County Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you.

Doing good. How's your family? All the grandkids back in school?

Good evening, everyone. Thanks for coming out tonight. We'll be called to order on this Tuesday, August 25, 2026, Kershaw County Council meeting. First off, let's check on who we have calling in. A couple folks had obligations out of town but wanted to participate. Do we have anyone who's called in yet?

Yes, sir, Mr. Chairman. I'm on the line.

Mr. Thompson, we have you on the line. Thank you for joining us. Mr. Tucker is going to be here in probably five, ten minutes. He got caught up at work, so he'll be joining us soon. And Mr. Brazel might be calling in as well. We'll get notified by staff when he joins, if he's able to. We'll start off with an invocation and pledge of allegiance, which I will lead. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank thee for our many blessings. We're grateful for our lives this day. We're grateful for our families. We're grateful for this great county, state, nation, and this world. We pray that thou bless us with thy spirit. Please help us make good decisions in trying to serve the interests of Kershaw County. Please help us be good individuals with our responsibilities at home, at work, and in the community. We pray for peace upon those who struggle. Please, Father, bless the Hornsby family as Joey's passed away. Bless Valencia. as their hearts tender and all those family members and friends impacted by that loss, and please receive him. We thank thee in all things and give thee praise in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

All right, Mr. DuBose, that brings us on the agenda to adoption of the agenda. Do we have a motion on the agenda?

I'll make a motion to adopt the agenda.

We have a motion from Mr. Cato. Is there a second on the agenda?

I'll second.

Any discussions or motions? We'll hear from Mr. Tomlinson remotely first. Mr. Tomlinson, how do you vote on the agenda?

I vote yes.

That's a yes on the agenda remotely for Mr. Tomlinson. Ms. Hanna? Yes. And for those who are present and voting, raise your hand if you're in favor on the agenda. It's unanimous for those who are present and voting, Ms. Hanna. It passes. Next up, Mr. DuBose, we have public comments. How many folks do we have signed up?

We have eight speakers signed up.

All right. We have eight speakers signed up for public comments. Just as a general reminder, it's a time for council to hear from the public, not question and answer. Staff will have The timeline is listed on the screen. If you could please comply with that. I usually try to give people just a little bit extra time to finish up if they need to. But we are required to, under the rules this council has placed upon me, to manage the meeting. We're required to get on to many of the things that require votes later on in the meeting. Mr. DeBose, who do we have first?

First speaker is Creighton Cook. The subject is data centers.

Cook. Is that right?

Cook.

Oh, Cook. Cook, yeah. Mr. Cook. Mr. Cook.

For anyone who doesn't know me, I'm Creighton Cook. I attend the University of South Carolina, but I come to Kershaw County all the time. I have friends here. I have family here, one of which is my Papa Jimmy right up there. And that's actually why I wanted to come down because I really care about this county and I care about the people here. And when I heard about the vote on the moratorium for the data centers, it made me want to talk about it because I really do care about this issue. And what I will say from my research and everything I've seen the moratorium is the right way to go and the only Answer that makes sense to the to the issue For anyone who may be unaware here data centers essentially drink fresh water a lot like people do Which means that they can only run on fresh water. They can't run on salt water or dirty water so typical fresh water that would be going to the faucets of the people here would be going to cool this data center and That means that, well, sorry, on top of that, the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, which is an organization that studies the environmental impact of these kind of things, said that a large data center will typically consume upwards of 5 million gallons of fresh water per day. For reference, the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services said that Kershaw County as a whole only consumed one to two million gallons of water in the entire year of 2024. That means that per day, a data center of that size would be consuming more than double the amount of water that Kershaw County typically consumes in a year. That also means that Utility bills would go up. Energy bills would go up. Water would get worse. You would have less water pressure. The International Energy Agency claims that one AI data center takes up as much energy as 10,000 to 25,000 standard households. And larger data centers could be upwards of 100,000 typical households. That energy is being paid for by someone, and it is not entirely the AI data centers. If this data seems outlandish or unrealistic, look no further than Georgia, our neighbor down south, which is home to approximately 276 individual data centers. An article reported on by Politico from May of this year said that residents of Fayetteville, Georgia, began to complain that their water pressure was too low and that their bills were too high. And upon investigation, they found that a newly built data center had consumed 30 million gallons of water without the state knowing. ended up paying that money back but that goes to show the power that these data centers can hold over the people and even the state and county that they are in another argument that I have heard is that we need this rapid data center construction in order to combat and keep up with our competitors Europe Russia China but according to statista Russia only has 183 individual data centers which isn't even top 10 in the world China is has 369, France has 394, Germany 523, the UK 555. Number one in the world is the United States, which has 4,423 different data centers across the 50 states. 694 of them are located in the state of Virginia alone. Virginia has more data centers than China and Russia combined. So the argument that we need to keep up with some competitor doesn't make sense and would just mean that the people of Kershaw County would be taking a hit with no real benefit to the nation. AI is a tool that can genuinely help everyone, and it already has in many different ways, but naively rushing into this is not the way to accomplish this goal. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Cook, for coming out tonight. Mr. DeVos, who do we have next up?

Carla Reichboost, I believe, Data Center, Industrial Park. And apologies for any mispronunciation.

Ms. Reichboost? Yes, ma'am. Thank you.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Carla Reichpost, and my family lives in Bethune. As a registered nurse and mother, I am highly concerned about the environmental and health impacts the Joint County Industrial Park and any data centers would have on the community. MUSC Kershaw is a small community hospital. Kershaw County has approximately 74,000 residents, and our only hospital is licensed for 99 general beds. Let that sink in. Additionally, Lancaster County also only has one hospital. MUSC Lancaster has 199 general beds and approximately 117,000 residents. The health effects of these decisions matter. I respectfully ask that you please consider the ripple effects of your decisions made here today. Vote no for the multi-county park agreement and yes for a moratorium on down-to-centers. Thank you.

Thanks for coming out tonight. Thank you, Ms. Wright-Bose. Mr. DeBose, who's next?

Amanda Holland, data center slash power plant.

Yes, ma'am. Ms. Holland.

Hello. Good evening. My name is Amanda Holland. I'm speaking to all of the Bible-believing, God-fearing men on council today. This is the third time that we are meeting about parts and pieces of the power plant, possible if not probable, data center project. Just as God told Joshua three times in three different ways to be bold and courageous as Joshua led the Israelites into the promised land, I'm here to remind you of a part of the journey you may have forgotten. Joshua was uncertain of what was ahead of him, but he knew that the God of all creation would be with him. As Joshua led the Israelites through the Jordan River, God had drawn up all the water so these millions of Israelites could pass through on dry ground. How amazing to think about and even more amazing to witness. After crossing, God told Joshua to choose 12 priests to go back and pick up a stone and to carry that stone into Gilgal, where it would be placed as a reminder of how God let them cross the Jordan River, how he dried up the water of the Jordan River so they could live a better life. This is something that is totally impossible to man, but possible with God. The stones are still in Gilgal today. To me, that means they are a decent size and immovable. Certainly a landmark that people have talked about for thousands of years. What I want to ask you today is what type of stone will you be leaving in Kershaw County? What type of reminder will you be leaving as our councilman in Kershaw County for generations to come? Will your stone be a reminder of boldness and courage, or will it be a stone that reminds us of selfishness and deceit? I'm asking council to be bold, courageous, and obedient to the word of God and the people of Kershaw County when the time comes. Thank you.

Thank you, Ms. Holland. Mr. DuBose, who do we have next?

Amy McCaskill, Project Ballast.

Ms. McCaskill.

Regarding the proposed methane producing gas plant in Bethune, it's most concerning the developer Beaufort Rosemary has been false about the height of the smokestacks from the start. This company misled you, Kershaw County Council, about a primary piece of the construction of the power plant, which informed council's decision to approve the project and it calls into question the philo and Even today, little information about this project has been made public. How can you have confidence Beaufort Rosemary is trustworthy now while this power plant continues on a fast track? The deliberate misrepresentation of specifications by the developer gives great pause. Certainly, the citizens who have property in close proximity to the power plant have been lied to. Why would the developer purposefully misrepresent this data to you, council members, and the public? Would it be to mitigate any concerns going into the philo? At a time when robust public engagement should have been the order of the day with a project of this magnitude, the company lied to you on purpose. But Beaufort Rosemary isn't the only party who's been keeping the truth from Bethune and indeed everybody. It's clear that certain council members know a lot that isn't being shared. What you are doing to Bethune is unconscionable.

Thanks for coming out, Ms. McCaskill. Mr. DuBose, who do we have next?

Lynn Conto, data center moratorium flock and height change request.

Ms. Conto. Yes, ma'am.

Good evening. First, I want to thank you as County Council for unanimously voting to consider the first reading of a temporary moratorium on data centers, data processing facilities and cryptocurrency mining operations. You've taken a positive step to protect the citizens, animals and environment in Kershaw County. The most important information you should receive comes from the agencies you're going to have to contact get further information to protect our communities. Please, when you do this, don't take information just from data centers. Take it from research facilities, research facilities that aren't receiving money from data centers. Your job is to promote the health, safety, and environmental soundness of our community as county representatives. And I hope that the state of South Carolina legislation comes up with strict guidelines to protect our communities for our industries coming in the future and improve our safety record in this area. When making this decision, please address issues like your life depends on it, because some people's lives will. As far as flock cameras, they can be useful tools for police. And I'm actually for it, but with restrictions. My husband's against it, with good reason, because of misuse. There needs to be strict rules, guidance, and laws for using them. Protocols should include who can access, when they're given access, and who has data rights to fought contracts. They should be discontinued if misused. There should be a log of all data assessed to determine how often it's needed, if it's beneficial, and if there's data misused. Security clearance and authorized rights to access should take place. Checks and balances. Please, flock safety is important, but so is safety of who's using those items. The goal should be reduced data retention periods. and have strict search login requirements. The third issue, height limitations. On August 11th, county council voted four to three for the exception to height limitations to list additional structures. However, no structures in question were publicly disclosed. This implies intent to offer exceptions without disclosing the industry receiving the exception. This appears to the public to be an irregularity and prevents the public from knowing all the facts. This request should have included the location and industry. It also means that certain members of county council know who is requesting this, why they are requesting it, when the structure may be built, and why withholding this information from the public voted on this item. So when you don't disclose information to the public, Don't be surprised when they question if you're being honest and transparent. The definition of transparency, sharing facts openly so the people know and trust and can trust leaders not to participate with hidden deals. Kershaw County should have 100% transparency. Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Ms. Conto. Mr. DuBose, who do we have up next?

Lance Lee.

Mr. Lee's not speaking tonight. Mr. DuBose, who do we have next?

Tom Webb III, Bethune.

Mr. Webb.

Yes, sir. At the last meeting, Ken Polkamine spoke about transparency in government in regards to Bethune, and I think I'll add my voice to that. When you do a reading sometime by title only, you should give us some extra meetings after that, some extra meetings so we can digest and contend with it. That's that. But I wanted to present an analogy about Bethune from an old black and white TV program, 1960 science fiction, The Twilight Zone. In this episode, a young boy is hearing something on the radio. He doesn't know where it's coming from. But it continues to tell him he needs to put together an apparatus. And so he collects some wires and electron tubes and stuff. And he builds this thing. And out of curiosity, he switches it on. It turns out to be a portal. Aliens come in through this portal. And they can build more of these data centers. I mean, portals. They can build more of them. and more of them until the world is flooded with alien life forms. I contend that this is about to happen, that we are afraid of AI with good reason. AI is going to develop to such a degree that we will be in total servitude AI is an alien life form living in silicon chips and circuitry and data centers, alive in there in the wires. It would start out rather small, but it'll grow until it may even be sentient and have a sense of self-awareness. So how do you control such a thing? It could be difficult, but one thing you could do is starve it out. No more power plants. Starve it for electricity. We can do with less electricity instead of more. Less electricity. Ban that plant in Bethune.

Thanks for coming out, Mr. Webb. Mr. DuBose, I think this is the concluding speaker.

Correct. This is the final speaker, William Holland, Antioch.

Mr. Holland.

Good evening, counsel and public. Lately, Trump has been repeatedly saying that we are in a race with China to build out our AI technology. At the last council meeting, it was said that it is better that the U.S. has our data than China. Well, China already has my data from shopping at Timu and Alibaba. Yet, they haven't been able to affect my daily life or violate my constitutional freedoms. Let's take a quick look at how China does affect their own citizens' human rights and see if we really want to be in a race with them to give our government our data. The Chinese government is deploying AI throughout their criminal justice pipeline. from AI-enabled policing and mass surveillance to smart courts and smart prisons. This emerging AI pipeline reduces transparency and accountability, enhances the efficiency of police, prosecutors, and prisons, and further enables state repression. Beijing is pushing courts to adopt AI not just in drafting basic paperwork, but even in recommending judgments and sentences. AI recommending judgments and sentences. This could deepen structural discrimination and weaken defense counsel's ability to appeal. I wonder how many defense lawyers would want that sort of justice in the United States. I wonder how many lawyers would still be employed in the United States if AI is making their decisions. And Lord knows we need more discrimination against the people in this country, don't we? I think not. AI-powered censorship systems scan vast volumes of digital content. They flag potential violations and delete banned material within seconds. Well, who will decide what is banned in the United States? Trump? Trump? Obama? Or just some IT worker out in San Francisco? Like they do currently with the social media accounts. In China, AI-powered facial recognition systems have been used to issue jaywalking and illegal parking tickets and monitor students' classroom performance. On Chinese social media, it is not uncommon to see users complaining that they had the police knocking at their doors simply because they bought something suspicious, such as a drone for taking photos. The social credit system, together with online censorship, a grid management system, and other social control systems track users' online activity records, including financial transactions, social connections, and speech. If their social credit scores are low and subsequently listed on the Chinese court's judgment of dishonest persons list, then these AI systems are used to restrict citizens' access to digital and public services, such as online payment systems used for groceries and travel purchases. Do we want to race to a world where our groceries can be cut off because of something that we said online? Finally, China uses artificial intelligence to systematically violate human rights through mass surveillance, algorithmic censorship, and predictive policing, with the most severe documented abuses targeting the Uyghur Muslim minority in Xinjiang. Does this sound like something we need more of in America? I think not.

Thanks for coming out, Mr. Holland. Mr. DuBose, does that conclude the list? It does. Thank you. All right, next up on the agenda, gentlemen, we have item number 7A, excuse me, 6A, public presentation placed on by Councilman Jimmy Jones related to Gladiators Box and 501C3. Mr. Jones, do you have a motion?

Yes, I so move.

We have a second for this public presentation? I'll second. We have a second. Any discussion, gentlemen? All in favor who are in person, raise your hand if you support. It's unanimous in person. And Mr. Thompson, how do you vote remotely?

I vote yes.

And do we still not have Mr. Brazel? Okay. All right. It's unanimous. Yes, sir, gentlemen.

How are you doing today, council?

We just want to come to you guys with ballots. If you could pull the mic down so everybody could hear you. Yes, sir.

Yes, sir. I'm Shelby Gross. I'm with Gladiator Boxing at the KC Elite Training Center. And we are putting on a boxing event on September the 12th. We're bringing in amateur boxing. We do these several times a year. We've been doing them for about the past 10, 15 years. But we're bringing in amateur boxing, and we're bringing in off-the-street boxing. But we're also bringing in Ray Mercer. He was a former heavyweight champion. Yeah, everybody knows the name, yeah. Everybody knows Ray Mercer. In fact, this weekend I just flew out to Catskills, New York, and had a big signing with Mike Tyson, Ray Mercer, all the good greats, right? So they let me in. And so we also want to bring some of these guys down to our program. Well, we are bringing them down. So then with the KC Elite, I got Robbie right here. He's going to actually read off this thing.

Come on up, Robbie.

All right.

So what we're trying to do is make a proposal to partnership with in any way possible with the county council here. What we got is Camden Youth Box and Wrestling Crime Prevention Initiative. You know, we want the partnership with the county council as much as possible. Our proposal, KC Elite Training Center is a nonprofit organization seeking to partner with the County Council to provide structured youth program focused on boxing, wrestling, fitness, mentorship, crime prevention for young people in the Camden community. Gladiator Boxing and Predator Wrestling is a program under KC Elite Training Center. We want to reach young people before the streets, before violence, and before the justice system. Boxing and wrestling are tools to get their attention, Through combat sports, we teach discipline, accountability, self-control, confidence, physical fitness, respect, goal setting, conflict resolution, while connecting youth with positive coaches and mentors. Why invest in prevention? When a young person enters the juvenile justice system, the cost to the community can add up quickly. South Carolina FY 2025-2026 budget allows local governments to be charged up to $175 per day for the first 25 days a youth is in the Department of Juvenile Justice detention. That can total as much as $4,375 in just one youth and only 25 days. Instead of spending thousands of dollars after a young person is already in trouble, we're asking the county council to invest in prevention before trouble begins. Those same resources can help provide structural boxing and wrestling, coaching, mentorship, and a safe place where multiple young people can build discipline, confidence, and positive direction. Prevention is not just a youth investment. It's a public safety investment. What the program would provide is structured boxing, wrestling, fitness training, conflict resolution, life skills, goal setting, and leadership, opportunity to advance in amateur boxing and wrestling, positive coaching, mentorship, discipline, and accountability, healthy, productive activities, and community involvement. We welcome partnerships with schools, law enforcement, juvenile justice, churches, parents, and community organizations to reach youth who would benefit from from additional structure, mentorship, and opportunity. Our request for the County Council. We respectfully request the County Council assist in identifying and accessing available funding and resources for KC Elite Training Center including crime prevention grants, community development funding, county council funding sponsorship, youth development grants, recreation public safety funding, facility equipment support, violence prevention funding, state or federal grants, transportation outreach support. We are prepared to work with county council and establish measurable goals and demonstrate how these resources benefit Camden youth and community. The opportunity, we're not simply asking the county council to fund boxing and wrestling. We're asking the county council to invest in KC Elite Training Center and and its youth crime prevention and development program, including gladiator boxing and predator wrestling. These programs use combat sports as a vehicle to create discipline, mentorship, opportunity, and positive direction. Instead of waiting until the youth person enters the justice system, let's put the system of support around them first. reach them early, give them structure, give them opportunity, give them a fighting chance. And, you know, bouncing off of that a little bit, you know, just kind of like Coach Shelby says, some fruit on the tree, some stuff we've done already in the last four or five years that we've been open, volunteer stuff we've done, Oh, you know, it's... Yes, well, to start with, we're non-profit. We're volunteers also. We take no money out of the program.

Yes.

Talking to Mike, if you don't mind.

Here are the rings that I have ordered for this boxing match for the USA Amateur. I had these nicely made for the kids. These right here, all these kids, they get belts. But these rings you can wear out and show everybody. And when these young kids get these rings and they box and they win these rings, it does something to them. And if you don't have a platform for these kids to dive from after they do all their training, what are we doing? So you've got to give kids a platform to dive from after they've been in this gym training and doing their thing. And when they get in there and they win these rings, it's big-time stuff. When you see that spark in the kids' eyes, It changes everything. And I'm 54 years old. And like I say, I work 10 hours a day at International Paper. And then I come home and do the things right here. And me and Robbie give up our time. And me and Robbie made one red nickel off of this thing. All we do is give our time and give back to the kids because we see the difference that it's making in our community. By helping our kids. Now, with that being said, I tell people, if you want to judge what kind of leader you are, how many leaders do you have in coming behind you? That's how you get to judge what kind of leader you are. Jimmy Jones, I know how many people in life you've changed because I've been a part of that. And I've seen coming through this community and talk with the people and met up with people that said, hey, if it wasn't for your program, they don't know where they'd have been. And the people that was in your program helped knock the scales off of my eyes to help me see that I need to get into some type of combat sport. And it did big things for me. Now I'm on the boxing hall of fame board and we nominate different. I'm bringing in Pinklin Thomas. I nominated Pinklin Thomas. We're bringing in Pinklin Thomas. You know, we got a lot of guys around here that, that, that were in the boxing and we're bringing to the boxing hall of fame. So we're doing a lot of big things here. in this community with our program and we're not asking nobody to give us nothing we're just asking people to grab our hand and turn around and pull the kid out of the mud that maybe is stuck in the mud because Either he can't do this or he can't play basketball or he can't play football, but yet he can get under mine and Robbie's mentorship and we can help them and plant the seed and God's going to do all the growing. But I would rather have your kid in my gym doing completely nothing than in the world doing nothing because then the gangs get them. You know what? We get to get them. We get to plant that seed in them and then God's going to do all the growing, right? But if we don't have an outlet to plug into, guess what? they plug into the outlet of crime. And that's where the prevention of what we're doing is huge. And I've been doing this for 20 years. And you can ask my wife. I live on Lake Watery, and I thank the good Lord. But you can ask my wife, who's a schoolteacher in this community that works at Dobie's Mill, and she's an autistic teacher. I married up. I did what some of these guys out here did, right? So... So I know that, like Robbie, he took my son, 11 years old, and took him undefeated his very first year in wrestling. So I know that's good stuff, right, Ben? Not many people get to do that. So that's good coaching and good student, right? And my two boys are 17 and 18, and they cut trees, they do concrete, and they do a lot of stuff. So, yeah. this program is just huge. And, you know, we ask everybody in the community come out September the 12th and check our program out again. Ray Mercer is going to be there. Monty Barrett's going to be there. He was another heavyweight champion and he lives right there in Somerville. He's coming down. He's going to be there. So we're going to have a lot of people there. We're going to be raffling off Mike Tyson's glove. And we just, I just hung out with Mike Tyson this weekend. I've got some signature gloves signed by him. He's actually a great guy. And so we're bringing some gloves that Mike Tyson signed, and we're going to be raffling them off. Well, if you come and you get tables, you already get a raffle ticket. And then we're going to raffle off the ticket, and then somebody's going to win a couple Mike Tyson gloves. It's going to be pretty cool. And if Ray's there, bring your glove and let Ray Mercer sign your glove. He was the gold medalist, and he was the UFC heavyweight champ and the world champion in boxing. So you've got a real class act right here. We thank you for your time.

I'll just say I appreciate the presentation. There's no doubt. I can't deny that wrestling made a big difference in my life. I'll note that any specific financial requests for a nonprofit, would ultimately be directed through the finance committee in the next budget cycle. And so there's a process for doing that, which y'all can make the request. And we appreciate you telling us about the September 12th event. Mr. Jones, you had the motion. Any questions or comments from council?

Yeah, I do. One, I want to say that I appreciate what you guys do. And most people don't know this about me, maybe, but martial arts pretty much kept me off the streets and saved my life. at 16, 17 years of age. And so I have the utmost respect. It's rewarding when you see somebody come up that you don't recognize as an adult. Would you remember me? I said, no. Well, you taught me karate when I was five years old. And then I thought that was apparent. Now I have grandparents saying, you know, you taught me when I was five years old. So I'm thinking, okay, time's not waiting. But, you know, other than the fact that I wonder if Mike Tyson could take Ben Connell, you know, we've got – And let me tell you, there's things that Ben and I politically don't agree on, but one thing we do agree on is before I ever knew Ben Connell, I had heard of him winning a national championship. And also, I don't know how many, if we've ever had that done before. But I'll tell you this right now, I also heard, and something that really impressed me about The chairman, not politically, he don't press me as politics, but this does. And what it was, he mentored children. He mentored kids in a lower grade than him as he was training and going to get his national certification. So from that aspect, he has always had my great respect on that. Shelby, you've won five tough man contests. Yes. Look, I don't think I'd have gotten in the ring with any tough man. But, I mean, you won five.

Yes.

then you went into boxing. And I know what it's done for your life. And for you to sit here and even give me an inkling that I had any, you know, I mean, that just humbles me greatly. And I've had parents tell me about you, Robbie, that you're the reason their child's in wrestling. You know, you guys have a great reputation. I appreciate it. And Mr. Connell is exactly right. There's a time and place for this. And that's for the next budget year. And I'm glad y'all brought that up. And, you know, which will go for the, I won't be here. but I certainly am in support of y'all. But I know that we have a finance committee and a group of men that care about our youth, and I'm sure they'd be more than happy to look at it.

You know, Jimmy has threatened me multiple times with taking me on in a wrestling match, and I may have to take him up on that at some point. Any other questions or comments from council members? Mr. Tucker.

Yes, sir. If I may, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Robbie and Mr. Shelby, I would encourage you to call back up and speak with our clerk to council, Ms. Hanna. and find out the timeframes for the finance committee meetings and the process of that. And we'll be happy to include you guys in the upcoming year budget. So I'm sorry that it's late in the budget because we just finished closing that out and approving it. But there's a new year coming.

I would like to invite each and every one of you out to KCLE. Take a look at what we've got going on. Would more than love to sit down with any of you and answer any questions or anything you might have for us.

Well, I plan to be at your event. I'm looking forward to that.

Seeing no other questions or comments from those who are present, Mr. Tomlinson, do you have anything remotely?

I think Shelby had something he wanted to say.

I was just saying we're doing the celebrity judges.

I'm sorry. Go ahead, Shelby.

We're doing the celebrity judges with Jimmy. And Ben's going to be there, so they're going to be our two celebrity judges that night when we do this thing. So we're having a lot of fun with it and looking forward to it, guys. I look forward to the match. Appreciate y'all.

Thank you for your presentation. All right, gentlemen, no votes required. We'll move on to item number 7A, approval of the minutes. Do we have a motion?

Make motion we approve the minutes.

Yes. Do we have Mr. Brazel now?

Mr. Chairman, sorry for my tardiness. I would like to express my gratitude to the gentleman before we move on. Sorry I couldn't be there in person.

So noted. All right. Thanks for joining us. Item number 7A is on the minutes. I think Mr. Tucker had the motion on the minutes.

Yes, sir.

Is there a second on the minutes? Second. We have a second from Mr. Cato. Any discussion on the minutes?

Thank you, Ms. Adams.

Seeing none, we'll vote first with those in person. All in favor of approving the minutes, raise your hand if you're in favor. It's unanimous in person. In favor? And we'll go remote. Mr. Brazel, how do you vote?

Yes.

Yes, remotely for Mr. Brazel. Mr. Thompson, how do you vote?

I vote yes.

It's a yes remotely for Mr. Thompson. Ms. Hanna, it's unanimous. The minutes are approved. Next up, we have... Flock safety cameras. Mr. Thomason, do you have a motion?

Yes, sir. I'll make a motion.

Is there a second on this discussion? Second. Shoemake, you've got the floor.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And this would be quick, but my reason for including this on the agenda tonight is to provide transparent information to the public on the operations and the technology related to flock cameras and automated license plate readers here in Kershaw County. I know that there's been a lot of questions and concerns and I had a good conversation with the sheriff and he was not able to make it tonight. He had prior obligations, but that's why I wanted to put it on this agenda. He is going to be providing a presentation on this technology for Kershaw County at the next meeting, upcoming meeting. Um, I think this would be a great opportunity for us to answer, answer questions and to provide facts and information on this type of technology in Kershaw County. Uh, I feel the concerns and uneasiness felt by the citizens. I made her valid and warranted, and it's an opportunity for all law enforcement and community to come together to learn more about this technology. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Tomlinson. Before we go to the second, Ms. Hanna, do you have that noted for next agenda, please, as a public presentation? Mr. Shoemake, you have the second, I believe?

Yeah. If we're going to talk about it at the next meeting, we can.

I've got some thoughts on it. Any other comments or questions from those who are present? Mr. Tucker.

I just want to say that just so it won't be two weeks before the public hears the sheriff's presentation, but here in Kershaw County, our sheriff has taken the opportunity to have policy in place. So we do have written policy. And of course, if you've been following this on TV, Flock has upped their restrictions and access and what we call checks and balances on their systems as well. So we're not running rogue. I'm just telling you that, you know, this is not happening here in Kershaw County, but it is happening around the world and other counties in South Carolina. But we're in good condition, and I'll let the sheriff go from there.

Thank you, Mr. Tucker. Let's go remote. Mr. Thompson, any comments, questions?

No, sir. I don't have anything else. I look forward to the sheriff's presentation next meeting.

Sounds good. Mr. Brazel.

Nothing at this time. I can wait and express my concerns after I learn more from the sheriff. Thank you.

Sounds good. With nothing else from those in person, we can move on. No votes required. Item 8A is concluded. Item number 9A, this is an ordinance that's first reading and title only regarding a moratorium on data centers, data processing facilities, cryptocurrency mining operations, and this is pending consideration of state regulations and consideration of amendments to the Kershaw County ZLDR and matters related thereto. Do we have a motion on first reading? I so move. We have a motion. Is there a second? I'll second. We have a second. Thank you, Mr. Broussel. We already have a second for Mr. Cato. Mr. Jones, you had the motion. We're entitled only. Any comments, discussion?

Really nothing. I'll just be very brief, and I think listening to the folks here, thank you all for coming out, everybody who has come out and spoke about this. You know, it's just... Frightening to me that when you have something that you have no regulations on and you would approve that to come into your community, it tells me we don't know what's coming in our community because if you don't have regulations on it, you don't understand it. So I applaud this council for having this on here. Twelve-month moratorium is a minimum, can be extended, and to have regulations in place as well, too. Now, somebody said, well, where are you going to get regulations? I said, look, what? Regulations will be put in place. Believe me, the state and the county and feds are always good about that, so why not on data centers? But thank you to each and every person who got up and spoke tonight on that. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Mr. Cato, you have the second. Thank you, Mr. Jones.

I completely agree with Mr. Jones. We've been in contact back and forth on this, and exactly what he said, I agree with these regulations will be put in place, and we'll have an opportunity to look at these regulations and vote on them. Um, I wish we could put it in place where we didn't have one at all ever, but that's just my personal opinion. And, uh, that might not be, uh, what anybody else thinks, but that's not what we're here for tonight. And, um, I hope that the regulations, uh, that come forth in the future will be good, strict regulations that we can all, all, uh, get on board with. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Cato. Any other discussion from those who are present? Seeing none, we'll go remote. Uh, Mr. Tomlinson, any comments, discussion?

No, sir. I think this is a great opportunity for Cursar County getting ahead and having the one-year moratorium so we can get some good regulations in place. I'm in support of it tonight.

Thank you, Mr. Thompson. Mr. Brazel, any comments or discussion before we move to a vote?

Chairman, similar thoughts. New technology. I'm all for less regulation, but when it comes to things that shape our world, in the way that a data center will or how it affects the community, I'm open to putting guardrails in place. So I'm in support of this tonight. Thank you.

All right, let's go ahead and record your vote since we've got you on the line. How do you vote?

Yeah, I vote yes in support of the moratorium.

That's a yes, Ms. Hanna, remotely from Mr. Brazel. Mr. Tomlinson, how do you vote on 9A?

I vote yes, Mr. Chairman.

That's a yes remotely from Mr. Tomlinson, Ms. Hanna. And for those who are present and voting, all in favor, raise your hand. Ms. Annette's unanimous and 9A passes on first reading. That brings us to item number 9B, another first reading. We have a series of them tonight. This is first reading on a unified code amendment to the ZLDR, or Zoning and Land Development Regulations. This would be section 3.4.2-19, related to directional signs for hospitals and medical facility regulations, and to amend 3.4.5-1, prohibiting certain signs related and signed characters unless otherwise exempt under 3.4.11-2. Do we have a motion on first reading? And I will note this was staff generated.

I would make a motion that we adopt it with the Planning Commission's amendments.

All right. We've got a motion with the Planning Commission's amendments noted from Mr. Shoemaker. Is there a second? Second. Mr. Tucker has a second. Mr. Shoemaker, you have the floor.

So this is basically a regulation that staff generated to allow people to know where hospitals are. The amendments that the planning commission made, which I agree with, basically made sure it was limited to just directional information so that basically it doesn't allow, you know, a particular medical facility free advertisement. So they made sure that the because otherwise we'd start picking winners and losers in the marketplace. So the Planning Commission amendments basically just make sure that these are directional signs only and not advertisements for particular medical facilities. These are strictly signs that will let people driving around know where to get to a medical facility.

Thank you, Mr. Shoemake. Mr. Tucker, you have the second?

No, sir. I'm good.

And I'm glad for the amendments. I think that there would be a prohibition anyway based on advertising, using public dollars to advertise for particular facilities or brands, which would be, again, prohibited. Any other discussion from those who are present? Mr. Jones.

Just one comment I'd like to thank. Mr. Chumak, thank you for your hard work on that with staff. And thanks, staff, as well. Listen, I had gotten complaints on that, and I know that, of course, Gerald Blanchard and I have talked time and time again about the citizen call about not having directions or signage to us. I think the way the planning commission handled this, the way our council handled it and everybody else, this turned out to be a good piece of work, so I will be supporting this.

Thank you, Mr. Jones. Seeing no other comments or questions from those who are present, we'll go remote. Mr. Brazel, any comments or questions?

No, sir. I can vote. All right.

Well, let's hear from Mr. Tomlinson first before we start recording votes. Mr. Tomlinson, any comments or questions?

No comments or questions, and I vote yes.

All right. We'll record your vote as a yes remotely for Mr. Tomlinson. Mr. Brazel, how do you vote remotely? That's a yes remotely, Ms. Hanna, from Mr. Brazel. And for those who are present and voting on 9B, raise your hand if you're in favor. It is unanimous, Ms. Hanna, 9B passes first reading. Gentlemen, that takes us to item number 9C, another first reading. This is related to larger common plans and amending. adding section 3.4.2-19 and amending section 5.2.2. It clarifies matters related to subdivisions, large lot land subdivisions, and also stormwater discharges and related construction activities, all under regulations related to the Department of Environmental Services in the state. Do we have a motion on first reading?

Mr. Chairman, I'd like to make the motion, please. I'll make the motion.

Mr. Tucker has a motion. Is that a second from you, Mr. Brazel?

Yes, I'll make the second.

There we go. Mr. Tucker, you had the motion.

Yes, sir. This is first reading. I would encourage all of y'all, if you have any questions or any suggestions on to this change, just to get with staff and give your feedback. But other than that, I just think that this kind of clears up some stuff that we need to take care of.

Thank you, Mr. Tucker. Mr. Brasley, you have the second.

Chairman, thank you, sir. Thank you, Mr. Tucker. Thank you very much, Councilman. Mr. DeBose and I had a length conversation today about the way the change of the The way we address a larger common plan can affect a lot of people from surveyors to realtors. And there's a lot to it. There's a lot to learn. There's a lot for me as a council member to digest and consider. I would like to move to table this tonight until we can have a group discussion with BES, learn more about how we'll facilitate and implement these changes and how we can make this seamless for the public. That would be my recommendation as an amendment.

Well, it wouldn't be an amendment. So you have a motion to table?

We don't want a table.

Okay, we have a motion.

Clarification, Mr. DuBose, clarification on table.

So a matter that is tabled, not removed from the table, dies on the table unless acted upon. It's sometimes the term tabling something is used intentionally because there is an intent to table. Sometimes it's used in place of a motion to defer to some certain time. Again, I don't want to suppose what Mr. Brazel's intent is on the motion, whether it's a tabling or deferral. Deferral. But to your point, Mr. Jones, if you want clarity, yes. If a matter is tabled but not removed from the table, it dies on the table.

Mr. Brazel, would you change your amendment?

I would be more than happy to. Gentlemen, let's pause one second. So there is no amendment that we would have to consider because no motion has been made on an amendment. So as I understand it, Mr. Broussel, you're withdrawing your motion to table, and you would like to make a motion to defer? Yes. Okay. We now have a motion on the table, a different type of table, just a motion for consideration to defer. Is there a second on Mr. Brazel's motion to defer?

Second.

All right, now we have a second on the motion to defer. Any further discussion before we get back to the original motion?

I'd like to thank Mr. Tucker for making the motion. We had a very deep dive, and frankly, I'm quite interested in making sure that this is done correctly, and I'm not against it at all. I think it clears up some things, Councilman, as you said, but as John and I had a brief 45-minute discussion, this affects a lot of people. It does some good, but it's got to be implemented correctly, and we've got to have some examples, and we've got to be able to explain to engineers, we've got to be able to give them some sort of sample so that what we're going to do is ask someone how to calculate stormwater to find out if it needs to be affects the survey. So if you split up property at some point, you have to have an engineer calculate stormwater. Well, there's a lot of properties in the smaller, major and minor subdivisions which could be cutting up a piece of timberland even that could be affected if implemented incorrectly. And I want to make sure that we really button this thing up correctly. And there's a whole lot to unpack. So all I would like to do is become more educated. I would like for council to be educated. And I'd like for us to really all be – in tune with exactly what's going to happen as we make these changes. With that, I'll leave it for you to consider.

Thank you very much.

Mr. Roussel, you have the motion. Mr. Jones, you have the second. Anything further, Mr. Jones?

No, I'm very willing to push it down the road to study it more before we take a vote. Thank you.

As I understand it, this was primarily staff-generated. Seeing no other comments or discussion at this time from those who are present, we'll recognize you certainly if you want to speak. It would impact a survey, as I understand it, but the purpose, I believe, is to notate on a survey that if there is a larger common plan, if there's a subdivision, and say there's three or four or five lots, and then all of a sudden stormwater becomes an issue, the last person in the subdivision, or at a certain threshold, could be responsible for the costs for the prior three or four lots in that hypothetical. Is that correct, Mr. DuBose?

Yes. Again, I think Mr. Brazel referenced the long conversation, and I don't know that it was long because either of us were spinning our wheels. This is a very involved topic. A larger common plan is a very broad definition under federal and state law. It catches a lot of stuff. Some of the projects that could be categorized as a larger common plan are might appear silly to have to impose stormwater regulations on but it is a federal law and state law that the the county has before it um this the purpose of this uh plat note is for uh plats that are exempt from subdivision standards under the state platting exemption Lots created by those are not exempt from all permitting. When you go to build on them, you need a building permit. If you're going to disturb land, you need stormwater. Because of the way some of those are divided, marketed, sold, they become a larger common plan, and LCP requires a higher level of permitting for stormwater than typical projects. And if a permit's not sold on the front end, Sometimes it results in a lot of duplicative and expensive work from lot purchasers. This note would not require anyone to get permitting when submitting a state-exempt plat, but it does seek to have an informational note about whether permitting exists for those lots on the plat. And really it is informational so that in purchasers from essentially large lots, subdivisions of property can make an informed decision about their purchase and what permitting requirements might result from them when they go to build. So, again, it is very nuanced. Lexington Planning Commission had a presentation last Thursday morning with DES present, and their Q&A session with DES and running hypotheticals lasted approximately 45, 50 minutes. And again, It was not because people were off on the eighth ring of Saturn. They were talking about real-world examples, and it took that long to get through the subject. The issue is the platting is one process with one set of rules. Development is another process with another set of rules. And these exempt plats and the development can get separated through time and, again, and purchasers can get surprised by their permitting requirements. And this is intended to just provide some notice.

In short, they can get hosed and really get frustrated with staff or... county or anybody that's involved in the process even their representatives as they're purchasing a property um i've had a long conversation with mr bose as well and kind of reached a different conclusion that i thought we bring pretty deliberate i watched the back and forth uh the video of what lexington county experienced with des and i think we're approaching it the right way we certainly have two more readings or more time to defer if we need to at some point in the future but i would support uh moving this forward tonight and I've just been doing research by and by as this has been an issue over the last number of months, last number of years. Any other comments or questions from those who are present? Mr. Tucker?

Yes, I would just like to say, and I said it earlier, you know, if you have any concerns or questions, get with staff. Mr. Templar, if we need more time, is this time sensitive in any manner?

It's not a do or die today, but it is something that we've been working on. It's driven by complaints that we've had, and there seems to be a void in what we expect people to do, what people end up having to do, and what the ZLDR says.

So I guess let me rephrase my question. So if this does not appear on the first meeting in September's agenda, we'll be okay if some of my colleagues need more time to sift through this and we end up having it on the fourth Tuesday instead of the second Tuesday. Would that constitute a problem with administration? No. Okay. Thank you.

Any other comments or questions? Anything else remote? Comments or questions?

Yes, sir. Chairman, if I may.

Sure.

I'd like to say, yeah, what you said is a hundred percent spot on in the regard that the last person or the last lot purchaser, the guy who purchases lot Z out of, you know, the 26 lot subdivision could be left with an imposing fee, or it could be the person that bought the third or fourth lot out of a three or four lot subdivision. As John and I carefully unpacked the situation, it occurred to me, and I would dare say to the both of us, that it's multi-layered and the effects that it would have on someone in surveying, there needs to be a very clear, very simple way to convey the information to landowners surveyors uh realtors when it comes to disclosures um say if you sold a lot being in the legal world chairman if you sold a lot and did not disclose that it may have all these legal uh these fees that you had to pay the county as you said you get hosed so i wanted to be very deliberate about the way we acted And it gave me pause as to how we move forward with this. I don't want to push back in the regard that I'm against it because I'm certainly not against implementing this, but I will say it's a lot to learn. It's a lot to filter through and it's a lot to care about. So I'd certainly love to have those conversations specifically with our state agencies and make sure that we have examples of maybe three or four different scenarios and ways that we can explain to an engineer who's going to be requested to put his stamp on these surveys for the landowners and the folks that are cutting the property up into maybe multiple lots, multiple family lots, 10-acre parcels, whatever it may be, they have to have a way to measure impermeable surfaces. And in a lot of these scenarios, that's a gravel driveway. And so we need to put a guardrail up, and Kershaw County needs to have a clear, defined set of expectations. So with all that being said, those are my reasons why.

Okay, well, we'll move to the question then. How do you vote, Mr. Brazel?

This is on the motion to delay.

Motion to defer.

Yeah, defer for more education. Of course, I'm in support of it.

That's a yes vote remotely for Mr. Brazel. And forgive me, Mr. Tomlinson, I forget if I actually asked you, since y'all are remote and I'm not looking at you in the eye, do you want to vote or did you have any comments or questions?

um i the only question or comments that i have is i think with this being first reading um i mean i'm i'm fine if we need to delay it i think we could go ahead and vote on it now um so i i i mean to be honest i think this gives you know a month and a half of time uh with three readings of it so i don't know on on extending it but council it's the will of council i'm fine with that too

All right, thank you, Mr. Brazel. Mr. Tomlinson, I have a no vote remotely from Mr. Tomlinson, a yes vote remotely on the motion to defer from Mr. Brazel. And for those who are present and voting, all in favor of the motion to defer, raise your hand. That is Mr. Jones in favor on deferral. All who are opposed to the motion deferral and present and voting, raise your hand. That is Shoemake, Tucker, Connell, and Cato. And so the motion to defer fails. That brings us back to the original motion by Mr. Tucker on first reading. I'll just ask one more time if there's any further discussion on first reading for those who are present. Seeing none, any further discussion from those who are remote before we record votes? Hearing no discussion, I'll ask you.

I would ask that could we... Mr. Chairman?

Yes, sir. Mr. Brazel.

Could we... in the next two weeks prior to the second reading, would, would you all be willing to have that, that meeting with DS and, and kind of unpack this with me? I I'm in support of moving forward if we're able to do that.

Well, Mr. Brazel, um, I can't speak for everyone's schedules or predict the future. Um, to the extent you want to get the entire group together or something more than a quorum, I'm sure. council members that are able to participate will, and if DS staff is available, I mean, I, I watched, uh, as I mentioned before the Q and a and back and forth, um, that they had in Lexington county, many of the questions that I had were, were answered and, and I was really actually satisfied after that, seeing that interaction, but, um, I'm sure you can request staff, set that up.

Would you be willing to participate?

Well, it depends if I'm going to be in court or which day it happens or if my kids have a game at the time they ask. I mean, if I'm available, I'd be glad to.

I'll be there, Mr. Brazel.

Well, then I'm in support of moving forward as well, sir.

That would mean I'm going to vote for her tonight.

All right. So I need to record that in the form of a vote, though. So on 9C, what's your vote on 9C, Mr. Brazel? That would be a yes. All right. And Mr. Tomlinson, how do you vote on 9C? This is the original motion on first reading.

I vote yes.

All right. We have two yeses from those who are remote, Ms. Hanna, and for those who are in favor on 9C who are in person, raise your hand if you're in favor. It is Shoemake, Tucker, Connell, and Cato in favor. If you're opposed, raise your hand. That's Mr. Jones opposed. It passes on 9C. That's first reading, Ms. Hanna.

Mr. Chairman, if I may, I may end up voting for it on Secretary's reading. I just want to sit down and have more information.

Yes, sir. We're not recording those votes tonight, so you're fine. All right. Next item up is 9D. This is another first reading. This is an ordinance to amend the ZLDR related to Section 5.4, excuse me, 5.1.4-5. This is systems to include fire hydrants and further clarify fire hydrant requirements in major and minor subdivisions. Do we have a motion on 9D?

I'll make that motion. I'll second.

We have a first and a second. Mr. Shoemake and Mr. Cato. Mr. Shoemake, you have the floor.

Yeah, this is basically, we had passed a fire hydrant ordinance that required fire hydrants in certain areas. This basically further clarifies that to take, it's more language, but it takes more language to sort of Yeah, it takes more language to correct it, so it's not so universally applied. It basically doesn't apply it as stringently as it has been applied before, which gives more relief to individual parcel owners, is the short version of it.

Thank you, Mr. Shoemake. Mr. Cato, you had the second.

This was something that was brought to my attention by several constituents in the rural part of the county, and it was something that I brought to administration, and I appreciate them getting on this and getting this verbiage put into this ordinance, so thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Cato. Any discussion, comments, questions from those who are present? Mr. Tucker?

No, sir.

Oh, you just raised your hand. Okay. Seeing none from those who are present, we'll move to those who are remote. Mr. Brazel, any comments or discussion on 9D?

Just a yes vote. Thanks for...

Okay. Thank you, Mr. Brazel. Mr. Tomlinson, any comments or discussion before we record your vote?

No discussion. I vote yes.

That's two yeses remotely, Ms. Hanna, from Mr. Brazel and Mr. Tomlinson. And if you're present and voting, raise your hand if you're in favor on 9D. And it's unanimous for those who are present and voting, Ms. Hanna. It passes first reading on 9D. Thank you, gentlemen. That brings us to... So second reading is regarding the MCIP or multi-county park agreement between Kershaw County and Lancaster County with geographical boundaries being initially in Kershaw County. First reading occurred on the date indicated, August 11, 2026. Do we have a motion on second reading?

I'll make that motion.

Mr. Shoemake has the motion. Do we have a second?

Second.

Mr. Tucker has a second. Mr. Shoemake, you've got the floor.

Yeah, we had a pretty lengthy discussion last meeting on this. I'm supportive of it.

Mr. Tucker, you have the second. Any discussion?

Ditto.

Okay. Any other discussion from those who are present? Seeing none, we'll move to those who are remote on second reading for 9E. Mr. Brazel, any discussion? No. Okay. Hearing none, we'll ask Mr. Tomlinson. Any discussion?

No discussion, and I vote yes.

All right. We'll record your vote as a yes remotely from Mr. Tomlinson. Mr. Brazel, how do you vote on 9E?

I'm going to stay consistent with no only because of what it relates to.

Okay, that's a no vote remotely from Mr. Brazel. Yes vote remotely from Mr. Tomlinson. And for those who are present and voting, raise your hand if you're in favor on 9E. That is...

I'm sorry. You all right on that?

I thought you pulled your shoulder out. I got shot. That is Shoemake, Tucker, and Connell in favor. present and voting, and for those who are opposed and present, raise your hand. That is Mr. Kato, who just injured his arm, and Mr. Jones, and it passes on 9E. That's second reading, Ms. Hanna. All right, that brings us to item number 10A. This is a new business item placed on by the administrator. Mr. Danny, first time we get to hear from you tonight, really. Is there a vote required, or is this for discussion, or?

It requires a vote.

Okay, any background we need before we get a motion?

Just basically, this is a policy personnel manual. It's going to include some policies, some updates to current policies, and some addition of two more policies. It just makes Kershaw County a more competitive place to work.

Okay, with that explanation and background, do we have a motion on 10A?

I'll make a motion that we approve the policy for the county.

Mr. Tucker has a motion. Is there a second?

I'll second.

Mr. Cato has a second. Mr. Tucker, you have the floor.

Thank you. Mr. Templer, I'm trying to make sure. The one I read with our HR director was 200 pages. You said there's more parts to this or I'm a little bit confused on because this is like paper thin.

No, it's a good question. So we had originally provided a very large format. Not everything needed to be approved for just regular run of the mill things. Um. You know, parking or just whatever so, but these are, um. Of a nature where I want to counsel to hear these and understand and have any questions because, um. They're mostly revenue neutral. There could be in a secondary employment portion where overtime would come in. It could be a chain event. So for those reasons, these are in front of you.

Okay. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something. Thank you so very much.

Thank you, Mr. Tucker. Any other discussion?

Yes, if I may. Mr. Jones. Well, one, I think it's long overdue that this is being addressed, but I can't vote for it tonight. I would like to ask if we can have a workshop session. When it comes to policies and procedures set, whether it's employers or what, they're set by county council, not staff.

Well, you know, Mr. Jones, if I may, Mr. Chairman.

Yes, sir.

Mr. John gave us all an invite back here about a month or so ago, right after the budget, to come up and sit and talk with him. Some of us chose not to go. I was one of the ones that did go.

Some of us may not have been able to make it during that period of time.

You could schedule, though.

Yeah, I don't remember getting an invitation.

Thank you, Mr. Tucker. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Any further discussion on 10A for those who are present? Seeing none, we'll go remote. Mr. Tomlinson, any discussion on 10A? Did he drop off?

Mr. Tomlinson said he had to drop off.

Okay, Mr. Brazel, any discussion on 10A?

Frankly, I do need to learn a little more as well. And that's no fault of our administrator. Just as... Councilman Tucker pointed out there had been a very lengthy document. Now that's changed. So I would like to just put a short pause on it and review this further before voting on it if possible.

Well, are you making that in the form of a motion? I mean, you can not vote tonight.

No, that was my comment.

Okay. All right. Well then, but I am required to ask you, how do you vote on? Okay. Um, since I do have you on the line, how do you vote on 10? A you vote no or no vote.

I have a comment.

That's a no, okay, a no vote from Mr. Bowser remotely. Mr. Jones says he has one more comment.

Yes, if I may, this requires one vote or three votes. Yeah, we need to postpone. We need to, I think some of us need to get a little bit more engaged in what's going on. I'll be voting no. Unless we can push it down the road and just have some set up time and go over it.

Well, I'll just say I've, gone through the materials and feel comfortable with voting on it tonight and followed up with Mr. DuBose and staff.

All 200 pages? It's not 200 pages. Well, I need more time.

The original document was 200 pages because I read them all with that gentleman sitting in the wheelchair.

Listen, we're at the point of calling the question. I'm happy to back off of that if you all want to have further discussion.

Let's vote.

All right, so Mr. Brazel has a no remotely. Mr. Jones just volunteered his no vote. For those who are in favor on item number 10A, present and voting, raise your hand. That is Shoemake, Tucker, Connell, and Cato in favor. And then we have the two no votes recorded. Item number 10A passes. And this brings us to item number 11A under old business boat ramp extension update placed on by Mr. Brazel. Do we have a motion?

Mr. Chairman, sorry for the pause. Yes, I'd like to make a motion to get an update as to the time frame.

Alright, for discussion only then. Is there a second? Second. A second for Mr. Jones. Mr. Brazel, you got the floor.

So I had hoped that our engineering team would be here that we contracted the boat ramp with. There have been some

flight fault that has caused a bit of an issue on these low water days. And we've had a lot of low water days as of late.

So unfortunately, they did not show tonight. I'll just ask that our administrator speak to the fact as to why they're not here and have they provided a remedy. It's been some time.

Mr Brad, so I cannot speak specifically as to why the engineer is not here. Um. Just was given the information that. He was not able to make it tonight. The remedy still stands as it is the, the original for the scour at the end of the boat ramp that that remedy still remains as what was. Set out by. None of that has changed. We have come up with a few hiccups with trying to get some companies to install the material based on some of the engineering. And that's kind of where we're at right now. I have a timeline in front of me of what went on when starting June 23rd and going all the way through August 20th. from everything that has gone out.

If I recall correctly, it's been at least two, if not, maybe I think it's been four weeks now that we discussed and have requested to go ahead and purchase the materials so that once we find someone to properly install it, we would have the materials readily available. Has that happened, sir?

No, and the problem with that is because when we purchase the material, it comes on a, probably gonna be around a 40 foot flatbed with some implements to expand the material. And you only get that for two weeks. And I don't have confidence in getting someone in here for just that two weeks. And I would hate to send the material back. So we are game planning that now as to potentially purchase the material, but not have it shipped until a later time.

As I recall, Mr. Brazel, the funding was approved though.

Yes.

Some, some time ago. Right. We have funding.

Yes. So my concern regarding timing is we've got a problem because the river's been extra low. We've got the opportunity to fix the problem because the river is extra low. Here we are almost into September. And if we get a tropical storm, small hurricane, a big front that moves in and sits on top of us, that river goes 12, 14, 15 feet, you can't repair it. And the issue is the problem only compounds itself. So if we've got a six-inch wash in one area and a three-foot wash in another, if we get a big push of water from Charlotte, and they have to run the river up to 15 feet, it's just really going to compound that problem and cost more money and further delays. So I just wanted to express that. Time is certainly of the essence in this situation, and no greater timing is needed right now to get this done and resolved in my eyes. So I encourage everybody who's got a stake in it to please make this a priority for the citizens. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Mr. Brazel. Mr. Jones, I believe you had the second.

No comment.

Any other discussion from those who are present? Mr. Tomlinson had to hop off, so no further discussion. No votes required. It concludes item number 11A. This brings us to appointments item number 12A, I believe placed on by staff, library board appointment to Kershaw County First Step Board of Trustees. Mr. Administrator, any background on this one? Maybe Ms. Hannah, who is the keeper of all appointments. I'm not going to make you speak up in a council meeting, but I understand there's two names, Ms. Jennifer Kelly and is retiring from this particular position, and Ms. Jill Fleischman has expressed interest in this position. Just want to double check, has the application been in for the required period of time? Is it one of those?

This is one. This is one where the county council, Kershaw County Council, has to accept or reject the recommendation from the First Steps board, library board.

And they recently got a new director or president. I forget the exact title, I think.

Director, yeah.

Okay, well, as we've been presented by staff on the acceptance of the recommendation from the board, do we have a motion on 12A regarding Ms. Jill Fleischman?

I would make a motion we accept Ms. Fleischman. Second.

We have a first and a second. Any discussion on 12A for those who are present? Seeing none, Mr. Brazel, any discussion? And how do you vote on 12A? That's a yes vote remotely from Mr. Brazel, Ms. Hannah. And for those who are present and voting, raise your hand if you're in favor on 12A. Ms. Hannah, it's unanimous and passes. It's on 12A. That brings us to council member briefings. Mr. Brazel, just in case something happens with the phone while we have you, we'll go ahead and have you do a briefing if that's all right. Do you have any report tonight?

A general briefing. It seems like our community's been in a weeks-long, multi-weeks-long state of loss of loved ones. And Roy's Wood Products most recently has lost an employee to sudden death this past Friday. And I know there are a lot of families hurting and grieving. And to each and every one of those, I just want to extend my condolences. Also today, the loss of Dolly Harden, that was very shocking. So it seems like we go through seasons in life, and it seems like we're in a season of loss, or at least a lot of friends and family and church members and, again, an employee, a very hardworking gentleman suddenly lost last week. Not to be specific about any of this, but just to say that value every day and God is good. And take an extra moment just to love on everybody. So that concludes my comments.

Thank you, Mr. Brazel. Mr. Cato.

Just a few. I'll start off tonight by I wanted to announce the Bone Town Brawl. And this is a cheerleading, the first annual cheerleading competition for North Central High School. And it's a battle at the castle on September the 19th. This will start with general admission at $10. They'll have different squads competing against each other. And they wanted me to announce this and tell everybody that this should be a first of its kind here. And they wanted everybody to come out and show support to the cheerleading team. Um, We have Acting Mayor Kenneth McCaskill with us tonight. Some of you may know that Mayor LaDonna Brown recently turned in her resignation as the mayor of Bethune. So we have Kenneth here. Kenneth, anything you want to say? Anything going on? So we just want to welcome him and thank him for hanging around here to the end. And just wish everybody a happy Labor Day and be safe. We won't be back until after Labor Day. So I hope you all have a great Memorial. Happy Labor Day weekend.

Thank you, Mr. Cato. And at the high risk of public confusion, I want to make sure there is no association between the original MMA event and the Bone Town Brawl. No. There will be no wrestling of cheerleaders.

No, there will be no wrestling of cheerleaders.

That is way against the rules.

This is strictly a cheerleading competition.

Sounds good. Mr. Jones.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman, members of the county council. Just a couple things. Finance chair. Yes, sir. Can you give a quick update? Do you have any information where the pecan orchard stands?

I have not. We have not met, Mr. Jones.

I know you've been on it.

Yes, sir. So I do not have an update, but we're in the process of trying to set our meetings up with the finance committee moving forward for the remainder of the year.

Thank you. I appreciate that. Secure that. You know, these smokestacks, this amendment on these smokestacks concerns me as well. They concern me. I know what was going on. And I just hope that council will be very attentive on things like this that are happening because, you know, it may be perfectly legal. Sure it is. But perception, if perception is something was wrong, then perception is reality. And also, I'd like to say that, Mr. Cheemake, I admire your passion, but I refuse to let you get me upset tonight. You did a good job. What?

I said eight words tonight.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

All right, Mr. Jones, thank you. Mr. Shoemake.

I'm trying to go back to my notes, see what I said. Welcome back to college and obviously high school for all those who have students in high school, middle school, elementary school, college. I think everyone's sort of back in school now, especially those moms that had to send kids off to college for the first time like mine. Again, with all those. I also want to, several of us voted today. I wanted to thank our poll workers. It is something I get every election. I'm sure we all get a lot of comments about, you know, we need more places open and those things. And I tell people the same thing, and it's not to be crass. It is, if you feel like not enough poll locations are open, then please volunteer to be a poll worker. Because this is not a, I mean, they might get some pittance as a, this is not a paid gig for all intents and purposes. These are people out there volunteering their time to make sure our elections run smooth. and it's hard work. And so I just want to thank all our poll workers out there. I voted Blaney Baptist and they were, you know, got me in and out. They were super cordial. And you know, those people, we, our library board person, I mean, the lifeblood of this County is people who volunteer their time and service for things that well beyond what we pay people for. So I just want to thank the poll workers and all our volunteers.

Thank you, Mr. Shoemake, Mr. Tucker.

Yes. Um, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, I know most of y'all up here probably already know that we had, um, the, um, state budget override today from general assembly. Um, Mr. Temple, uh, there's going to be some monies in that budget, um, for some recreation projects that we talked about during the finance committee meetings, um, that we'll need to get up with, um, I think in a tune of about 120,000, but I'll double check that and we'll all have a meeting. Um, so with that being said, um, I'm with Councilman Brazel at Deaf in my church, Deaf in my community. A lot of Deaf has gone around over the last few weeks and month. And so my prayers go out to those families. And I think that it's never too late and always encouraging. If you see someone that you think is strong, that you think has it together, stop and have a conversation and ask them how they're doing. Because the strong needs to be checked on, too. We're often giving our attention to the weak, but the strong breaks down as well. And just love up on people, family, friends as much as possible, because we never know when the day or the hour may come our way. And it definitely hurts when it does. So with that, happy Labor Day. Stay safe. And hopefully we can stay cool for a little while because we've had a hot summer. God bless. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Tucker. I just had one comment I wanted to share. I mentioned it in my prayer. My heart goes out to the Hornsby family. Joey Hornsby was an outstanding man. He was one who loved music. He loved the gospel. He loved his family. He was just a mentor and a leader for so many. And he's one of those gentlemen that I personally looked up to in some of the frequent and then as he battled illness for a long time, limited interactions I had with him. because he led in a very quiet way. He was humble and led by example. I always appreciated that. And there wasn't a conversation we had that didn't turn towards the gospel of Jesus Christ. So I always appreciated him steering me in that direction too.

Thank you for those comments.

Yes, sir, Mr. Jones. That concludes my report and brings us to the administrator's briefing. Do you have anything for us, Mr. Templer?

Just a few quick words. I want to recognize fire for their time spent and their efforts up in Fairfield county with the big fire up there. So we had 20 personnel and engine a tanker and a battalion chief. So, um, lot going on out there. Uh, but I appreciate their willingness to go out and help out another county. September 12th, Battle of the Badges softball tournament. All agencies in the county will be participating, including our own agencies. This event is open to the public and to commemorate 9-1-1, 9-11.

What date was that, Mr. Temple?

That was September 12th.

Oh, okay.

Thank you, Mr. Temple. Does that conclude your report? And I forgot to mention, thanks to all those who... Mason Wolf in particular, but everyone who organizes and helps with the Watery River Trash Festival. They had bins and bins, trash they picked up on the river to beautify it, and a lot of great pictures they put up, and just a great cause, keeps the river clean, so we appreciate that, and those who volunteered as well. Mr. DeBose, anything non-privileged, any report for council?

No, sir.

All right. That brings us to executive session. We do have one executive session item. I don't believe any vote is requested or required. And this is an executive session under item number 16A, discussion and negotiations related to proposed contractual arrangements and legal advice related thereto. This is under SC code 30-4-70A2. Do we have a motion to enter executive session? We have a motion. Is there a second? We have a second. All in favor of entering executive session who are present, raise your hand. It's unanimous for those voting in person. Mr. Brazel, how do you vote? We lost Mr. Brazel. Okay, we are in executive session. It's unanimous, Ms. Hannah.

Mr. Chairman, can I say one thing? I want to say thank you to all the people. I want to thank my grandson for coming over here and speaking tonight. Very proud of you, Creighton, and I love you.

He looks a lot better than you.

And he knows it. His mama thinks so, too.

Seek a motion to exit executive session.

Make a motion to exit executive session.

We have a second. We have a second. Any discussion on exiting executive session? Seeing no, we'll move it to a vote. All in favor of exiting executive session, raise your hand. Ms. Hanna, it's unanimous for those who are present and voting. And we are out of executive session with Mr. Tucker. Mr. Tucker is also in favor of exiting executive session. Seek a motion to adjourn.

Motion to adjourn, Mr. Chairman.

We have a motion to adjourn. Second. We have a second. Any discussion on adjournment? Seeing none. All in favor of adjourning, raise your hand. It is unanimous. We are adjourned, Ms. Hanna. Thank you.