's budget, the same mechanism would have to exist. Okay. That answers my questions.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Tucker. We're still on 11-A related to the resolution. Any other discussion from those who are present? Mr. Shoemake, any discussion remotely?

No, just thanks for Judge Branham. She brought this issue to us, and there were some questions and perfect examples of how we could all work together, and I really appreciate Judge Branham's work on this and everything else. If that discussion is over, I vote yes.

I heard a yes vote from you, Mr. Shoemake, on 11-A, and thank you, Judge Branham. For those who are present and voting, raise your hand if you're in favor on the resolution 11A. It is unanimous. For those who are present and voting, Ms. Hanna, it passes. That brings us to new business, item number 12A, convenience center hours placed on the agenda by Mr. Jones. Is there a motion?

I so move.

We have a motion. Is there a second?

Second.

We have a second. Mr. Jones.

Well. I'm going to go back to what I said at the last meeting. And, uh, I'm concerned about the lake. I'm concerned about the community center hours. Um, when it comes to Sunday, Sunday afternoon, especially when you got the Lugo side of the lake, you got the Camden side of your lake. I don't know. Y'all probably haven't gotten any calls. I don't know, but I have, and I've got, there's not a person up there that I've talked to at the lake that isn't concerned about this. And, uh, I just wish we could get a reconsideration. And I know that Mr. Timbers was gracious enough to say that once they tried it, he'd come back and follow up with us on how it is. I just want it done now. I would just like to give the citizens back there. The people get, to me, we don't give citizens a whole lot. We take a lot because of property taxes and things like that. But we give them very little back sometimes. And when they're speaking out and saying, look, this is something we need, I understand it. I don't have any property in the lake, but I definitely understand it. So I don't know if there's an appetite to override administration on this, or is there an appetite for administration just to stop it? But I just don't like it. I don't think it's right. And... But all I can say, I would like to have some feedback from some of you guys, though, instead of y'all just looking at me like I'm so pretty. Go ahead. Mr. Chair?

Well, I was just going to ask, is this a new business item for discussion only, or is there a motion?

No, no, no. I'm not going to make a motion tonight.

Okay. Any other discussion? Mr. Tucker?

Yes, sir, Mr. Chair. Mr. Chair, I'll share some data with you. that I received from staff, and it's the savings of $166,000 on what they have in place right now by, excuse me, just having to transport and store the solid waste containers is $15,000 savings. Closing on the reset dates of Sunday and Monday is $50,000. And along with that, Stores, they're double handling those containers. Um, the, um, legal staff and enforcement that they have to put out there to, uh, The check is $18,000 a year. Another $16,000 is from contractors and people with the large trailers and stuff dumping in the recycle centers. And then you have current 10 sites with six different hours of operation. That's a $67,000 savings over the year. which is a grand total of the 166. But this is what's more important to me that I received while we were down at conference. The first week we went live with this is that Elgin had 55 vehicles from Richland County. Springdale had 125 vehicles from a mixture of counties, Chesterfield, Lancaster, Lee, and Richland. Parkland Road, which is where I use my Black River Road, had 155 total vehicles, 93 from Sumter, 62 from Lee County. And then Lugov had five vehicles from Richland County. So it's not just that Elgin site over there that people are dumping at. They're hitting us from all ends of the county where the county lines cross. You have a lot of people come through or come to Kershaw County for work. And it's convenient to bring that trash and dump it in a recycle center because It's it's convenience. And we have not been doing a good job of policing that. And I've got some phone calls, as you have. And some of those friends and members are mutual friends between you and I. I don't think it's ran its course. And. I would like to ask the administrator to continue to proceed and give us feedback. And let's see what we need to make the adjustments. I have total faith in Mr. Templer and the staff and his director over Solid Waste that they'll make the proper adjustments. and fine-tune this. But we haven't given it a chance. It hasn't been 30 days yet.

I need to follow up on that. First of all, I'm not talking about the Elgin site. I'm talking about two sites on Lake Watery. And those numbers, you can make numbers. I mean, we make the numbers we want to see. And it's all legal. But bottom line is, I just can't buy that. That opened up for three to four hours on Sunday afternoon. Years ago, whenever we first brought these recyclings here, I was actually on the committee when Austin Sheehan was here and some others. And I went with Hammy Moat to look at recycling centers before they existed here. And the intention, because I've heard a lot about, well, let the folks have time. That's not what this is about. When we started these recycling centers 30 years ago, whatever it was, We hired retired people to work part-time so they could work on the holidays, so they could work on those days that a working person couldn't, so that we would be able to give the service to the citizens. Times have changed, Mr. General. They're still retirees. They're still retired if they come to work. I mean... Will you fill out an application when you leave in December? I have no desire to do that. I'm not going to work for nobody when I leave here in four and a half months. But everything you said meant nothing to me because it's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the lake road and the lakeshore area of the lake have access to take their trash off on the weekends when they leave. Mr. Chairman.

Sorry, I lost Mr. Brazel. He had the second.

Okay. can the gentleman who represents the lake speak go ahead thank you i wanted i wanted councilman jones and councilman tucker to get all that out now that they're done i'm not finished if i if i may i've had several uh many phone calls uh one of which is is we were basically policing the station and a gentleman who owns a home and several thousand acres was told that he would not be allowed to use the recycle center the gentleman resides i think maybe in charlotte north carolina but owns a large timber farm and a home on either on the lake or on the farm i'm not sure maybe maybe both pays a large tax bill, especially because of the home being a 6% rate, and the gentleman was not happy. Let's just say he was not happy. So knowing that a large part of our tax revenue is 6% rate and or i.e. second homes, whether you live in or outside of the county, we can't continue to paint a scenario all with the same brush. I agree with parts of what Councilman Tucker said. Certainly Elgin's an issue. Certainly I think maybe you see Black River Road's an issue. But I dare to compare the statistics of a rural lake recycle center in which people use their homes for the weekend, in which now when they go home, if you leave work on a Thursday afternoon, come to enjoy your lake home, no matter which side of the lake it's on. and you go to clean up on Sunday and go home, you don't have anywhere to take your trash. And there's not necessarily service to some of these rural areas at the lake. Kershaw County no longer helps with tipping fees for private businesses, and I understand the reasons why. I'm not challenging, but I am pointing out the changes that we've made. We saved $400,000 in this year's budget by not paying tipping fees to a company that existed in this county for 30 years. Now, that was a tremendous savings with absolutely zero loss to any residents and or visitors who own homes in Kershaw County. We may be saving another $160,000 by not serving all areas of the community because what it's doing is it's essentially forcing people to find somewhere else to dump or dump their trash during the work week in which lots of people are employed. And maybe some of the traffic through, I'm sure they're using it. Sure they are. No argument there. But to take away something from a rural area in which we are charging a fee for, on the most inconvenient day for the citizen, I think needs to be reconsidered, and I'd certainly love to see a plan from our administration. They can see that. Danny, you can see that. Gerald can see it, and I think people with this dais can see it. I don't think it needs to go to a vote, but what I would like is I would like a response from our administrator. because I'm doing my job in representing the citizens and the people that live on Lake Watery and or have houses in the area. Now, if you say we think we should open these two or four for a Sunday afternoon for a period of four hours, say from two to six, I think that would be phenomenal. I'm not asking for everything to be my way because it's certainly not a need that I have. I do have roll-offs at my home in which I use. But for many, many, many people that I represent, this is a problem. And also for visitors that I don't represent, it's still a problem. And it's only fair to service our community as geographically large as Kershaw County is, as divided as it is by water features such as the lake and the river. It's unique. It's unique in all regards. i'm not here to challenge anyone over the subject i'm here to look for a solution that better fits our communities and and their unique differences so danny i ask you politely i'd like to see something that would service our community and i am not a guy that will ever

Put a plan in place and never deviate from it. I'm just not that guy. I just like y'all I get calls. I live in East Camden. I go to and I get hit up. Um, I've been in administration for 10 years. I've been the administrator for 3. so I'm well known as the guy that makes some of these operational decisions and trust me this 1 I am known for. And I'm fine with that because I understand that. This has not been a solvent function of our budget. Solid waste. If this was a company, it would have shuttered 15 years ago. It just is propped up by the general fund. It's an enterprise fund. It should make its own money. It should generate money to buy its own trucks. I could ask for, I could double the rate of solid waste. I would never do that because it doesn't do anything. These are problems that I can't buy my way out of. Um, my responsibility is to make this department solvent and by making tough changes and but re, evaluating these changes. I said that I would look at the data every quarter. I'm not going to do that. I'm going to look at it every month. Um, to see, and if there is any site that doesn't. Add to the cost savings, the operational efficiencies. We will make adjustments to make it more convenient after all they are convenience centers. Um, the amount of. Uh, out of town dumping, I mean, that's kind of been beat to death. We all know that. Um, I, I do have concerns for like. Both sides, I am concerned that, um, this, uh. You know, it causes a inconvenience up there. Uh, I know that some people just live up there all year round. Um. And I know Sunday is the day to go, but I also know that Sunday is the day to go for a lot of other counties. To come to us and deposit their trash here. And I also know that Sunday is the day when a lot of contractors empty their, their trailers out to start the work week fresh with an empty trailer. Um. Just in the 1st week, we've had 28 less open top loads going to. The Kershaw county landfill, which is huge. Um. Compactors to Republic, we've cut down 5 of those loads just with wet trash, household trash. We hauled almost 120 less tons in the 1st week of this initiative. You know, we talked about the 166,000 dollars of potential savings when I saw that number, I knew it was that was very, very conservative way too low. Uh, we've saved just this 1st week's 6,300 dollars and we're on track to save 331,000 dollars. If that number trends forward. On top of the 400,000 dollars. But that doesn't mean that we won't make adjustments in operational efficiencies and conveniences. We want to make this a service. Everybody pays the same price. We are checking IDs or proof of residencies. That's not a perfect system right now. I feel like we may be excluding people that have a right to dump there. And so we're going to come up with something that. We're trying to look at driver's licenses. It doesn't just you could go to Richland county and get your driver's license issued to you and then you're going to have a. 29 or a 40 code instead of the 28 for Kershaw county. So that's not a true tried way to tell. Um.

Mr. Templer, if I might?

Yes.

And this is to Mr. Brazel's point. I've experienced in other counties where they will require you to show proof of a utility bill that you can have the utility company, even if you own it as a second home or in a business, they can put you as care of your actual name. And I've seen that work well in other facilities I've been familiar with. You just pull it up or you get an email, you opt into email service or notice of your bill. You can pull up the email, show the worker, and then you're able to dump your trash. It seems like a pretty easy fix instead of You know, draconian, uh, driver's license requirement if you live out of state or otherwise.

Right. And, you know, we're, we're. This is a learning curve. We have, um. Some instances where we've not made the right decision to allow someone to dump. Um, I want to error on the side of the citizen. Um. We're trying to this week push out. It's not how you bring it in. It's what you're bringing it in. So we had a guy come in and he had a landscaping company obviously was not going to throw away all of his lawnmowers. He just had 2 household bags of trash. So we just have to have discretion and common sense. Um. So, I believe in this, um, I think we're going in the right direction. I want this to be a solvent department. I want it to stand on its own and not be propped up by capital funds and the general fund as a whole. We have a lot. We have new convenience centers to build. We have to rearrange. Um, so we have a lot of work going on. We have the impact or the, uh, impact fees going to help support this, this fund as long as well as recreation. Um, but ultimately we are going to continue to analyze and. Make sure that we are moving in the right direction and not be the one size fits all. But right now that's what we have to start out with and see where those 2 sites end up. and if there is an opportunity to make them more convenient, because they are pretty well insulated inside the county. We don't have to worry about out-of-town dumpers. And I think you make valid points. Mr. Jones makes valid points. And the folks I spoke to up in that area make valid points. So I can't ignore that.

Just a quick question. How many sites do we have altogether? So we're talking about... 20% of the sites which probably account for 5% of the waste. So your savings is still going to probably be a 95% to 97% savings, even if you just open that small window for household trash on Sunday afternoon in those locations, those remote locations. And I will say, I think Ben's idea is valid and fair. The only thing I would say is I know Internet service is spotty, so somebody may have to have like a paper copy. So let's just be soft on – Yeah, but initially, let's be soft on how we implement those and not so rigid until people get accustomed to how we handle this for the general public.

We had an all-hands meeting with all the attendants Monday morning just to make these adjustments and to make sure people are getting to use the facilities they pay for. So it's a work in progress, but I believe in it. It's going to save a lot of money. And actually, with the ID... portion we've had a lot of positive feedback on site where people are thankful that we're keeping the cost of dumping down and keeping the other folks out of our county and their trash so i can't disagree with that it's just finding a balance right absolutely and we'll continue to look for that balance thank you mr brazel any other comments discussion for those who are present mr shoemake anything remotely

Per Mr. Jones, no votes required, no motion's been made. That will conclude item number 12A on convenience center hours. Next up, I've placed on the agenda 12B, council meeting schedule, vote B will be required. I'll make a motion that regarding the council meeting schedule for the rest of the year, we've been previously provided and voted on it earlier in the year. I make a motion that we cancel the, November 24 and December 22 meetings for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday weeks. Is there a second?

I'll second that motion. I'm eating turkey and celebrating the good Lord's birth.

Likewise. There's been some years where the second half after the budget or, you know, second three quarters of the year almost. We've only had one meeting per month. That's not this year. We've got so much scheduled and so much going on and talking with the administrator and with legal counsel. Those are the only two meetings that make sense to do without for the rest of the year. I recommend that we have every other scheduled meeting for August, September, October, November, December, except for the two that we just mentioned that we'll bring up for a vote. Do we have any discussion?

I would just like to say that's normal trend for us to cancel those two anyway, so we're just doing it early.

Exactly.

Yep, everybody gets to plan their holiday travel a little bit better too, staff and us.

And I appreciate, Mr. Chairman, the fact, and believe me, I'd love to go to one meeting a month, but I appreciate you realizing we do have a lot going on. We need to keep our two meetings a month, at least for the other months prior to the November, December.

Yes, sir. Any other discussion from those who are present? Mr. Shoemake, any discussion? And if not, how do you vote?

No discussion. I vote yes.

I say yes remotely for Mr. Shoemake. All in favor who are present, raise your hand. It is unanimous, and the amendment will take place. Thank you, Ms. Hanna. That brings us to item number 12C. We've got a whole slew of council members put their names on this one. Moratorium related to data centers. Initially placed, I think, by Mr. Jones, but we have Mr. Brazel, Tomlinson, and Cato on. I'm not sure to what extent someone's going to make a motion first or amendments.

Well, I told Mr. Brazel that I would yield to him if he had a motion he wanted to make.

Is there a motion? Yes. 12 C. Yes.

I'd like to make a motion to place a moratorium on data centers and anything that resembles one for a period of five years so that Kershaw County, as well as the state of South Carolina can put guardrails and clearly defined how we want to move forward as a state and as a county.

We have a motion. Is there a second? I'll second. Mr. Jones has a second. Mr. Brownsville, you have the floor.

So there's been a lot of discussion and to Danny Cato's point, speculation on is there going to be a data center in Bethune in conjunction with the power plant? I can tell you I have not heard that. No one has told me that there will be. I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt, no one has said, Russell, there's going to be a data center. Follow the power plant. As a matter of fact, I've been told the exact opposite. With that being said, I think while we're talking about the future of Kershaw County, we need to clarify the situation. We need to find out if we are asked in the future, and John, if you don't mind, I'm just gonna ask you a few questions so that we can find out where we're at as a county, where we're at as a state, and what the future looks like and how we shape the future. Real simple questions, just to put it on record and clear the air. Are data centers allowed in Kershaw County currently under our zoning regulations?

There is no specific regulation on data center. I will say that... Under zoning codes if there's not a specific fit for particularly the use if there's another fit that is Like legitimately close enough. It can be utilized. I believe there is some computing infrastructure, but I don't know that it is a again precise match but there So to answer your question, there's no specific data center regulations

Let me rephrase the question. Would there be a gateway for a data center via a known or existing zoning regulation?

I do not think so, based on ZLDR.

So at this point in time, a data center could not be adopted and built in Kershaw County without a change in zoning regulations.

That is my understanding.

in which that would have to be deferred to Planning Commission. There would be a public hearing. It would be a very open, transparent process. Is that? Correct. OK. So that answers a question that I think begged to be answered by many people in the public, including myself. Now that we have that question answered and on the record, I think if we could install a moratorium of five years, that gives us ample runway to see what the future holds, to find out what the state's going to do. They're working on it. Gentlemen, thank you for being here tonight, sir. House member?

Reese.

Thank you. Mr. Reese, Representative Reese, thank you for being here tonight, sir. We need to learn more about what the House and Senate feels about these data centers and where they see South Carolina in a global race for storied data. From flock cameras to iPhones to who knows what, our data is being sold. I'm not saying I agree with it. Our data is being stored for large corporations, for federal government, military. Data is being stored somewhere. And some people would say, well, would we rather the United States store our data, or are we afraid that it could be in the hands of someone else in the globe, Russia, China, Those are all questions that are way above our pay grade here in Kershaw County. But as Congress, as state officials work through these problems, they will then come home to roost. And that is the need, that is the reason why. I think a moratorium of five years is more than...

I don't. Okay. First off, let me just say this. I agree with everything the citizens said here tonight when they got up and spoke about their concerns about Project Bios, the gas plant, and also a data center. I've got to be realistic to myself. I know for a fact, when I put this on the agenda, Of course, Councilman Browns and I have been talking, but I was pleased to see that a couple of my colleagues put their name on the agenda with me. I was glad to see that. But I'm going to be realistic. I support the five years, but I know it's not going to pass. It's not going to pass. So I want to make an amendment because I know what's going to pass. I want to make an amendment to... motion that uh we do a moratorium for 12 months and and it has to be regulations as well and we can also extend that 12 months i know somebody like two years it's not gonna pass okay But I think we might have to vote here for 12 months. I don't know. But I would move for that amendment based on that reason. But just remember this, more term for 12 months. And we could also extend that at the end of 12 months, or y'all could. I won't be here. And also that... Mr. Jones, can I just ask for a point of clarification? Have any regulations? Yes, sir.

You're making a motion to amend to 12 months?

Yes. Okay.

Yes.

Yes.

All right. Motion to amend takes priority. Any further discussion? Is there a second? I'll second. There's a second. Any further discussion?

Yes. You don't have to be a weatherman to tell which way the wind's blowing. I don't know why a five-year moratorium wouldn't pass unless there was something on the radar.

Mr. Chairman? You asked for commentary. Yes, sir.

Thank you. Appreciate your comments. I haven't heard anything about data centers, but what I am for is about regulations. I think we need a pause to put regulations in place. None of us know anything about data centers. Looking at the state right there, Representative Reese, you all have had two years to look into it. You still don't know anything about data centers, do you? is something that is coming down the line that is growing in our state very fast. And we have to take a pause to be able to get things in place. Mr. Holland said in his comments, I believe it was Iowa that was referenced, where a data center uses no water. Been there for 13 years, I believe, was the exact comment he said. Doesn't use any water. We don't know anything about this. Technology is new to me. Half people up here – or everybody up here is older than me, and I'm still technologically challenged. It's a hard word to even get out. I do think that we need to look at until the legislative session is over with. Representative Reese, you've got big things on your shoulders this coming session. There's a lot of South Carolinians who look for this regulation for the state, for guidance at the local level, because we're struggling. You can see us here. And I think it's the job of our state leaders to put those in place so we can act. And I appreciate all you do. I really do. And thank you for coming out tonight. It's a great honor to see people sitting in the audience of of greater bodies of government than you serve in and knowing the challenges that you face, um, here in and here out. So, but I really appreciate you coming out tonight. Um, but I, I do think we're in a, we're in a wave and I, I'd like to see us even making this to, to right after session, maybe even July 1st, but I'm, I'm fine with 12 months.

I have a question for clarification, just so I understand legally what we're looking at. And, I do support a moratorium for a period of time. Five years, I think, would actually not be constitutional. I've been looking at this for about six months, and there's a case called Sierra Club, which I don't want to get in the weeds on, but that was a little over two years for a complete comprehensive plan rewrite that was found to be okay. That's not what we're doing here. Whatever we do for moratorium has to be rationally tied. Think about the building moratorium that we had on residences for major subdivisions. We don't have to do this here, but just as an example, the moratorium was legitimate because we set up a smart growth committee that committed to having regulations ready or there was some other legal issue that would implicate the county's ability to act or not act at that time. So I think five years is too long just because it wouldn't pass constitutional muster. I think tying it to the end of legislative session would make sense. There are preemption issues there. If we go through a bunch of effort to... come up with regulations, and then the state preempts us. And we are home rule, but in some ways, the county's the baby of the state. And so we'll get preempted on those fronts. So end of legislative session makes sense to me. But if the state doesn't act, I think there's some point at which we have to where... Some of the regulations I've considered would be limitation on water usage, if it's even right in Kershaw County, limitation on power usage or self-generation, bonding if it fails, minimum amount of land size, additional requirements for setbacks, pretreatment issues and bonds related to that. And so there's all kinds of stuff that you would have to figure out if it ever works somewhere in Kershaw County. This is the point of clarification, Mr. DuBose. I thought I had heard from economic development staff previously, there was some type of data center that was interested near the landfill. And we never researched it, it didn't really come up for council, but that just fizzled and went away. I thought that there was an industrial zoning in the county where a data center would be allowed. So is that not true? I just remember hearing that from...

I would have to verify with our zoning administrator. Again, as I said, there's no explicit blind data center. Correct. There might be a, again... Some computing services, something that, again, is an arguable fit. And, again, zoning codes, if you don't have the magic language, it doesn't necessarily mean that it doesn't qualify under an existing use. So, again, I'd have to get in the weeds with the planning director on that. But we don't have any specific granular regulations that would be specific to data centers. It would be underlying zoning district regulations. If there is a box that is inclusive of a data center, it would just have to meet, again, those zoning district standards. We don't have any specific data.

Well, I think for this council, that's an essential question because either there is an industrial zoning out there that allows for it, and so a moratorium would directly impact somebody's private property rights, or it doesn't and it won't. And so that brings up a question of mootness for us on what we do. Of course, tonight, in order to have an actual moratorium, it would have to be in the form of an ordinance. And so it'd have to be a first reading, second reading, third reading and a public hearing that would occur. And so whatever vote we have tonight will be a recommendation, um, for staff to put it on the agenda for next time. If it, if it passes tonight to have an actual ordinance, but between now and then, if we do something I'd really like to know is, the regulation a moot issue for us right now because none of the zoning allows for it? Or is the threshold question, is it allowed, and thus we have even greater need for regulation?

Mr. Chairman, if I may. Mr. Jones. I don't care if it is allowed. I don't like it. And this body has the right to change that. And I would tell you, I'd vote for 10 years, but I just know it's not going to pass. I want to make sure when we walk out of here We've got a moratorium, 12 months, that's something. And to make sure that we have regulations, those two things were the key words in my motion.

Mr. Jones, that's the question is, if it's not allowed anywhere, then a moratorium could be moot because you can't do it at all.

Well, listen, you're saying could be, could be. We don't know. What I know tonight is that I think this council should enact a moratorium for 12 months. and make sure that there's regulations in place if and when it needs to happen.

We haven't heard from Mr. Cato yet.

So I agree with you, Mr. Jones. One of the issues that I have with five years, I wish we could just band it all together, but that's not possible, okay? We've got to be reasonable. I mean, you know, we can sit up here and we can make things sound good and try and get applause and all that kind of stuff, and that's fine, well, good. But we've got to reasonably think about what we're doing with this. If we did it for five years, I'd be off-counsel. I want to see it to the end. I want to make sure that things would, I don't have but a four-year term. So I could be off council. And I wouldn't be able to see what regulations are put into place. It'd be kicking the can down the road. So my point is that I would like to see something where we're going to put some reasonable, really good restrictions on these data centers. And to be perfectly honest, to maybe deter them from even wanting to come to Starkland. We had some really good conversation at the conference. And every class that we went to dealt with data centers. There was a lady from Washington. This lady from Washington was over the national committee for the counties in Washington. She said presently there are 75 bills between the Senate and between the House and Washington that are presently being presented to them to take a look at. I wrote it down because I couldn't believe it. There's a lot of legislation fixing to come down, and we need to know where we stand and what we can do and how far we can go. And I agree, and I want to clarify this point with you, Mr. Jones, that this 12 months would start If it goes through the third reading, it will start at the end of the third reading with a chance or with the opportunity to extend it if needed.

Correct. And think about this. We just approved no height limit on stacks. Okay, I mean, come on, guys.

Mr. Chairman, if I may.

Mr. Bresley, yes, sir.

Councilman Cato, I agree with the very first part of what you said and most of what you said, but just especially the part that says we need to know what can and can't be allowed in Kershaw County. The way I see it, If a data center's currently allowed in a certain zoning code, it's likely that it's maybe a light industrial or a heavy industrial zone, which we only have a few parks that qualify here in Kershaw County. A data center is not interested in building in a park. They're interested on building in a very remote farm. maybe 1,000 acres or more, that's gonna be zoned RD1, RD2, and it's likely, because this is something new, that they have to have a moratorium in place in order to get all of the zoning passed to make it feasible to exist in a certain area. So while I wanted to say, frankly, I wanted to ask for a 99-year moratorium, but my wife wouldn't let me. If a five-year moratorium is too long, then it's too long for what? Well, maybe it's unconstitutional. That's, I guess, for a court to figure out, not me. But let's not put ourselves in a position to accept them in rural areas if that's not the goal. So we can say there's a moratorium for data centers, but are we really even doing anything other than giving ourselves a year to figure out how to have data centers? And I don't want to get confused in this conversation. I want to know what's going on. I want to be clear with my colleagues that my goal will be to limit sites in Kershaw County. I want to be clear to the public that I want to preserve the natural resources and beauty of Kershaw County. That was a focus six years ago when I ran. One of the things that I said is that I wanted to help protect Kershaw County's natural resources. And I find myself dealing with something that could be a huge hurdle for our natural resources. And I don't want to mistake tonight's conversation for moratorium for it to turn out to be something other than we intend it to be. Because I can assure you the system's intelligent. When I say the system, I mean the lobbyists that lobby the federal government. I mean the lobbyists that lobby at the statehouse. Now, we don't see them here. But when that legislation is passed, you better darn well believe that somebody's for it. You better darn well believe that somebody is courting somebody to get what they want. But you better darn well believe that I'm standing here today uninfluenced in fighting for the citizens of Kershaw County to make sure that Kershaw County stays what it needs to be. So I agree with Danny. I don't know if we need a moratorium or if we need a clarification before we move forward. And I think that's what our chairman was asking for from John DuBose in which we got maybe a little conflicting answers.

Mr. Brazel, I have a suggestion. I need your vote, Mr. Russell. Are you done? I have a suggestion.

Liz here.

I think, I mean, any one of us under our rules could place this on an agenda item for next meeting. And so right now I'll update the clerk that I think we should place it on an agenda item for next meeting. I don't know that a vote is needed tonight, but I think we've got to get clarification on whether or not it's actually allowed or whether or not.

My motion stands for a vote tonight.

That's fine. But, or whether it's a moot issue. based on zoning, because I think I've heard something different in economic development. Like Mr. Brazel, I'd like to know the answer to that, because either there's a private property right that could be infringed or not. If not, then there's less restrictions on a potential moratorium that is moot.

I think we've infringed on a lot of properties up in Bethune, to be honest.

Thank you, Mr. Jones. Mr. DuBose, do you have a response?

So, there is a, for the NAICS codes in our ZLDR, there's one broader code section on professional scientific and technical services, but it is the broad section. Some data center uses are under that code, some are under 518, some are under 519, which I don't know that we have. It doesn't look like we have it. So, it truly is an attorney answer of, I think it would depend precisely on the ownership structure and exactly what kind of data might be getting managed at a hypothetical data center, whether, again, arguably fits in that box. I think given that it would have to fit under that broader umbrella currently in the code, if there's a desire to specifically regulate data centers, or if we eliminate a specific regulation would be the way to go.

So my suggestion is,

That's what I said, Mr. DuBose.

My suggestion is, regardless of the vote tonight, I'm already going to have it on the agenda for next time. So we can vote or not, but I'm going to have it on the agenda for next time. Whether or not we need to pull it will be the question, and how long it will be after it's in first title only will be the question. But I think Mr. Brousel's right. We've got to get to the bottom of it. what is actually allowed in Kershaw County versus not. And this is new. This is a question of first impression, as they would say in the legal world. There's no precedent that we can look to. Am I correct, Mr. Templer and Mr. DuBose, try to divide it, and so you are going to have to take some time to figure it out and let us know, and we're going to have to do some more independent research, because I think I've gotten conflicting answers from staff in the past. Yes, sir.

Mr. Kato. Just a legal question. So if we go, what, Mr. DuBose, if we went forward with the vote tonight and we still got our answers at the next meeting, you know, if we find out that the vote's null and void, I guess it has to be dropped. But at least if we vote on it tonight, we're one step closer.

So maybe circling back to the chair's point, in order for any moratorium to be valid, it has to be passed by ordinance. Yeah, the vote tonight does nothing. Yeah, it does nothing as far as imposing moratorium.

Would it not start a pending ordinance doctrine?

No, public hearing hasn't been advertised. Now, if a public hearing is advertised, again, the local government has to resolve to embark upon a regulatory scheme. I think it's arguable, yeah, that it could be invoked in this scenario.

Well then let's vote on it and have, have, have a leg rather than no leg. And to Ben's point and to Jimmy's point, I think, I think we do both things and just know that, that during this process, it's, it's going to be, it's, it's going to be of my opinion to, to look for ways to protect Kershaw County and, um, I think we can move forward.

Thank you, Mr. President. That's what we're trying to do with the moratorium. I appreciate that. I call the question.

Well, you can, but I'm going to check on any other discussion from those who are present. And we haven't also heard from a particular council member who's remote. Mr. Shoemake, any discussion? Do we still have you?

Yeah, you still have me. I mean, look, I think that just to be very short about it, there's been a lot of discussion already. I think that there is

a certain hysteria around data centers that sort of misplaced. That said, I would support a short moratorium, but I'll tell you, like, I'm not going to vote for an extended one. And when the moratorium is over, I'll support regulations to make sure data centers are, I agree, they should be limited. They should have reclaimed order. They should have power sources. I think we should regulate them and not have, not turn Kershaw County into data center alley, but I'm not terrified of data centers. And one of the speakers mentioned that You know, data hacks, the worst thing in the world we can do as a country is start sending our data overseas. So I'll support a short moratorium, but that's kind of all I have.

Thank you, Mr. Shoemaker. Can I say something? Mr. Jones. I don't want my data sent overseas either, but I'll tell you what, if it's something that needs to protect our country, let Ford Jackson have the data centers. They got a lot of land over there. But I don't want one in my neighbor's backyard. So anyway, you listen.

Mr. Tucker.

Yes, sir. I'm making too much sense up here, obviously.

Thank you, Mr. Jones. Mr. Tucker.

I just have a question about process. So we do this moratorium for 12 months. I know that there's already, because it was in my council briefing to talk about a little bit, there's already ordinance out there from other counties. I know for a fact Chester has one. I think Beaufort has one down in that area. Yeah, so why are we not? handle this moratorium like we did with the growth. Why can't we work unilateral? In other words, if the moratorium is in place, we start processing the information for regulations, regardless of what the House does. And no offense to Representative Reese, who I love like a brother and been knowing forever. Heck, they can't even get the budget right. I'm not going to rely on them. I'm sorry to say it. I'm mad enough to sit up here and say that. I won't say it behind their back. I think they just passed the budget today. And what's that, 40-something days, Representative Reese? Everybody else has passed one other than the state, all 46 counties. So what they passed, we can definitely make adjustments. But why can't out the gate as we're going through this moratorium, we work on those ordinance because there's stuff out there already. We don't have to reinvent the wheel. We just need to get the information and tweak it to our liking.

Any other discussion? All right, seeing none, and with the acknowledgement that the vote may or may not be moot tonight, we can move forward with the vote. We're on the motion to amend first before we get back to the original motion. And my wife told me not to get mad tonight, so I'm not. The motion of a force is essentially a motion to direct staff to place on the next agenda.

My motion was a 12-month moratorium with us to also look at making sure there are regulations in place during that time. I understand that, Mr. Jones.

What I'm saying to you is that can't happen tonight. It has to have three readings and a public hearing. So it could be placed on the agenda for first reading.

But I'm making that motion for tonight.

Do you understand, though, that a moratorium is not passing tonight because the law requires three readings and a public hearing?

Yes, I understand that. But why are you asking me that stupid question? I mean, I know that. I understand it takes three readings. That's why I want to make sure we get the 12 months in tonight and the regulations because it takes three readings. And, you know, we've got a couple of months. It's not going to be one meeting a month. It's going to take forever to get this thing passed.

Yes, sir. I didn't think the question was stupid based on the context.

I'm not saying you're much smarter than me, sir. I'm just saying that to me that's just, I mean.

What this does is puts it on the agenda for next meeting. For first reading.

I'm making the motion tonight for first reading.

It's not on first reading, sir. Essentially, this puts it on the agenda for first reading next time. I'm just trying to clarify that for you, Mr. Jones.

I got you. I got you.

Okay.

Mr. Chair, you know we still got to vote on the amendment.

This is the amendment. We're talking about the amendment. All right, so all in favor on the Jones Amendment, raise your hand, present and voting. It's unanimous in person for those who are present and voting. Mr. Shoemake, how do you vote on the Jones Amendment?

Yes.

That's a yes. It passes unanimously. Now we're on to the original motion. As amended, any other motions? Any other discussion on the original? As amended.

I think we got it all out.

All right. Seeing none, we'll move it to a vote for those who are present and voting. All in favor, raise your hand. It's unanimous. Ms. Hanna, for those who are present and voting. Mr. Shoemake, how do you vote?

Yes.

That's a yes remotely from Mr. Shoemake. And so we do have a vote on 12C, but essentially it places on for first reading for the next agenda.

Thank you, Ms. Hammond. Just for clarification, did Mr. Brazel withdraw the motion for the five years? No, my motion was amended.

We just voted on my motion that was amended by Councilman Jones.

That's what happens to all this long discussion going on.

Correct. All right. That moves us on to council briefings. We've got first up, Mr. Cato.

Caught me off guard. I don't know why.

I'm still thinking. It got deep, didn't it, brother? It got deep.

I want to thank everyone that had a part in tonight and the proclamation for Steve McCaskill and well deserved and I want to thank the sheriff's office for what they did for him tonight very deserving for everything that he done for this county and for that sheriff's office and I truly appreciate Appreciate them having a part in it. I want to say thank you to the Alpha Center. We had an opioid meeting today. I'm on the Opioid Coalition Advisory Council, and I tell you, I go to these meetings, and I'm more and more impressed with them each and every time I go to these meetings. They do some excellent work. Found out today that... the alpha center and our detention center had been working along together for a program which was called medicine assisted treatment and this program was started back in 2023 it's been in the process of trying to get started my understanding is it got started up this past monday and so i'm really proud of the alpha center uh Our county government and the detention center, they had some setbacks, and they had some times that they kind of got put behind the eight ball, but it's up and running, and I'm thankful for that. I want to say that we've got the Jamboree coming up to kick off the football season this year on the 14th. That'll be next Friday, so if you'd like to attend and watch Lugolf, Elgin, Camden, and North Central play some football to kick off the season, they'll be doing that next week. That ends my report.

Thank you, Mr. Cato.

That's this 14th.

Yeah, the Jamborees this Friday.

Yeah, that's this Friday.

Yeah, Camden had a scrimmage last Friday.

I know. I said the 14th.

Thank you, Mr. Cato. Mr. Tomlinson, any report? Mr. Chairman, no report tonight. Thank you. Mr. Jones, any report?

No report.

Thank you. I think we just lost Mr. Shoemake. Is he still on? Yeah. Okay. Mr. Tucker?

Yes, sir. Just very briefly. I was going to recognize House Member Reese, but he's gone already. I want to say that the conference that we attended a couple weeks ago was phenomenal. A lot of great information. Staff attended class as well as the council members and learned a lot and absolutely right. Data centers was the topic that no one wanted to speak about that everybody talked about. So learned a lot and then I just had a class last week up in Greer on economic development and we had that topic too on the data centers and a lot of good information is out there for us to learn from and if we're ever going to do one we can shape one like we want or if we don't want any then we can block what we don't want. So I appreciate this council taking a step in the right direction. And if we all work for it, we'll come up with a good product. Other than that, I want to make you aware of an announcement that I received yesterday on I-20. The bridge, Watery River Bridge. So I want to make this publicly known just in case you didn't get the email. This is from SCDOT conducted traffic shift operation on I-20 westbound over the Watery River Bridge. in Kershaw, and they sent this out yesterday, August 10th. The South Carolina Department of Transportation will conduct a traffic shift operation on I-20 westbound over the Watery River Bridge in Kershaw County beginning the night of Tuesday, August 11th. A single lane closure between mile markers 97 and 95 will be conducted to shift traffic from the existing I-20 westbound bridge to the newly constructed bridge Traffic shift operations are expected to be completed by the morning of Thursday, August the 13th. Last part I want to read to you. Drivers should expect delays and seek alternate routes if possible. SCDOT encouraged drivers to use the 511SC app or visit 511SC.org to plan route ahead and get real-time traffic updates. Okay? Thank you. That concludes my report.

Thank you, Mr. Tucker. Mr. Brazile.

Thank you, Chairman. It was really nice to see the McCaskill's here tonight. What a great family and what a great legacy. Danny, thank you. I think that was phenomenal. Thank you for doing that. I'd like to kind of give a shout out to a particular member of our Recreation Commission and And a large crew of people whom I can't name all. But Rick J. brought it to my attention. His good friend Clay Hanna is the manager of a Lowe's store. And Danny, correct me or help me. I think there were eight Lowe's stores that donated 25 picnic tables, sod, mulch to our recreation facilities and actually helped put it out, set the tables up, put out trash cans. I mean, this was a tremendous donation. Is that, do I have this right?

The numbers are, it's wild how much they donated. Wheelbarrows, rakes, all kind of stuff that we'll use from now on. Mulch, I mean, it's just like hundreds of bags of mulch, things like that, just to help beautify Woodward and continue.

I really think it's cool that, you know, of the eight Lowe's stores, one of them was in Kershaw County. The rest of them, it was a friend of a friend and a phone call. Connections. Rick said we were talking about it over around the golf, and all of a sudden that happened. So isn't that wonderful? Amazing. Not to discount every other member of the Recreation Commission, but I just wanted to give Clay and Rick a shout-out and all of the managers and team members involved that came out and gave to Kershaw County. A tremendous amount of money, tremendous amount of time. Thought it was really cool when he was telling me that today, so just wanted to highlight that. Also, something that's really neat. You all remember Dale Watson from Charleston that painted the Battle of Rubley's Mill for us. Dale has, um, if you, if you want to see it in the Camden archives, a display of all of his work for the two 50th and, um, to include, uh, smaller version of what we have, Rugeley's Mill, but gosh, it must be 20 paintings. Some of them are owned by the 250th Commission. Some of them still belong to him, but if you're in town, and Martin, if you'd like to highlight what's at the camden archives it's it's all if you walk all the way to the back and hang a left it's it's in a room by itself it's it's really neat to see all that artwork and um it just kind of coincidental that that we connected and did what we did here and now he's doing other things in kershaw county so i thought that was cool had a had a neat conversation with him and was able to stop in and check that out before the meeting tonight so i just wanted to highlight uh Dale and his artwork and what it's doing here in Kershaw County. And if we could afterwards, if we could maybe circle up and find out the gentleman at Persimmon Drive that was having multiple issues, I'd like to lend a hand if I could. We can talk afterwards regarding that.

I've got his info and everything.

Perfect. Perfect. Thank you. That concludes my report.

Thank you, Mr. Brazel. I have no report for tonight. Mr. Administrator, any report?

Other than I've been selected for a federal grand jury, that's my report.

Any dates that conflict with anything we need to be concerned with?

I have yet to see all the dates.

Because a lot of those trials run at least a week.

Yeah.

So I'll keep y'all apprised. Okay. They won't keep you.

Thank you. Tell them you got a job.

All right. Legal briefing? Anything non-privileged?

No.

We do have one item for executive session. I'd seek a motion to enter executive session regarding discussions. Let me get through real quick. Discussions and negotiations incident to a contractual matter under SC code 30-4-70A2. Is there a motion?

So moved.

And we've got a second. All in favor of entering executive session, raise your hand. It's unanimous, and we've lost Mr. Shoemake. We are in executive session. No votes anticipated after executive session. Any discussion on exiting executive session? None. Seeing none, all in favor of exiting executive session, raise your hand. It is the four who are present in the room that's in favor. We're out of executive session. Motion to adjourn, Mr. Chair. Second. Any discussion on adjourning?

None.

Seeing no discussion on adjourning, all in favor of adjourning, raise your hand. It is unanimous. We are adjourned.